I apologize for my lack of Friday post. Our internet went out due to a bad storm and I just got it back Saturday morning! I have never been so happy to have internet again.

First off, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! I hope you all were able to spend some quality time with your family.

I went and visited my Dad yesterday, which was really nice! It’s a blessing to be close again when holidays like this roll around.

 

Week 2 of my Hansons training is officially in the book! I really was worried about this week, but it went much better than expected!  It’s funny how that happens isn’t it?

I am quickly remembering just how it is to feel tired all the time! Ha! Between the tiredness that comes along with marathon training and getting up so early each morning I’m pretty wipe out at the end of the day. I can’t imagine how I am going to feel during the peak of training! One week at a time….

 

Here is a look at my running this week:

Monday – 6 miles

The week started off with 6 easy miles. Easy is so relative depending on the day, but Monday I felt okay. It’s odd because the days where I don’t sleep as well the night before I end up having better runs.

 

Tuesday – 9 miles (speed workout)

The second speed workout of marathon training was:

Warm up
8 x 600 meters (with 400 recovery)
Cool down

My goal for the 600’s was a 2:25 with averages out to around a 6:28 per mile pace I believe. My splits ended up being: 2:21, 2:22, 2:23, 2:23, 2:24, 2:22, 2:23, and 2:23.

I actually paced this workout pretty well, though I would in no way say it was “easy.”

 

Wednesday – 7 miles

Wednesday brought another easy run as it always does. I was really tired on Wednesday morning so I struggled at the beginning. Just like every morning though as I got into it I started to feel better.

Even though I have a set pace range during my easy day I really focus on trying to relax. If I need to go slower than that pace then I will.

 

Thursday -10 miles (Tempo run)

Tempo runs are officially back. I have a love/hate relationship with them. They hands down were the biggest difference maker in my last marathon, but at the same time they sometimes can be very mentally tough.

I tried to focus on taking this run one mile at a time. I too often get ahead of myself which makes me panic every single time.

The first several miles weren’t too bad.  I felt like I was in groove. Then miles 4-6 hit. I felt okay at mile 4 but could feel myself tiring. At mile 5 I was happy I was so close but really had to grit my teeth and keep going. These are the times when I have a mild heart attack thinking about having to run that pace for 26.2 miles, but then I remember amazing things happen with good training.

As they say, trust your training!

Overall it was a good start to my tempo runs. In total I did 10 miles with a 2 mile warm up and cool down. As my tempos get longer I usually have to cut my warm up and cool down to 1 mile each (Hansons recommends 1.5 – 3 miles on all tempo and speed workouts) due to time constraints.

 

Saturday – 10 miles

It was another early Saturday morning with the husband. My long runs are now supposed to be at a 8:01 average which is crazy because that used to be my tempo runs!

I always start the first mile of early morning run off really slow and work my way into it. I think I averaged a 9:10 or so. Then I kicked it into gear. Aside from some terrible heartburn it was a pretty decent run!

I ended up averaging an 8:06. I was happy with it and excited for my first “long” run of this training cycle!

 

Sunday – 6 miles

Sunday’s have been a tough day for me to cut my miles down for some reason. I used to like to run slow but further on Sundays, but I am focusing on sticking to the plan.

However, the 100 degree heat recently has made me so thankful for these shorter runs.

 

There you have it. My first really full week complete with all my workouts are done! I am one step closer to Chicago!

 

How did your running go this week?

What was your best run?