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CIM Marathon Training Week 11 – The First 20 Miler

IMG_5488
Almost 16 miles into my 20 miler

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!

Great Sunrise During My Tempo
Great Sunrise During My Tempo Run

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!

Great Sunset Saturday
Great Sunset Saturday

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.

IMG_5489

Weekly Totals:
  • 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? 

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November 6, 2014 By fitnessfatale 6 Comments

Filed Under: Running, Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah (TheRunningGreenGals)

    November 6, 2014 at 2:31 pm

    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!

    Reply
  2. Abby

    November 6, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    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!)

    Reply
    • FitnessFatale

      November 6, 2014 at 8:01 pm

      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 .

      Reply
  3. Jesica @rUnladylike

    November 7, 2014 at 3:58 am

    Awesome week of workouts and congrats on your mileage PR! You are going to rock your race! xoxo

    Reply
    • FitnessFatale

      November 7, 2014 at 5:54 pm

      Thanks Jesica!

      Reply
  4. Leslie @ Triathlete Treats

    November 9, 2014 at 6:19 am

    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! 🙂

    Reply

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