Monday, September 1, 2014

Marathon training week 7- Halfway home!


I have now passed the halfway point in my training to the Chicago marathon! Only 5 weeks left to go. Things at home have certainly settled down now that my boys are back to school. I'm finding it a little more challenging, time-wise, to get my runs in but I'll take it for the relative calm that has returned to my household. Here's how the week played out:

Monday: Crossfit intervals:


Becky had the whiteboard out. You know that's trouble! About 4 weeks ago, she had me doing what CrossFitters know as AMRAP=as many reps as possible, with 250m rowing in between, followed by a short rest period. Today my goal was to beat those intervals that I completed 4 weeks ago. 


And I did-in every category. Although, as you can see, my burpees are still pretty pathetic. 

Tuesday: I had 8 miles on the plan, and even though it was steamy outside, I managed to eake out a pretty decent run; overall average was 9:10mins/mile; and I had negative splits for the last 3 miles. I really enjoyed this run and felt like I could have kept running. 


Wednesday: I went to my weekly yoga class at the studio. We had a sub today but I've taken her class before and while she's a little gentler than the regular teacher, I felt like she hit all the high points and my legs felt great when I left the class. Which leads to...

Thursday: Again, I had 2 mile repeats x3 on the plan. I wasn't feeling great this morning--I don't know if it was a byproduct of a little too much wine the night before or what, but I wasn't sure how this would go. Last week, I struggled a little with pacing, and decided to take it slower today. Well, as you can see, that didn't happen! My legs felt light, probably as a result of yesterday's yoga class. Splits for miles 1/2= 8:17, miles 3/4= 8:25, miles 5/6=8:26. So even though the first 2 miles were too fast, it all worked out pretty well, and I felt great at the end. Really great. After that I went home to do the CrossFit homework Becky left for me since she's out of town.



First up was SB bridges x 50 reps. Slow and controlled.

Then goblet squats. I only have a 12# kettlebell, but I made sure to squeeze those glutes on the way up!


Last was step ups x50. I don't have a box like we use at CF, so I improvised and stepped up to the bench on my backyard deck. It worked great.


Friday: Rest day and back to work after being off for a week. I tried to keep my calm and serene mojo working.

Saturday: 5 hot steamy miles. My mantra for today was Larry the Cable Guy's git 'r done. Because it was all I could do to get through this one. It was 72 and 90% humidity...I slept terribly last night, felt oddly and overly anxious for no reason at all..felt a bit ill this morning with some tummy issues. But I got it done, and respectably. I turned off pacing mode on my Garmin and ran by feel. Altho my pace slowed down from my first 2 speedy miles, I still ended with a 9:05 min/mi average. Which in this heat, made me smile. 

Hey, whatever works, right?

Sunday long run: My family and I left early Sunday morning for the lake house. My boys did not want to go out of town this weekend, but we compromised and stayed home Saturday night so they could hang with their friends. But, my husband shocked me by telling them that we had to leave early so I could get my long run in. This guy never fails to surprise me! I hit the road about 8:45, much later than I normally would have and prayed that the fog would stick around for at least the first half of my run. Once I started to run, I noticed Spotify acting up; my music kept cutting in and out. I stopped a few times to try to figure it out, and I realized that I hadn't synced my new phone with my Spotify account. Cell service is pretty bad up at the lake, and relying on a cellular connection to play my music just wasn't going to work. I almost gave up, knowing that 12 miles without music was going to be tough, but I decided to see what I was made of. I did learn that I breathe really heavily when I run! When I stopped to gel about mile 4, I found out that my amphipod had leaked almost all of my Nuun. What next? I kept going, and looked for a source for water. I finally came upon a group of people sitting on a porch around mile 6, and asked them to fill my bottle. They didn't seem to understand me, and I'm not quite sure if they didn't speak English or if they were hugely hung over, since there were at least 4 cases of Corona sitting on the porch. Anyways, one of the ladies came out with a bottle of water and I filled up my handheld, this time making sure the top was screwed on tight. The rest of my run went fine. The sun was out and it warmed up but my pace stayed steady and I felt pretty strong. This run was almost comical, but I am so glad I was able to finish it. Pacing was surprisingly consistent (mile 7 wasn't that fast, I forgot to restart my Garmin after stopping for water--probably about 45 seconds after restarting my run), but a little fast for marathon pacing. But overall, the run that could have been a disaster turned out to be one of my strongest yet!


Overall, it was a good training week. Actually a good training month; I had 123 miles for the month of August. Can we get a woo hoo? 








23 comments :

  1. Woohoo! Awesome week. You really have what it takes to see the positive side of bad situations. Nice job!

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    1. Haha! I'm really not by nature a positive person, but it is a work in progress. I was pleasantly surprised by myself! Thanks!

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  2. Your legs are looking fab!! I hear you on the burpees-love/hate them. Why are they so hard??

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    1. Thanks! I asked Becky that very question last week-she said they are a ton of cardio and strengthening all at once. I say ugh.

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  3. Oh, my gosh, Wendy! You have me cracking up about the adventures of your 12-miler yesterday! HA! Yes, you can DEFINITELY get a WOO HOO!! Way to go, girl! And, can I just say, you are lookin' STROOOOONG!!! Yay! Keep it up, missy! Thanks so much for linking up again this week - you ROCK!

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    1. Thank you! I'm hoping this unconventional marathon training will bring me some awesome results!

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  4. Looking strong!! Glad to find your blog through another blog now that I'm wanting to get back into blogging again. Excited to hear more about your training...and get inspired! Wooo hoo!

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  5. Girl you are killing it! 5 more weeks!!!!! Eeeeeek! No worries, you'll be ready. : )

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  6. You are looking so strong!! You got this!! You have been rocking your training!

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  7. Whoo hoo! You kicking some serious ass! You go girl! I must say I'm a bit envious! You are going to rock Chicago!

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    1. I hope so! Remember, I've got those nerves working against me!

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  8. Awesome job with those repeats--that's a killer workout! I think a lot of times runners feel like they have to go to a hardcore yoga class to make the class worth it, but with all the stress we put on our bodies training for endurance events, sometimes a laid back class is more beneficial. Way to overcome many obstacles to finish your long run on Sunday! And I'm glad to hear things are calming down on the home front now that school has started. Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll stay that way!

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    1. I think having teenagers is going to keep me on the roller coaster for a while! But what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, right?

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  9. 5 more weeks!!! Very exciting. Your training went really well this week. Great job!

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  10. Woo hoo! Congrats on all the awesome miles. Would have been funny if that lady filled your bottle up with Corona instead. :)

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  11. You're doing awesome! Great runs. You are definitely on track for a great marathon.

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