2017 Week 3 Recap- 13 Weeks from Boston Marathon

 

I had a great week last week.  I hope you guys did too! The weather was prime marathon training conditions here.  Temperatures in the 50s and a light wind most of the week. We didn’t see a whole lot of sun, but I won’t be picky after the ice last week. 

 

               Running is full of highs and lows, and I really enjoyed running this week. I just felt so good and looked forward to my runs each day.  I’m beginning to question my current fitness level so I signed up for one of my favorite local races, which is a 5k on Super bowl Sunday. I am excited yet nervous, for the opportunity to see how it goes.  

Here is my week 3 recap.

• Monday- 5.10 miles at 8:22 pace (Total 42:41)
  • Nice and easy run, I set my watch to help me keep my pace above 8 min/mile pace. I wanted my legs to be fresh for my first track workout in 10 years.  I was super nervous.
• Tuesday-7.02 miles at average pace 8:03 (1:11:54)
  • Workout of 2 mile warm up followed by 3 sets of 4 x 200 meter repeats and then 2 mile cool down. 200 meter splits; Set 1 (:34,:37,:35,:38), Set 2 (:36,:37,:37,:36), Set 3 (:37,:33,:36,:37)
  • I am a tempo, threshold junkie. That is the only type of speed work I have really done. Working with a coach is a great opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and work on my areas of weakness.  I was happily surprised at how short the workout felt. I was lucky enough to talk a couple of friends into meeting me for the workout.  We ran at a middle school track that was not well maintained, concrete with lots of dips and cracks after some afternoon rain.  It was super dark and we didn’t have lights.  All of this and we had 3 people with awesome attitudes pushing through a workout.  We ended the workout pretty confident we could do another set, but we were glad we didn’t need to.
  • After the workout, I had a small amount of exercises prescribed. I completed 2 sets.  8 x squats 20% body weight, Bent-over rows 20 % body weight, 20 lunges with 10 pounds in each hand, 20 skips for distance and 20 meters of fast feet.  Up until now, I did not complete a consistent amount of strength training.  This is new and another awesome way my coach is helping me improve my training.
• Wednesday-10.1 miles at 7:08 pace (56:42)
  • I’ll admit. I didn’t not take my own advice.  I did not run this recovery run at my prescribed pace. I went out for a group run and felt great.  We were chit chatting, having a good time and our pace began to increase.  This can be a pitfall to running with a group.  I think the shorter workout, actually left my legs feeling lighter than usual and I was naturally picking up speed as was my training partner from the night before.
• Thursday-7.17 miles at 7:53 pace (56:42)
  • I set my watch to yell at me when I picked up the pace. I did a lot better today at keeping my recovery runs, in the recovery zone.  Marathon training has a way of building up residual fatigue and I want to be able to train well through my workouts and long runs.  I did a lot better today.

 

 

 

 

• Friday- Double Dip Am 6.02 miles  at 8:05 pace  PM 6.04 miles at 7:49 pace
  • Did not sleep well Friday so I slogged through my morning run. The good thing was I was able to keep it nice and easy.  In the afternoon I had a great run and was looking forward to my long run the next morning.  After each run, I did 4×10 seconds sprints.
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• Saturday- 14 miles
  • Work out was supposed to be 3 miles at 8 minute pace as a warm up, 6 miles at 6:40-6:45 pace and then 5 miles easy.
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  • As you can see, I started off a tad faster. I was with a group and the pace was picking up.  I don’t feel like my work out suffered.  I know at some point that is going to negatively impact my running so I will be more aware of it as I move forward.  I thought about going another 2 miles.  I typically ramp up my long run pretty quickly. I’m anxious about the distance of a marathon, and running the longer runs eases that a bit.
  • Some additional exercises after my run included 2 sets; 1 minute planks, 30 seconds of side planks, 15 push ups, 20 skips for distance and 10 single leg hops for distance. Again, this is new to me.  I noticed the planks were a tad more work than usual after my long run.  Otherwise, abdominal strength is probably one of my strong areas.  The pushups about killed me.  My tiny bird arms are weak.  I am sore today, two days later.
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• Sunday -Scheduled Rest Day, I felt good. I could easily have gotten in an easy run and felt okay.  I am glad that coach put in a rest day, before I needed it.  I woke up this morning feeling amazing.  That’s not a usual feeling for someone in marathon training. So hopefully that means I can really go after my work out tomorrow.

Still 12 weeks away, today and I can already feel the anxiety beginning to build. I am hoping the 5k I signed up for in two weeks will give me some reassurance that I am on the right path.  I’d like to think it’s a good sign that I am feeling well rested and full of energy right now.  I get asked a lot about my goals for the race, but I am not ready to make one.  I like to give my training time to “play itself out” without being focused on a finishing time yet. There is so many factors that can have an influence on that goal time, between now and race day. 

Thank you so much for following my journey. Like, comment, subscribe and SHARE!

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