Marathon training – Page 2

Marathon training week six and a virtual race!

Week six of marathon training began in August and finished up in the first week of September. Generally, my preference is to run my key run, or the most important training effort of the week at the beginning of the week. However, this week was different for a number of reasons: 1) Back to school, 2) my son’s birthday and 3) a virtual 12 mile race on Saturday. While I didn’t run my key effort until Saturday, I managed to set a good routine and maintain it during the week despite all the other things going on.

Monday- August 31

The start of the week brought a touch of Fall like temperatures. While sunrise isn’t until 6:30 ish I was up and ready to hit the pavement as soon as it was bright enough to be safe. While it was the beginning of the week, but the end of the month I had a particular month goal that I wanted to hit with my morning run. The cooler temps were amazing for my nearly 6.5 mile run. After doing so many runs on the treadmill getting some outside time felt good!

Tuesday- September 1

Today, I was back on the treadmill and super early. It’s my son’s birthday so I wanted to get my run and strength training done before he got up. He of course had a different plan and woke up half a mile into my run. Today was supposed to just be a two mile run- continue the steak day. But I ran the half a mile. Greeted the birthday boy. He got to see all the fun Harry Potter decorations and then he joined me downstairs for the rest of my run and lifting. Rather than do two miles I finished up with 2.5 and then did twenty minutes of core and arm work to finish up the morning.

Wednesday- September 2

First day of school!! This is important because it means I need to run, shower, do all the first day of school picture excitement etc. and leave the house by 7:30. Challenge accepted. I coined today’s run five at 5:00 as I was up at 5:00 to run five miles. Solid, easy paced treadmill run before the back to school fun.

Thursday- September 3

My goal this week has been to get my workout in and get showered before the boys get up. Thursday’s schedule called for a two mile run to continue my run streak and then strength training. I’m working diligently not to let the strength training go by the wayside as the mileage increases and the back to school schedule gets crazy. Mission accomplished. Up at 5:00 again. Two miles check. Twenty minutes of arms with Tracey Steen of Move Daily Fitness and in the shower by 6:15 AM.

Friday- September 4

Run streak day 105!! As I have a twelve mile virtual race tomorrow, the plan was for a nice and easy three miles on the treadmill. I enjoyed some more Bosch on Amazon Prime and got my run done. Slowing down my pace on the treadmill runs has been key. I’ve been more focused on stretching and listening to my body to hopefully remain injury free. Ready to start the day.

Saturday- September 5

Virtual race day!! The Charles Street 12 was my first BIG race in 2019. I hadn’t run more than a 5K in…hmmm… 20 plus years. When the race turned virtual this year, I knew I still had to do it because it kick started my desire to run longer distances. Conveniently the key run this week for my training plan was a 12 mile run so this was a two for one run! When I woke up on Saturday morning the weather was perfection. With temperatures in the mid to high 50s and moderate humidity it was a beautiful day to run! I’ve gotten much better about eating before my longer runs and taking in some water. So I got up with plenty of time to eat and digest before hitting the road. Out the door by 7:30 AM.

Funny story about the Charles Street 12 from last year. I had estimated my finish time to be 1:57. Instead I came in closer to 1:52. So that meant my cheering section wasn’t ready for me and I called out to them as I was approaching the finish line. This year, my goal was 1:42 or approximately 8:35 per mile. That’s been my average mile pace for half marathons so I figured that made sense for a 12 mile run. However, over the last 18 months I’ve learned that I’m a cooler weather runner. Cooler temperatures (honestly the cooler the better) agree with me and make it much easier for me to run. The temperatures in the 50s clearly agreed with me after so much heat and humidity this summer and instead of 8:35 a mile I averaged 8:14 a mile and finished in 1:38:45. While not the same course as last year, I’ll happily take a 14 minute improvement in time.

Overall, I felt great during the run. I did begin to experience some hip pain about half way through. But it wasn’t anything that wasn’t manageable. My right hip has given me problems off and on. I’m acutely aware of it and continue to try to loosen my hamstrings and strengthen my core and glutes to take the pressure off my hip.

