Well, the Boston marathon is 1 week away and things are buzzing! I absolutely love living in such a mecca for runners and the atmosphere around the marathon is super special. This year, my goal is to let it feed and inspire my running, instead of letting myself fall prey to the jealousy monster. If all goes well, next year I’ll get to be a true part of the madness!
This week was another mileage test for me–I ran 52.9 miles total and truly didn’t feel any sluggishness at all! My major lesson learned in terms of adding mileage is to skew the additional miles towards easy/recovery runs. I’m really thriving with some harder workouts on Tuesdays/Thursdays, long runs on Saturdays, and keeping the rest nice and easy pace-wise.
I did hit the track this week–and of course, it was in the high 40s and pouring rain for our workout. Thank goodness for my girls and their gosh darn positivity for holding me accountable! It’s never ideal, but there is something about running in the rain that makes you feel like a real badass. Plus, you never know what kind of weather race day will bring–gotta be prepared for anything!
Another major highlight this week was really nailing my fueling during my first 20 miler of this training cycle! I got 3 gels down with no GI distress and felt perfectly hydrated throughout (thanks in no small part to adding Enduropacks to my water). I also ran the last 10 miles of this one solo, which was a good mental exercise for me since I’ve been doing most long runs with friends.
On Sunday Alexa and I went to a really lovely workshop called “Be Race Ready” with one of my favorite yoga teachers/runners. We did some gentle yoga and meditation using mantras and other calming techniques. It really helped me to focus on trusting my training–I’m working so hard and it’s SO important to keep my mind in the game along with my legs!
So what’s on tap for my marathon weekend? First off, lots of runs in shorts this week–it’s going to be lovely out! I’m also planning to head to the expo with Alexa on Friday, Saturday I’m running a fun BAA 5k with my friend Megan who is visiting for the weekend, and then I’ll be volunteering at the mile 21 water stop yelling myself silly on marathon Monday. Can’t wait–best of luck to everyone who is running! You are all AMAZING!!! Also, happy Passover if you celebrate–go carb load with some matzoh balls 🙂
Week 10: 52.9 miles total
- Monday: 7 easy + strides
- Tuesday: Rainy track day! 7 miles total, speedwork at 6:56 (details here)
- Wednesday: 5.1 recovery miles, banded strength circuit
- Thursday: 1 up, 6 at MGP, 1 down–8 miles at 8:00 min pace
- Friday: 5 easy with J
- Saturday: 20 miles!
- Sunday: “Be Race Ready” yoga/mental prep workshop with Cara
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!
Ladies and gents, THE LAST LONG RUN IS DONE. Which mean–IT’S TAPER TIME!!! Ok, sorry for shouting, but I am SO excited to be heading into the last stage of training with just 19 days to go until the race. I’m definitely feeling a zillion times more prepared than I did last year at this point, so it’s extra gratifying to be dialing things down a little bit.
I think it was a combination of physical and mental exhaustion, but either way, I ended up leaving work early and taking a nap before reviving myself for class.
Oops! Now all is well and I can’t wait to play around with all of the features, the most important of which is that I don’t have to wait around for my old school Garmin Forerunner 10 to spend 5 minutes searching for satellites every morning. Huzzah.
Shorter and Faster 