Week 3–St. George Marathon Training: No Excuses Allowed!

Holy eff, I’m tired. I don’t think I felt this tired til like week 13 of Hanson’s! So many things are different now compared to then–for one, my kids are older and no longer nap 😦 That was huge when I was doing all that running. I lived for nap time.

And I’m also training for a 3:30 marathon, not a 3:50 like I was then. Big difference. Sometimes I think maybe it’s too big of a difference and I’m overshooting myself. But I’m already in so might as well see where it takes me, lol!

So those are my excuses. I hate excuses. You may have known that, or not. But, I do. I’ve always felt like people deal with so many different life situations, and still make it work, so there’s no reason why I can’t. I have this friend who has kids the exact same age as mine (5 and 3) and she has a third kid that’s one and a half. So not only does she have one kid on me, she has a full time job just like I do/will-with similar schedules, her husband works just like mine, and she runs marathons (and has already Boston qualified-last February, so like 5 months ago). So when I start to let excuses like kids, no naps, etc. creep in, I think of how other people make it work. And that’s just what you gotta do.

Monday, June 19th–2 miles WU, 3 miles Tempo (7:40), 1 mile CD

I programmed my watch to yell at me while I did the tempo miles and when I was running, I realized it wasn’t beeping at each mile–it just did the 3 straight through. So when I checked my splits afterward, it just gave the average for all three, not individually. This kind of bummed me out because I like to really work on keeping consistent/negative splits. That’s kinda my thing. But oh well, the positive thing was that the average pace was where it needed to be–and I did it without a watch yelling, lol–and now I know to program the tempo miles separately. 🙂

4:30 a.m start…again…

Tuesday, June 20th–4 miles Easy, 9:25 avg.; strength training

I’m still working on this cross training thing, lol. I did do some core exercises and stretches at home though. And got a haircut!

Buh bye, 6 inches!!!

Wednesday, June 21st–2 miles WU, 1600-1200-1000-800-400 (@7:00), CD for 6 miles total

This. Was. Hard.

I was glad to see the 1600 first to get the toughest part out of the way, but the whole thing was tough. I almost cried.

But somehow, somehow, I hit my paces for all of them!! I seriously thought Garmin was wrong when I looked at it after my run.

Shit had gotten real after the 1200. I was so beat and when I saw the 1000 was next, my motivation was low. I hate 1000s. It’s such an awkward distance. Not two full circles, not three full circles. It sucks. Well, when I finished that one, seriously wanting to die, a runner in the group said to me, “You look so strong out there! You’re so inspiring!”

I thought she was legit mocking me. It took me a full minute to register what she said and realize she was actually serious. I told her thanks and that it was hard to believe because I wanted to quit so badly on that last interval. But it made me think of how awesome and fascinating perspective is. She saw someone working hard and giving it their all. Isn’t that amazing?

Thursday, June 22nd–Strength Training

I did not bike, but I did do my core exercises and stretching. I’ve been pretty good about doing them on these days and it’s a plus if I get myself on a bike too.

Friday, June 23rd–3 Easy Miles, 10:14 avg

It’s hard for me to wake up early for 3 miles. So I got a late start on this one and hit the road at 8 a.m.–practically afternoon.

I always think how my easy runs are often…different compared to others. I take them super seriously and have no shame about my paces on these. I learned from Hanson’s how important it is to legit take easy runs easy and I’ve seen the difference it’s made taking them so seriously.

Saturday, June 24th–12 miles Long Run, 8:56 avg

This was sooooo hard. I met up with my marathon training buddy at 4:20 a.m. to try and beat the heat. I’m thinking it was that and the accumulation of a tough week of training that got me. I couldn’t keep up. Eventually, I told her to go on without me. I was please to see consistency in my splits though, so that was a positive #glasshalffull

 

#makeithappen

Sunday, June 25th–Rest Day, Foam Roll and Stretch

I didn’t run run, but I still did run, lol! I met up with my running group and pushed my kids with my husband. We did a little run/walk because they love when we run and kept yelling, faster!

My run club was having a discount day at our local Road Runner Sports so we hung out for the raffle hoping we’d win. We didn’t, lol!

I have to share this cool dollar store find though. My kids sometimes get antsy waiting at a store (that’s not a toy store, lol) so I brought along these mini white boards for them to play with. Total win! They stayed occupied with them the whole time!

alphabet practice ftw!

