Hanson's Marathon Method Week 8 Run down

What a week it was! This week was pretty low mileage since I had a headcold come on and wanted to get rested up for my half marathon on Saturday. I originally had wanted to race my half, but with my head still staying pretty congested I decided to just have fun and not push myself into a deeper sickness (plus I wanted to enjoy our weekend full of camping!). I still ended up getting fourth in my age group (!!!) at my race and honestly had SO MUCH FUN! It was by far the best half marathon I can ever remember having (race recap to come soon). 

Besides getting sick, I did hit my mile repeats on Tuesday so that was a huge bonus and I just ultimately took the rest of the week off from any hard runs and just focused on recovery and easy paces. 

Monday: 6 miles Easy @ 10:20 on the treadmill

Tuesday: 1.5 warm-up; 3 @ 7:20 (600 R) ; 1.5 cool-down- 7 miles total

Wednesday: Sick- took a rest day

Watching Sheep Herders because what else are you supposed to do when you're sick?! 

Thursday: 3 miles easy on the trails @ 9:54

Friday: 3.25 miles easy @ 10:00

Saturday: RACE DAY! 13.2 miles @ 9:17 - 2:01:37- I turned off my auto alerts for mile splits on my Garmin and just went by feel. I negative-split my race time by over 2 and a half minutes and kept my heart rate under 160. I never pushed myself too hard and felt super recovered after I finished. I also got 4th in my age group!

Sunday: Rest Day

Sunshine Goods:

• Kept my health and rest a priority
• Fitness is still there!
• 4th in my age group
• Negative-split by a huge amount!!
• Kept positive the entire race and never felt like I had 'hit the wall'
• Hit my mile repeats

Gloomy Goods:

• Got sick (bummer!)
• Didn't hit my mileage for the week 
• Didn't get a PR for the half like originally planned
• Took an extra rest day
• So much running = so much laundry!!!

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 7 Rundown

Another week of Marathon training is done and gone! I can't believe I'm almost halfway through training. This is typically where I always need a little 'restart' and 'reset'. I sometimes find myself getting sick (ahem, like this week) or tired. I just need to keep on chugging along!

Monday: 6 easy miles on the treadmill at 10:20 & 20 minutes of strength work

Tuesday: 9 miles on the track- Ladder; 1.5 warm-up; 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 (400 Recovery between); 1.5 cool-down

Wednesday: 7 miles easy @ 10:11 min/mi & Jumpboard Reformer class

Thursday: 10 miles with 7 @ GMP (8:46); actual- 1.5 warm-up; 7 miles @ 8:41; 1.5 cool-down. This run felt SO great and I was super happy that it didn't feel nearly as much of a 'struggle' that I thought it would feel.

Friday: 8 miles easy @ 10:20. I slept in this morning and fit it in the afternoon. It was pretty hot, but a nice change to run during the day!

Saturday: 14 miles @ 9:29; actual- 14 miles @ 9:28 on the treadmill. I had to travel to Denver this weekend for some Figure Skating Coaching Exams & Seminar, so I did it on the treadmill in the afternoon and the gym was SO amazing that I didn't even mind that I was inside!

Sunday: Rest Day & Drive back from Denver

Sunshine Goods:

• Hitting my marathon goal paced run
• Felt strong during my jumpboard pilates class
• Feeling super fit & strong
• Hit my long-run and felt strong
• Fit in 2 strength training sessions

Gloomy Goods:

• Didn't hit all my tempo speed work paces
• Sleep wasn't a priority
• Legs feel pretty sore/tired each day

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 5 Rundown

Week 5 has come and gone! My mileage hit another all-time high (48 miles) and I am so psyched! I had some trouble hitting my paces on my Saturday long-run, but the weather definitely was pretty unforgiving (HOT for me in the 80's) and I started to develop a bit of a head cold. Otherwise, my training went really well and honestly I've been so busy with work lately that I can't even remember which runs were done outside or on the treadmill (yikes)! So, I'll do my best to recap this past week. 

