Marathon Training Plan: Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen

I am now officially in my marathon training plan mode!! Woohoo!

I know my titles have been indicating that I’ve been ‘marathon training’ since May but I’ve been really just conditioning myself for my actual marathon plan (which started the week of July 29^th). One thing I never ever ever thought to do is condition myself BEFORE marathon season. I would take my time off and when I have to start training for a marathon I would just go right into my plan in whatever condition I was in (very out of shape I might add)! But since my goal this Fall is to try and get that BQ again, I started early with my coach and because of this I am going into my training is amazing shape! WHO KNEW? This means I can push myself harder and faster. I hope it works.

As soon as he gave me the first 6 weeks of my new plan my eyes bugged out of my head and jaw dropped to the floor. “He is having me run 6 days straight with 1 day off?”  This is unheard of for me! I never thought I would be at the point where I would be running this much and with harder workouts in place. I am up for the challenge and really trust my coach. He knows what he’s doing. And I am excited to put everything to the test!

New sneaks! Time to break them in. It's normal to have 3 pairs
of these in my closet right?

Back to early morning workouts. sigh.

My legs were TIRED after the first week. I knew that the mileage would get easier but for me to adjust to the training I had to make sure I committed to my pre and post-run dynamic workouts. Activating the right muscles, core work and just loosening everything up needs to be consistent. A few kinks developed here and there the past two weeks but I was able to fix the issues before they got worse. Just your typical knots and tenderness that creped in. I am so fortunate to have an amazing sports massage therapist who does wonder! After a quick visit I was able to get back on track without skipping  beat. I’m really learning on how to care of my body so that I don’t break down during my training. I’ve had horrible experiences with injuries in the past that I’ve promised myself to train the right way this time. Especially with all the miles and hard efforts.

 So far so good. We are getting closer to race day… 8 weeks!!

Week of July 29^th  

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 8 mile tempo
Thursday: 5 miles and strength work
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles + hill sprints
Sunday: 17 miles

Week of August 5^th  

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles + strides
Wednesday: 9 mile tempo
Thursday: 6 miles and strength work
Friday: 4 miles + hill sprints
Saturday: 18 miles
Sunday: 5 miles

Spent some time cleaning up the diet a bit

 


 

This one was a doozey...

  

Jim caught up to me on his bike during my one of my long run and took these pictures without me knowing!