I have so many thoughts going through my head this week. I plan on putting them all into a post to recap the race on Saturday, but today I owe you a look back at my training for week 12 of Hanson’s Marathon Method.

I think it was the best decision I made to race this weekend. On top of it turning out pretty awesome, it gave me the confidence I need to keep focused and motivated for the last month and a half of training.

Here is a break down of my runs the past week:

 

Monday (10/6) 

8 miles easy

 

Tuesday (10/7)

1.5 mile warm up
3 x 2 mile repeats (7:50 pace)
1.5 mile cool down

10 miles total

 

Wednesday (10/8)

7 miles easy

 

Thursday (10/9)

1.5 mile warm up
7 miles (2 at GMP, 2 at GHMP, 1 at GMP, 1 at GHMP, 1 at GMP)
1.5 mile cool down

10 miles total

 

Friday (10/10)

Off

 

Saturday (10/11)

Half marathon race (plus 2 mile cool down with Wes)

15 miles total

 

Sunday (10/12)

8 miles easy

 

Even though this week didn’t follow the original plan exactly, it was still a great week full of some tough workouts!

Oh and to say a little bit about the race before my recap – I finished officially in 1:39:56 (7:37 average) which got me 1^st in my age group! Granted it wasn’t a big race (about 75 total runners) but I was extremely happy with my performance!

That is a 21-minute PR and I don’t think I could be happier! Again, I will be back to talk about it in depth, but it was a pretty great Saturday! Oh, and Wes won! He originally wasn’t going to do it, but changed his mind. He ran a 1:12:59 and felt really good.

Training goes through phases. Some weeks you feel great and motivated and then the next week you want to do just about anything except get out there at 4:00 AM each morning during the week and run. However, weeks like this when you see just how far you have come make it all worth it.

 

Best Run

I am not counting my race in the running for the week, so I will have to give it to my tempo run workout this week. I changed it up this week to see how my legs would respond and it was hands down the best run I did.

I felt great the whole time, and when you throw half marathon pace work in with marathon pace it sure makes it feel easier when you slow yourself down! It definitely gave me the confidence I needed going into the race this weekend.

It helped that the weather was perfect and nice and cool when I got up that morning.

 

Toughest Run 

I think this week my toughest run was Wednesday morning. It was a simple and easy 7 miles, but it felt anything but. My legs were tired, I felt like I had no energy, and it was probably the most difficult morning to pull myself out of bed when my alarm went off.

It was just one of those days when I felt off, which added nerves when getting ready for Thursday mornings run. It just goes to show you can have a bad day one day and then next come back even stronger.

 

 

What was your best and toughest run this week?

Did anyone else race this weekend?