Monday: 6 easy miles @ 10:10 min/mi on the treadmill and 20 minutes of strength training at night

Tuesday: 8 miles with 1. 5 warm-up & 1.5 cool-down and 5 x 1k @ 4:30 and 400 recovery (actual: 4:32, 4:31, 4:28, 4:28, 4:30) on the treadmill

Wednesday: 7 easy miles @ 10:10 min/mi outside? I think...& Tower Reformer Class

Thursday: 9 miles with 1.5 warm-up & 1.5 cool-down and 6 miles @ 8:46 (actual: 8:40) on treadmill at night because I slept in!

Friday: 6 easy miles at 10:02 outside? I think...

Saturday: 12 miles at long-run pace 9:29 (actual: 12 miles @ 9:36)

Sunday: Rest Day

Sunny Goods:

• My easy paced runs were right on target pace
• My tempo miles were 6 seconds faster than my needed pace!
• I'm focusing on my nutrition intake more and trying to get in some protein immediately following a run
• I've gotten sold 8 hours of sleep each night this week and 12 HOURS (each night) on the weekend!

Gloomy Goods:

• I didn't hit all of my paces on my speedwork session
• My long run pace was a bit slower than scheduled
• Head cold not so fun this week...

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 4 Rundown

One month of marathon #5 training has come and gone! This week had mainly pretty strong work-outs and I definitely wasn't feeling as sore as I did during week 3. I didn't hit all of my splits during my speed workout on Tuesday and had a bit of stomach issues during my tempo run this week, but overall I think if we didn't have some troubles along the way it would make training plans a bit too easy and predictable! Having these bumps along the way just makes me more hungry for those real 'quality' workouts. I also managed to partake in 2 fitness classes last week= a total win! 

Monday: 6 miles Easy @ 10:17 min/mi on the treadmill. 

Tuesday: 8 miles with 6 x 800s @ 3:40; Actual: 7 miles with 6 x 800s (3:48, 3:42, 3:37, 3:37, 3:38, 3:40). Overall, I'm happy with this workout. The track was busy AGAIN so I had to do this on the road (where it was busier than I expected) and trying to keep track of my splits, my 400 recovery mileage turned into more of a 200 recovery (I think anyways?), which is where I think I lost my mile (I may have been more towards 7.25 miles, but that's only a guesstimate). I guess next time if the track is busy, I'm better off just going to the treadmill! 

Wednesday: 6 miles easy @ 9:50-10:34 ; Actual: 6 miles easy @ 9:40. It was SO beautiful out this morning and I still kept my heartrate in check and really fought to keep my paces slow, but still struggled with keeping them really at an easy threshold. Guess it's something to improve upon! I also did a JumpBoard class at noon and felt really STRONG during the class. I'm really starting to notice a big difference in my fitness and strength. 

Thursday: 9 miles with 6 @ 8:46 tempo ; 9 miles with 6 @ 8:49 tempo. I wanted to do this one outside, but after a 2 mile warm-up my stomach was feeling funky and I really just wanted to be close to a bathroom should I need one, so I headed back to the treadmill to get my tempo miles in and a cool-down! The treadmill speeds can't get to 8:46 pace exactly, so I was a few seconds off. Next week, I'm hoping to do this work-out outside and hit those paces that I know I'm capable of!

Friday: 8 miles Easy ; Actual: 8 miles easy @ 10:20 on the treadmill. I was running late and was a bit time crunched, so I wanted to get my run in and shower immediately afterwards and also really wanted to keep that pace easy! 

Saturday: 8 miles Easy ; Actual: 1.15 miles easy @ 9:29 (oops- way too fast!), Power Barre class from 10-11am, 6.85 miles @ 10:21 outside. My legs and abs were so sore after the class and it was pretty warm out, so I'm just glad I pushed through and got that run done at a still relatively easy pace. I took a nice epsom salt bath and did a 10 minute recovery pose yoga class from JasYoga to recover. 

