Marathon Training Recap Week 9

It’s crazy that I’m well into my marathon training and that it’s getting closer! Interestingly, I’m not nervous about it at all! Maybe that will change as it gets even closer.

This past week was absolutely great training wise. My body feels strong and my legs feel good. Here’s a recap on what the last week looked like:

Sunday, January 5th: This was a cross training day after my 12 mile run the day before. I logged in 10 miles on the bike. I’ve been finding that this is a great recovery workout for my long runs. I also iced and foam rolled as I was just a little sore from my long run.

Monday, January 6th: Rest day (but I still did some ab work at home)

Tuesday, January 7th: Usually, this is when I do a treadmill run but my run club meets in the evenings and my husband got home early enough for me to make it out with them. I was glad!! I did a 10k wanting to run it at my goal 1/2 marathon pace. And I did it!

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Wednesday, January 8th: This was speed day at the track. I really wanted to continue challenging myself so I pushed myself this workout. There are members of my run club of various abilities and there’s one girl in particular that I’ve always admired for being speedy. She was near me when I started and I found myself next to her throughout most of the speed work drill! I decided that I’d try and stay as close to her as I could and really give myself a workout. The results were awesome!!

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Thursday, January 9th: Another cross training day. I logged in 12 miles on the bike and also did some hip and glute work at the gym.

Friday, January 10th: This was a rest day and I milked it. After three days of hard work, I wanted to give myself a good rest day for my anticipated LONGEST RUN OF MY LIFE the following day.

Saturday, January 11th: THE LONGEST RUN OF MY LIFE. I had a plan of going out at 30-45 seconds over my goal marathon pace of 10:00/mile. I always like to stick with people with lights (it’s really dark out when we start) and the runners closest to me were planning on sticking to a 9-10 minute pace. Eeek! I figured I stick it out until the sun started to rise.

Well, 6 miles in I figured I might as well continue. The pace felt good, the conversation was interesting, and I was getting myself in a zone.

At 10 miles I started to feel a little fatigued. I had fueled at the 6 mile mark and decided I’d sneak in another little something. It was at this point we met up with some other girls. They were keeping a 9-9:30 pace and were going 20 miles. What?!?

But I was more than halfway done and figured I’d just keep going to where it would be time for me to turn around. I kept up with them and at 12 miles turned around to run the 3 miles back to my gym. As soon as I left them, I knew I’d slow down. I didn’t want to given that I had maintained a good pace the whole way, but it felt natural to slow down a bit so I did. As I reached mile 14, I saw I was close to finishing under 2:30 so I picked up my pace so I can finish at an even 2:30. It required me to go faster than any other mile I had run, but I like finishing strong and still had some energy left somewhere in me to be able to do it lol.

And then I was done… whew….

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I was thrilled that I was able to run this length at my goal marathon pace and not feel like absolute death after. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my legs were complete jelly at the end, but I somehow expected to feel way worse having run for 2+ hours straight. I think this is the training part that has really helped my endurance. I still made sure to ice as soon as I got home and eat something–yes, I was very much looking forward to that! I also stretched and my husband was kind enough to give me a massage later in the evening.

This was such an awesome running week. I’m so happy with how everything has been going and I’m SO happy my legs feel good.

This next week I’ll be doing a mini taper for my 1/2 on Sunday. I have quite a few jitters that I hope to release in a post later this week 🙂

How was your running week last week? Are you training for something?

And We Have A Winner!!

Happy Friday everyone!

This will indeed be a very happy Friday for…….

Nikki at grab_your_kicks

You’re the winner of TWO free entries to The Color Run!!

Congrats Nikki!

Congrats Nikki!

Nikki, check your e-mail for deets!!

Remember, everyone is a winner here at Helly On The Run. Enter code COLOR5OFF when you register to get $5 off your registration at The Color Run’s website (Type in code; don’t copy/paste)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Have you ever won a giveaway?

It’s Not Easy

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I’ve said before that the number one question I get asked is how I manage to find time to workout. I’ve always believed that if something is important enough, you’ll make time.

But I’m not going to lie, it’s not always easy.

My workouts happen in the evening when my husband gets home from work which is usually around 6 p.m. We put our son to bed and then I head out. I typically get home around 8 and my daughter is already in bed by that time. My husband and I have a small dinner and chat for a bit and then I shower and head to bed. I try call it a night by 10.

And then this is when it gets tough.

My son still does not sleep through the night. He wakes once for a bottle between 2-4 in the morning. My husband and I take turns each night as far as who wakes to do that feeding. The little guy always goes back down after his bottle, thankfully, and then wakes for the day around 6. My daughter’s waking time is around 6:30. Things are definitely difficult when both wake at the same time.

So there’s no continuous sleep. It’s hard. I’m tired. But it is what it is. As crazy as it sounds, you actually get used to it after a while. And there are worse days than others. Like today for example.

Our son woke up at 1 in the morning, early for his normal timing. Mind you I had gone to sleep at 10. He went back to sleep after his bottle but at 4:30 we heard our daughter. I looked at the video monitor to make sure she wasn’t just squirming around in her crib. Nope. She was standing, wide awake, ready to go. My son woke up soon after at 5:00 and our day officially began.

I’m typing this on coffee cup number 2. : )

Here’s hoping you’re having a good morning!

–Do you have kids? Is it difficult to manage kids and working out?

–What makes it difficult to find time to workout in your life?

(Don’t forget, The Color Run giveaway is still happening–today is the last day!)