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31 miles for the week! I’m hoping I adjust to this new tired soon and become one with this tough marathon training cycle, lol! I’m loving how hard it is though, because I’m seeing myself do things I never thought I’d do. That’s makes it much easier to accept the fatigue, jaja!!!

–How much does fatigue affect your training?

–Do you find yourself making excuses during training? Or do you tell yourself to get over it and just do what you gotta do? (that’s my life mantra)

 

 

Week 2-St. George Marathon Training

How am I already two weeks in? I feel like this particular training is going to fly by–as it seems like these miles I’m running are, lol!

Monday, June 12th–6 miles; 2 miles WU, 3×1 mile @7:40 (w/1:30R), 1 mile CD

I was a little worried about these as I haven’t been running all that fast in a while and it was the day after we’d just gotten back from Mexico. I know I can hit those paces, but the little negative Nancy in my brain likes to start yapping every once in a while.

But luckily, once I got going, it all came back to me and I was fine.

7:32
7:37
7:44

My coach is really strict on having these be close to goal (and not faster) so when I saw the first mile split, I intentionally slowed down–and kept looking at my watch–to make sure I was closer to where I was supposed to be.

Tuesday, June 13th–4 Easy Miles, 9:10 avg.

This is technically supposed to be a cross training day, but my brother (who just moved back to Arizona!) wanted to run in the morning so we both met up with my run club and I ran some easy miles. I’d much rather do that than bike, lol!

That evening, I got my butt on the floor and did some core strength and glute exercises.

Wednesday, June 14th–12 Miles Indoor Bike

I did more swapping as today was supposed to be speed work day, but I got on the bike instead and moved the fast stuff to tomorrow. This is what happens when my coach goes on vacation. Even though I know she’s going to see everything I do anyway, I still think it’s easy to switch stuff around since she’s not here, LOL.

Thursday, June 15th–5 Miles Speed work; 1 Mile WU, 2×800(w/2:00R), 1,000m(w/2:15R), 1200m (w/2:30R) all at 7:00 pace, 1 Mile CD

Anyone else write their workout on their hand?

I enlisted the help of my husband for this workout that terrified me. There was a lot of some yelling involved, but I did it!! I was on a super high the rest of the day 😀

2×800–> 6:55, 6:54
1000m–>6:55
1200m–>6:58

UNREAL.

Friday, June 16th–Rest Day

This was unintentional. I planned on “sleeping in” and getting my easy four miles in around 6 a.m. (which is sleeping in for me) but alas, I really did sleep in and woke up past 7. I could’ve still squeezed in the miles, even though by that time here it’s hot, but I opted for coffee and a bagel instead.

Saturday, June 17th–13 miles with last 3, fast 3, 8:32 avg.; 12 miles spin

Plus, I knew today would be a long day so the resting Friday helped, lol! I met up with some of my Believe Train Become teammates and we nailed our long run 😀

Fast Finish!

BTB FTW!

A few hours later, I went to my first CycleBar class to support a blogging buddy on his new job adventure. I got in a sweaty, intense 12 miles on the bike–I’ll have a full report on this fun experience later.

Sunday, June 18th–Rest Day

I thought about “making up” those lost 4 miles, but nope! We had a fun Father’s Day celebrating my husband instead ❤

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28 Running Miles, 24 Biking Miles

All in all, it was a great training week. I finally feel like I’m hitting a groove and getting into the “all-in” marathon training mentality. I know that it’s still the beginning, and we’re still in the honeymoon stage, but I’m happy that I’m feeling happy about training right now 😀

–Do you get scared of paces you’ve done before and know you can do?

–Does running with faster people help you? Or would you rather tackle fast runs on your own?

 

 

Alright, Let’s Get This BQ Training Party Started!!!

Saturday, April 1st began my first workout with my coach! I’ll talk more about my coach and why I decided to go that route in another post, but for now, the BQ train has begun its 6 month voyage to ST. GEORGE MARATHON!!!

I laced up my special edition Boston Marathon Newton Fates and joined a friend for an early 8 miler on Saturday. I’d had these shoes in my closet for over year–telling myself then that I’d only bring them out when I decided to train for a Boston Qualifier. A year ago, I *never* thought I’d attempt it. I seriously can’t believe that I’m signed up to actually try for it!

Eye on the Prize

 

I hope you join me on this crazy, new journey!! I’ll be documenting my workouts and commitment to healthier eating (OMG) here and hope that having this blog/outlet helps with accountability.

EEEEEP!!!!