Category Archives: Marathon Training

Week 11: #itsgoingdownatphx

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training and tagged with , , , ,

With the countdown getting closer to go-time, I have to say, I’ve never felt so confident about a training cycle. I’ve mentioned being nervous with how good things are going, and it’s really freaking me out–but I’m trying to tell myself that this is what happens when you prepare, train smart, and put in work. You feel good! 😀

Monday, January 1st–5.25 miles

I celebrated the new year with some easy miles around the ‘hood. There was no other way I would’ve liked to have kicked 2018 off.

Welcome, 2018!

Tuesday, January 2nd–8 miles

I had a 6 mile tempo with 1 up and 1 down. I tried really hard to make sure these tempo miles stayed close to the target pace (7:40) and not faster (my coach is big on that).

7:37
7:29
7:34
7:35
7:39

There was a 90 second rest interval after each mile, too, so that was nice.

Wednesday, January 3rd–Strength, Stretch, Roll

Did some arm workouts, planks, stretches on the mat, and some rolling. It was my husband’s birthday and we celebrated with a yummy pasta dinner. I had gotten us tickets for a concert for Friday so were really looking forward to that 🙂

Thursday, January 4th–8 miles

This was a doozy of a workout. I had 2 miles of warm up, then 3×9 minutes (3 min fast, 3 min faster, 3 min fastest), 2 miles cool down. I wanted the intervals to be at targets paces 7:40, 7:25, 7:05 but yeah, I didn’t do a very good job of that.

Friday, January 5th–Rest

Today was concert day! It was at night so I could’ve done something during the afternoon….but didn’t 😀 We went to go see one of my favorite Mexican singers, Pepe Aguilar. I’ve listened to him pretty much my entire life and couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing him perform LIVE. It was a major moment crossing that off my list.

Saturday, January 6th–5 miles

Post concert recovery miles, lol!

so much fun!

Sunday, January 7th–12 miles

I moved my long run to today. It was a fun little fartlek with the last 10 miles having 1 minute pick-ups at the beginning of each mile.

Which brought me to 40.71 big ones for Week 11! This week my coach has given me a mini taper leading into Rock n Roll Arizona 1/2. I’m gonna be shooting for that sub 1:40 again so if you can send me all the good luck juju you can, I would appreciate it!!! ❤ Check out my instagram for “live” results, lol!

–What musician/band(s) would you like to see?

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Week 10: #itsgoingdownatphx last week of 2017

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , ,

Hi!! Hope your 2018 has started off on the right foot! Or left, whichever is your go-to.

I realize it’s Friday and this week is coming to a close, so I’ll just quickly recap last week as there’s more exciting stuff to share 🙂

Monday, December 25th–Rest Day

It was Christmas and I just spent it with my family. No running, just eating.

Tuesday, December 26th–5 miles

It was a mini-tempo run so a simple mile WU–9:13, then 7:42, 7:34, 7:45, mile CD 8:58.

Wednesday, December 27th–2 miles, Strength, Stretch, and Roll

Hopped on the treadmill to make sure the thing still worked. We bought last year for Christmas and while it’s nice knowing it’s available, we rarely use it.

Thursday, December 28th–5 miles

Met up with a friend for what was supposed to be “easy” miles (she was pushing her 4 year-old in the stroller) but we found ourselves going at a pretty nice clip at an 8:39 average pace. I need to slow the easy runs down.

Friday, December 29th–5 miles

Took this run to the hills and slowed things down, 9:18 avg.

Saturday, December 30th–18 miles

Took this run to the hills again and met up with my coach and some of her athletes. This stretch of road is up and down and up and down and probably not the most ideal route for a long run. But I need the hill work (for the lone hill in Phoenix Marathon, lol).

I stayed slow and steady knowing there were hills spread throughout. I even had a 9:55 mile in there somewhere. I also knew that the last three miles were to be at half marathon pace (7:40) and I had no idea if I would be able to do it. Luckily, there was a nice gentle decline at the end and I was able to nail it at 7:38, 7:18, 7:12.

Sunday, December 31st–Rest, Roll, Stretch

Nada. My husband and I vegged binged on pizza and wings on the couch and watched movies all day. Okay, I did a little rolling and stretching before bed, so there’s that.

