The Weekly Workouts are back! I’ve started to officially train for the Route 66 Marathon, and it’s time that I officially start to maintain the blog again. This week was a good one, so I definitely had to share it with all of you! Unfortunately, there are no ugly run pictures for the week. Sorry to disappoint, but I did a lot of treadmill running.
Monday (7/22/13): Monday Fun Day! Not really, though. This run was brutal. I discussed it a little in Official Training is Officially Here! The heat was unbearable, and I was out of shape. There’s not much else to say. I finished the 3 miles in 26:34, but that’s not including the extended break I took at about 1.75 miles in to avoid overheating. Needless to say, day 1 was miserable and not very motivational. Also, I’m starting to hate running at Colbert Park.
Tuesday (7/23/13): I started off day 2 with a full body lift. That was a huge mistake. I performed well in the weight room. I picked up close to where I left off. I did 5×5 bench, squats, back rows, and shoulder press; I lifted 55 lbs, 95 lbs, 55 lbs, and 40 lbs, respectively. Then I finished off with 1×10 for alternating seated dumbbell bicep curls and skull crushers, lifting 12.5 lbs and 20 lbs, respectively. I was pretty pleased, since I hadn’t lifted in 2 weeks.
The run was much more depressing than the lift. Sore from the midday squats, I hit up treadmill directly after finishing my lift. I did a 3xhill at 3.5% incline for 400m hills. I would run a 400m hill, then run a flat 400m. Doing this, I completed 1.5 miles in 13:47. Needless to say, I went home and SLOWLY climbed the stairs. Luckily, my calves were looking good for the next two days thanks to the tough hills.
Wednesday (7/24/13): I was slightly sore from the Tuesday workout, but still ready to run on Wednesday. Discouraged from Monday’s outdoor run and facing some iffy weather, I hit the treadmill. I obviously felt relatively motivated, because I pushed the pace a bit and ended up running 25:57 for 3 mile. I don’t often break the 26 minute mark, so I couldn’t be upset. I was sore and a little out of breath at the end, but it felt good to just push.
Thursday (7/25/13): I did a nice, hard midday tempo run to start off my workout. Starting at 6.0 mph, I upped the speed by 0.5 mph every 5 minutes until I hit 7.5 mph, then went back down by 0.5 mph every 5 minutes after that (i.e. 6.0 mph, 6.5 mph, 7.0 mph, 7.5 mph, 7.0 mph, 6.5 mph). The 10-20 minute stretch of speeds above 7.0 mph was pretty tough, but I definitely felt accomplished when I was finished.
A little sore from my first week of training, I hit the weights for the second time that week shortly after the tempo run. I did every thing exactly the same as Tuesday, so I won’t waste your time on writing out the same lifts. The lift went fine again, and I left a little less sore.
Friday (7/26/13): Friday was a busy day for me, so it’s a good thing it was a rest day. I slept a lot and ate like crap. What can you do?
Saturday (7/27/13): Saturday was way busy for me. I worked almost the entire day. Luckily, I was motivated enough to get my ass out of bed and run before work. I had a 5 mi pace run to do, and I wasn’t about to skip it. I ran a little faster than intended, bouncing between 6.7 and 6.9 mph. For the marathon and training, my goal pace is around 9:00 minutes per mile. I want to run a 4:15:00 marathon, so this gives me plenty of room to slow down during the race. I finished the run in 43:54 which is at about a 8:47 pace, which is outstanding. I probably should have slowed it down, since I was on the treadmill and knew my pace should be closer to 9:00. Why slow down, though, when you have so much motivation. I was super exhausted at the finish, but still very happy with my efforts.
Lifting didn’t happen. I planned on going between my shifts at work, but got off much later than intended. The important part is mileage, and I got that in just fine.
Sunday (7/28/13): Sunday! The day of the deadly long run. I cranked out a comfortable 10 miles while watching some Lifetime on the treadmill! Yes, Lifetime. I’m a girl. Sue me. The mileage was a lot for me lately, but it felt comfortable and the run actually went really well. I felt like I was taking the run fairly easy, finishing in 1:32:59. That’s about a 9:18 pace, which is really kind of fast for a long run. Long runs should be 30-90 seconds from your actual pace. Oops! I was impressed with my new found conditioning, though, so I just went for it. Maybe this is the start of a faster marathon! Guess we’ll have to wait and see!
Stay tuned! As always, question and comment to your heart’s desire!
The Road to 26.2 