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!
I have an Oiselle coffee mug that says "There is no secret. Keep going."
Desi Linden now famously has said, "Keep showing up."
This is what I have wrote in my training journal the last several weeks. Keeping my focus broad has really helped my anxiety with certain workouts (ahem, I'm looking at you tempo runs).
The other thing I will say is that early morning runs are really where it is at, when I can make them happen. With the exception of last Sunday's run, every single workout was done EARLY in the morning - alarms set between 4:30-5 AM, even Saturday. Yes, this sucks at that initial alarm, but I have found that I am in a much better mood if I can just get the inertia to get out of bed, get dressed and get out the door. I am writing this here for myself so I can commit this to memory because of course last week was textbook, but this week (as in yesterday and today) I have already fallen off the early morning train.
Goal A: Keep showing up in the early morning
Goal B: Keep showing up period
This week might end up being a Goal B week. :)
I am now finished with 11 of the 18 weeks in the Hanson's Beginner Marathon Plan. I am tired. (Duh. That, or should I say "cumulative fatigue" is the whole point of the plan). Something I have noticed with this cycle is that my most difficult day, mentally and physically, is Sunday, which is different from last Spring. My legs feel like lead on Sundays and I am so mentally worn out that it takes a lot more effort to get things going on this day. Recognizing this is helpful. I would have a tendency to say "Oh, I'm really tired...is that my body telling me to take it easy?!" {cue: anxiety} but now that I have a discernible pattern, I know that "Yes, I am tired - it's a Sunday. Get out there."
Of course I am not saying this is what everyone should think about themselves. Know thy own self. Something I am still trying to learn about myself is locating my comfort boundary. I think in the past, I have always erred on the side of comfort when it came to training and didn't really push past that much. I understand that pushing too far is asking for injury, but I think what I am learning this cycle is that I can push myself more than I have in the past and still be ok in terms of injury. And, with each passing week, I am more and more confident and excited about what my body and mind can do in this running space.
That's enough self-analyzing for one day. Here is last week's recap!
Sunday, April 22
I have an Oiselle coffee mug that says "There is no secret. Keep going."
Desi Linden now famously has said, "Keep showing up."
This is what I have wrote in my training journal the last several weeks. Keeping my focus broad has really helped my anxiety with certain workouts (ahem, I'm looking at you tempo runs).
The other thing I will say is that early morning runs are really where it is at, when I can make them happen. With the exception of last Sunday's run, every single workout was done EARLY in the morning - alarms set between 4:30-5 AM, even Saturday. Yes, this sucks at that initial alarm, but I have found that I am in a much better mood if I can just get the inertia to get out of bed, get dressed and get out the door. I am writing this here for myself so I can commit this to memory because of course last week was textbook, but this week (as in yesterday and today) I have already fallen off the early morning train.
Goal A: Keep showing up in the early morning
Goal B: Keep showing up period
This week might end up being a Goal B week. :)
I am now finished with 11 of the 18 weeks in the Hanson's Beginner Marathon Plan. I am tired. (Duh. That, or should I say "cumulative fatigue" is the whole point of the plan). Something I have noticed with this cycle is that my most difficult day, mentally and physically, is Sunday, which is different from last Spring. My legs feel like lead on Sundays and I am so mentally worn out that it takes a lot more effort to get things going on this day. Recognizing this is helpful. I would have a tendency to say "Oh, I'm really tired...is that my body telling me to take it easy?!" {cue: anxiety} but now that I have a discernible pattern, I know that "Yes, I am tired - it's a Sunday. Get out there."
Of course I am not saying this is what everyone should think about themselves. Know thy own self. Something I am still trying to learn about myself is locating my comfort boundary. I think in the past, I have always erred on the side of comfort when it came to training and didn't really push past that much. I understand that pushing too far is asking for injury, but I think what I am learning this cycle is that I can push myself more than I have in the past and still be ok in terms of injury. And, with each passing week, I am more and more confident and excited about what my body and mind can do in this running space.
That's enough self-analyzing for one day. Here is last week's recap!
Sunday, April 22
Plan Says: Easy 5 miles
What I did: 5.4 miles, 43:02 (7:58 avg pace)
Oooh my legs were tired at the start of this. The first and second miles were a little creaky but then it all came together. It was a beautiful day. My daughter was at a birthday party and my husband took my son to the park where I ended my run and we went for ice cream. YUM!
Oooh my legs were tired at the start of this. The first and second miles were a little creaky but then it all came together. It was a beautiful day. My daughter was at a birthday party and my husband took my son to the park where I ended my run and we went for ice cream. YUM!
Monday, April 23
Plan Says: 6 x 1 mile, with 400 meter recovery in between and 1 mile warm up and cool down
What I did: The strength workouts begin! My alarm went off around 5 AM and I was not excited. My son was up 3 times the night before and I was laying in bed just wanting to go back to sleep so badly. Then I remembered that my husband had a late work meeting so it was now or never. I peeled myself out of bed and got dressed.
I was grateful for the mile warmup because I needed it. My goal pace for strength workouts is my goal marathon pace minus 10 seconds so 6:40. These miles were not easy but they definitely weren't as difficult as they should have felt, especially since I did them too fast. This workout was a good confidence builder!
