I might’ve jumped the boat a little bit, as my “official” marathon training block doesn’t start until the end of September. That part will be a super focused 8-10 week block. However, the training we are doing now is definitely laying the foundation for that and it looks and feels a whole lot like marathon training to me!
Week of August 28 – September 3
Monday: 7 miles easy (80° w/ dew point of 71°)
Tuesday: 8 miles easy (74° w/ dew point of 69°) + 45 minutes of Pilates
Wednesday: 9.5 miles w/ quality (74° w/ dew point of 69°)
Thursday: 10 miles easy (76° w/ dew point of 69°)
Friday: 3 mile stroller walk + 5 miles easy (81° w/ dew point of 78°)
Saturday: 8 miles w/ quality (83° w/ dew point of 81°)
Sunday: 15 miles easy (76° w/ dew point of 74°) + 3 mile stroller walk
Wednesday’s workout was a 2 mile warm up, 8 X 1k at threshold pace w/ 1 minute walking recoveries and a 2 mile cool down. The goal pace for the intervals was 6:10 and I ended up averaging just under 6 minute pace (i.e., 5:59!). I found a neighborhood loop nearby that was almost exactly 1k out and 1k back, so that made it easy. I was really, really pleased with how this one went.
I ended up modifying Saturday’s workout that was supposed to be a 2 mile warm up, 12 X 200, 3 X 800 and a 2 mile cool down. It rained all morning and by the time I got to the track, it was really just too hot to be there. I felt like I was baking! I did the 200s and called it a day. I averaged 5:09 pace for the 200s, but I was cooked.
Total – 68 miles (62 miles running and 6 miles of walking with the little man in the stroller)
Week of September 4 – September 10
Monday: 7 miles easy (76° w/ dew point of 73°)
Tuesday: 8 miles easy (73° w/ dew point of 65°) + 45 minutes of Pilates
Wednesday: 9 miles w/ quality (74° w/ dew point of 70°)
Thursday: 11 miles easy (80° w/ dew point of 77°)
Friday: 6.5 miles easy (73° w/ dew point of 66°)
Saturday: 9.5 miles w/ quality (74° w/ dew point of 66°) + 3 mile stroller walk
Sunday: 16 miles w/ a slight push at the end (70° w/ dew point of 64°) + 3 mile stroller walk + 30 minutes of strength later in the day
Wednesday’s workout was a 2 mile warm up, 5 miles at half marathon effort and a 2 mile cool down. My goal pace was 6:25 and I averaged 6:19. I even ran on some rolling hills (less than 200 feet off gain, but definitely noticeable at the time), so was pleased to be able to stay on pace with some rolling terrain.
Saturday’s workout was a 2 mile warm up, 16 X 300 w/ 200 recovery and a 2 mile cool down. Oddly enough, the workout portion of this run ended up also being 5 miles and I averaged 6:20 including the recoveries. My splits for the 300s were all between 61-64 seconds (goal was 63!). Thankfully I was way less gassed at the end of this one than after my 200s the week before!
The goal for Sunday’s long run was to run for 2 hours at an easy pace, but progressing down to just under 7:00 pace at the end. I am here to tell you that while I did it, it certainly didn’t feel like a walk in the park. Probably had something to do with the track workout the day before. Splits for the last 5 miles were 7:08, 7:02, 6:54, 6:55, 6:54. Done and done. I took 3 gels during this run (at 30, 60 and 90 minutes). I am taking this whole “gut training” thing very seriously during this training cycle. I actually don’t think I’ve ever taken more than 3 gels in an actual marathon, but I plan to this time around. I feel like fueling is probably the biggest missing piece of my marathon equation. I’ve done *okay* at it in a couple of my marathons, but I have never done a carb load leading in, nor have I ever taken in what I now know to be the recommended amount of fuel during. Excited to see how that plays out come race day!
Which leads me to one other piece that has also been missing from my marathon equation and that is strength training! I’m continuing with Pilates, which I also do consider to be “strength,” but this time I am adding in two sessions per week with a strength coach who works with runners. I did my first session with him Sunday and it went well. We’re easing into things gradually, so it wasn’t anything too crazy. We did some squats, pushups, jump rope, burpees, bear crawls, side shuffles, shoulder presses, bicep curls and some ab work. My core was on fire for a couple days!
Total – 73 miles (67 miles running and 6 miles of walking with the little man in the stroller)