Tag Archives: marathoning

Marathon Training Week 14 {Goofy Challenge}

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Monday- OFF
Tuesday- Recovery 6 miler. My legs were stiff and tired and it felt difficult to maintain an even pace (avg pace 8:13 min/mile)
Wednesday- General aerobic 14 miler. I think this was too much too soon post 21 miler (Sunday before). I finished and felt great but I felt exhausted all day and the rest of the week which could have been because I stayed up late the night before watching election coverage :) . (avg pace 8:00 min/mile)
Thursday- Recovery 6 miler. More stiff legs and tiredness. Also had some weird knee pain/clicking. (avg pace 8:15 min/mile).
Friday- Recovery 4 miler. Started to feel better and didn’t have any knee pain but took it super slow. (avg pace 8:27 min/mile)
Saturday- Shake out 6 miler. Felt good (minus the back pain) and after being cooped up in the apartment all morning I was ready to run. (avg pace 7:29 min/mile).
Sunday- 16 miler. My back was hurting a lot and my legs felt tired. I also think I bonked (dehydrated? not enough carbs?) and was not mentally into the run. I toughed it out and finished at a pace I was okay with considering the circumstances (avg pace 8:00 min/mile)

Total miles: 52

My pace was not what I wanted it to be this week but I’m guessing my body was warn out from the previous week of high mileage + speedy 21 miler. If that’s the case then I’m okay with it, slower > injured. This coming week is a cut back week and hopefully if my body is worn out the lower mileage will be beneficial and I’ll feel stronger the following week!

Marathon Training Week 13 {Goofy Challenge}

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Monday – OFF
Tuesday – 7 mile recovery run with 6 x 100 m strides on the treadmill. Warnings of gusting winds up to 50 mph and a closed lakefront led me indoors to the treadmill. I ran conservatively (didn’t want to relive that bizarre treadmill soreness) but managed to get in some sub-7 min/mile strides. Strides are not easy on a treadmill! (avg pace 8:08 min/mile).
Wednesday – 12 mile general aerobic run (avg pace 8:00 min/mile)
Thursday - 4 mile recovery run. I took it nice and easy and enjoyed the shorter run. (avg pace 8:33 min/mile)
Friday – 10 mile lactate threshold run with 6 miles at 15k-half marathon tempo pace. I was a little nervous about doing this type of run so close to my long run but I trusted my plan and went for it. My legs took a bit to warm up but then I hit my tempo miles at 7:24, 7:36, 7:20, 7:14, 7:29, & 7:32. This was a little conservative but smart considering my long run on Sunday. (avg pace 7:42 min/mile)
Saturday – Recovery 5 miler. I wanted to run fast but held back. I even stopped to take some pictures. (avg pace 8:09 min/mile)
Sunday – 21 mile long run. Again I was nervous because it seems early to throw a 20 miler into my training but I trusted the plan. I ate a rice cake with almond butter before heading out and then fueled with 1.5 gels (starting at 8 w/ 1/4 gel every 2 miles). I also carried my new fuel belt and had one bottle filled with water and another with strawberry lemonade NUUN. My legs felt tired from all of the walking on Saturday (my mom was in town) but I pushed through and once they loosened up I felt great. I even pushed the pace a bit. When my watch hit 20 miles I was still a decent distance from home and I felt great so I decided to run the last mile, I hope I feel so good during the Goofy Challenge! (avg pace 7:35 min/mile)

Total miles: 59

I hope you all had great training weeks as well :)

{Goofy Challenge} Mesocycle 2

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Today marks the start of the second mesocycle of my training for the Goofy Challenge. I discussed the five mesocycles of Advanced Marathoning when I first mentioned I was using the plan but to refresh a bit the first mesocycle focuses on increasing mileage to improve pure endurance, the second on improving lactate threshold, the third on race prep, the fourth on taper and the marathon, and the last on recovery.

