Sunday, September 7, 2014

Marathon training week 8: the power of positive thinking

This week I received my Chicago marathon corral assignment. I was placed in Corral E. I immediately started to sweat. I figured I'd be placed in corral G, because I listed my estimated finish time as 4:45. I'm not quite sure what happened, but I will be with much speedier runners. I'm going to have to work extra hard to not get caught up in the momentum of this group.


Of course, I shared my angst with Becky, and her response was that it was "meant to be". I know I'm supposed to "trust the plan". My training has been going really well. I continue to work on mental toughness, which is the hardest part of marathon training for me. I'm a perfectionist and I'm also really good at negative self talk. But this week Becky told me that for every time I think or say something negative, I have to do 10 burpees. And we all know how much I hate burpees. So that has been a really great motivator!



Monday: Rest day

Tuesday: I had 8 miles on the plan. It was a cool but humid morning--very foggy! But I ran to the 2 mile circle around the retention pond where I do so much of my training. I got to watch the sun come up through the fog and it was spectacular. I stopped to take a photo and was promptly attacked by mosquitos. I probably got 20 bites in one minute. When I resumed my run, I was trying to ignore how itchy they were. Plus I was so sweaty. But it was a strong run and I finished 8.24 in 1:14:20.



Wednesday: Yoga was on the plan. I had planned on going to my class at the studio but my youngest was home from school with an asthma exacerbation. Sure, he's 15 and he can take care of himself, but I needed to phone in a prescription for prednisone for him and get him started on it before I went to work. So I popped in my Rodney Yee Power Yoga DVD and took to the mat. I like this DVD because it is thorough and hits all the important areas--hamstrings, hips, and quads. There's also some backbending and balance in there, so it really is a complete practice.

Thursday: Speed work and Cross Fit on the plan. I did my 2 mile repeats x 3. It was rainy and stormy, and once those storms blew past, I headed over to the retention pond to run. It was raining lightly and hardly anyone was there but a few other runners, which was nice, with the exception of one woman who was in her own world, running down the middle of the path, seemingly oblivious to anyone else. You can read about my thoughts on that here. Anyways, my splits were a little inconsistent but they were fast and they were strong. What happened at mile 4, you might ask? That was when Eminem's 'Till I Collapse came on. Put a little tiger in my tank, I guess....


After that, I headed over to CF. First, Becky had me clean a barbell, lift it overhead and put it on my shoulders. Then I did step-ups on a box, 8 each foot x 3 sets. In between sets, I did kettlebell swings x 12. I didn't ask how heavy the weights were. After that, she had me flip a giant tire. I had hoped for sledgehammer swings onto the tire, but I was up for the challenge. Oooh, that tire was heavy. I did 2 sets of 10, with GHD situps x12 after each set. Then the fire department came, which was a funny coincidence. When I told my family about it, I told them that someone must have called 911 because I killed my workout. My youngest just shook his head. I know....


Friday: rest day. Good thing. I was sore.

Saturday: I had 6 miles on the plan. No instructions, so I just decided to run by feel. The day before we had a huge storm and there was a lot of damage to my neighborhood. The streets and sidewalks were full of debris. There was a lot to look at. I wondered how I'd do, not paying attention to pace, and when I look at my pacing, I did surprisingly well. Very consistent! Made me smile.


Sunday: Today I had a 14 mile long run on the plan. When I woke up this morning, I still had no idea where I was going to run. It was a gorgeous, cool morning, perfect for a run. I finally decided to take it to the bike path, even though I was a little nervous about being isolated on the wooded part of the path. I also knew that to get my miles, I was going to have to run into the forest preserve, but I figured it was early enough that maybe the weirdos would still be sleeping. I started off slow on sore legs. I had neglected to foam roll last night. Big mistake! I also was feeling a little sick from a bad piece of fish I had for dinner last night. But I pushed on and by mile 7, I started to move a little faster. I would have been ok with sticking with 9:30 miles, but I let my legs do the talking. Instead of the out and back I had planned, I changed my mind, looped around the 3 mile circle twice, and went home on the neighborhood streets. It was nice not to have to look over my shoulder like I had been doing on the wooded path. I only stopped twice to walk and gel (I can't do it while I'm running) at miles 5 and 10, and once to drink water at a water fountain. The second half on the run was negative splits which was a shock since I was feeling kind of bad! I ended up running 14.64 with average pace of 9:17 per mile. I didn't feel great when I got home, so I made sure to refuel right away. I also had major issues with some chafing in--ahem--my bottom. As much as I prep for that before I go out, I can't always control what happens when I run. Gotta figure that one out...

Anyways, I'm really happy with my training this week. Even though my long run was faster than marathon pace, I'll take it because I ran so strong in spite of not feeling 100%!



17 comments :

  1. you totally have this-don't overthink! I am so excited for you! I use bike chamois cream and it really helps the chafing everywhere

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use that too...I don't know what happened yesterday but OUCH! All better today, tho. Geez....

      Delete
  2. Another stellar week! You've got nothing to be negative about on this training so just own it, girl!

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I see your training numbers, I KNOW you are in the right corral, lady! You're going to be just fine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just trying to get my head around it all! Self confidence...not one of my strong points! Thanks for the boost! :)

      Delete
  4. Ha! I love the Burpees picture...and I feel the same way about them even though they're so good for you. I've heard great things about Crossfit, but never tried it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I truly believe CF is the perfect cross training for runners. I've seen great results.

      Delete
  5. I love that Becky has you doing 10 burpees if you say anything negative to yourself...I might rethink my self-talk if I had that imposed upon me - ha! You had some GREAT training runs this week, young lady! I'm so excited for you! Not excited about the chafing, but...well, that's one of the not-so-fun parts, right? UGH. Thanks so much for linking up again this week; I always love your posts!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Today at our CF session, I made a comment and she gave me a warning! LOL!

      Delete
  6. You can always go back if you aren't comfortable with your assigned corral, you just can't move forward. But with the times you post, you are FAR faster than a 4:45 finish! You will do great!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great week of training!! You will rock Corral E!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fantastic long run! You're so ready for the marathon! And congrats on being bumped up into a faster corral. I hope your speed on your long run can show you that you deserve to be in Corral E. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a fantastic long run! That must be a huge confidence boost for your marathon training--you are right on track! And your speedy legs show that you definitely deserve to be in Corral E. :)

    ReplyDelete