I was grateful for the mile warmup because I needed it. My goal pace for strength workouts is my goal marathon pace minus 10 seconds so 6:40. These miles were not easy but they definitely weren't as difficult as they should have felt, especially since I did them too fast. This workout was a good confidence builder!
1.00 mile warm up, 8:53
1. 1.01 mile, 6:34 / recovery: 0.28 miles, 2:38.7 (9:35 avg pace)
2. 1.01 mile, 6:35 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:31.8 (9:29 avg pace)
3. 1.01 mile, 6:28 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:27.9 (9:07 avg pace)
4. 1.01 mile, 6:25 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:23.0 (9:00 avg pace)
5. 1.01 mile, 6:25 / recovery: 0.26 miles, 2:22.3 (9:06 avg pace)
6. 1.01 mile, 6:14 (!)
1.25 mile cool down, 10:40 (8:27 avg pace)
A fun fact - When I finished this workout and came into the house and checked my phone, I found out that my nephew was born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 24
1. 1.01 mile, 6:34 / recovery: 0.28 miles, 2:38.7 (9:35 avg pace)
2. 1.01 mile, 6:35 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:31.8 (9:29 avg pace)
3. 1.01 mile, 6:28 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:27.9 (9:07 avg pace)
4. 1.01 mile, 6:25 / recovery: 0.27 miles, 2:23.0 (9:00 avg pace)
5. 1.01 mile, 6:25 / recovery: 0.26 miles, 2:22.3 (9:06 avg pace)
6. 1.01 mile, 6:14 (!)
1.25 mile cool down, 10:40 (8:27 avg pace)
A fun fact - When I finished this workout and came into the house and checked my phone, I found out that my nephew was born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 24
Plan Says: Off
What I did: Off
Wednesday, April 25
Plan Says: 8 mile tempo, 1 mile warm up and cool down
Wednesday, April 25
Plan Says: 8 mile tempo, 1 mile warm up and cool down
What I did: 8 mile tempo. Alarm went off in the 4s. GROAN
1 mile warm up, 8:21.3
8 miles tempo, 54:02 (6:45 avg) Mile splits: 6:59, 6:45, 6:56, 6:32, 6:47, 6:47, 6:43, 6:33
1.1 mile cool down, 9:08.5 (8:17 avg pace)
This is the last 8 mile tempo. All three of my 8 mile tempos were fairly consistent: 54:11, 54:14, 54:02. Next week these get bumped up to 9 mile tempos.
Thursday, April 26
1 mile warm up, 8:21.3
8 miles tempo, 54:02 (6:45 avg) Mile splits: 6:59, 6:45, 6:56, 6:32, 6:47, 6:47, 6:43, 6:33
1.1 mile cool down, 9:08.5 (8:17 avg pace)
This is the last 8 mile tempo. All three of my 8 mile tempos were fairly consistent: 54:11, 54:14, 54:02. Next week these get bumped up to 9 mile tempos.
Thursday, April 26
Plan Says: easy 5 miles
What I did: 6 miles, 50:22 (8:23 avg pace).
Friday, April 27
Friday, April 27
Plan Says: easy 8 miles
What I did: 8 miles, 1:05:12 (8:08 avg pace)
Saturday, April 28
Saturday, April 28
Plan says: long 16 miles
What I did: Another early morning. We had a busy day planned so I was setting my alarm for 5 AM even on a Saturday. Not ideal, but you do what you have to do to get the run in.
I wore a new pair of shoes on this run. I bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara's at my local running store's clearance shoe event over the winter to swap out when the time came. My Hoka's are over the 400 mile mark so I started transitioning the Kinvara's in. I felt tired in the early miles of this run but eventually I got into the rhythm.
This is the first of three 16 mile runs that I will do in the remaining weeks. If you are familiar with Hanson's you know that one does not run longer than 16 miles on their plan. One down, two to go.
16 miles, 2:07:28 (7:58 avg pace)
Mile splits: 8:33 / 8:26 / 8:18 / 8:06 / 8:05 / 8:10 / 8:19 / 8:02 / 7:55 / 7:45 / 7:45 / 7:37 / 7:44 / 7:37 / 7:37 / 7:27
I wore a new pair of shoes on this run. I bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara's at my local running store's clearance shoe event over the winter to swap out when the time came. My Hoka's are over the 400 mile mark so I started transitioning the Kinvara's in. I felt tired in the early miles of this run but eventually I got into the rhythm.
This is the first of three 16 mile runs that I will do in the remaining weeks. If you are familiar with Hanson's you know that one does not run longer than 16 miles on their plan. One down, two to go.
16 miles, 2:07:28 (7:58 avg pace)
Mile splits: 8:33 / 8:26 / 8:18 / 8:06 / 8:05 / 8:10 / 8:19 / 8:02 / 7:55 / 7:45 / 7:45 / 7:37 / 7:44 / 7:37 / 7:37 / 7:27
Weekly Total
Plan says: 54 miles
What I did: 55.21 miles
**Fun Fact: This mileage is higher than any weekly mileage I have EVER done! I think I am justified in being tired.
**Fun Fact: This mileage is higher than any weekly mileage I have EVER done! I think I am justified in being tired.
Wonderful blog! This is very informative site. I am totally pleased by your excellent work. Many thanks for sharing. best multivitamin for thinning hair
ReplyDelete