The second mesocycle, lactate threshold + endurance, is five weeks long and includes one recovery week of 47 miles. The rest of the weeks vary between 52 and 58 miles which is definitely higher than most plans I’ve previously used. One of the most noticeable differences between the first mesocycle and the second is the increase in lactate threshold runs (tempo run sandwiched between 2-3 miles) and strides. While the first mesocycle only had one speed workout a week, mesocycle two includes two: one lactate threshold and one workout with strides. Similarly, this mesocyle features the first set of VO2 max intervals (600 m – 1,600 m at 5k pace). It should be exciting!

This morning I kicked off the second mesocycle with a 10 mile lactate threshold run with 5 miles at 15k to half marathon pace. It was oddly warm and humid out and I wore shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Isn’t it almost November? My run went well and I finished in 1:16:07 for a 7:35 min/mile pace. For the first time in awhile I was happy with my tempo miles (7:25, 7:21, 7:10, 7:15, 7:16), I felt good pushing the pace, and my legs didn’t feel like lead the last two miles (7:30, 7:50).

It was warm out there this morning so after a cold shower, I made a berry banana protein smoothie for breakfast. I couldn’t think of eating anything hot.

I also had a rice cake with Naturally Nutty pepita butter for some crunch. This definitely hit the spot!

Last night
Ian and I went grocery shopping last night (our fridge was bare!) and I decided to make fannetastic food’s quinoa taco salad for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I’m so glad I made a ton of it!

I served mine with a dollop of veganaise and some mole hot sauce. I also bought some daiya cheese last week because it was on sale so I threw that in too. I decided that I don’t love it but I don’t hate it and I definitely think it’s better melty.

After dinner we caught up on our DVR and watched Walking Dead and Pitbulls and Parolees (anyone watch that?). We even caught a little bit of the debate and the Lions/Bears game. It was so nice to relax after a busy (but fun!) weekend.

What training plans have you tried? How do you relax after a busy weekend?

Marathon Training Week 9 {Goofy Challenge}

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Sorry this post is up a bit late- like most Chicagoans I got wrapped up in the marathon this weekend and was busy busy busy until about 30 minutes ago!

This past training week was an interesting one. After two good and hard weeks of training, my body reminded me that it’s human, can’t go hard every workout, and it appreciates weekly rest days. Noted! My hamstrings were tight, my left knee was swelling up (no pain though), and my knee joint felt loose. I wasn’t in pain but I could feel something was not right. I stretched, foam rolled, iced, and dropped the intensity of my workouts and by the end of the week I was feeling pretty much back to normal.

Monday- OFF

Tuesday- I was supposed to run 8 miles with 10 x 100 m strides but Tuesday is when I first noticed my knee was bugging me. I ran slowly to the track and then did ”strides” at about my half marathon pace and then jogged slowly home. It wasn’t much of a speed workout but I couldn’t increase my pace too much without bugging my knee. I averaged an 8:07 min/mile.

Wednesday- Recovery 5 miler at a slow pace. My knee had puffed up Tuesday night and I was nervous about running at all. I ended up averaging an 8:30 min/mile and felt okay.

Thursday- After a day/night of very little swelling and lots of icing, I felt ready to run my weekday long run. I still didn’t want to push the pace too much and kept myself around an 8 min/mile.

Friday- Recovery 4 miler. I actually felt good running on Friday and my recovery pace kept creeping up to close to an 8 min/mile. Whoops. I did my best to slow down but after a week of easy runs, my legs were ready to go. I ended up averaging an 8:09 min/mile.

Saturday- With the marathon on Sunday, I knew it would be difficult to run my long run on Sunday so I planned to do my 15 miler Saturday morning. I woke up around 6, snacked on a rice cake with almond butter, chia seeds, and raisins and then was out the door.

Even though I was feeling almost normal, I knew that pushing myself too hard would not be a good idea. I tried my best to keep my pace close to an 8:00 min/mile or slower although sometimes I got lost in my thoughts along the lakeshore path and let my pace creep up into the 7:40′s. Oops.

