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Monday, April 23, 2018

Grandma's Marathon Training: Week 10 Recap

Disclaimer:  I am running Grandma's Marathon in June as a BibRave Pro, which means my entry fee was covered for me. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador) and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!  

Last week was kind of a shit show in many ways.  I was happy to end the week only 1.81 miles short of the weekly mileage!

First off, the weather.  I mentioned that my long run done at the end of Week 9 was done in a sleet storm.  We woke up Sunday morning to a TON of snow.  And then got more snow on Wednesday.  This messed with early runs because while I don't mind running in snow, I do mind running on ice...as in, I don't do it.   By Friday afternoon, I was running in shorts so it was short-lived.  But still.  No one in the state was pleased about dealing with a lot of snow in mid-April!

Then work.  We have so much going on at work as in leadership changes, re-orgs and big projects.  It has definitely been mentally taxing.

Then kids.  My son was having some minor illness in the beginning of the week which of course impacts sleep. 

SO...it should come as no surprise that I did a lot of switching around of workouts this week, and I took an extra rest day which meant a double workout on Friday. I have such a difficult time not catastrophizing (is that a word?!) a bad day.  Instead of taking a big picture look and not letting an off day go, I immediately think, "I am so tired today OMG I am never going to be able to finish the marathon."  I just kept trying to show up and do the work. 

Sunday, April 15
Plan Says:  Easy 7 miles

What I did: 5 miles, 49:11 (9:50 avg pace)
Yeah.  Obviously the long run the day before took it out of me.  Another argument for NOT running the long run faster than prescribed.  After Saturday's long run, I watched a movie with the fam and did some snacking but did NOT eat or drink enough, which was obvious come Sunday.  Even though I was tired, I got on the treadmill Sunday afternoon and made it a mile...and quit.  I was fortunate to grab a cat nap on the couch and then returned to the treadmill on Sunday night after kids were in bed to go another 4.  Painfully slow.  I cut the cord early and went to bed.

Monday, April 16
Plan Says: 5 x 1200 m, with 400 meter recovery in between and 1 mile warm up and cool down

What I did:  Slept.  I was in a daze most of Monday.  I was seriously worried about falling asleep with the kids before my husband got home.  Add to it that my son was sick.  I decided to take the rest day and go to bed early.

Tuesday, April 17
Plan Says: Off

What I did:  Monday's missed speed workout.  For some reason, my early morning alarm did not go off so I got even more sleep than planned (97 out of 100 sleep score!).  I felt much better.  I hit the road after kids were in bed.

1200m = 0.75 mile on the roads.  Goal for these was 4:35

1.03 mile warm up, 8:17.0 (8:01 avg pace)

1.   4:23.0 (5:50 avg pace) / recovery: 0.25 miles,  2:04.4 (8:19 avg pace)
2.   4:13.3 (5:37 avg pace) / recovery: 0.25 miles,  2:20.4 (9:20 avg pace)
3.   4:18.8 (5:43 avg pace) / recovery: 0.25 miles,  2:21.3  (9:28 avg pace)
4.   4:19.1 (5:43 avg pace) /

1.51 mile cool down, 13:03 (8:40 avg pace)

So that was a little too fast.  I had to work for those 1200s but I just kept picturing those Boston marathon runners in the downpour.

And with that, I am DONE with the speed workouts on this plan!!  That seems crazy.  Next week, speed workouts are replaced with strength workouts until race week.  Strength workouts are longer intervals (mile, 1.5 mile, 2 mile and 3 mile repeats) done at marathon pace minus 10 seconds so 6:40 pace for me.

Wednesday, April 18
Plan Says: 8 mile tempo, 1 mile warm up and cool down

What I did:  I knew better than to attempt an 8 mile tempo workout less than 12 hours after I did a speed workout so I flipped Wednesday and Thursday around.  Early morning workout felt decent - the first few miles were a challenge but that was to be expected.  I wanted to do a bit more than the 5 prescribed miles, since I cut 2 miles off of Sunday's workout.

6.3 miles, 53:17 (8:27 avg pace)

Thursday, April 19
Plan Says: easy 5 miles

What I did: Nothing.  I had to get to work early for a day of meetings and silly me thought that I would be ok doing a tempo workout at night.  Well, I wore heeled boots on a day where I would be presenting (i.e., standing) for 9 hours.  My feet were so sore by the time I got home.  I was just not in the mood to run. So I didn't.

Friday, April 20
Plan Says: easy 8 miles

What I did:   My Friday work calendar was pretty laid back so I took full advantage. 

I got up at 5 to do an early easy-paced run.  5.6 miles, 47:00 (8:24 avg pace). 

I left work early to get the tempo run in.  It wasn't pretty, but it is done.

1 mile warm up, 7:57.8
8 miles tempo, 54:14 (6:47 avg) Mile splits: 6:54, 6:50, 6:47, 6:39, 6:45, 6:47, 6:58, 6:34
1 mile cool down, 9:01.8

Total miles: 15.6

Saturday, April 21
Plan says: long 10 miles

What I did:  I was a little concerned that my crazy Friday would impact my Saturday run, especially since I needed to get the Saturday run in during the morning as we had plans for the afternoon.  I did think it would be good training for Ragnar (which I have coming up in less than a month) to have all of these workouts so close together.

I felt really good for my long run.  It was nice outside and I listened to a podcast and just cruised along. 

11 miles, 1:26:08 (7:50 avg pace)
Mile splits:  7:57 / 7:59 / 8:01 / 7:48 / 7:57 / 7:46 / 7:45 / 7:37 / 7:38 / 7:49 / 7:47

Weekly Total
Plan says: 46 miles
What I did:  44.19 miles

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