NY Marathon Training – Week 3

Last week was a good one and I am starting to see some improvements in speed and endurance (and energy levels compared to last week) which is always encouraging. Since I started officially training with only 15 weeks to go, there are less than 12 weeks until race day and I want to make each one count. Every person I talk to who has run the New York Marathon before has told me it is one of their favorite (if not favorite) race. Although it won’t be my fastest marathon, I want it to be the most enjoyable. And we all know that the only way to really enjoy a marathon is to be well trained and to run the pace you trained for. So, while I still have no grand pace goals, I will continue to push myself in training (which I enjoy!).

Monday: Upper Fix Extreme

Tuesday: 7 mile hilly run. There are several trail routes near my house and I usually default to the flattest one. On Tuesday I took a detour and made up a new route which involved A LOT of hills, some of which were steep enough to warrant walking. I tried to keep the effort on the lower end overall, with the exception of some of the hills since this was meant to be an endurance run, not a speed workout.

 

 

Wednesday: Speedwork: 6 x 800 with 1/4 mile recovery, 6 miles total. I did this workout on my treadmill (which I purchased a few months ago knowing that it would be rare for me to get to a track and that I’d need it for training when Mike is out of town). For most of the workout I listened to the Running on Om podcast interview with Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon (or any organized marathon for that matter). It was certainly a motivating podcast to do repeats to!

As for pace, I wasn’t really sure what to do. I went with the Yasso 800s approach which means you should run the 800s in the same time in minutes as it would take you to run the marathon in hours. I estimated that I might run a 3:50 marathon which means that I should run my 800s (half a mile) in 3 minutes 50 seconds. That equals a 7:40 pace. I started at this pace for the first couple of intervals (at 1% incline) and then realized it may be a little too easy so I bumped it up a little once and then again. Next time I’ll shoot for closer to a 7- 7:20 pace for these intervals.

Thursday – I slept in (thank you Siena for sleeping til 7!!!) and met Kate after work for 7 easy miles along the coast. It was so wonderful to catch up with her and the miles ticked by so quickly. The pace felt easy and I didn’t want to stop running! Kate is someone who I regard as much faster than me so I wasn’t sure how this run would go but luckily she abides by the “run the easy runs slow” principle and it worked out perfectly.

Friday – 20 minutes of 21 Day Fix Pilates. I snoozed a little too long and about 10 minutes into my workout Siena woke up. I tried to see how long she would play nice with me while I did the workout (Mike has a Friday morning call so I am on baby duty on Friday mornings) but she only lasted about 10 minutes before she wanted to be fed and I had to stop the workout. I figured it was better than nothing!

Saturday – 12.5 hilly miles. I met up with the Seaside Striders run group again for a long run, this time at 6:10 AM. My plan actually called for a cut-back week of only 10 miles but the group was going longer and I ended up doing 12.5 miles. The route was really hilly, including up Torrey Pines, so this was a tough run! Again, I felt like I was chasing rabbits but it was so fun to run with a group!

Later that morning we headed up to Orange County and I went to a college friend’s bridal shower and then we went over to one of my good high school friend’s house (I grew up in Huntington Beach) with another high school friend, her husband and her son for a fun afternoon/evening of catching up and even a few rounds of Catch Phrase. It was so fun to see everyone and Siena enjoyed playing with her two boy friends.

Sunday – 21 Day Fix Dirty 30 (regular) and 3.5 mile run with 3.1 mile progression. Mike and I  started the day by watching the final 30 minutes of the women’s marathon which was incredibly inspirational. An hour or so later after Siena went down for her nap I did 21 Day Fix Dirty 30. I had planned to follow it up with 21 Day Fix yoga but after the workout I was feeling really pumped up so I jumped on the treadmill. I felt like running hard and decided I’d run a 5k. My pace started in the mid 8s and eventually I made my way down to the high 7s, finishing the 5k in 25 minutes. It made me want to race a 5k again!

Weekly Totals: 

• Miles Run: 36
• Strength: ~1.5 hours
• Planks: ~10 minutes (8 planks, between 1-1.5 minutes each)

This was a good week! Two good hard runs, two runs with friends, and lots of hills. The variety is definitely keeping me interested!

How was your week? Did you watch the Women’s Olympic Marathon?