My cheering section created a finish line for me to run through and were waiting to cheer me on and give me my medal upon completion. Family support is amazing and means so much to me as I continue to train for the marathon!

Sunday–September 6

Truth be told, I ran the twelve miler like a race and not like a training run. I was feeling it a bit on Sunday morning. My right calf was sore and the week was really catching up with me. Sunday runs are normally my shorter and easier days just to keep the streak going so I laced up and went out for a one mile out and back (two mile total) run. Once I warmed up a bit I felt great and I was glad to get the run in before the birthday party celebration!

Review/Looking ahead

While overall I’m feeling good, I’m not struggling with the mileage I need to begin focusing on marathon pace for runs. Running a half marathon and running a marathon are two completely different things. The additional time of effort and overall mileage does strange things to our bodies. In an effort to make the marathon day go as smoothly as possible I’m going to begin slowing the pace down for tempo runs to more like 9 minutes a mile. For the week of September 7 the key effort is a speed workout. But for the week after, week of September 14 it’s a 14 mile run. However, the Alzheimer’s Team for the NYC Marathon is doing a virtual Half Marathon on Sunday, September 13. Since I would normally do my key run on that Monday the 14th I’m moving it up one day to the 13th. This will be the first run where I intentionally focus on tempo rather than running it like a race. A marathon is more than the 26.2 but rather all the miles leading up!!

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No excuses!! I run for those who can’t! #endalz

Marathon Training Week 5- getting in a groove!

I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face- having a training plan that is flexible is key for my mom life schedule!! This is the last week of “summer vacation” also known as the never ending spring break. So this is the last week for quite some time that I’m going to have any real flexibility in my day. That means getting up earlier to get my run in. It also means having to juggle my distances from one day to the next to get all my miles in. Having one key effort each week and knowing I can make the rest of the miles up any way I please keeps training fun and less stressful!!

The key effort for the week of August 24-August 30 was speed work and the total mileage goal was 28 miles. On the heels of the trail race last Sunday, I purposely planned to keep Monday light. While I would usually get my key effort in on Monday I pushed it to Tuesday this week.

Monday– August 24

All things considered for the day after feeling like I was getting chased through the woods for nearly 7 miles I feel good. I had originally penciled in 2 miles to kick off the week to keep my run streak going and to give my body a little bit of a break. Since I cut my half marathon to a 10K I didn’t feel like I needed quite as much of a break. Still kept it light and the pace easy because I was a little bit sore. I have this reoccurring pain in my right hip that I’m constantly keeping an eye on. I ran 3 nice and easy miles on the treadmill to kick off the week.

Tuesday– August 25

Key effort run!! Speed work is still not necessarily my most favorite thing to do. It pushes me well outside of my comfort zone, but is SO CRUCIAL for form, drive and ultimately helps with overall pace. The key effort this week is 800X5. To this I added 1 mile warm up and at least one mile cool down. Additionally, I ran a 400 or a quarter of a mile in between each 800 (half a mile) to catch my breath. My goal for my 800s is 4 minutes. I’ve found that doing speed work on the treadmill gives me the most control to hit my target paces. All in all I finished up with 6 miles and felt great. The 800s are work but I’m feeling good with the effort!

Wednesday– August 26

I got outside today!! Again, I had penciled in three miles for the day but wound up doing four instead. I was feeling good. While the pace wasn’t super fast it was still decent. For the last several weeks I’ve consciously been working on slowing down my pace and lowering my heart rate. Not every run is a race and “slower” runs are critical pieces to the training puzzle. Four miles with an average pace of 8:28 per mile works for me.

Thursday– August 27

Back on the treadmill. After a busy morning of crossing things off my to do list I didn’t get to exercise until mid morning. My right hip and hamstring are feeling sore/tight. So before I ran I did about a half hour of yoga. This concentrated, focused stretching has proven to be most helpful when I find myself getting tight. Schedule called for four miles. I somehow turned that into 5.29. No idea why other than I was feeling good after warming up with yoga and trying to stretch out this last week of the month to meet a larger overall mileage goal.

