Back in the swing of things

I finally have a routine again, and it’s been nice! I’m going to do a weekly recap like how I did for the marathon. Here we go!

Monday: Strength – I did a cardio/strength circuit that was killer! It started with 10 minutes on the stairmill (aka the revolving staircase of death). Then a superset of 2 leg moves (I forget which now). Then 6 minutes on the stairmill. Then another superset. Then 4 minutes on the stairmill. And then I ended with 4 more strength moves. It was great!

Tuesday: Run – I would have liked to do speed or tempo, but I decided to just go easy. I headed out with the plan to do 4 – 7 miles. When I got to 4 miles I told myself to suck it up and I did 2 more. I would have gone for 1 more, but I didn’t have enough time before meeting a friend for dinner. It was a perfect night for a run. I kept a 10:17 pace.

Wednesday: Strength – I did the same work out as on Monday but with upper body. It was excellent again. This is definitely a new favorite.

Thursday: Run Rest – I was beat. So I bailed on my run.

Friday: Strength – I worked out with Mom and her trainer. It always kicks my butt!

Saturday: Long-ish run – I did 8 miles around Hoboken. It was so pretty running along the river!

 

The run was tough, but felt really good. I kept a 10:31 pace. Much slower than I used to be pre-marathon, but I ran the whole time (and same for the run on Tuesday). My goal is to get rid of the walking breaks that I got used to during marathon training.

Sunday: Rest!

I also never blogged about the charm that Vic got me for the marathon. Can’t believe I forgot! But here it is.

I love it.

That’s all I’ve got. 4 weeks til Broad Street!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

2 Weeks Post-Race

I had a feeling I would neglect the blog a bit after the marathon. Turns out I was right. 15 days later and I’m back!

It’s been so weird not training for the marathon. My life pretty much revolved around it for 18 weeks. I was either running or  thinking about running or talking about running all the time. I’m glad to be able to focus on other things now, but last Saturday I also found myself missing my long run! So strange.

The week following the marathon I took it very, very easy. I biked and ellipticalled everyday, but with very little resistance and very little speed. I wanted to run at the end of that week even though my legs were still a bit sore, but I ended up not fitting it in. It turns out it was a good thing I didn’t have the time because with a few extra days off of running I felt 100% better. I think it took 8 days to feel totally normal again, which isn’t too bad if you ask me! It was also a nice change to relax!

I went for 2 runs this past week. The first was a 3.5 miler on the treadmill. Now THAT was weird! I didn’t do one training run inside, and I have no idea what compelled me to run on the treadmill this past week. It is definitely less natural than running outside. The second was a speedy 5 miler outside. I kept the pace under 10 minute miles and it was the perfect weather. I ran around my neighborhood and then down to the river. It was fantastic.

I have also added back in strength training, which I am loving! I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I did some great work outs where I did circuits of cardio and strength to keep my heart rate up. It was really fun!

I wanted to run 7 miles this weekend, but the weekend seemed to slip away from me. I’m starting to realize that I will live (shocker!) if I skip a run or two. I don’t want to slack off completely because Broad Street is in a month. But I’m going to try and take a more relaxed approach with this race.

I’ll try to start weekly recaps again, but no promises!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 14

Another week down! We are now less than a month from the marathon, so crazy! I signed up for the Broad Street Run this week. It’s a 10 mile race on May 6. I think it will be good to have a goal in mind for after the marathon.

This week was extremely exhausting. I worked until the wee hours of the morning, but I still managed to squeeze in 5 work outs. Here’s what I did:

Monday: Cross Training – I swam and biked. Both of these helped to loosen up my legs from the 18 miler.

Tuesday: Rest – 4 hours of sleep = no work out

Wednesday: Speed Work – This workout was a 1 mile warm up, 10×400 with 400 of RI in between each,  and a 1 mile cool down. I warmed up at a 10:03 pace. I did a walk/jog for my resting intervals. The pace of the 10 fast intervals were: 8:50, 8:26, 8:26, 8:11, 8:23, 8:07, 8:16, 9:08, 7:19, 8:12. I wanted to keep them all in the 8 minute range. When I didn’t get that for the 8th 400 I pushed really hard for the 9th. Then I cooled down with a mile run and some walking for a total for the day of 7.28 miles.

Thursday: Rest – 4 hours of sleep = no work out (again)

Friday: Tempo Run – This was 1 mile easy, 5 miles tempo. I ended up just doing what felt good. The splits: 9:10, 9:24, 9:24, 9:36, 10:13, 9:00. Then I cooled down for a total of 6.11 miles.

