Wow, I can’t believe I’m already four weeks into my marathon training! I had a mixed bag of runs this week due to not really sleeping well and some other issues explained below. I got a happy surprise on Friday when I found out that a friend who is about the same pace will be joining me for the marathon. I’m definitely looking forward to having some company on long runs and those long mid-week runs, instead of doing the relay option like I have been. Going into the coming week, I’m going to try to get a handle on the issues I can control – most notably, get a decent amount of sleep!
Monday – 5 miles easy at 10:10 pace. The muggy weather made it kind of miserable, but I still got the miles in!
Tuesday – A 2×2 mile tempo run. 5.6 miles total, including the warmup and cooldown. I felt good and hit 8:51 and 8:41 paces on average for my tempo sections, respectively. The girl I was supposed to meet cancelled and staying in bed was oh so tempting, but I remembered how much I hated that evening run last week and sucked it up!
Wednesday – rest. I had originally planned on yoga, but after day two of having no A/C in our office, I felt very wiped and pretty much didn’t want to do anything once I got home!
Thursday – 7 mile run at 9:24 pace. This marked the longest mid-week run I’ve done in a long time, and I was nervous about fitting it in before work. I ended up having plenty of time! I had a relay of sorts: first 3 miles with two friends and all of our dogs, next two with just the girls and then the last two solo.
Friday – 4 mile run at 10:25 pace. The temp was nice and cool from rain the night before! I had some stomach issues, but a nice cool summer rain started with about a mile left.
Saturday – The plan called for a 13 mile run, with a 15 minute strong finish. I did the first 4.5 miles solo, met up with two friends for 8, and then added on at the end. The weather was perfect for a long run – 66 and overcast! I managed 9:34 overall with an 8:13 last mile. Iced coffee afterwards and then an hour-long walk with my neighbor/running buddy and our pups made for the perfect recovery!
Sunday – 3.1 mile walk, aka The Color Run! I did this with three girlfriends, and since we had all done long runs or rides the day before, we had agreed ahead of time on a run/walk method… which turned into more like 90% walk due to the high number of people in our wave. I think I’ve finally removed all traces of color!
Total: 34.6 miles running, 3.1 miles of Color!
A very colorful Sassafras!