Friday- August 28

We had a lengthy laundry list of items to do today. I knew we needed to leave the house by 8:30 AM (PS this is an hour later than we will have to leave for school), so I had to get my run in early to allow enough time to shower and get everyone ready. While the pacing and my watch were totally off for timing purposes, I got another five miles in and another episode of Bosch on Amazon Prime.

Saturday-August 29

It was a rainy and humid morning. While running in the rain doesn’t scare me the humidity is not my friend. That said, and I’m not complaining about the treadmill because I love it (and anything is better than trail!- but I was getting a little bored with get on and run. Despite some glute and hip soreness I opted to push the envelop with a hill program. I’ve officially used the programs on the treadmill more in the last five months than in last 18 years combined. While the hills KICKED MY BUTT- it mixed up the run and kept me on my toes. I chose a 60 minute program. That equated to twenty 3 minute segments. Some were certainly easier than others. And the doubles at full incline and top speed left me sucking wind, but it also made me appreciate the recovery segments that much more.

Sunday- August 30

Sunday, rest day. I joke. Today was my 100th consecutive day running (at least two miles each day, almost always more)!! When I started my streak back in May I would have never imagined that it reach trip digits. Now to see where it can go. Another big milestone was hitting 800 miles for the year!! I originally set a goal of running 1000 miles this year. COVID hit and my miles increased and it became clear that barring injury 1000 would be “easy” so I upped the goal to 1255 or 2020 KM. It will be a stretch but I’m feeling confident that I’ll get there!

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As a reminder- I run for those who can’t. I was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon on November 1. Despite it being COVID Canceled I committed to do the training and to running a virtual 26.2. I run for my dad, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s several years ago. I run to raise awareness and important dollars to find a cure. Please visit my donation page for more information.

Marathon Training Week 2

It’s officially week two of marathon training. Or in my case weeks three and four. Going forward- I’m going to just call it what it is- so let’s call this week four. In the week one post I shared how I modified my training cycle on day one because I moved up the weekend I want to run my solo 26.2. The interesting twist this week is that I’m actually scheduled to run an in person half marathon on Sunday. Translation- I don’t really want to over do it this week, while maintaining the training schedule.

Monday

I really like to get my key effort for the week done at the beginning of the week. There’s a sense of accomplishment knowing that the key effort is complete and I can make up the rest of the miles during the week. Key effort this week 800×4. What that actually became was:

1 mile warm up

800 x 4 (at 8 minute a mile pace)/followed by a 400 at an easy jog

1.25 mile cool down

Speed work used to be my nemesis. Which often meant I skipped it. I learned quickly however, that the schedule calls for speed work for a reason…it helps- it makes you stronger and faster for longer distances. Therefore, I’m not religious about getting in my speed work. Lately I’ve been doing my speed work on the treadmill. If the kids ever go back to school my plan is to actually use the track!

The run felt great. I was working hard on my 800s but I dare say I could have pushed the pace a little bit more. We shall see next week what is the right push pace for that effort.

Tuesday

In a “normal” world I would not run on Tuesday. It would purely be a strength training day. But we aren’t living in a normal time. In pandemic times I started a running streak that I just don’t want to give up!! To keep my running streak going I’ve been running two to three miles on my “off” days. However, I made a conscious choice when I kicked off formal marathon training that I would limit the “off” days to two miles and then do some strength training.

I got outside for today’s run for the first time in a LONG time. I have a great two mile loop- out and back. I love that Stava tracks the similar loops and tells me how my run compares to previous times that I’ve done the same effort. Now, there are two thoughts to these runs. I should just go out nice and easy, do two miles and call it a day. But I also ran the 3000 in High School track. Basically, just short of two miles. So subconsciously I’m working hard on this time to see how fast I can get it.

The run felt great- average pace of 7:54 a mile. So clearly, I didn’t take it easy but instead gave it a solid effort. Came back home and did a full thirty minute of Body Weight only exercise with Move Daily Fitness.

So it was a solid “off” day!