I did a loop in the city and then hit the path going north around mile 4. I ran another 5 miles north into the wind, turned around, and ran the six miles home. Something weird happened to my Garmin when I crossed the bridge to Navy Pier (mile 6) but I have a feeling given the surrounding miles that I was actually running closer to a 7:50 min/mile.

My legs felt really good until about mile 13 when my knee started to feel loose and strange (descriptive, I know). I slowed my pace and tried not to think about it. It definitely helped that around this time the Chicago Marathon wheelchair racers were out on the path and I got some free entertainment. Awesome.

My Garmin malfunctioned as I headed back into the city too. #storyofmylife.

This was my first run of the year that I hardly broke a sweat- even after 15 miles. When I got home I took a hot shower and then debated making a recovery smoothie. I decided that I was still too cold to enjoy a cold breakfast and ended up making cinnamon raisin protein oats.

Muuuch better than a cold smoothie (although the picture sucks)!

Sunday- OFF / volunteering for the Chicago Marathon.

Total Mileage: 42 miles

While this week wasn’t exactly what I wanted in terms of training, it was a nice reminder to take care of my body. My goal now is to get back to feeling normal before this coming Tuesday because next week is a hard week of training!

Marathon Training Week 7 {Goofy Challenge}

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This post has to be a quick one because Ian and I are heading out in a little bit but I wanted to recap this past week and the glorious weather! How amazing is to run in the 40′s and 50′s after sweltering through the summer? I’m actually starting to like Chicago again.

Here are this week’s runs:

Monday- OFF

Tuesday- 8 mile run with 10 x 200 m strides. This day was not my day for running. It had rained the evening before and it was cold in the morning. I ran the 3.5 miles to the track only to find it was too slick to do my strides. The track was also unlit and I did not want to slip and fall. I thought about skipping the strides entirely but decided to run around the outside of the track on the sidewalks instead. It worked out but my legs felt like lead. I averaged an 8:16.

Wednesday- Recovery 4 miler and I treated it like one averaging an 8:30 min/mile.

Thursday- General aerobic 10 miler. I felt speedy so I went with it. Look at those [almost] negative splits from mile 3 on. I love it.

Friday- I was supposed to cross-train but my back/shoulders were really hurting from a 10 minute barre workout I had done on Wednesday and I decided that both swimming and ellipticaling were going to bug my back. I ended up running a nice and easy 4 miles instead averaging an 8:05 min/mile.

Saturday- I had a recovery 5 miler on the books but the cold weather really made me want to run. I tried to take it nice and easy but ended up running too fast. My watch malfunctioned and saying I ran a 5:55 min/mile for the first mile but assuming that’s incorrect, I averaged around a 7:40 min/mile.

Sunday- Today I headed out for 13 miles with 8 miles at race pace. My goal was to run the first 5 around an 8:00 min/mile and then the last 8 at 7:50. My legs felt heavy starting out so I was nervous that I woudn’t be able to make my splits but by mile 4 I had already increased my pace to above MP. I managed to keep my pace in the 7:30′s for the majority of the 8 miles which really surprised me– that’s where some of my tempo miles have been! It makes me wonder if I should decrease my goal MP to around 7:45 or 7:40 but I’m going to see how I do over the next few weeks. There is a chance that I was over trained for this week’s mileage and once I hit the 50 mile-weeks my pace will drop back down.

Total weekly mileage: 44 running

Before my long run today I tried something different and had a rice cake with sunflower butter and chia seeds as opposed to millet/brown rice bread. The brown rice bread has been sitting a little bit too heavy and the rice cake made a big difference. Looks like I found my new pre-run meal.

After my run, I refueled with an interesting Cocoa-Bean Smoothie + granola + a few spoonfuls of nut butter.

I actually really liked it and couldn’t taste the beans at all. I think next time I’d add some cinnamon to give it a little more of a Mexican chocolate taste!

Anyway I’m off, we have a busy day ahead of us. Happy Sunday!