Week 9 Marathon Training Recap

What goes up, must come down….

After 3 consecutive weeks of awesome training, I was bound for a dud week. And week 9 was it.

I started coming down with a massive head cold/sinus infection at the start of the week that I attributed to the stress of returning back to work after two amazing weeks off.

Monday was all about getting my lesson plans together and grading, grading, grading. Semester grades were due the next day and I had all the intentions of grading over break but….yeah……

Screen Shot 2015-01-11 at 11.50.35 AM On Tuesday I was intent on running and went out with my running club for 5 miles. I ran with a friend who is on a mission to BQ at the Phoenix Marathon and she had me RUNning. I don’t like going all out on every run as I feel like there’s no real purpose to doing that, but it was nice to challenge myself.

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I met my water goal that day 🙂

 

On Wednesday I was debating about going to the track for a speed workout but was not feeling good at all from my headache/sinus so I ran with my husband instead–and that always makes me feel good 🙂

He had sent me a link to the shirt in the pic below earlier that day and it made me giggle

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Thursday and Friday I was at the peak of my sickness and couldn’t muster the energy to run. I did do some planks, wall sits, squats, and other leg stuff at home as well as foam roll and stretch so I wasn’t entirely unproductive.

It was a scale back long run for me on Saturday as I had run 14, 14, and 16 the three previous Saturdays and the RnR Arizona 1/2 Marathon was awaiting me next weekend. I had 12 on my calendar and one of my BRFs from high school would be joining me. She’s super fast (another friend who wants to BQ–I’m surrounded by them! lol) but she wanted it to be a slow, easy run. Well, that’s exactly what she got because as soon as I started, I knew it was going to be a tough one.

I’m not sure if it was just the weeks of hard training, me being sick, or me running with my hydration pack (I hadn’t at all in this training til then), but the entire run was just a big slug fest. My legs felt so heavy and it was just hard.

But, I finished and was so very happy to be done. I was still able to end with a decent pace too which pleased me.

As soon as I was done, I had to scramble back home because……it was my daughter’s FIRST SOCCER PRACTICE. I officially became a soccer mom on Saturday 😀

Her first gooooooal!!!!

Her first gooooooal!!!!

It was lower mileage week for me but that was okay. I felt I needed the rest. In fact, Sunday was my worst day. My headaches were so bad, I was actually bedridden the entire day 😦 Hoping to feel better for RnR Arizona next Sunday–a race I’m not planning to set any records on but would still like to run decently.

It was also a tough water week. I’m happy to report that I haven’t given up, but I’m just realistic in that this is something hard for that will require some sacrificing. I think what makes it tough is that I like drinking soda for lunch and that eventually turns in to lunch and the next three hours. I end up having to drink tons later to make up for it or just throw in the towel for the day. Here was my week:

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I think I might’ve missed an entry on Saturday. I know I drank water during my run and during my daughter’s soccer practice so I think that should be at least 32oz. (Or maybe I’m trying to convince myself of that?) And Sunday, yeah…

How was everybody’s week? Who long ran? Who’s drinking water?

Anyone else have a race coming up?

 

22 responses

  1. I love how excited you and your husband are in that photo! Watching your kids play is so much fun! Those bad weeks are hard but build character and make those good weeks so sweet! I had a good first week back to running and then hurt my hamstring again – whomp whomp 😦

  2. Sorry you had a less than stellar week. Still… look at all of the running (and water!) you managed to fit in. It wasn’t all bad. 🙂

    I did 6.5 miles on Saturday in the cold (a longer run for me) and I’ve also been trying to focus on drinking water. For me the key seems to be always having a full bottle nearby. I have a metal 24oz camelbak that I love… I’m sipping my second refill of the day right now!

    Also, congrats on your new status as a soccer mom! Your daughter is adorable and she’s so lucky to have a strong, fit mom as her role model!!

    • Yes, so another blogger gave me the idea to fill up water bottles and have them visible on my desk. So I decided to fill up two big ones instead of smaller ones and having them right in front of my face has realllly helped!
      And thank you so much for your kind words!!

  3. Aw, I’m sorry you weren’t feeling well, but even so you had a great week of runs! I’ve been using my water tracking app too, but totally fell off the wagon this weekend. Thank goodness for new weeks and fresh starts!

  4. Aww you have a little soccer player! The cutest ones in my opinion! 🙂 I hope you start to feel better soon! I think you still had a pretty good week too. Minus the water, I stink at that too, so I can’t comment 😉 (replace coke with coffee in my case haha).

  5. My daughter is starting a soccor clinic this week at school. I hope she likes it. Sorry you had an off week, i bet you can attribute most of the bum runs to that. And dont be bummed about your water, you had three great days!

  6. Aw sorry to hear about your dud week! What goes down can only move up from there! Lots of water drinking over here for me but not a ton of running. I’ve been teaching a whole lot so running has taken the back burner for a little while. Feel better!

  7. I’m so far behind in the blogging world! I’m sorry about your rough week 😦 Hopefully this one was better. Better to have a slow/tired week on a step back week during training though than during race week.
    Love that shirt & that quote! I hate when people use the excuse of not having enough time for something – if it’s important, you’ll find a way to fit it in.
    I hope you had fun at RnR AZ! I’m anxious for RnR DC – feels like forever since I’ve run a race.