if you’re new here, I’m currently training for my second full marathon – Chicago – on October 9, 2016. I am currently in week 13 of 16, and you can read about weeks 1-4 here, weeks 5-8 here, about last year’s race here, and all things running related here.

week 9 – august 15-21 / mileage – planned: 47, completed: 47.2

after feeling a little blah after week 8 I was pretty determined to nail week 9, particularly because I knew it was an important build-up week and included my first 20-miler of the cycle. this week also marked the first track/speed workout of the cycle, which was 4 x 1600 mand 3 x 200m (with warm up, recoveries, and cool down). I was nervous going into it – I’ve only done mile repeats one other time – but it went well; in fact, I probably went a little too fast. I guess I was excited to get back to the track — or just to have a week off from hills.

I of course had some nerves going into the 20-miler, but nothing like last year — because now I know that I can do it. I had a route planned that I was excited about – I think that’s key – and it was a cool day, and I got started early (like 5:30 or so). I started off slow and then, as the workout called for, did miles 8-12 at marathon pace, which felt surprisingly comfortable. I slowed down after mile 12, but not by much, and was even able to comfortably squeeze in a couple of fast finish miles at the end. I’ve got some tough goals for the marathon, but this run (and week overall) made me feel like they were truly attainable for the first time. #nailedit

this shit was hard, no doubt, but there is nothing better than the high of finishing a run like this, especially when it’s been almost a year since I’ve done it. we went to kansas city for the weekend immediately after finishing our run, and it was one of the best weekends i’ve had in a long time, probably in part because I was so hyped on the long run.

I got in two good strength workouts this week, but no core workout on saturday, and no cross-training, although we had a very active weekend overall.

week 10 – august 22-28 / mileage – planned: 41, completed: 39.7

after 20 miles on saturday, and a very full weekend with basically no rest in kansas city, I woke up on monday feeling wiped. I was experiencing a bit of what I think was extensor tendonitis on my right foot, but I decided to get up and see how it felt while running. I made it about half a mile, and although the pain was definitely manageable, I realized it wasn’t worth hurting it more and decided to turn my 6 mile run into a 3 mile walk. mondays are an easy run day anyways, and this was the first run in a long time that I’d skipped, so I didn’t worry too much over it.

the rest of the week went fine, but not great. it was one of those weeks where I felt like I was going through the motions rather than really processing everything or enjoying the training (which I usually do). hill repeats felt more challenging than usual. an 8-mile run with 5 miles @ tempo pace was pretty miserable, probably because I decided to do it in the evening and it was warm.

long run this week was 14 miles easy, but it felt so hard. it usually takes a few miles for me to get comfortable on a long run, and from there it’s usually smooth sailing, but that never happened on this run. can’t exactly pinpoint why, but likely just cumulative marathon training fatigue. I got it done and tried not to read into it much. I got in two strength workouts plus a good bike ride on sunday this week, and thanks to a little extra rest this week, my foot seemed to mostly heal up on its own.

week 11 – august 29 – september 4 / mileage – planned: 49, completed: 51.3

I had been simultaneously nervous and excited for week 11 ever since I first looked at Sarah’s training plan for us back in May. the track workout this week was yasso 800s – basically, ten 800m repeats run at goal marathon time, in minutes, with equal recovery times. (for example, if your goal is a 4:00-hour marathon, you’d aim to run each repeat in 4 minutes, then recover for 4 minutes (slow jog/walk), 10 times through). my goal was to do each of these at around 3:20-3:30, and I ended up averaging right in between there. it was a tough workout that ended up being over 10 miles, but felt very manageable and was definitely a confidence booster.

this week’s long run was 22 miles – the longest run for this cycle – with miles 12-16 at marathon pace. i tried to treat this as race practice as much as possible. usually I try to get out the door asap but this week I ate breakfast right after getting up, then waited a while to allow some time for digestion, but still got a fairly early start. I had my camelbak with me and practiced drinking water every 2 miles, and took 2 chews every 6 miles, which worked well. I did feel hungry toward the end, so I know that I need to eat a bit more for breakfast on race day. once I hit my marathon pace miles (that I did a bit too fast), I was in the zone, and although I slowed a bit after mile 16, I still hovered right around marathon pace for the remainder of my miles, and ended up finishing with an average pace of 8:01 – right at my race pace. I wasn’t even watching my watch much, the pace just felt comfortable, which is a great sign!