It was a good week and the 18 miler while hard with the hills, was a confidence booster as I’ve always been intimidated by the longer distance and honestly, I’m not so much any more. So crazy to think that!!

–Do you long runs scare you?

–How did you spend your New Year’s?

–Do you have a treadmill in your house you rarely use?

 

 

Week 9: #itsgoingdownatphx

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , , , , ,

I had such a good training week last week that it almost makes me nervous. You know that feeling you get when everything is going right and you become paranoid because there’s NO WAY things can be this perfect so something is bound to go wrong?? Yeah, that’s my current mental state.

Monday, December 18th–Stretch, Roll

Took a rest day after the previous day’s race. I was also beat from 4 days straight of craziness between hard workouts/races and holiday preparations. Plus, my kids got sick 😥 Like, sick sick. They both missed their entire last week of school and I was crazy mama worried about them early in the week. I also was frantic about last minute Christmas stuff I planned to do that I could no longer do…

I did get an exciting e-mail however. I was chosen as a Pro Compression ambassador!! I’ve worn their compression socks for a looooong time and love, love, love them so this was great news! I only represent brands/businesses I actually use .

#keepittight

Tuesday, December 19th–7 miles

One mile warm up, 5 active threshold temp (7:40) w/90sec RI, one mile cool down.

7:34
7:33
7:29
7:33
7:27

A little faster than needed but with the active recovery in between, I felt energized to tackle the next one (plus it was so freaking cold, I wanted to be done).

Cold, dark, and early when I started–cold, dark, and early when I finished.

Wednesdsay, December 20th–Strength train, stretch, and roll

Did some upper body exercises, core, and the usual stretch and roll. Kids still sick. Mama getting tired. I had to call for back-up (aka: grandma) because I was starting to feel the fatigue of caring for two sick littles and marathon training.

Thursday, December 21st–7 miles (w/timed mile)

I was suuuuper nervous about this run. My last timed mile hadn’t gone so well (6:42) and I really wanted to better that time. Because my mom was in town, I asked my husband to pace me (along with another buddy) in the hopes they could push me to a mile in the 6:30s.

SIX TWENTY SEVEN

I blew my goal away!!!! After a two mile warm up, we were off!!! I didn’t think, I just ran. The mile route was one I knew very well, so it helped knowing where I was distance wise and how much I had left to go. When my buddy yelled, “400 left!!” I picked it up and then when my husband said, “Kick now!” I gave whatever I had left to finish in 6:27. I was on cloud nine!! I couldn’t believe it!!

!!!!

My coach had a workout for after the timed mile but I was completely done and ran the next four miles at a recovery/easy pace to reach the total mileage for the day. I was pooped!

Friday, December 22nd–6 miles

I met up with a friend for some seriously FREEZING miles. No joke, I couldn’t feel my face.

32 degrees is NOT okay.

Saturday, December 23rd–17 miles

This was another run I was worried about. I met up with my coach and her athletes for this run that would be on a hilly route. The hills concerned me as I’m not very good with them (which was why I was there, lol) but I was also concerned with the last 3 miles having to be at half marathon pace (7:40) #eek

My BQ training buddy Ashley joined me for this long run and it was sooo nice to have her company. We hung out around the 8:40-45 range for the majority of the way and when I got to the end of mile 14, I knew I had to go at it alone and at least try to speed up.

7:31 (43 elevation gain)
7:55 (69 elevation gain)
7:17 (72 elevation loss)

I have NO IDEA where/how I mustered up the energy to pull that off. NO IDEA. But you better believer that when I was done, I rode that high allllll day 😀

😀

Sunday, December 24th–4 miles

I met up with my Moms Run This Town chapter for some easy recovery miles (9:48/mile). We had a good group and it was fun and festive ❤

 

By Sunday, my kids were feeling so much better–just in time for Christmas! After a tough week of training and parenting, it was so nice to end on a good note. Total Miles: 41

❤

If you celebrated, and if you didn’t, I hope you had a great holiday weekend!!!

xoxo,

helly

–When is the last time you ran a timed mile?

–Is 32 degrees okay for you?

–Do you freak out when your training is going well?