Week 2: #itsgoingdownatphx

Hello, November!! I finished off month 10 with 98 miles and no desire to run two more for the century mark, lol!! And I started off month 11/week 2 with 22 and 33 miles, respectively. Here’s how it went down:

Monday, 10/30: Mondays have been designated as hill days so I went off in search of some incline. I really have two choices if I want to stick with roads, both about the same distance in different directions. Lately, I’ve been going to a spot my coach has her athletes go. I’m on my own though, as I venture out that way after kid drop off.

Garmin vs. Strava

Tuesday, 10/31: I met up with my MRTT chapter for a Halloween run and kept a friend company on her 400s. Her target pace was 7:30 and it was crazy that I was able to keep that up and hold a conversation. We talked the entire run!

Wednesday, 11/1: I very well could’ve chalked up Tuesday’s run as my speed day, but I was looking forward to my coach’s Wednesday track workout. Waking up was tough after the previous night’s Halloween shenanigans, but I love/hate going to track because all of the athletes that go are super fit and I totally feel out of place there. But, I like being motivated and chasing ’em.

The workout was 400@5k pace followed by 400@half marathon pace up to a mile with a 90 sec recovery b/w each mile set. It was hard and I didn’t always hit my target paces, but I was very happy with my efforts.

5k–1:45, 1/2–1:55

Thursday, 11/2: Morning date with with my mat. Got the MYRTLES in, planks, and all that good stuff.

Friday, 11/3: Easy negative splitter 4 miler around the hood–9:17, 8:54, 8:49, 8:38

Saturday, 11/4: Woke up early to meet my friend and St. George training buddy Ashley for a 12 miler. The weather was uhmazing–cloudy and cool. Perfect long run weather ❤

Sunday, 11/5: Slept in while my husband got his long run on. He just had to out do my Friday negative splitter with a 10 miler of his own.

That my friends, is a thing of beauty.

Afterward, we chilled out and rested while seeing Shalane Flanagan kick some ass. Did you guys see her awesomeness? I legit cried when she was crossing the finish line. Gahh!!! Love her!!!

To quote: “Fuck yeah!!”

Week 2 Total: 33 miles

–How was the start of your November?

–Did you catch the NYC Marathon? I had major withdrawals. Last year was epic.

–Do you ever admire your paces (or others’)? I seriously stared at my husband’s stats while drinking my coffee.

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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 1–St. George Marathon Training: Road to BQ

I know all of you have been anxiously awaiting my weekly training reports, LOL! Last week was Week 1 of 20 on the road to BQ. I still can’t believe I’m attempting it. I’m a ball of emotions right now (you bet I’ll write about it) but all I can do is trust the process ❤

 

 

Monday, June 5th–4 Easy Miles, 8:42/mile

I joined a friend for this run in the early a.m. –I’ve been getting up SOOOO early this training cycle. #gottagetthemgoals

9:06
8:30
8:36
8:35

Tuesday, June 6th–1 mile WU, 8 miles indoor bike, strength training

My training schedule is opposite of my usual run club days and I no longer run on Tuesdays and Thursday 😥 But, since I can’t be away from my friends for too long, I join them for a warm up mile (at 4:45 a.m.!!!!) before heading inside to the gym. That’s loyalty, amiright?

Wednesday, June 7th–6 miles hill cut-downs

Holy hilly hell. This was hard, but this. was. FUN.

1 mile WU
4×1:30 uphill controlled
Recover
4×1:00 uphill strong
Recover
4x30sec uphill very strong
Recover
4x15sec 100% effort
1 mile CD

Team BTB (Believe Train Become)

Thursday, June 8th–Strength Training

I’m supposed to cross train Tuesdays and Thursdays, but today we drove to the beach so all I squeezed in were some core exercises and squats. Something is something.

my lil beach bums ❤

Friday, June 9th–5 Easy Miles, 9:36/avg

the beach at Puerto Penasco, Mexico

This was my endpoint.

Saturday, June 10th–12 Miles Long Run, 9:27/avg


This was a tough run. My husband and I had to really make it work with the route we had to get to 12 miles. Our biggest obstacle, besides the undulated hills, were dogs! There were so many loose dogs on this route and we weren’t even in the actual city! But we got it done and I was SO proud. Getting in a long run while on vacation can be tough but when there’s a goal to be met, you do what you gotta do 🙂

Sunday, June 11th–Foam Roll Recovery

Sundays are my new rest days and I actually did rest this time because we traveled back home. Other Sundays I’ve still been meeting my MRTT group for some easy miles which I’ll continue to do if life permits.

And that’s Week 1– 8 miles cycling, 27 miles running

–Do you plan ahead to make time for your workouts/runs on vacation?

–Are you a beach person? Where is your favorite beach? I’m not particularly a beach person and haven’t explored many, but love to see where people go 🙂

Thanks for reading and I hope you follow along for the rest of this crazy BQ journey of mine!

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