Happy Saturday everyone! Sorry I have been not checking in as much, I have been very busy, but hopefully it will all pay off.
Week three of marathon training was the worst I’ve had thus far. I got really side-tracked off of my plan, my long run sucked, and I didn’t run near as many weekly miles as I was supposed to.
Week 3 Plan
Monday > 4 mi (I didn’t run)
Tuesday > 7 mi (I did 3)
Wednesday > 5 mi (I actually did this)
Thursday > Rest (I ran 4 miles)
Friday > run 4 (I rested)
Saturday > 10 mi (I only made it 7)
Sunday > rest… I rested
Throughout the week I have pretty decent reasons as to why I didn’t do runs, or do the whole amount. The most troubling part of my week was Saturday, my long run. I don’t have a good reason as to why it went so wrong.
When I initially got up to do my run it was pouring rain… so naturally after eating my yogurt – I fell back asleep. I got up later, and was hungry – so I ate a peanut butter sandwich – then 45 minutes later – went to run. Mistake #1.
When I finally left it was 2Pm, it was overcast, so I made the assumption it would be “ok”. Well it was really really really humid. Within the first mile I had to stop because my stomach didn’t feel right. Finally after about 2 1/2 miles I just threw up – and that seemed to help a little. After the next few miles – I just couldn’t get it together, my legs felt so heavy and tired – which to me was upsetting as I purposely planned a rest day prior to my long run.
In retrospect it was very likely just me underestimating the impact of the humidity (by mile 3 I had sweat just running off me). It didn’t make the experience any less frustrating.
With week three being such a train wreck week 4 was much better. Something else that also helped me in week 4, was someone who I considered to be a seasoned runner in my run group sent me an article from Runner’s World, about following programs, and the absolute 3 runs you need to do each week – and that helped me significantly.
I get very big into “program shaming” myself. Program shaming is when you are following a program to train for any distance, and you miss days. She also told me DO NOT try to tack on miles, just run the ones you have left – ultimately one bad week will not impact your overall race day.
So I think this advice, and an ample amount of motivation have helped week 4 be a swimming success.
Week 4:
Monday: 4 mi
Tuesday: 7 mi
Wednesday: 6 mi – I did 5 my knee was bothering me a bit
Thursday: Cross Train
Friday: 5 mi, I only did 3, I didn’t want to overdo- it
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rock N Roll Half Marathon (Chicago)
This race worked out perfectly because this is my 12 mi weekend. So I cut back a bit on Friday and had a nice easy run with Casey, before basement sushi (I’ll explain that another time), and gelato. She is always more than willing to help me carb load.
With that being said – I’ll be recovering on Monday of week 5 – but I’ll cross that bridge on Monday. One big thing I am learning about myself – I really feel (and this could be all mental) a lot more energized when I rest the day before a long run vs running 3 miles today, and 13 tomorrow.
With my last long run going so incredibly awful I am nervous about tomorrow, but I have to keep reminding myself that tomorrow is just training for something much bigger. Obviously I want a PR, and to do amazing (I feel like I get my money’s worth that way), but I have been reminded, and keep reminding myself that essentially this is part of my marathon program, and crossing that finish in October is my end game.
So today I am just relaxing, catching up on cool things to post this week, and then heading over to the expo. Obviously if I see Shalane Flanagan, I’ll be inviting her out for deep dish pizza. So if I’m really ambitious I’ll have a brief post later about all of my fun at the expo, and definitely a post tomorrow about the race. I am very excited – this is my first Rock’N’Roll race, so I am really looking forward to it!
