Marathon Training Week 7

Tuesday: rest day.  Just a 2000m row on the night shift.

Wednesday: 4 miles on the tready.  Ran on a good treadmill this time and it said pretty much the same thing that my Garmin said when I was done running.  YAY!

Thursday: another rest day.  However, I did do 2000 meters on the row machine on my overnight overtime shift.

Friday: ran 5.8 miles easy.  Was originally planning on doing the same 5 mile run with the middle mile being full of 50m sprints with short recoveries, but my calves were feeling wonky so I decided to take it easy and not risk straining my calf muscles.

• Saturday: same as last week, but instead of just not wanting to go to the gym and do my cross training, I sort of ran out of time.  But, I did spend almost 2 hours walking around my apartment complex.  My gym workout would have taken about the same, maybe a little less.  So yea, I guess I just didn’t want to go.  But, the walk was peaceful and I got to chat with a good friend on FB messenger, so it was all good.  And walking can be considered cross training.

• Sunday: LONG RUN DAY!  I’m doing the cut down weeks this time around with marathon training…like I should be doing.  It helps rest your legs if you do a shorter long run every 3-4 weeks.  I know this, I just never wanted to do it.  I just wanted to build the miles up and up and up.  Not this time, though.  I’m getting more ambitious with my time goals, so I’ve got to train smarter.  Anyway, tangent!  I ran 10 miles this day.  I did the first 9 easy, 12+ min/mi pace, then the final mile I did in 9:27!  I was originally planning to do a fast finish the last 2 miles, but I got to mile 8 and my legs were tired, so I didn’t want to take the chance of injury, you know?  Especially with my calves being a little wonky lately.

• Monday: my “coach” friend suggested I do a HMGP tempo run.  She suggested 2 mile w/u, 4 miles HMGP, 2 mile c/d.  1) I just ran 10 miles the day before and 2) I had some other things to do before heading to work this day, so I didn’t have time to do 8.  So, I did 5.  I did 1 mile w/u, 3 miles a smidge faster than HMGP, then 1 mile c/d.  I felt great during this run.  Leading up to walking out the door to run it, I was nervous…you know the nervous feeling you get leading up to a race where you have a big goal?  Yea, that kind of nervous.  I like that feeling a lot.  I was afraid I wouldn’t hit my paces.  And, well, my w/u and c/d miles were a little faster than I would have preferred (mid 11’s), but they were comfortable.  Then I went all progressive with my HMGP miles.  “Coach” suggests keeping them as close to the same pace as possible…within a couple/few seconds of each other.  So I’ll make sure to do that next time.

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And week #7 is all completed!  I’m getting closer to being halfway through marathon training for the South Padre Island Marathon.  I am always serious about my training, but not SO serious that I risk the chance of running not being fun anyway.  That’s why I don’t follow a super regimented training plan or hire a coach.  Although I am certain I would benefit from a coach, I can’t afford that right now anyway.  But, I have my “coach” friend who does help me out with quality advice from her own experiences of training for marathons such as Boston and from being in formal marathon training groups and working under professional coaches.  For the past 2 years, she has told me that doing a cutback week is essential, but I resisted.  This week, I did my first cutback long run.  I know my legs will thank me, I just hope they thank me by allowing me to hit my paces in November and make my current marathon finish time goal a reality and not just a dream.  I know if I can succeed with this goal, that I can continue to succeed…while I continue to keep running as a FUN activity, just one that I’m pretty serious about and have goals and dreams for other than just doing it.  Although I do love just running for the sake of running, I really do enjoy having a purpose to my running.  I should will continue doing my speed work/tempo runs the day after my long run so I can get my legs used to running faster when they’re a little tired.