Run the World (GIRLS)!

Hi! I survived the second week of marathon training. Woo! Here’s how it went down.

Monday (Labor Day): 8 miles (8:23 pace)

Rebecca and I met Monday morning for an easy 8 miles. It was so nice to have a long weekend!

Tuesday: 2.75 mi. WU, 15 X 1:00 on/1:00 off, 1 mi. CD 

Tuesday was definitely a Monday. I woke up with a really sore neck. I feel like the frequency of these random neck cricks has gotten much higher recently. I don’t know specifically what causes it other than the typical suspects of sleeping funny, straining to look at a computer all day and general stress. Regardless, it’s kind of debilitating in the moment. I had a workout on tap for Tuesday morning and I definitely thought about postponing it, but that would’ve basically meant rearranging the entire rest of the week of workouts and I decided to just suck it up and go for it.

Daniel took a rest day (he biked 40 miles and ran 5 miles on Monday), but thankfully Young Daniel and Cody came over to run with me. Cody ran the first three miles with us and then headed back so that he could get to work and Young Daniel and I were on our own for the 15 X 1:00 repeats with a 1:00 rest in between each pickup. I programmed the intervals into my watch and so it counted down the minutes on and the minutes off for us, which is nice. The minutes on were supposed to be HARD. Coach gave me a goal range of 5:30 to 5:45 for these.

Our average paces for the minutes on were 6:29, 6:35, 6:20, 5:41, 5:47, 5:55, 5:57, 5:45, 6:12, 5:51, 6:04, 5:57, 6:18, 5:49 and 5:43. We were a little over goal range and not super consistent, but I know without a doubt that we put in sufficient effort to reap the benefits from this workout.

As a semi-random side note: I was legit late to work Tuesday morning because I couldn’t brush my hair out. My hair tends to be a good barometer of the humidity and Tuesday it must’ve been out of control. Even after two rounds of conditioner, I was dealing with a massive, stubborn, tangled web of lies hair. I spent an extra 10 or 15 minutes trying to brush it out before realizing that it just wasn’t going happen. Thank goodness for the top knot!

I was able to get worked in to see my sports chiropractor Tuesday afternoon. He fixed my neck and also stretched out my hips, quads, hamstrings, etc. while I was there. I’ve not had any significant issues (knock on wood), but I am planning to see him fairly regularly during this training cycle to make sure that I stay as healthy as possible (I think the term for this is “prehab” :)). Prehab and 10 minutes of strength work per day … getting that #extrasalt in (the Salty Running coined term to describe all of the little things that we know we *should* do, but rarely make time for).

Wednesday: 5 miles (8:54 pace) 

Phew. My legs felt sore and heavy Wednesday morning. I was definitely feeling the effects from the quicker running on Tuesday and probably also from the chiro adjustment (I’m always the most sore the day after an adjustment). I did a loop with the Daniels and we were all moving a little slower than normal.

Thursday: 10 miles (7:55 pace) + 5 miles (8:23 pace)

Thursday morning the schedule called for 10 miles with 8 miles at an easy pace and 2 miles at a “brisk” pace. This run was similar to one I did last week, except for last week it was 5 easy and 5 brisk, which made this week’s 2 brisk miles seem like nothing more doable. Waking up to temperatures in the SIXTIES also made the run seem more doable as well! Oh my goodness … it was heavenly!

We (the Daniels and I) did the workout on the same 10 mile route from last week and picked it up during miles 8 (6:53) and 9 (6:42), which gave us one mile to cool down a bit at the very end. The two brisk miles felt really smooth and fairly effortless, which I guess is good because eventually I will need to be able to do 24 more miles at that pace (insert wide eye emoji). It sounds a tad intimidating for sure, but that’s the whole point of having a training cycle … we gotta put in the work to chase those big goals!

Thursday evening Rebecca and I met with one of the local running groups and did an easy 5 miles. We had both done 10 miles with some faster paced stuff that morning, so we just wanted to get in a few easy miles to shake out our legs. An added bonus was that it just so happened to be #tbt and it was the anniversary of our annual photo with Savannah! She will be 3 tomorrow! Time flies.

Friday: 5 miles (8:39 pace) + 5 miles (WITH JESSICA)

I ran an easy 5 miles with Young Daniel Friday morning. I got to work and got the best text message ever! Jessica wanted to run (Baby Olivia is just over a month old). She’s been running a few miles on her treadmill, but was ready to test the waters with an outdoor run. I wasn’t planning to run again, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was so excited to see her! We got in five miles and lots of laughs. She is a rockstar.

Saturday: 15 miles (7:49 pace)

Saturday’s long run was a little longer and a little faster than last week’s run. The weather was much nicer this week, but still … it’s fun to be able to tangibly see the progress. We eased into the pace over the first two miles and then picked it up a little bit. I averaged 7:40 for the last 13 miles, which I am super happy with.

During the run I found myself getting a tad discouraged that the pace didn’t feel easier (translation: how am I going to run 26 miles at a 50 seconds to a minute PER MILE faster than this). I had to remind myself to run the mile I am in (and don’t worry about how I might be feeling 20 weeks from now), that this run was supposed to be at a “moderate” pace (i.e., not “easy”) and that I still have an entire training cycle to get there. Gotta love giving yourslef a mid-run pep talk! The good news is that I got through to myself (in the short-term at least … I’ll probably have to talk some more sense into my head again at some point in the near future).

Sunday: 5 miles (8:14 pace)

We slept in (until after 8!) and did a loop mid-morning. It was really nice to have at least one day of week to sleep in! I’m headed to a Girl’s on the Run training class this afternoon. Girls on the Run uses running to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment.

WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY GIRL
CAN EMBRACE WHO SHE IS,
CAN DEFINE WHO SHE WANTS TO BE,
CAN RISE TO ANY CHALLENGE,
CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.
CAN.

I absolutely adore everything that this organization stands for and I’m really excited to get involved as a local coach.

Talk to you soon!