Saturday: Cross Training – I did the arc trainer for 15 minutes, the elliptical for 15 minutes and upper body strength for 20 minutes.

Sunday: Long Run – This was a step back week. Hooray! My schedule called for 10 miles. I considered doing more since I skipped a 13 miler the other week because of my neck. I set out on a 12 mile route, but when I got to 10 miles I was just ready to be done. So I walked the last 2 miles home. It felt great to just walk. I didn’t run with water and I was very thirsty around mile 7. Big mistake. I’m also feeling some foot pain that feels like this old injury. I’m a bit worried about that. The splits: 10:54, 10:52, 10:40, 10:53, 10:54, 10:37, 10:58, 11:02, 10:33, 10:31. Not my best, not my worst.

Total mileage: 25.39

Time for bed! Week 15 is going to be the most challenging yet! I’m nervous.

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 12

Oops. A bit late on this post. Had an insane week. Here’s a quick recap of last week since tonight is not really Friday for me, I have work tomorrow. Boo. I will try to do this week’s recap on Sunday after my 18 miler (!!!!!!!!!!!)

Monday: Cross Training – Elliptical and strength training. I don’t remember it exactly since it was a week and a half ago at this point. I’m sure it was great!

Tuesday: Speed Work – This workout was a 10 minute warm up, followed by 1k, 2k, 1k, 1k with 400s of RI in between, then cool down. (Also known as a 1 mile warm up, .6 of speed, .25 miles of rest, 1.2 miles of speed, .25 miles of rest, .6 of speed, .25 miles of rest, .6 of speed, .25 miles of rest and a 1 mile cool down.) This ended up being 7.34 miles with some cool down walking afterward too. I have no clue what the splits were for the speed because it was 5 in the morning and to figure out my watch just seemed like way too much work.

Wednesday: Rest – If I had known what was to come (foreshadowing!) I would not have taken this rest day. But at the time it felt good.

Thursday: Tempo Run – Soooo this was a 9 mile tempo run. Personally I think it’s kind of a big deal to run more than 8 miles on a weekday. I REALLY think it’s a big deal to run more than 8 miles on a weekday when you don’t get home from work until midnight and you have to leave for work again at 7:30. Yes, I know I am insane. This run was amazing. I ended up doing a 15k plus a cool down for a total of 10.07 miles. Yup I ran double digits all before work! The splits:

Mile 1:	11:50	??
Mile 2:	10:48
Mile 3:	10:34
Mile 4:	10:19
Mile 5:	10:42
Mile 6:	10:25
Mile 7:	10:24
Mile 8:	10:31
Mile 9:	9:49
Mile 10:	15:46	(.3 running, .7 walking)
.07 Miles:	1:14

I just noticed that the first mile was 11:50, I’m thinking maybe I didn’t really have satellite reception when I started. Oh well.

Friday: Cross Training – I decided to rush a bit in the morning and go to one of my favorite spinning classes. I was a tiny bit later to work than I should have been, but it was worth it.

Saturday: Rest – My back, neck and shoulders had been hurting a little since Wednesday. I thought it was from too much sitting at work, or maybe running, or maybe the massage I got last Sunday (maybe the guy hit a trigger point??) but on Saturday it started to be really painful. While I was at work I just kept hoping it would go away so I could do my long run of the week (13 miles).

Sunday: Long Run Rest – I woke up and I could hardly turn my head. I really, really wanted to run though. So I got dressed in my running gear. Shoved some Gus in my pocket and headed out the door. Right, good thinking Meliss, you can’t turn your head but you are going to go run for 2 hours, think again! I made it .59 miles (at a 10:35 pace…since that matters…) when I was about .3 miles away I turned around and ran towards the place where I got a massage last week instead. This story would have been a lot better if the place had actually been open at the time and I had literally ran right to a massage. But I had a half hour to kill so I walked home instead and dropped off my Gus. Then I went back to the massage place and got a massage, it helped a little, but I was still in a lot of pain.

To be continued in the Week 13 post…

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 11

This week was definitely a challenge. I really don’t recommend working 70+ hours a week and training for a marathon at the same time. You will have to give up sleep. God, I miss sleep.

But, as challenging as it was. This week was a success! As I write this post I am definitely on a runner’s high.