Sunday: Rest Day

Sunshine Goods:

• My fitness is definitely improving
• I can feel myself getting stronger 
• 6 miles now seems like a total BREEZE
• Kept my easy runs really at a nice easy (low heartrate) pace
• Took TWO fitness classes this week
• Did 3 sessions with the foam roller and 2 JasYoga recovery classes

Gloomy Goods:

• Speed workout didn't go as planned
• I didn't get to 45 miles like my training plan had
• Tempo run was a bit off target pace

The Half Marathon I'm doing in 3 WEEKS & Unplugging

Alright, so I FINALLY pulled the plug on a half marathon that I'm racing during this training cycle and it's in 3 WEEKS! I'm so excited (especially after seeing the awesome race swag (you have to check out their facebook page) that they've done in past years and because it's in another state that I can check off) and will be running the Jackson Hole Half Marathon during Labor Day weekend! 

The race looks like it gains little elevation overall and honestly looks like an amazingly organized event. I'm so excited to go there with Alex and Stella and since it's early Saturday morning, we'll have the rest of the weekend to explore Yellowstone some more (we went there about 2 years ago) and just relax. It always makes it easier when a race is at the beginning of a vacation/ weekend away. 

We are camping for the weekend (one night in Grand Tetons Nat'l Park & the other two nights in Yellowstone) and the course is run mainly on their bike paths (which are seriously so amazing). I CAN'T WAIT! I'd like to try to get in under 1:55 (and utilize some miles as my marathon pace). I'm still thinking about my race strategy, but thinking my first 3 miles will be a warm-up (around 9:00 pace), then 7 miles at marathon goal pace (8:46ish), and if I'm feeling good bump it up to around 8:30ish pace for the last 3 miles (finishing under 1:55)! That's obviously a 'goal race time/paces', so I'm open to whatever and would just really like to enjoy the race. 

This morning, I had my Track Tuesday workout (5 x 1 km repeats @ 7:12 min/mi with 400m repeats) and did it on the treadmill since I really didn't feel like going to the Track again and having it being used. I think next week the track schedule should change (getting ready for school to start) and I'll be able to use it again!

8 miles total (1.65 mi warm-up & 2 mile cool-down). I felt pretty strong and while the last 1 k repeat was hard, I could definitely still do another one or two before really struggling (which I'm taking as a good sign).

I'm really focusing on fueling properly after my runs, so I had some of the Superhero Muffins I made from Run Fast Eat Slow cookbook and their Can't Beet Me Smoothie. YUM! Also, definitely needed some Iced Coffee to wash it down. I'm also a bit disappointed because our temperatures are already starting to feel cooler and Fall-ish which means I will need to switch back to hot coffee here shortly. 

I slept better last night (normally I don't sleep as well before my speedworkouts) and I really think it was because I didn't overthink my workout that I had on the schedule the next morning! I actually totally forgot what my paces were supposed to be when I was getting ready to leave the house this morning and had to go back and double check it!

I'm going to try to NOT overthink my workouts for the rest of this training cycle because really, what's the point? We overthink things, stress about them, lose sleep, adjust our eating habits (maybe), and all for what? We typically don't gain much from overstressing situations, expect negative habits. Having confidence in yourself and these situations can be difficult to gain (especially in the beginning of a new endeavor), but it helps you tackle situations SO much easier (even IF they don't go exactly as planned). While it's definitely still a work-in-progress for me to have confidence going into each training run or difficult personal/work situation, I notice a large difference when I am able to really 'own' it and believe in myself. 

I saw this quote on my Facebook Timehop the other day and was really moved by it again. Maybe if we are able to 'unplug' ourselves from our destructive habits and thoughts, we'll be able to see the other side of each situation and believe in ourselves? Before tearing yourself apart, unplug. think. reset. and plug yourself back in.