I feel like I have finally hit my stride when it comes to marathon training. The first 3-4 weeks were tough. Though in many ways I was making it tougher on myself than it really needed to be. I was letting the pressure creep back in, instead of just enjoying the process.
Before starting weeks 4-5 I knew that I had to make a mental change if I wanted to enjoy this training cycle. At the end of the day if it’s not fun then it’s not worth doing. I can’t tell you how just making this simple change in my thought process has benefited my training!
You can’t make running more than it is and even though it’s a hobby sometimes I forget that. I made a pact with myself to just simply have FUN and that is what I am doing!
This week included traveling to DC to watch my husband run Marine Corps Marathon so I had to adjust the weekend. I worked out to get some help during the week to fit in the important runs and let go of everything else. Sometimes we have to adapt!
Week 5: 10/16/2017-10/22/2017
Monday – 8.05 miles @ 9:11 pace
Tuesday – 10.13 mile stroller workout. 2 mile warm up, 6 x 0.5 miles @ 7:15 pace/0.5 miles @ 8:30 pace, and 2 mile cool down. (Splits: 7:10, 8:10, 7:18, 8:24, 7:05, 8:15, 7:11, 8:17, 7:16, 8:09, 7:09, 8:14).
Wednesday – 7.05 miles @ 9:12 pace
Thursday – 16.10 mile long run workout. 7 miles easy, 2 miles (7:30-7:40), 3 miles (7:25), 2 miles (sub 7:25), and 2 mile cool down. (Splits: 8:39, 8:40, 8:24, 8:29, 8:43, 8:21, 8:05, 7:34, 7:30, 7:25, 7:26, 7:21, 7:14, 7:13, 8:29, 8:40).
Friday – Off (traveling to MCM)
Saturday – 6.05 miles @ 8:16 average.
Sunday – Off (Marine Corps Marathon)
TOTAL: 47.38 miles
As you can see my mileage was way down this week since I took two rest days. The most important thing was that I got two solid workouts in and my long run. Let’s talk about that long run! I was nervous about it from the get go but made the choice to just have fun. I really couldn’t believe that I was able to hit those splits and that I did so truly without going overboard. Throwing in tempo at the end of a long run isn’t always easy, but I had fun and it made the miles fly by!
This week may not have been as big as some of my others but I was excited for the miles that I did get in!
Plus, ending with getting to watch my favorite runner have a winning day made it all worth while!