Here’s how the week went:

Monday: Cross Training – I hit the gym for some elliptical and lifting. It was standard. I wanted to get in another day of lifting at some point during the week but it didn’t happen. Oh, well there’s always this week!

Tuesday: Speed Work – This was a very complicated speed work day. Ordinarily I just plug in the intervals into my watch and head out. When my watch beeps I know it’s time to slow down. When it beeps again I know it’s time to get speedy. But today called for 1 mile warm up, 1 mile speed, quarter mile rest, 2 miles speed, half mile rest, half mile speed, quarter mile rest, half mile speed, quarter mile rest, 1 mile cool down. To avoid too much stopping and starting of my watch I modified it slightly. But it was still really annoying to have to mess with my watch so much. Here were the splits:

Total Mileage	Mile	Pace	Tempo
1	1 Mile	10:18	Warm up
2	1 Mile	9:19	Speed
2.25	.25 Miles	4:08	RI
3.25	1 Mile	9:04	Speed
3.5	.25 Miles	5:02	RI
4.5	1 Mile	9:12	Speed
4.75	.25 Miles	3:57	RI
5.25	.5 Miles	4:25	Speed
5.5	.25 Miles	4:54	RI
6	.5 Miles	4:29	Speed
6.25	.25 Miles	4:22	RI
7.25	1 Mile	11:59	Cool Down
7.95	.7 Miles	10:50	Cool Down

Nearly 8 miles before work? Not too shabby!

Wednesday: Rest – I really wanted to hit the gym, but I was beyond exhausted. Sleep won. At least I have a nice 15 minute walk to and from the car each day.

Thursday: Tempo Run – I was exhausted again, but I really wanted to get in another run. I didn’t push myself too hard because of how tired I was. It was supposed to be 2 easy miles, 3 tempo miles, 2 easy miles. I told myself after the first 5 miles that I could really take the last 2 miles extremely easy. I ended up splitting mile 6 into an even split of run/walk. Then I took one walking break during mile 7 for a .9/.1 ratio of running/walking. The splits:

Mile	Pace	Speed
Mile 1:	10:15	Easy
Mile 2:	10:32	Easy
Mile 3:	9:49	Tempo
Mile 4:	10:20	Tempo
Mile 5:	9:48	Tempo
Mile 6:	13:43	Easy
Mile 7:	10:29	Easy
.71 Miles	18:35	Cool Down

Friday: Cross Training – One good thing about my crazy work schedule is I get out at a very reasonable time on Friday’s. I was even able to make it to my favorite spinning class! It was just what I needed!

Saturday: Rest – I’m thinking 2 rest days are going to become the norm for a little while. It’s too much to wake up at 5 every single day. And Saturday’s are just too busy with work/errands/trying to have a tiny bit of a social life.

Sunday: Long Run – I am SO happy with today’s long run. Honestly, I had been dreading it. 16 miles is REALLY FREAKING FAR. But, I knew it had to be done if I really want to do the marathon (which I do!). For me running a half marathon is still really hard but I’ve done it before, so I am confident I can do it again. 14 miles is so close to a half marathon that the distance didn’t completely scare me. But 16 miles, that’s getting into a whole new territory. Well, I kicked some serious butt today if I do say so myself! Here are the splits:

Mile	Pace
Mile 1:	10:18
Mile 2:	10:34
Mile 3:	10:45
Mile 4:	10:45
Mile 5:	10:40
Mile 6:	11:13	(?)
Mile 7:	10:54
Mile 8:	11:21	(Gu)
Mile 9:	10:45
Mile 10:	10:21
Mile 11:	10:48
Mile 12:	10:45
Mile 13:	10:51	(Gu)
Mile 14:	10:48
Mile 15:	10:46
Mile 16:	10:43
Mile 17:	20:45	Cool Down
.4 Miles:	5:51	Cool Down

I’m not entirely sure what happened at mile 6. I think I might have lost satellite reception when I crossed over a bridge, because I felt like I was flying and then when my watch beeped to indicate that the mile was done and I saw it was 11+ I thought that was pretty weird. Oh well. I finished the 16 miles (without cool down) at a 10:46 pace. It took me 2:52:23 to do the 16 miles. This is right around where I would like to be on marathon day. I called mom when I was done with my run and she cooled down with me and then took me to lunch. Then as we were walking back to my apartment she had a brilliant idea that I go to the new massage place that opened around the corner from me. So I booked an appointment for later this afternoon. 70 hours of work in an uncomfy chair + 16 mile long run = time for a massage!

