Skip to main content

Tuesday Marathon Training Updates

I've not really been talking much about any of my training lately. I don't know that it's all that exciting. I'm training for a marathon so that means I'm running. And running. And fitting in cross-training and weights. I don't even want to tally up the time I'm spending doing these things. Anyone else ever feel like training starts to take over their lives? I'm not even to my true long runs yet.

Anyhoo ... This past weekend was a good one overall. Saturday was a bit full, but I made up for that on Sunday with lots of reading time on the patio. Saturday morning was actually finally cool enough so that I could sleep in for a change. It was so nice not having to get up and out the door by 6 am on the weekend. In fact, I didn't head out until 8.

My goal was to shoot for 13-14 miles depending on how I felt. The temps were hovering just below 60 degrees and the skies were overcast. I was a happy runner. I may have been a bit too happy though. My intention was to take it slow and do 10 solo miles then stop by the house where Jason would join me for the last 3-4 miles.

I am so used to the 10-11 mile range both physically and mentally. I've toughed it out with decent paces even in the grueling summer heat. So with the cooler temps, I ended up going a lot faster than I should have, than I needed to. I need to really keep in mind that I'm going farther with my distances now. I'm not stopping at that comfort spot I'm so used to. It's a learning curve for me for sure.

 I've only hit 14 miles 3 or 4 times before. So, 10 miles was at an 8:12 pace and I felt great. Until I got to the house then realized I had another 3-4 to go. Honestly, had Jason not been going with me, I probably would have cut myself short at 12 miles because the fatigue was setting in. Again, I'm a complete work in progress here.

Thankfully Jason is way better at pacing so he helped slow me down and got me through the last 4 miles and once I was done, I knew I could have done 15 so that was a nice feeling.


After the run I stretched, put my feet up and tried to recover properly. I felt good, better than I had expected even. I wasn't tired. I was only minimally sore. However, I had been having major GI problems and was having a hard time wanting to eat anything at all. Not a good thing when you need to re-fuel.

The rest of the day my stomach never felt quite right, but I made myself eat especially when we went to lunch with my sister. Then we had a couple of different house gatherings to go to. This is when my fatigue set in like a ton of bricks. It hit hard and I wanted to just do a face plant and sleep wherever I landed. Let's just say I was out cold by 9 pm (probably earlier) and slept until 7:30 the next morning.

Sunday morning was again cool so no rushing to get out the door. I wasn't sure if I was going to feel up to a run after Saturday, but I felt surprisingly good. I set out for a run planning to just listen to my body for pace and distance. I did much better slowing down, so it ended up being a really good recovery run. After some house chores and a grocery store trip, I spent most of the day sitting outside reading as it turned out to be a gorgeously sunny day.

Monday I needed a break from running. I was able to get in biceps and triceps during lunch and a bike ride after work was in question. The dogs were at the groomer and pickup time never seems to go as scheduled. Luckily, they ended up being ready early so that I could pick them up and get home missing rush hour traffic. This also meant that Jason was able to come straight home so we could head out for a bike ride.

We haven't ridden outside much this summer at all to be honest. I've been way more comfortable on the trainer now that I'm clipped in. I'm really a big chicken and just not all that comfortable on the bike to begin with. But each outing I do get a little bit more comfortable.


The only problem with an evening workout, especially a bike ride for some reason, is that I have a really hard time winding down and sleeping. So my sleep was fitful. And it didn't help that Maddie and Heath woke us up around 3:45. Just a big fiasco as Heath knocks down a gate to come up, Maddie has now figured out that yes she can get over it too and she comes up. Only she won't just lay down. She's like a shark that can't stop moving ... ever ... always in motion.

When the alarm went off just after 5 am I wasn't sure I could peel myself out of bed for my run. I suddenly decided I no longer wanted to run. Period. Have you ever done that? Well, I did, but I talked myself off the ledge and got myself out the door. It's getting so hard to be motivated when it's just plain dark out and you don't have a partner in crime to kick you in your pants. This time of year, I find that I get myself spooked really easily. That's great for the old heart and causes some mini sprint sessions.

My legs were heavier than expected from the bike ride, but it could have also been more from lack of sleep and the humidity that has settled back in. At one point I thought I'd be ok with 3 miles because it felt like I was just running in place. It took 5 miles for my legs to finally get on board with the whole running concept. But they finally did and I ended up with 8.6 miles. Tomorrow I have hill repeats on tap. I'm trying not to think about that bit of torture though.

Anyone else spook themselves running in the dark this time of year? Anyone ever just suddenly decide, hey, I don't want to do X workout anymore, ever, I'm done? 


Comments

  1. Marathon training is rough. Well when you get to miles 15-18. That was hard for me. Maybe because it hot. Lol!! Keep us posted

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package