I switched things up this week for strength and did two of kevin’s workouts – one was a burpee/deadlift ladder workout, and the other was a circuit of burpees, pushups, mountain climbers, jump squats, and planks. both were very challenging but rewarding. I got through 1 round of a core workout after my long run but didn’t have energy for the second round. no cross-training this week.

week 12 – september 5-11 / mileage – planned: 40, completed: 

much like week 10 after my 20-miler, this week left me feeling kind of tired. I slogged through monday’s easy run, and almost gave up on tuesday’s run (5 x 1600m repeats), but decided to push through it and I ended up feeling much better once I got started, and I hit all my splits just fine. I didn’t learn my lesson from a couple weeks ago and decided to do thursday’s tempo run at night which again, was fairly miserable. it wasn’t ungodly hot but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either, and I just felt like I could not get my legs to turn over. I made it through and was happy to have it done, but felt like crap afterwards. running at night always makes me feel strange and I have no appetite, but I know I need to eat, but I always wait too long and then feel worse. every time this happens I remind myself that I need to just get it done in the morning, especially if it’s a workout day.

this week’s long run was back down to 14 miles. I totally get the concept of drop-down weeks and I think they’re essential for staying healthy and avoiding burnout, but once you’re up to 20 or 22 miles, running 14 can just be hard to get excited about. so on friday night, we decided that on saturday morning, we would sign up for and run the peak 2 peak 10-mile race (after doing a few warm-up miles to get to our 14). thankfully there were still spots available – it was so fun to be in a race environment and of course, not have to worry about wearing our camelbaks and all that. I did end up racing the race — it was too hard not to! ended up 4th female overall and 1st in my age group, not too shabby for my first 10-mile race and for signing up on a whim! the post-race food was great, and we got a shirt, gym bag, and medal, all for $40!

I skipped a strength session this week but still got in a barre workout on thursday, and we did a leisurely (but hilly!) group bike ride on sunday for some cross-training.

—

as I write this, there’s only about 3.5 weeks until race day — I can’t believe how fast this training cycle has gone by. right now, I’m feeling confident and excited, but still really nervous. I know that [most of] the hard work is done, but I’m also anxious about the taper period and of course, executing on race day. for now, all I can do is get in these last few weeks of training, stay rested and healthy, and trust my training! 

if you’re new here, I’m currently training for my second full marathon – Chicago – on October 9, 2016. I am currently in week 10 of 16, and you can read about weeks 1-4 here, about last year’s race here, and all things running related here.

week 5 – july 18-24 / mileage – planned: 39, completed: 39.08

as I mentioned in the last post, things started to really fall into place during week 4 of my training, after vacation, etc., and this more or less continued throughout the second month of training. week 5 brought a tough, 7 mile hill repeat workout (that has reappeared many times since, so it now feels like the new normal), but I accepted the challenge, as smart runners know that hills are really just speedwork in disguise.

this week’s long run was 14 miles – I really liked the route because it was scenic and not a lot of car traffic to deal with, but the back half was insanely hilly, which made doing the last three miles at marathon pace even more difficult.

I got in two good strength workouts this week, plus a core circuit on saturday after the long run. we did a 23-mile bike ride on sunday as cross-training as well…fun at the time, but maybe overdid it a bit.

week 6 – july 25-31 / mileage – planned: 41, completed: 41.10

another solid week. hill repeats again, plus a workout with 4 miles at tempo pace (for me, 7:12-7:30). tempo runs have been in some other plans I’ve used, but admittedly I’ve always avoided them, because they scare me and I didn’t really know how to do them and what paces I should be hitting. one of the main reasons I love having a coach is that our paces are always defined, so every workout or easy run has a purpose and a plan. tempos are really hard, but I’m learning that they’re manageable when executed properly, and the pain is worth it for feeling totally badass afterwards.

