Week 5, 6, 7 - Eugene Marathon Training

Yeah... I knew it was going to be tough to keep up with these weekly training posts. My blog seems to be the first thing to go once training really picks up and sleeping, eating and surviving are the only things I care  about (besides my athletes, of course!). I've been working hard on a few good posts that are coming up though, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, here's a few weeks of training at once!

Week 5 - 57 miles:

• Monday: REST DAYS are the BEST DAYS.
• Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7:07 avg - another successful speed workout that left me feeling strong. + kettle bell workout.
• Wednesday: 4 AM miles @ 8:22 avg + 6 PM miles @ 7:53 avg. First double run where I was able to go faster on the second run rather than feeling like I needed more recovery time.
• Thursday: 7 miles @ 7:28 avg (2 miles of strides mixed in the middle of this run) + core work.
• Friday: 6 miles @ 7:53 avg. Ran in some serious wind and rain on this one. The pace felt so much harder than it should and I was exhausted afterward.
• Saturday: 16 miles @ 7:37 avg. Long runs are finally falling into place. Pace called for "comfortable" and I felt really good with this pace.
• Sunday: 6 AM miles @8:32 avg + 4 PM miles @ 8:49 avg.

On Sunday of week 5, I went out to Venice to participate in a Oiselle marathon workshop. This was geared towards those running LA Marathon, but it was a great event. We had a Volee member who was a PT and Chiropractor share some prehab and recovery tips, and one of the Volee who was a nutritionist share race day and carb loading nutrition tips. The workshop was smack in the middle of the day between my runs and I didn't really eat a substantial lunch, so my evening run was a STRUGGLE. A good reminder that food is fuel.

Week 6 - 51 miles:

• Monday: 7 miles @ 7:50 avg. on a hilly route + core work.
• Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7:18 avg. This speed workout felt much tougher - the weather was warm and definitely made the paces feel more laborious. As the last speed workout before my race, I was a bit bummed. Added in a kettle bell workout after.
• Wednesday: 4 AM miles @ 8:49 avg. + 6 PM miles @ 7:58 avg. Felt good on my evening run. 
• Thursday: 5 miles @ 8:00 avg + core work.
• Friday: 4 miles @ 8:49 avg.
• Saturday: Rest Day - today called for a 20:00 shakeout, but we drove down to San Diego and did quite a bit of walking to/from the hotel and the expo. Skipped the run so I could feel fresh the next day.
• Sunday: Raced the San Diego Half Marathon and finished with a 1:31:01. Did a 1 mile warm up + 2 easy miles in the afternoon after we got home to get to 16 total for the day. You can read the race recap here.

Week 7 - 51 miles:

• Monday: REST DAY!
• Tuesday: 6 recovery miles @ 8:30 avg. Surprised my legs feel decent after racing.
• Wednesday: 7 miles @ 8:08 avg.
• Thursday: 7 miles @ 7:28 avg. Workout called for 10 x 1 min @ 6:30 w/ 1 min recovery to get the legs turning over for my long run.
• Friday: 4 miles @ 8:42 avg.
• Saturday: 20 miles @ 7:34 avg. FELT SO GOOD ON THIS RUN!!!!!!! This run really felt like things are really falling into place with training (it only took 6 weeks to feel that!). I wasn't looking forward to it, and was worried about fueling, but the run just came out of me. Hit a 7:06 at mile 19 and it felt GREAT! Here's to hoping race day feels like this!
• Sunday: 7 miles @ 8:43 avg. + spectating LA Marathon!

I have a tendency to drop strength work after a race to give my muscles time to recover (also because I'm pretty pooped and just want to make my runs happen). There was no tapering and not a ton of recovery time, but I think forgoing the strength for a bit and focusing more on recovery during and after race week helps me bounce back from the fatigue. I'm back on the strength work this week though! I can't believe there's only 6 weeks left until Eugene.

J