Hoping I make it through another crazy, insane week!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 10

Week 10! I can’t believe it’s already been 2 and a half months of training. Less than 2 to go. Wow. This week had the potential to be very, very, VERY challenging. I started a new rotation at work. My days looked something like this:

5:00 or 5:30 am (depending on the day) – wake up and work out

7:20 am – leave for work

8:20 am – get to work

10:15 pm- leave work

11:15 pm- get home and go to sleep

Repeat.

Ouch.

But, I managed to make it through the week. I’m going to take it one week at a time. Only 5 weeks to go until I’m back to my “normal” work. It’s pretty crazy how a week ago I couldn’t even imagine waking up this early, but that was back when I got out of work around 6ish. So, now that I am much more pressed for time I have to make it work somehow!

So, this weeks work outs:

Monday: Speed Work – Warmed up with 1.06 miles at a 9:36 pace. Then it was 8×400 with 1:30 of rest in between each quarter mile. The 400 paces were: 7:56, 7:47, 9:36, 7:40, 7:48, 8:36, 8:03, 8:03. I’m not sure what happened with that 3rd 400, but otherwise I thought that was a great run. Then I cooled down with a mile of running and .3 of walking, for a total for the day of 5.06 miles.

Tuesday: Cross Training – During my normal work routine, I can never get to spinning class (6 am on Tuesdays) in time. This week, I made it! It wasn’t the greatest teacher ever, but it was nice to be in a class that early and have someone else push me.

Wednesday: Tempo Run – This was supposed to be 8 miles at a 10k + 40 second pace. (On Wednesday I got confused and thought it was 10k + 20 seconds.) For me that means 10 minute miles. Totally do-able. But….this was one of the worst runs ever. I think it was a combination of being over tired and thinking I had to do it faster than I really had to. My legs did not want to run. At all. So I ended up walking a ton of this run. Oh well. The splits: 9:53, 10:33, 11:57, 11:36, 14:46, 12:43, 12:25, 12:16. Not pretty. But I still managed to move 8 miles even before most people wake up in the morning, so that has to count for something, right?

Thursday: Cross Training – Elliptical and upper body weights. Pretty standard for a cross training work out. I really love weight training. Feels so good! Then I stretched for a while because my new desk chair is beyond uncomfortable. That felt great too!

Friday: Cross Training – I did a fun little cardio circuit. Bike, elliptical, arc trainer. Then I did some planks and called it a day.

Saturday: Rest – I also have to work Saturdays until the end of February. This makes squeezing in long runs a bit more tricky, but I think I can make Sunday long runs work. I thought about hitting the gym but it wasn’t open before I left for work and I was beat by the time I got home. It was nice to relax on my couch for a change.

Sunday: Long run – this was a step back week. It’s official. Step back weeks are the greatest thing to EVER happen to marathon training plans. EVER! I had to do 12 miles today. 12 miles…psh easy! I was feeling really great at the start of my run and didn’t really want to start with the walking breaks. But I forced myself to do it anyway because I think I really want to run the race this way (.9 mile run/.1 mile walk). Well, it totally worked. Not to brag, but I killed it today. The splits: 10:22, 10:34, 10:26, 10:34, 10:50, 11:02 (it was icy here and I had to slow down so I didn’t wipe out), 10:17, 10:19, 10:05, 10:45, 10:09, 10:37. Then I cooled down for 1.08 miles with walking. I actually ran into Mom at 11.48 miles, stopped to chat for a second, finished the last half mile and then met back up with her for the cool down. But did you see that!!! Only ONE mile above 11 minutes. This was a total confidence builder. Woo hoo!

Total miles: 24.14 miles

Back to the super early work outs tomorrow. Let’s hope I can do it again this week!

–Melissa

 

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 9

This week was a big test for me. I needed to see if I could make marathon training fun again. I talked with a co worker who said that if it was easy and fun everyone would do it. Good point. I read somewhere that only 1% of the population has run a marathon. Pretty cool. I am starting a rotation at work that is going to be very demanding of my time. I have decided that I want to do the marathon again, but now I’m afraid it might not even be humanly possible. I’m going to try to make it work, but I’m still reserving the right to drop down to the half marathon if I can’t get in enough training. I start my rotation tomorrow so I think I’ll be able to get a better idea after working for a few days.