long run this week was 16, which to me is about when it starts to truly feel like a marathon long run. the route I planned out didn’t quite work (a side street we needed to take to get onto a trail ended up actually being a dirt road and was FULL of deer early in the morning), so some improvising was needed and it turned out fine, but essentially was a boring out & back. womp womp.

again got in two strength sessions this week, plus the post-long run core circuit. no cross training or bike ride this week, but we were fairly active throughout the weekend, so nbd.

week 7 – august 1-7 / mileage – planned: 44, completed: 44.10

what do you know, hill repeats again. every week I consider finding a new hill to do these on for variety’s sake, but the hill where we do these is the perfect distance away for a warm up/cool down, there’s not much traffic, and it’s just the right steepness. I think I finally wised up this week and brought water for in between sets, which was a great motivator. this week’s other workout was a fartlek ladder, which was hard but a nice break after a couple weeks of tempos.

this week’s 18-miler went really well for me, and started giving me a lot of confidence in my race goals. last 5 miles were at marathon pace, and I felt really strong throughout and like I could have kept going a bit longer — a good feeling. it probably helped that it was finally a cool morning and was even a bit misty outside, but hey, I’ll take progress however it’s given to me.

thanks to some storms I had to move around some runs this week, which involved a double on one day, but was still able to fit in two strength sessions as usual. I failed on the core workout this week, but we did get in a short bike ride to/from the farmer’s market on sunday for some cross training.

week 8 – august 8-14 / mileage – planned: 40, completed: 40.10

week 8 was a dropdown week which always sounds nice but for whatever reason, they’re always tough for me. this week I really started to feel the cumulative fatigue of marathon training and really had to force myself through the easy runs. one workout this week entailed 5 miles at tempo pace, which terrified me, but as with everything so far, the workouts have been well placed in my training, have felt aligned with my progress, and are challenging but not impossible.

only 1 strength session this week – just was feel wiped out and like a second one wouldn’t really add anything, and may even hurt, since I was so tired. I can be obsessive about following plans, but I’m – trying – to learn to listen to my body that taking a break every now and then can be just as effective as a hard workout, both mentally and physically.

I was dreading this week’s long run, even though it was “only” 14 again. we were in des moines and had been at the state fair the day before, so were tired from walking around, and didn’t eat great (duh). but running in new places is always enjoyable, and the trails in the area are awesome, so it turned out to be a great run and I felt proud for pushing through it. no cross training this week, but we did get in quite a bit of walking the rest of the weekend, exploring des moines breweries – that counts, right?

almost skipped the core circuit this week, but got inspired while watching the olympic women’s marathon on sunday and decided to get it in while we watched. gold medal for me, please!

strength training

I thought I’d briefly mention what I’ve been doing for strength training. For the past several months leading into marathon training (and all throughout my half training in the spring), I was going to barre classes about 3x/week. I’ve never ever liked group fitness classes but really grew to love barre and noticed a difference in my running strength as a result of going consistently. I planned to continue with barre during marathon training, but (1) it’s expensive, and (2) the class schedule doesn’t fit with getting my strength workout in on tues/thurs mornings. I told myself I’d try doing something on my own for a few weeks, and if I couldn’t stick with it, I’d fit barre back into my budget and schedule.

happy to report I’ve been exclusively using Fitness Blender videos and it’s working out great. it’s a free website with a huge range of workouts available – different types (strength, HIIT, barre/yoga/pilates, cardio, toning, etc.), lengths, difficulty level, impact, required equipment, etc. I’ve experimented with quite a few of the videos but have landed on a few favorites:

Total Body Barre (40 minutes) – I love this workout because it includes a lot of similar moves from barre classes, so it helps fill that void. it’s two rounds of 14 different exercises, plus a short stretch/cool down (another thing I like, because I won’t do it on my own), and the only equipment you need are low-weight dumbbells and a chair or countertop.