Wednesday

Technically not an off day- but with a race looming I am not looking to add a lot of extra mileage. I’m also enjoying watching Bosch on Amazon Prime. The only time I watch is when I run on the treadmill. So the tradeoff is that I’ll run three easier miles and watch some Bosch on my iPad. So Wednesday brought three miles at an average pace of 8:11 a mile.

Thursday

Another “off” day. Back to my favorite two mile loop!! The goal other than getting in my two miles was to test some new items I got before race day. YOU NEVER USE, EAT, WEAR DO ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY!! So I was testing one of my new hats to see how it felt and whether it rubbed, along with my RoadID bracelet. Again, it felt good to get outside and off the treadmill.

Friday

Friday kicks off the virtual Rock n Roll running series. This week there were two races a 6K (3.7 miles) and a 10K. My plan was to do the 6K on Friday and then forgo the 10K this week with the upcoming race on Sunday. Again, I got outside to run. The weather was a bit cooler and I felt great! I determined that I can only really control keeping my runs easy when I run on the treadmill. I had no grand plans for this run, but apparently the run had plans for me! For the first time since I started running again I ran four miles all under 8 minutes, with an average pace of 7:48. What?? Who is this person? Bonus, I felt great!!

Saturday

The day before race day. Two easy shake out miles to keep my running streak going! Plus I got to watch part of Bosch. A win, win!

Sunday

Race day! An hour and fifteen minute drive was well worth it for an IN PERSON RACE. Ironically, I raced six months ago to the day in Orlando. The catch-this was a trail race! Read all about the good, the bad, and the ugly here.

Overall, it was a successful training week. The week called for 26 miles total, which I would have surpassed if I ran the full race on Sunday. But I ended the week with 25.2. I’m not concerned about the additional .8 miles. I’m ready to start week five!! Despite the crazy trail experience I’m feeling pretty good to start the week and I’m ready to “never miss a Monday!”

Stay tuned for next weeks review. As always, I run for those who can’t and to #endalz! Subscribe to never miss an update!

How Running Changed my life!

Often in life we find that actions/activities have unintended benefits or consequences; sometimes good and sometimes bad. When I set out to “start running again” in February of 2019 I had absolutely no idea what lessons I would learn. Here are my top 10!!

Number 10- Running is as much a mental sport as it is physical Yes, it truly is as much a mental game as it is a physical challenge to move your body. Think about, sometimes just getting out the door is the hardest part. You start making excuses of things you have to do, the weather, not feeling well etc. Then think about when a run isn’t feeling great, because guess what not every run is a good run and you need to dig deep and remember why you are running. Again, this is the mental component creeping in again. Or wait for it, what about when you get injured. While we all strive to avoid injury and work really hard to stay healthy, let’s be real- it happens. So now again you have to have the mental fortitude to give your body the rest it needs and then get back on the horse so to speak and get back at it when you are physically feeling better.

Number 9- Strength training is just as important as the miles I’m going to say it again, strength training is just as important as the miles. I’m crazy you say. Nope. I 100% stand behind this statement. As soon as I made the shift from just wanting to run a few days a week to I want to run 10Ks, ten milers, half marathons I followed the sage advice of Suzy Goodwin (If you aren’t connected with her, check her out!!) and found a trainer that I trust to do strength training with a few times a week. Today as I got the idea for this post I was talking with a friend about shaving some time off her runs. And we got to talking about the absolute importance of strength training. I could literally talk about this all day- but I’ll leave you with this short anecdote:

August of 2019 I ran my first “big race” of 12 miles. Right before the taper (which is also important but doesn’t make this top 10) I was experiencing brutal hip pain. During the taper period it felt better and then after the race it hurt again. Same thing before my first half marathon. Terrible hip pain as my mileage increased. Better during the taper and HORRIBLE after the Half. Felt great during the run but was killing me after. Any idea what was causing this terrible hip pain??? Over tight hamstrings. Any guesses what my trainer has incorporated into every session?? Exercises to stretch my hamstrings and strengthen the muscles around them. The result as I completed my third training cycle, I got through the entire cycle injury and pain free. I ran back to back races on a Saturday and Sunday (10K/Half Marathon) and had no hip pain. As you can see, I cannot say enough about strength training!!