This weeks recap:

Monday: Cross Training – I did elliptical and upper body weights. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I did it before work, I’m going to have to do all my work outs before work for the next 6 weeks, so it was good to try it out. Unfortunately I couldn’t manage to fit in any other morning work outs the rest of the week. Uh oh.

Tuesday: Speed Work – This workout was a mile warm up at a 9:10 pace, phew! I rounded it out for 10 minutes of warm up. Then it was 4×800 with 90 seconds of rest in between each set. The 800 splits were paced at 9:42, 8:29, 8:43, 8:38. Then I cooled down for a mile. The total for the day was 4.8 miles. I’m not sure what happened with that first 800, but I managed to pick it up and be right around my goal pace for the other 3 800’s, so this was a pretty good run.

Wednesday: Cross Training – I couldn’t wake up before work as I mentioned before, and I had plans after work. So I ran to the gym at lunch. I did a great 20 minute elliptical workout:

minute	cross ramp	resistance
1	10	5
2	10	10
3	10	15
4	10	20
5	5	10
6	10	10
7	15	10
8	20	10
9	10	5
10	10	10
11	10	15
12	10	20
13	5	10
14	10	10
15	15	10
16	20	10
17	20	20
18	15	15
19	10	10
20	5	5

I finished up with some upper body weights before I hurried home to shower and go back to work.

Thursday: Tempo Run Rest – Oops. I skipped my tempo run this week. It was supposed to be 1 mile easy, 5 miles tempo. Tempo runs are usually my favorite run of the week. But I was invited to a happy hour, and didn’t end up getting home in time to do it.

I didn’t feel guilty at all. I would have done it on Friday instead, but I wanted to run my long run on Saturday (not sure why, because in retrospect I could have done it today instead…) so I just skipped it all together. Oh well. There’s always next week.

Friday: Cross Training – I just did an easy hour on the elliptical. I wasn’t feeling like doing anything and wanted to be somewhat rested for my long run.

Saturday: Long Run – 14 miles!!! This was my PDR! (Personal Distance Record) After last week’s disaster long run, I decided to try a new approach. I didn’t think I would ever, ever do this. But, I needed a way to mentally battle the 14 miles. Enter: planned walking breaks. I decided that I would run .9 miles and then walk .1 mile until that became too much and then switch to running .4 miles and then walking .1 mile. Overall my pace was around 11:20 (waaaay slower than I had originally planned on running this marathon, but more realistic these days I think). The splits: 10:44, 10:49, 10:35, 10:55, 10:48, 12:57 (longer walking break to eat a Gu), 10:56, 10:54, 11:39 (started with the .4/.1 ratio), 11:21, 12:56 (Gu), 11:47, 12:31, 10:17. Then I cooled down with walking for a mile, so technically I covered 15 miles in a little under 3 hours.

Sunday: Cross Training – 25 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes biking, upper body weights. It was good.

This week is a step back week. I’ll only (haha only) be doing 12 miles for my long run. But my tempo run will be 8 miles. Should be interesting to squeeze in an 8 miler before work one of these mornings…

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 8

I’m not going to make any drastic moves. And I am going to continue with training. But…I’m considering switching to the half marathon. My shorter runs have been great, but my long runs have been torture. At least 5 times on my long run today I thought to myself “why am I doing this, this is so not fun”.

There isn’t any point in doing this if it’s not fun. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone except for myself, so it’s just a matter of whether or not I really want this. This week might not have been the best because I was sick (I love you, Dayquil) and it was my first week back to work after 11 days off. I guess I’ll see how next week goes again.

Here’s how this week went:

Monday: Cross Training Rest – I was starting to come down with some sort of sickness. I wanted to run on Monday because I had the day off and the gym closed early. I walked to the grocery store before I was going to do my run to get food for the week. It’s about 2 miles round trip. When I got home I felt like I was going to pass out. A run would have been a dumb idea.

Tuesday: Speed work – I warmed up for a little over a mile in 9:41. Then I did 5 rounds of 2 minutes fast, 2 minutes easy. My fast splits: 7:51, 7:51, 7:52, 7:58, 8:28. I lost it a little on that last one, but overall I think I kicked butt. Then I cooled down with another mile and walked a bit for a total of 4.42 miles. It was freezing out and I don’t know how good this was for my cold which was getting worse, but I survived.

Wednesday: Cross Training – I didn’t feel good, but I wanted to do a quick work out anyway. I did 20 minutes HIIT on the elliptical and a quick chest/back/tricep circuit. It was better than nothing.