Squats & Deadlifts Workout (33 minutes) – Probably my other favorite workout. Typically I’ll do this one day, and barre another day, for the week. Whereas barre is more low weight, high reps, this workout is higher weight (if you so choose), fewer reps, and I like doing both in my program to work all different muscles. this workout is an AB/AB format, so you’ll do two exercises twice through, and then move on to the next group, for a total of 6 groups.

Pilates Abs Burner (10 minutes) – favorite ab/core workout. if you’ve done any pilates, you know it’s challenging, but I like that it’s lower impact, not too many crunches (always makes my neck hurt), and is fast, so can easily be added on to another workout or squeezed in if you’re short on time.

Bodyweight Workout (25 minutes) – sometimes I feel like I need a break from squats and deadlifts, or a shorter workout, so on those days I’ll do this one. I don’t like it as much (so many pushups), but it’s my go-to backup workout. no equipment required, which is always nice!

nutrition & fuel

there are so many fuel sources out there — I’m always curious what people use and like! I can’t say I’ve ever loved any of them, but taking in some calories is sort of a necessary evil of marathon training, at least during long runs. last year while training for chicago, I started using gatorade endurance chews, since that’s what is on the race course, and they’re my favorite thing I’ve had so far. you can pretty much only get them on amazon, and they’re not as inexpensive as other things, but when you find what works for you, it’s worth it. I bring these on long runs and usually have 2 chews every 5-7 miles, with water.

I wish I could be one of those people that can run on an empty stomach, but I’m just not. for morning weekday runs (up to 8 miles), I’ll have a banana (or maybe just half) before heading out. that seems to give me enough energy/sugar to get it done without upsetting my stomach. for long runs, I’ll usually eat a banana plus a bagel or toast with peanut butter beforehand – pretty standard.

probably the best decision I’ve made around fueling was to get a camelbak hydration pack. in the past, I’ve run without water, relying on gas stations/drinking foundations/pre-placed water bottles, and have also used a small handheld bottle, and none of it really worked great. I really wish a water fairy could just appear every 2 miles, but alas, I have yet to see this happen, but a camelbak is the next best thing. it took a few weeks to get adjusted to running with it, but now I hardly notice it and can have a sip of water whenever I need, and can easily refill (though I’m yet to need to on a run).

—

that’s all for this time! weeks 9-12 will feature both a 20 and 22-miler, plus the start of track workouts, so stop back in a couple of weeks to hear how things are going!

as many of you know, kevin and I are both training for the Chicago Marathon on October 9. this will be our second full marathon (I did chicago last year, and k did des moines), but our first time working with a coach! after such a positive experience with the red dirt running company lincoln half marathon training program, we decided to hire the coach, sarah madsen, to write us a marathon plan and work with us throughout the training period.

we met to discuss our goals and go over what we wanted in a plan. for our first marathon, we both just wanted to finish (and I was hurt going into mine, so I didn’t even know if that would happen), but this year, we’re both hoping to improve our times significantly. we followed an 18-week training plan fairly closely last year, but i’ll admit, even though I almost always put in the mileage, I didn’t always do the workouts (especially tempo runs, etc.) as prescribed. i’m a pretty dedicated runner and occasionally enjoy nerding out over planning workouts, but generally speaking, i more like the idea of someone else planning them for me (especially knowing they are aware of my goals) and checking in with me along the way to keep me accountable and to make sure it’s not too easy or too hard.

sarah recommended and prepared a 16-week plan, which we were comfortable with since we’d kept up with running a few times a week after our half marathon in may, and continued to do strength training and generally stay active. we also got a 4-week pre-training plan, which was a great way to get back into a routine and reintroduce speedwork and other workouts after a few weeks off. we did quite a few of the workouts during this period, but didn’t stress over it, and attended lots of fun runs, rode our bikes a lot, rested when we felt like it, and got our minds and bodies ready for what’s to come.

i won’t be posting the whole plan here (but I highly recommend considering sarah if you’re interested in a customized plan!), or all the runs i’ve completed, but thought i’d share some overall thoughts, favorite workouts, hard moments, and the like. we’re in week 6 of the program now, so i’ll share on weeks 1-4 for now, then 5-8 in another couple of weeks, etc., etc.

