Last week I ran the most miles in one week that I’ve ever run! This was just after the previously highest run volume week ever. Needless to say by Sunday I was tired! There was less intensity this week but I think the volume from the 2 weeks started to wear on me a bit by the end. The 20 miler at the end of the week was a bit rough as I had some stomach cramping and achiness thanks to Mother Nature’s timing. I actually considered for ONE second taking my friend Brooke’s suggestion to stop at mile 15.5 and head home in her car but I kept running (and finished with my fastest mile of the whole run!).
The New York Marathon was also a highlight of the running week. I started following the coverage before my long run and came back from it to find out that some rock stars pulled out BQs/PRs in the crazy wind. Their success was fuel for my fire – no matter what conditions CIM throws at me, I’m ready! I almost got EXCITED for the challenge of miles 20-26.2 of the marathon. Who am I?!?
Monday:
AM: Pilates
PM: Kickball. You read right. Mike convinced me to join a friend’s kickball team which was in need of players. It was actually really fun, not intense at all and I didn’t even get to run the bases anyway as our team ended up being pretty large and I am really good at kicking the ball straight into the air so it’s easy to catch. I wouldn’t even really count it as a workout.
Tuesday:
AM: I had signed up for Pilates because I had 3 classes that would expire by the end of the week, but after we got home late and I realized how busy work would be on Tuesday, I figured I should do my run in the morning instead of going to Pilates. I knew if I went to Pilates the run probably wouldn’t happen late in the dark alone. So instead I ran 8 miles easy with Mike. I didn’t regret it!
Wednesday:
AM: Threshold Run. 2 miles easy, 3 x 10 min @ half marathon pace w/ 3 min recovery, 2 miles easy (9 miles). I ended up adding a little on to the end to catch up with Mike so we could run together, so this run was 9 miles in total. I felt really good on this run, especially considering it was a pre-dawn workout. I aimed for somewhere between 7:30-7:40 and my average paces on the 10 min segments were 7:36, 7:27 and 7:36 (about 1 1/3 mile). I finished feeling like I could do a couple more!
PM: 20 minutes of yoga/stretching after work. My lower back has been super tight from sitting at my desk so long after all these workouts so this yoga felt great!
Thursday:
PM: I got out of work early and got to sleep in! I definitely needed it. After work I ran 5 slow and easy miles and then took about a 30 minute break before heading to Club Pilates. The Pilates class was pretty tough and I took it easy on the legs. I even switched out the springs for easier ones to help out with that.
Friday:
AM: 7 miles easy with Mike! The dark runs aren’t nearly as bad when he runs with me. The pace was a little quicker and my legs were lighter than the night before which was a good sign.
Friday was Halloween – the finance team dressed up at work but that was all the Halloween excitement for me. Mike and I went on a fun date night but nothing crazy.
Saturday:
8.4 miles easy-moderate followed by 15 minutes of Yoga (Susie’s YouTube video), also with Mike. We enjoyed a wedding and baby/bridal shower-free weekend by sleeping in and taking a nice long nap!
Sunday:
20 miles, Zone 2. I wore my heart rate monitor for this run for the first time in weeks because the battery was going bizerk. I was happy that at the end of this run, although it was not exactly a breeze, my heart rate was 11 bpm under the top of Zone 2 (ie the bottom half of Zone 2) which is good. When I run 20 miles heading South on the coast form my house I always hit the turnaround point at the top of Torrey Pines. This run had about 1,400 feet of climbing in total. I ran the first 4.5 miles with Mike and the next 11.5 with Brooke which meant I only had to run 4 miles on my own. I’m so thankful for running buddies during this training cycle! It makes the miles fly by.
- Miles Run 57.4
- Strength/Stretching: 2.25 hours (not including kickball)
- Total Time: ~11.50 hours
Wow! I didn’t realize that I ran for so many hours last week. I guess that’s what happens when you run a lot of miles and you also run a lot of them in Zone 2!
What is the farthest you usually run during marathon training? Do you run 20+ miles more than once?
I like to run a 22 miler about 3 weeks before the marathon. Then taper with a 16 and then a 11 the following 2 weeks. It is amazing how easy a 16 will feel after 22! Keep running strong and keep visualizing your goal!
Congrats on the 20-miler, especially at the end of two tough weeks! So nice you and Mike are doing a lot of training together!
Brooke is doing AZ, right? She must be getting excited!
I think the furthest I ever ran during marathon training was 15, but next time I’d definitely do at least an 18. (When training for my first IM I ran one 20 miler…and I said never again!)
Yes she is doing AZ! She’s ready and excited! We wanted to go cheer her on but it’s been a crazy year and we can’t easily swing it with marathon training .
Awesome week of workouts and congrats on your mileage PR! You are going to rock your race! xoxo
Thanks Jesica!
Great week as usual!! Definitely nice to have training partners to break up the long runs!!
I usually like to do a 22 or 23 miler( at least 1 20 miler) for marathon training. it is totally a mental thing for me. BUT i did only 1 20 miler (with lots of 16 and 18s) because my coach wanted to be a little more conservative because i was just off Ironman training. It seemed to work just fine because i got the PR with brutal conditions! 🙂