Number 8- It’s addictive. Truly. The more you run the more you want to run.

Number 7- Never underestimate the importance of good shoes If you are thinking about running, any distance the first thing you need to do is get good shoes. And it’s possible that the shoes that were working great when you start don’t remain the best fit so it’s important to revisit them. While I’ve remained with the same shoes through the annual “modifications” I’ve added arch supports along the way for the perfect fit. Read all about finding the best shoes here!

Number 6- What you eat and drink really matter- While this seems completely obvious it somehow was less obvious to me in the beginning. i.e. I considered skipping the wine the week of the race being race ready. Then after my trainer more than once casually mentioned that I should really start tracking what I was eating, I bit the bullet and download the MyFitnessPal app and started tracking. Quickly I learned that I needed more protein and calcium. I began to focus more on getting the nutrients I needed in addition to eating what I liked. I’m not suggesting you need to go on a crazy diet, but I am saying that keeping an eye on your intake will make a difference. When I did I truly see this in action?? We went on vacation. So I went on vacation mode in regards to eating and adult beverages by the pool. Then I would try to run the next day. Brutal. It was rough!! That’s when I fully understood that what I’m eating and drinking totally matters!!

Up next in the what you eat and drink matters came the time to give up soda. Soda has been my vice for as long as I can remember. Then it came time to drop that habit like it was hot. Hello, Arbonne Fizz. I don’t drink coffee so the caffeine from the soda was what got me through the day. Then I tried the vegan, plant based natural caffeine of Arbonne fizz and I was hooked on something better!!

Number 5- That it would become a family affair I started running because it was something for “me.” I was committed to finding the time between work, volunteer obligations and kids to run. It was “me time.” But then the boys caught the running bug with me. My husband along with my two boys were my biggest cheerleaders. So then they wanted to run too!! I realized yet again, that our children are always watching and what an important lesson I was teaching them every time I laced up my shoes. So in May the boys will run their first official race the night before my third half marathon. I’ll be there, sign in hand so proud that they want to run too!!

Number 4- The beauty of the world around me This is two fold. First, because often to get my miles in I’m up early. The calm of the morning as the sun is rising, as I run past the deer, rabbits and birds truly settles my soul for the day. While I despise being cold, I love the crispness of the air for the fall and winter runs. It’s an invigorating start to the day. Part two is that running doesn’t take a vacation for me. So when we take a vacation I get to take in the location on foot (again usually before the rest of the world is up). How amazing to run the Tower Bridge in London or to the Eiffel Tower in Paris?? But just as amazing to run along the beach or the dessert of Arizona. We joke with the boys that nature is all around us. When you are out there pounding the pavement you have a whole knew appreciation for the world around you!

Number 3- How amazing it feels to have a great run Some say they don’t get a runner’s high. I fall into the camp of getting a runner’s high after I finish a good run or race. Like I’m all jazzed up for hours after, especially after a race. When you know that you have given it your all, felt good and finished strong how could you not feel great??

Number 2- The bonds you build are amazing Running communities are special. While I’m still primarily a run on your own kind of person. I know that I can depend on the resources of my local running shop Charm City Run for my running needs and the ability to train with folks in “real life.” But I’m talking about the online running community of women that have been super supportive. Heck, I got back into running because a group of dedicated women in The Elite Suite, an online social marketing and mentoring group were talking about running the Princess Half Marathon in 2019. They inspired me to lace up my shoes and then I got to meet several of them at the completion of the Half Marathon in Orlando in February. But then there are those that are cheering you on along the way. You know and hyping you up all weekend long. I see you Suzy Goodwin. And I know you have a HUGE bucket list run coming up soon!!

Number 1- Set big goals and crush them!! My goal had been to run the Princess Half Marathon. Along the way I ran several other races including a 12 Miler and another Half Marathon. I have races on the calendar for every month for the rest of the year. Each racing experience teaches me something new and I’m enjoying the ride. So now, it’s no longer the goal to finish. But rather the goal to continue to get stronger and bring down my time. Maybe there’s another goal floating around that will be revealed soon!!

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