Tag: #10percentmore

Marathon Training Chronicles- Installment #8

by LaurenLeave a Comment on Marathon Training Chronicles- Installment #8

I’d be lying if I said I wanted to be writing this right now. It’s nothing against running. In fact, it’s one of the few things giving me peace at the moment. I’m just stressed and overwhelmed with life. There’s just so much shit going on right now and I’m pretty sure I’m reaching my breaking point. I know my shit isn’t any crazier, or more difficult, or dare I say smellier than anyone else’s shit. (Sorry, I had to!). And I am super grateful for all the good things that are going on. But still, I’m absolutely, 100% maxed out right now and it’s exhausting, it’s stressful and it’s putting me into full anxiety mode.

But you’re not here to hear me bitch and moan. So I’ll stop. But before I move on, I think it’s worth mentioning that even though now would be a really great time to throw in the towel on the marathon training, I will not sacrifice my goals and desires for someone else’s. And I mean that in the best possible way. I can’t be my best for anyone else if I’m not happy. And I won’t put myself on the back burner for anyone, or any job, or really… anything. My number one priority is making sure I can the best version of myself. And I sure as hell can’t be a great mom, a great employee or a great leader if I’m maxed out and drowning in anxiety.

And while my anxiety won’t disappear over night, it helps to workout and run. 🙃 So back to training …

I ended up treating last week as a recovery week. I backed off my mileage, I took an active rest day to stretch and foam roll, and I took a full rest day. My strength training workouts were the same but I logged the following miles on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday: 4.2, 10.1, and 4.2. It’s pretty common to plan recovery weeks into training programs. Although they’re not always popular, they’re really good for muscle recovery. Your body cannot be pushed to its limits every single day. It needs time to recover.

But now this week we’re back to increasing mileage!! The goal: 4-5 on Wednesday, 14-15 on Saturday and then 6.2 on Sunday. The plan is to do the Wednesday and Saturday run outside and finish up the week on Sunday with a treadmill run.

I’m excited to report how my long run goes this week. And hopefully by this time next week I’ll be in better spirits.

Until then, I’ll metaphorically run away from my problems. 🏃🏽‍♀️💨

Marathon Training Chronicles- Installment #7

by LaurenLeave a Comment on Marathon Training Chronicles- Installment #7

I’m a little behind this week. I really want to stick with recapping the previous week as close to the end of it as possible. Otherwise, I forget how I feel, what happened, etc.

Week 6 of training came to a close on Sunday, Feb. 13th. I had an amazing week with my workouts- I felt great! Thursday was a short run day. I wanted to do 3-4 miles and I ended up doing 4.1. On Saturday I was thrilled to see and feel the weather be 46 degrees when I started my run. It felt amazing! I set out to do 13.1 (a half marathon) and I pushed myself to get to 13.2. My legs were tired but they weren’t completely dead. I started blistering up on both of my ring finger toes. I ended up bleeding through my sock on my right foot. When you’re putting these kinds of miles on your legs and feet, you’re bound to get a little banged up. I think that over the course of the next few weeks that stuff will subside a bit because my feet are getting used to running long distances – the calluses and blisters will just be part of me and at some point I won’t even feel it. (I know, it’s so gross. But if you run, you understand). I almost forgot to mention that I used the water backpack thingamabob on Saturday too. It was a little weird to get used to but I liked it a lot better than the waist belt one. I’ll definitely use it again for my longer distance runs.

Sunday was a treadmill run day. I’m really enjoying going to the gym on Sundays to get my run in. I think it’s good for my breathing, good for my knees and ankles to get a little rest from the pavement and it allows me to play around with intervals a little bit. I had 5 miles on my training sheet but I ended up doing 6.2 again. I get a little annoyed because my Apple Watch and the treadmill are not tracking the same. I don’t know which to believe!

Something interesting I wanted to share because this comes up a lot. When I talk to people about running I often get the “I’m not a runner” response from people. And to that I say, I understand that running is not for everyone but it certainly can be for most people. I didn’t come into this life with a natural ability to run long distances. In fact, when I ran track in high school, I was average, at best. I’m not super fast. I don’t have super lungs. I just work really hard at it. I have a baseline of fitness that allows me to take 2 months off of a running and still be able to go out and run 5 miles when I want to. However, it took YEARS to get there.

To me, running is the ultimate test of physical and mental strength. If you are looking for a challenge, challenge yourself to run. Do a mile: jog for 1 minute; walk for 2; jog for 1; walk for 2. Over time, increase the time and flip those intervals to jogging for 2, walking for 1. You’d be surprised how quickly your body repsonds.

On the docket for this week: bonus active recovery day on Tuesday (stretching and foam rolling); 3-4 mile run on Thursday; 14 miler on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday on the treadmill.

Until then,