Hanson’s/NYC Marathon Training: Week 1

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training and tagged with Hanson's Marathon Method, Hansons, Marathon Training, NYC Marathon Training, Running July 11, 2016

Well, week 1 is in the books!!!

I must say, thank goodness for pre-training because this running almost everyday business is tiring! Week 1, and I’m exhausted, lol!

Okay, so here’s the goals. You all know I’m shooting for a PR (less than 4:44) and anything below that number would make me happy. If I’m real though, which I like to be here, I’d be teensy bit bummed with 4:30+. Still happy, but I ~~know~~ think I’m better than that. So, that being said, my big goal is a sub 4, I’d be freaking over the moon with 4-4:30, and most importantly, finishing at whatever time would be worthy of celebration.

For Hanson’s, I’ll be using the paces for a 3:50. I know that that is ambitious considering NYC is a tough course, but I’m comfortable with the ranges they give for that time and ultimately, I’m curious to see how I’d do running that fast–(Hanson’s race equivalency says I should try a 3:45!) I will not be devastated if I don’t get a sub 4. At all. I figure I can give it a shot and just see. Phoenix Marathon is next February (late February) and it’s a more forgiving course–my chances are better attempting a sub 4 there. So really, NYC will be a fun attempt at it, but I’ll be putting all my money in at Phoenix.

Marathon Goal– 3:50
Marathon Pace/Tempo Runs– 8:45
Easy Runs–9:40-10:20
Long Runs–9:29

Week 1 starts you with half a week of running, Thurs-Sunday. But since I had been Pre-Season training, I continued with what I had been doing but keeping it easy.

Monday, July 4th– Easy 4 miles, 9:30 avg

My run club had a fun 5k for the 4th of July celebration but since it didn’t start til 7:30 (it already gets insanely hot by that hour here), I decided to graciously let my husband run it. That meant I had to wake up super early to get my run in so 5 o’clock it was!

It was any easy progressive run with splits at 9:49, 9:36, 9:25, 9:13.

Tuesday, July 5th–4 Mini Tempo miles, 8:37 avg

My husband and I ran this one together and I absolutely love it when he runs with me (he’s faster than me). Hanson’s has Tuesdays as Speed and Strength days so I’ve been keeping Tuesdays as tougher runs throughout my Pre-Season training.

Splits were tough (it was 108 degrees out) but were 8:37, 8:54, 8:39, 8:17.

Me and my favorite runner. ❤

Wednesday, July 6th–REST DAY

Hanson’s has Wednesdays as its sole rest day and I milked it. I must mention that throughout all this running I am doing stretching, foam rolling, and core work which I did today as it’s become customary.

Thursday, July 7th— Easy 5 miles, 9:26 avg

This was the first official day of Hanson’s training and I blew it, lol. The plan called for 6 easy (around a 9:40-10:20) and I did 5 at 9:26.

I met up with my run club and our group leader was late. We waited a few minutes for him as he’s usually on it, but after 10 minutes we went on without him. I had to be home at 6 for my husband to leave for work so I cut back a mile as I was also about an 8 minute drive from home.

Me trying to take a group selfie. Is this thing on???

Friday, July 8th— Easy 6 miles, 9:45 avg

Stuck to the plan on this one 😀 and I was pleased with the consistency of my splits:

Saturday, July 9th— Easy 6 miles, 9:36 avg

I ran this with my buddy Runner Jenny who is also doing NYC Marathon with me. We chatted the whole way and it was good, easy run.

Me and Runner Jenny

Sunday, July 10th— Hilly 8 miles, 9:21 avg

The plan said easy but Hanson’s has Sundays as Long Run Days starting the 3rd week. Starting on the the 3rd week, every other week calls for the Long Run Pace and the Sundays it doesn’t, it is an easy run. So, ideally, I’d like to keep all Sunday runs around long run pace but with no worries if I don’t on the days it says “easy”. (Hopefully, that made sense, lol!)

One of my running buddies asked if anyone wanted to do a hilly run in his neighborhood and I said sure. It was a 30 minute drive but I like his hood for two reasons: They’re good rolling hills (the kind I like) and part of the area is the course for the Phoenix Marathon (its only hilly section).

I kept the pace comfortable and let myself go with the downhill and kept it steady on the uphill. Hills are definitely my weakness so I was ecstatic with how I was running. I just felt good! I had no idea what was happening, lol!

And that was Week 1! I passed out Sunday night at 7 p.m. before my kids, lol. Luckily, my husband was a champ and took over the nightly routine. I’ll have to really make sure I keep myself healthy–eat and drink tons of water. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long 17 more weeks!

Total miles : 33.12

–How was your running week?

–Do you get excited to start a training cycle? I think my excitement wears off the 3rd week when shit starts getting real, lol!