generally speaking, our plan follows this structure:
monday – easy w/strides
tuesday – hill repeats or track workout + strength training
wednesday – recovery run (super easy pace)
thursday – tempo/interval/pace workout + strength training
friday – rest
saturday – long run + core workout
sunday – rest or cross-train

week 1 – june 20-26 / mileage – planned: 32, completed: 30.66

the first week of training went great! i liked getting into the routine of what most of our weeks will look like – 5 days of running (monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and saturday) with strength training on workout days (tuesday, thursday). i completed all the weekday runs (6, 5, 5, and 6 miles), and got in two good strength training sessions (I’m using fitness blender videos primarily).

I was particularly worried about the “steady state” run scheduled for this week (2 mi w/u, 2 mi @ steady state – 7:30-7:50, 2 mi c/d) because it had been awhile since i’d run “fast” (even though my half marathon pace was in that range). the run was challenging, but not impossible, and i hit my paces just fine, giving me the confidence to succeed in the harder tempo workouts to come.

our long run this week was scheduled as 10 miles, but we had a 10k race that morning, so i ran the race, then cooled down for another couple miles to bring my mileage up a bit, but since i’d raced hard, didn’t worry about getting to 10.

week 2 – june 27-july 3 / mileage – planned: 35, completed: uh, 6?

week 2 was a bit of a wash, running wise, but we knew that going in. we were on vacation in colorado this week, so we planned to do some running, but didn’t want to miss out on hiking opportunities, biking around fort collins, and generally enjoying time with our family.

we ended up only getting in one 6-mile run, but we also did two fairly strenuous 9-mile hikes, biked almost 25 miles one day around fort collins, strength trained a couple of times, plus took countless short walks, so we hardly felt guilty over it. (ok, I might have felt slightly guilty, but I can get obsessive about training plans). considering how active we were on vacation, and that we did all of that at elevation, i don’t think we lost much, if any, fitness — plus, it was early on in our training.

running at elevation (we were in winter park – 9,500 ft!) is no joke, but i’d take that fresh, dry mountain air any day over our summer humidity here!

week 3 – july 4-10 / mileage – planned: 38, completed: 33.5

we got back from vacation on july 4, and missed a run that morning, but otherwise, i was mostly back on track for this week. I didn’t get in as much strength training as i normally shoot for, but did get in both workouts (strides and a short tempo), and even fit it in the schedule to run at the weekly scriptown run that we’d missed the last couple of weeks.

this week’s long run was scheduled for 14 miles, but we did the 12-mile angry cow heifer hustle trail race on this day, so were a couple of miles short (the course ended up being around 11 miles, so i got in around 12.5 with a cool down). again, since it was fairly early on in our training, and since trail running tends to be harder than road running, i wasn’t too worried about coming in a few miles short this week, but was looking forward to getting totally back on track for week 4. we got in a 8 mile bike ride as cross training the day after our trail race, too!

week 4 – july 11-17 / mileage – planned: 38, completed: 38.17!

week 4 it all fell into place again, and i completed the planned mileage, plus strength training on tuesday and thursday. i was nervous about being able to get in strength training after my runs on these days, but so far, i’ve been able to get in a 25-40 minute video (or two short videos) twice a week. conceivably i could do it in the evenings, but i know i’m less likely to do it then, and it’s nice having it out of the way in the mornings, and it hasn’t affected me getting to work on time. (mostly it just means not hitting snooze when the alarm goes off).

our long run for week 4 was again 14 miles, with miles 5-9 at marathon pace. we normally do long runs on saturdays, but opted to do it friday this week since friday was my birthday and we had a late night planned. although it was challenging after four days of running in a row, especially with thursday being a workout day – i’m so glad i got up early (4am…) and powered through so i could enjoy my birthday stress-free. saturday we were pretty lazy, but we got in a 15 mile bike ride on sunday as cross-training.

—

if you’d like to follow along, check back in a few weeks for my weeks 5-8 update. i’ll also talk a bit more about my strength training, nutrition, etc. then as well!