Thursday: Tempo Run Rest – I couldn’t get up in the morning and I had plans at night. Since I still wasn’t feeling great and it was still pretty cold I decided that a day off would do me good.

Friday: Tempo Run – I was scared for this run. It was 1 easy mile followed by 7 tempo miles. SEVEN! I decided I would let myself sleep in and just do it after work. It was a beautiful night. I couldn’t hold back the first mile so I ended up at a tempo pace (9:40 for me) for the first four miles easily. Mile 5 I started to lose some energy and that mile was a bit slower, but then I managed to pick it back up for the last 3. So I ended up with 7 tempo miles, just not in the order that my training plan called for. The splits: 9:17, 9:39, 9:28, 9:46, 10:35, 9:45, 9:27, 9:30. Then I cooled down for .29 miles.

Saturday: Cross Training – I had grand plans to spin, or swim, or do Pilates. But the timing just didn’t work out. I ended up having a real great work out anyway. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by upper body weights. I did bicep curls, front raises, lateral raises, skull crushers, tricep pull downs, lateral pull downs, and push ups. My shoulders were very sore this morning. Then I stretched for a bit in preparation for my long run today.

Sunday: Long Run – Last night, I went to bed relatively early for a Saturday night but I woke up at some point because I felt like I was having an allergic reaction to something. My entire body felt like it was on fire. The bottom of my feet were so itchy. It went away but then I couldn’t sleep for a while after that. Needless to say I didn’t get the best night sleep. I woke up this morning and took my time getting ready for my long run because I was pretty nervous for it. I haven’t had a good long run in weeks. But, I tried to think positive and headed out the door. My strategy was to go at a very, very comfortable pace. This seemed like a good idea in order to maintain the same pace throughout. But I still freaked out and ended up walking a lot during the second half. I am cringing as I look at my splits: 11:07, 10:57, 10:49, 10:57, 11:06, 14:12, 11:17, 12:56, 11:35, 12:20, 12:17, 11:58, 9:48. At least I finished strong… I cooled down after for a total of 13.57 miles. I took Gu’s after mile 5 and mile 10 (explains the 14:12 mile). I can finish the race at an 11:39 pace, but it’s just so far from my original goal. It’s so frustrating because I killed it on Friday night. Why do I keep psyching myself out! Mom said “you don’t need a trainer, you need a shrink” Hehe.

Total miles: 26.28 miles

Hoping week 9 will be better. It will be my first PDR since my first half marathon. 14 miles this weekend!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 7

After a rough week 6, I was hoping for a much better week 7. Running-wise: it wasn’t the worst, wasn’t the best. Definitely still room for improvement. The rest of the week was pretty great though! We were in the Poconos at a spa, massages everyday? Yes please!

Here’s what the week looked like:

Monday: Speed Work Hill Work – Since we were in the Poconos it was very, very hilly. I knew speed work wasn’t going to be very successful, so I did a hill work out instead. There was a big hill very close to the house where we were staying the first night, the top was about a mile away, and I did it 2 or 3 times (I can’t remember and my watch isn’t showing the elevation detail for this run). I also could have sworn I just ran 6 miles this day, but my watch says I ran 7. So weird! The splits were around 10:30. The hills were really tough, but I’m glad I did it because the marathon course probably won’t be completely flat.  Later in the day we headed over to the spa, I got a sports massage. The masseuse really focused on my right IT band and it felt SO much better afterwards.  Then we did a pilates with props class. It had been so long since I had done pilates and I forgot how much I loved it! We also did a meditation class which I found to be super boring.

Tuesday: Cross Training – We started off the day with a walk, a pilates mat class and a spinning class. I loved the pilates class even more than the one the day before. The spinning class was just alright. In the afternoon I got a regular massage and that was basically the same as the sports one but with a lot less pressure. In the afternoon I did some upper body weights and foam rolled a bit.

Wednesday: Tempo Run Hill Work – There was a figure 8 loop behind the spa where we stayed the other nights. It was a little less than a mile with one big hill and some smaller inclines throughout. I did the loop 6 and a half times to get to 6 miles. They were definitely not my fastest miles, but I blame the big hill. The splits: 10:29, 10:54, 11:02, 11:03, 10:52, 10:38. Then I cooled down for .35 miles with Mom and walked down to the lake.

