RNR Training Weeks 5 & 6

Considering that I am halfway through week 7, I'd say this recap is a little late. But honestly there isn't much to write. Both of these weeks were a wash for different reasons. Since I am training to finish and simply cover the distance I am not overly concerned, but I am glad it happened in the beginning of my training cycle.

Week 5: aka the week of the Polar Vortex.

I missed my mid-distance hill run because it was bitterly cold and the kids' school was delayed. Other wise it was an ok week. I got in 4 runs for a modest total of 19.25 miles. Had I gotten that 6 extra miles I would have been right where I wanted to be for the week, but it is what it is.

• Wednesday: 4 mile treadmill speedwork consisting of 1 mile warm up followed by 4 x 0.5 mi repeats at increasingly higher speeds, 0.1m rest between, 0.5 mi cool down. This certainly made the treadmill a little more tolerable
• Thursday: Holy cow my quads were sore from the workout the day before! An easy 3 mile treadmill run flushed them out.  Core work afterwards.
• Saturday: 10 mile long run with my running group. Would have liked to have tacked on a couple more miles afterwards but some really strong storms were rolling in complete with tornado warnings. I thought it best to pack it in and go home.
• Sunday: 2.25mi on the treadmill before my yoga class.

Total miles: 19.25

Week 6: aka the week I find out how effective my flu shot was.

I woke up on Tuesday morning feeling not well at all. I sat in bed for a good 45 minutes contemplating getting up and going to the gym to get my workout in but in the end decided against it. I was feeling a little feverish and overall not well.  By about 10 o'clock I was on my way home from work because I was feeling progressively worse throughout the morning. By noon I was on my couch unable to move. I stayed home from work the next two days battling a mild case of the flu/strep throat. Needless to say there was no running at all.

I was feeling well enough on Saturday to attempt my long run with my running group. Whether or not it was the smartest idea, I will not say. It was a cold cold 13 miles. The last mile and a half was all uphill and I was definitely feeling tired, but I got it done.

Total miles: 13
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Overall I am not beating myself up. I feel I am doing the best I can with the time I have and I still have a lot more time in my training plan. I am just praying that this brutal winter weather will let up so I can spend a little more time outside.

RNR Raleigh Training Week 4

Maybe you heard on Twitter that it is a little cold outside? Here is my personal favorite way to stay warm! He's going to be too old and too cool to cuddle with his mama soon. I am soaking up every possible moment.

I have a feeling that when I start getting into the thick of marathon training -  a time when the newness of training for a new distance wears off but the race is still many weeks away - that I will look back on this week for some motivation.

So much seemed to go right for me this week:

• Monday - Rest 
• Tuesday - 4.6 miles to get to 700 for the year (200 miles over my original goal!)
• Wednesday - 3.1 miles to start the year off right.
• Thursday - 6 miles on my hilly route
• Friday - Rest 
• Saturday - 14 mile freaking cold long run
• Sunday - 2.5 shakeout miles on treadmill to hit my first 30 mile week. 1hr yoga class.

Total miles: 30.2

I am not really following a set training plan for this marathon. I know I want to run 4-5 times per week. I have my running group's long run schedule which I will start following once the weekly group runs hit 12ish miles. Until then I want to keep my long runs between 10-12 miles. During the week I want to run one run where I push my speed, one mid-distance hilly run and one or two short easy runs. Somewhere in there I will try to be more diligent about core work and cross/weight training.

This week was one of my first weeks running 5 days and my very first week hitting the 30 mile mark. I didn't set out to run my highest mileage week ever but between not having work this week and feeling great while running it just happened that way.

I am trying to be relaxed about the whole thing. My race pace is not too challenging for me since my goal is to finish this race healthy and happy. My "speedy" runs are based more on effort than actual numbers. Mostly I am experimenting with adding more running days to my week and running higher weekly mileages.

This week, everything seemed to go well. I ran in my neighborhood for the first time in a really long time and was able to crush 3 different hills that I used to have to walk up. I love seeing progress like that. My 6 mile run on my hilly trail also went really well.  I am starting to feel really strong on a couple of the steeper hills that traditionally give me trouble. My splits for the 6 miles were pretty even. Slow for me for sure, but usually they all over the place because of a few steep hills.

My long run was supposed to be 12 miles - 8 with my running group than 4 more miles afterwards. A couple of other people from my group were heading out for 6 more and told me that the particular trail was not a great place for solo runners. I was (easily) convinced to tack on the extra miles and ended up having a fantastic negative split run, despite the freezing temps.

Bare, frozen wetlands on my long run. I miss the color
green and temps that don't start with the number 1.

Mostly likely I won't see another 30-something week for a couple more weeks, but I really had some fun this week. My confidence is definitely high right now!