Week 20: Marathon Training

Let’s get right into how this week went! Just one thing (as always!): THANK YOU to my amazing, awesome, number one… Coach Andrew Simmons with Lifelong Endurance. I would be completely lost without him and who knows how this whole marathon thing would turn out. I’m so thankful for his guidance. All my runs and workouts are prescribed by Coach Simmons. Feel free to contact him with any coaching questions at andrew@lifelongendurance.com!

Let’s do this thing!

[ week 20 / 10 weeks until 26.2 ]

Sunday – Long run. 13 miles, 2:04:12, 9:33 min/mile.

Nice, easy miles – enjoyed the cool, quiet morning. The last 4 miles were tough – the last mile in particular was exhausting. I was hot, tired, and my legs were heavy. But I did it and overall the run felt good and I felt great afterwards. After today I’m feeling better about these long runs. A distance over 10 miles is intimidating to me, but becoming more and more “doable” as I build confidence. I’m currently feeling pretty confident because now I’ve done it a few times and now I know I can do it. 

Monday – Rest day. No run, strength training.

Did a crossfit (strength training) class today since I was feeling good after my long run yesterday. We did side planks, lunges, arm things, and push ups among many other things. It wasn’t too tough, but a nice supplemental workout. I like that we take time before and after class to work on stretches and foam-rolling.

Tuesday – Tempo run. 6.01 miles, 51:28, 8:34 min/mile.

TOUGH run today! 6 x (800m @4:00-4:15) with a 60 sec rest in between. I went early, so it wasn’t too hot (below 90) but it was HUMID. I don’t know why, but sometimes 8min/mile is “easy” for me (I find myself having to slow down from that on a long run), and other times its not. That’s an interesting thing about training that I’ve found and with running almost daily – your body works differently on different days. Some days feel great and others may not, but those tough days are the days that make you stronger.

Wednesday – Easy run. 3.03 miles, 26:57, 8:54 min/mile.

I was a bit worried today because my knee hurt a bit after my run yesterday – but I iced and rested it and it was golden in the morning. I had a great 3 miles – in fact, today was once of those days when I had to slow myself down. I felt like I was going easy and kept looking down at my watch to read 8:00 min/mile! Now why couldn’t that have been so easy yesterday? Anyway, I really slowed myself down and took it easy. My knee felt fine after this run, too, so I was happy! It’s always nice to not have an injury.

Thursday – Easy run. 5.01 miles, 45:31, 9:05 min/mile.

I felt a little stiff today, but was OK. It wasn’t too hot and I actually had a few parts of my shirt that weren’t completely soaked in sweat for the first time this summer!

Friday – Easy Run. 4.01 miles, 37:24, 9:20 min/mile.

It was like deja vu today! I was just running, wasn’t I? Since I ran in the evening yesterday and early this morning, I felt like I was just on this sidewalk. I was tired, but I was just fine once I got going. I noted that I was a bit stiff in my hips and knees but overall felt OK.

(My Nike+ app always says a bit different mileage/time than my Garmin, which I go by)

Saturday – Rest and recovery!

Total miles for the week – 31.1 

Total miles (running only) for August – 121.13

Thank you for following me on my journey! I truly and greatly appreciate all of your support and comments and enjoy hearing about how your training/life is going as well. I hope you all had an amazing weekend!
If you could travel anywhere and do any race, what would it be?

Have you ever done a Ragnar Relay? What was it like (trail or road?)?