Then I swam a few laps and went in the hot tub for a while. The hot tub was the best! In the afternoon I went back to the weight room and ellipticalled for 10 minutes and then messed around for a little while with various exercises with Mom, Vic and Jamie. Then I got a body scrub, which is like an exfoliating massage. I got used to the daily massages and definitely miss that now that I’m home!

Thursday: Cross Training Rest – I ended up not having enough time to work out before we left the spa on Thursday. But I did have time for some hot tub time!

Friday: Long Run – Once again I had a crummy long run. I had 12 miles on the schedule and since I was doing it in Hoboken at Vic’s place and I didn’t have my Camelbak or normal fuel I decided to do the run in 3 segments of 4 miles. This way I could stop home for water every 4 miles. I actually ended up doing 5.25 miles, 5.15 miles, and 1.6 miles instead. This would have been great if I hadn’t spazzed out around mile 8. The first 5.25 miles felt great. I stopped home for water and a few bites of apple. But then I got really mental just before mile 8 and didn’t think I could finish so I started taking walking breaks. At first this was fine, but then I started to freak out even more and felt like I needed more walking breaks. I know I can do it physically, but I just keep psyching myself out! I’m going to play some mind tricks for next week’s long run (13 miles) and hopefully those will work. Anyway, the 12 mile run splits were: 10:06, 10:09, 10:08, 10:07, 9:52, 10:18, 10:46, 11:33, 10:57, 13:24, 11:09, 12:00. Then I cooled down for .22. The average pace with the cool down was 11:02 which I’m perfectly fine with, I just wish I felt better throughout the run!

Saturday and Sunday: Cross Training Rest – I ended up not working out this weekend because I was at Vic’s. It was nice to take a break.

Last night of vacation happening now. Back to the grind tomorrow. I’ll be starting it off right with some speed work!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »

Marathon Training – Week 5

This was not a good week. My runs were terrible. I know that not every run can be great though. So hopefully next week will be better.

Monday: Cross training – I headed to the gym before work for a half hour of elliptical and a half hour of weight lifting. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Tuesday: Birthday Speed Work!!! – I started with a mile warm up at a9:57 pace. Then I did 6 x 800 with 90 seconds rest in between. My 6 half mile splits were: 8:30, 7:18, 8:42, 7:12, 8:14, 8:52. Then I cooled down with a mile at 9:32. I walked until I got home for a half mile for a total of 6.05 miles.

Now I know that the splits SOUND good. But, this was terrible. I felt awful the whole time and it was just not fun. I think I will try to tone it down a little for next week’s speed work.

Wednesday: Cross training – I almost overslept so I only had time for 15 minutes of elliptical and 15 minutes of weight lifting. It was too short, but better than nothing.

Thursday: Tempo Run – I had a pretty crazy day which involved me going to New Jersey for a birthday dress I had put on hold. But I didn’t end up getting that dress and spent way too long shopping. But! I found a dress I had been wanting for a while on a super great sale!

I didn’t get home until really late and went for my run much later than I had hoped. Luckily I only had to run 5 miles instead of the 6 that I had been running in past weeks. The splits: 9:15, 9;27, 9:35, 9:14, 9:02. Then I cooled down for .4 miles.

Friday: Rest – I wanted to wake up early and go to work out with mom. But, I didn’t sleep very well and decided that sleeping and skipping this work out would be better for my marathon goals.

Saturday: Long run – I had 12 miles on the schedule today. It was horrific. My legs would not listen to my brain. I started off slow in hopes that I could finish strong. That didn’t turn out so well. I started off slow and then crashed and burned. I ended up walking a lot. I would run for one song, and then run/walk whenever I felt like it for the next song, and kept alternating. It worked to get the run over with, but it was much slower than I had hoped. I ended up running the whole last mile and pushed really hard to finish strong. Then I cooled down with walking until I got home. The splits:

Mile 1	11:39
Mile 2	10:57
Mile 3	10:48
Mile 4	10:36
Mile 5	10:37
Mile 6	11:35
Mile 7	12:38
Mile 8	11:16
Mile 9	12:07
Mile 10	11:43
Mile 11	14:20
Mile 12	9:58
Cool down .96	18:45

I was disappointed with the run. But like I said, not all runs can be perfect. I run 10 miles this week and 12 the week after so hopefully those will go more smoothly.

Sunday: Cross training – I ellipticalled for 1 hour.

Total miles: 23.45 miles

So tired from birthday weekend. I’ll try to write more next week!

–Melissa

Read Full Post »