Greetings from the end of the first “real” week of marathon training. This was a tough week to start–the weather was a mix of cold temps, slush, snow, and rain, which made the sidewalks pretty treacherous. I don’t know if it’s just me but solo treadmill miles are my least favorite thing. The paces feel SO much harder inside than outside, and I just don’t enjoy it anywhere near as much. I was incredibly happy to finally get back outside on Friday and Saturday. This coming week is going to be crazy warm (64 on Thursday???) so I might even get to break out the shorts!
This felt like the first week I’m really digging into marathon training–my long run was the most I’ve run at once since Chicago, and I did my first real tempo workout in addition to track. I’m also starting to test out some fueling strategies and work on my recovery and cross-training to stay healthy and injury-free. I just got a set of resistance bands, so I’m excited to add those to the routine.
Saturday I met up with Alexa for 14 miles, which we kept at a pretty easy pace and chatted the whole way. After a quick shower I hopped in the car and headed up to Jackson, NH for a ski weekend with my J, my parents, and my brother. I grew up cross-country skiing and Jackson is one of my favorite places to do it–the trails are varied, fun, and really well maintained, and the scenery can’t be beat. The added bonus was that all of the gross weather down in Boston was snow up north, so the base depths are within 2-3 feet. Plus, the weather was in the 40s-50s so we didn’t even have to worry about bundling up! Saturday we only skied for a couple of hours but it was the perfect easy shakeout for my stiff legs. After a fabulous dinner at Saalt we turned in pretty early.
Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out for a 16k jaunt. The warm temps made for some really slow snow, but we took our time and enjoyed the scenery, including a requisite stop at the Cocoa Cabin (yup, the BEST). There were a few raindrops along the way but it cleared right up and turned out to be a beautiful and fun day.
Week 3: 34.1 miles total
- Monday: 5.5 “easy” treadmill miles
- Tuesday: Track–Strava got all confused but the details are here (in the description). 5.6 total miles
- Wednesday: 60 minute yoga, strength training routine (clamshells, squats, etc.)
- Thursday: 5 miles of tempo intervals (2x 10 minutes at 7:10-7:20 pace) on the dreadmill
- Friday: 4 easy (outside!!)
- Saturday: 14 miles + skiing
- Sunday: Skiing!
Linking up with The Weekly Wrap (hosted by Hoho Runs and Miss Sippipiddlin) and with Eat Pray Run DC for her training recap linkup. Also, joining the Jess’s (Jess Runs ATL and The Right Fits) for their weekly recap linkup!
Shorter and Faster 
So fun! I miss snow – we’ve basically had NONE here in DC. That being said, I’ve run in shorts the past few days and that is pretty awesome 🙂
It’s so funny–we’re going from a foot of snow to shorts weather this week! You never know what you’re gonna get in New England!
I just started reading your blog (and Strava!)- a friend recommended it to me. Looking forward to following along in your training! If you’ regularly post weekly recap, join my and Jess from Jess Run’s ATL’s link-up here:
http://www.therightfits.com/2017/02/weekly-recap-8-weeks-boston-marathon/
I have a few friends running Sugarloaf- looks like a fun one (and hilly??) Good luck!
Thanks so much for stopping by–your blog is awesome!! I definitely plan to keep up the weekly updates and would love to join you and Jess. Good luck with your Boston training–can’t wait to follow along 🙂
Great week of training!
Im with you on the treadmill, I hate it and avoid it at all costs, luckily, I don’t have to go on it very often except for when I go on holiday since I don’t have a gym membership or anything, I HAVE to go outside to run!
I’ve never been skiing. It sounds like so much fun!
Treadmills are the worst. So ironic though that I first started running on treadmills. And now, even a mile is hard!
Dropping in from the weekly wrap up, first time to your blog! I got crazy exhausted reading through your training recap!!! Which marathon are you doing?
Looking forward to following!
Thanks for stopping by! I’m running the Sugarloaf Marathon in Maine–hoping the hard work will get me my BQ 🙂
Snow and bundled up to shorts? Hey your weather sounds a lot like ours. Except the snow, no we don’t want that stuff down here not matter how pretty it is!
I love downhill skiing, but have never tried cross country. I think I’d enjoy the scenery out on those trails. When I run on the TM, it feels like an entirely different activity than outdoor running. Thankfully, where I live — I can pretty much run outside year round. Good luck with your marathon training and thanks for linking!