Saturday, February 4, 2012

Marathon Training Week 12

My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 5, and 5 miles, rest, 8 mile pace run, and 13 mile long run. Stepback week #4. I like working hard, but I also really like stepback weeks. Relative rest is good.

This week is nearing the peak of my marathon training. I am officially in that eat-everything-that-isn't-nailed-down phase. Sometimes I'll eat things are nailed down, just because I am hungry all. the. time. Welcome back to my stomach, little marathon monster. Nice for you to visit again?

Sunday - yoga class at Roger Williams Park Zoo sponsored by my local Lululemon showroom. My regular Sunday yoga class was canceled. The Lululemon class was pretty much exactly what I would have done anyway, plus it was free and included free admission to the zoo afterwards. Perfect. I had never been to the zoo before, so I wandered around for 45 minutes after the class. Did calf raises in the evening.

Monday - 5.6 mile run. Windy. I was off in la la land for most of this run. I guess I had a lot to think about. It was time to retire my old shoes for the pair of new shoes that had been sitting in my closet for the last few weeks. My old shoes had more miles on them than I thought. For some reason, I thought they had around 350 miles on them. Nope, it was more like 415. Yeeeah. Time for new shoes. I stuck with the Saucony Progrid Guide 4s (review here) but in a greenish/silver combo. They go well with my sparkly silver shoelaces. I picked green because these are the shoes that are coming with me on the Shamrock Marathon. Did abs, lower back, and lunges in the evening.

Tuesday - 5.6 mile run. Ran slightly faster than Monday. Too bad I didn't wait until later in the day. It was another gift of unseasonal weather.

Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. U2's Even Better than the Real Thing was playing when I walked into the gym. Nice. I usually do chest exercises with weights as part of my upper body strength training, but one of my arms just wasn't feeling it. No biggie. I skipped them this week. Did pushups and planks in the evening.

Thursday - Rest.

Friday - 8.2 mile pace run. Colder than the last few days, windy. Got some practice at using my mental strategies. This run was about imagining I was in the last 8 miles of a marathon. Run hard and finish. My splits varied a bit because the wind was at my back with a downhill half the time and the wind was against me on the uphills the half of the time. Successfully kept my overall pace a few seconds under my goal marathon/training pace. I was dreading this run, but it ended up going very well. Go me. Did some more packing for over an hour. I was highly amused when I found my Staples Easy button.

Saturday - 14.3 mile run. It's funny how I always get to this point in my training cycle and think, "Oh. That is not a long run." I usually run on a bike path, but I decided to do two 7-mile loops from my house instead. Did a loop down to Brown University and back, stopped at my house for a pitstop, then did a loop to East Providence and back. Pleasant weather, although it was a little windy. Overall pace was a bit faster than I planned, but it felt comfortable the whole time. Foam rolled when I got home. Then spent 20 minutes butchering a package of chicken breasts that still had the skin and bones.

Total Miles: Scheduled - 36 Actual - 39.3

6 weeks to go!! Shamrock is next month!!

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