Eleven weeks down, six more to go! It’s so hard to believe that the marathon is less than six weeks away. It’ll be game day before I know it!
This past week was my best training week yet. I focused on stretching, foam rolling and ab work on my non-running days- Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were my run days. I think that worked well for me, although I do miss working with weights. Maybe I’ll add it back in at some point, but for right now I want to stay consistent with this routine so I can see how my body responds to it.
Wednesday’s run was a 7.1 mile run on the treadmill. I enjoyed this run and worked through some bursts of speed. I use the word speed loosely, because it’s really just faster than my expected marathon pace. Friday was a short 3.6 mile run. I did this run at the park around the corner and did some hill repeats at the end.
Saturday, though, was the best run of the week. I had a goal of 16 miles. Up until Saturday my longest run was 15.2 miles and I wanted to get past the 16-mile threshold. I was excited because Nick said he’d run it with me. My alarm went off at 5:45 AM and I’m pretty sure Nick cursed under his breath for making him get up so early, but we both got ourselves up and ready to run. We set out at 6:35 AM and we ran, and talked, and talked, and ran. I was overdressed for the occasion- it was 50 degrees and I was wearing a tank top, a long sleeved shirt and my light vest. I used the water backpack and we started out super slow. I was a bit uncomfortable with the backpack and my lower back was bothering me but having Nick with me kept my mind off of the discomfort most of the time. At the start of mile nine we ended up at my old high school track. When we got there I took of backpack and instantly felt lighter and less warm. It was a marvelous feeling. We ran two miles at the track before Nick grabbed the backpack and we headed back. As we got to mile 15 I looked at him and said, “I feel like we need to do 17.” And we did it! Together. (-:
One of the things I love most about running is that it’s something I can do alone. But there’s some comfort in knowing that there’s someone out there as crazy as I am that will get up at 5:45 AM on a Saturday morning to run for 2 hours and 39 minutes with me. Nick and I have a lot of common interests, but being able to run together has been super special. We’ve created such a special connection through running. We push each other, support each other, and believe in each other… and we understand all the aches, pains and chafing that comes with being a runner. As we were running he said to me, “you should be so proud of yourself. You have a full-time job, you’re a single mom, you can come up with every excuse not to do this, but you make time for it.” It was super sweet. ❤
I followed up my personal record breaking 17-mile run with an 8.1 mile run on Sunday. I figured I’d round out the weekend with 25 miles so I could say I ran 35+ miles for the week. It was a nice morning for a run and my legs were feeling good so I went for it. I’m still amazed at how much our bodies are capable of doing. I’ve heard it so many times but I don’t know if I ever believed it until I started running these super long distances- our minds give up way before our bodies do. Meaning, our minds tell us we can’t do something and then we stop. We have to be mentally strong enough to fight our mind and say “you’re wrong, I can do this.” It’s not always easy but with every additional mile I run, I feel that voice getting weaker and weaker.
This week it’s the same as last- stretching, foam rolling and ab work on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Runs will take place on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will be a 19 mile attempt. Wish us luck! See you next week! ✌🏻
lauren goodman 