–Are you a good selfie taker?

Pre-Season Marathon Training: Week 4

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with Marathon Training, NYC Marathon, Running June 27, 2016

This was definitely a confidence booster week for me and I feel like I needed it going into the real deal soon, lol!

Monday, 6/20– 5.25 easy, 9:43 avg

Another run where I made sure to keep it easy. I was on the treadmill for this one and left the pace alone the entire way and instead, played with the incline to keep things interesting–gotta prepare for those NYC bridges 🙂

Tuesday, 6/21– 3 easy, 10:22 avg (aroundabout)

I decided to get back on the treadmill for this one. I met up with my run club and half said it was too hot for outside and the other half braved the sun. I opted with the former.

We didn’t have a plan and joined in on a group doing a treadmill activity. We followed the instructor’s commands of changing the pace and incline setting at different intervals. It was fun and having someone on the treadmill next to me was definitely more entertaining than me just going solo.

Having too much fun on the treadmill 😀

It was also the first time I’d tried using the “indoor” run setting on my watch. I think it was accurate but I’m never sure with those things. I’m really not tech savvy at all.

Wednesday, 6/22

Rest Day

Thursday, 6/23– 7 miles, 9:40 avg

I ran this one eeeearly and with my buddy Foxy Jen who had a 1 mile WU, 5 miles at 9:40 pace, 1 miles CD and yeah, I failed her with pacing….again.

Splits–10:10 WU, 9:22, 9:32, 9:26, 9:34, 9:59, 9:40 CD

Our overall pace for the entire run was on point though! 😀

Friday, 6/24

Rest Day

Saturday, 6/25– 3.1 miles, 7:57 avg

I had a reeeealllly rough night leading up to this second 4:45 a.m. run. Like, I didn’t sleep at all. I saw 1 a.m. I saw 2 a.m. 3 and 4. It was pretty awful.

I always have trouble sleeping but this was the worst day I’ve had in a long time. Like a dummy, I had a little bit of Coke at dinner (after not having Coke for a while!) and then a cup of coffee with dessert, and that was enough to do me in. I didn’t sleep a wink.

Anyway, I knew if I wanted to do the Orlando United 5k Virtual Run outside, that I’d have to wake up early to do it before it got ridiculously hot–my husband was also running that morning. (It was already ridiculously hot at 4:45!! 81 degrees!!)

Splits–8:12, 7:59, 7:40

I was very happy with the splits as I hadn’t done a fast run since my last 5k race where my splits were HORRIBLE. This run pleased me.

#LoveIsLove

Sunday, 6/25– 10 miles, 9:18 avg

A friend from my Moms Run This Town group asked if I’d keep her company on her 10 miler. She’s got a half she’s training for. I said sure– the pace was right (it’ll be my Long Distance Run pace) and I wanted a double digit run in my Pre-Season training.

Besides 3 miles where we said, “Dang, it sure is hot and muggy outside,” I was happy with how we did and this was definitely a confidence boosting run for me going in to marathon training.

Total Miles: 28.43 This was my highest mileage for a week this year. I have a feeling there’ll be more of me saying that to come, lol!

This last week of Pre-Season Training will be a sorta taper week as I lead into official training the first week of July. A lot of easy running and making sure I keep on with my strength training–core, hips, glutes, lunges, squats, etc.

And that’s a wrap on Week 4!! 🙂

–How was your running week?

–How early do you wake up to run? (I have some really early runs coming my way….eek!!!)

Marathon Training Jitters??

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training and tagged with Jitters, Marathon Training, Running June 24, 2016

Next week is my last week of Pre-Season Marathon Training and then the real fun begins. I always look forward to formal training because I like following a plan.

But Hanson’s scares me a little.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to try it because I’m definitely curious as to how the plan might work for me. I do think it’s doable-considering my goals as I don’t think I’m overreaching (i.e. making it impossible). The paces for each run: easy, speed, strength, tempo, long –all are within paces I’ve done many times before.

So why am I nervous?

I think it’s because I’ve always been so conservative in my approach to the marathon. In that regard, I’m a safe player. I’m ready to get out of my comfort zone though, and not be afraid to run a marathon at a faster pace. I think that’s what has held me back from running faster 5Ks, 10Ks, and 1/2s–I was scared to run fast. And then earlier this year I threw caution to the wind and got PRs in all three of those distances. I know I can do it. And I’m confident this training plan will prepare me.

I recently read Fitzgerald’s How Bad Do You Want It (a Helly recap coming soon), and that definitely helped with my mental strength. Because I really think that’s where my marathon struggles come from the most. I just need to believe that I can do it and know that I really do want “it” (a marathon PR).

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I’m nervous and excited to get on the marathon training train!

Have a good weekend everyone! ❤ , helly