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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Marathon Training Monday - Week 11


Ughhhhh it's Wednesday. And I'm just posting for "Marathon Training Monday"...which is actually kind of appropriate since my butt muscles finally feel as though they've recovered from the weekend.

Monday: 1 hour gym cross-training (cardio + upper body)
Tuesday: 1 hour, 30 min run (9.8 miles)
Wednesday: 1 hour gym cross-training (cardio + core)
Thursday: 1 hour run (6 miles)
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 2 1/2 hour run (15 hilly miles)
Sunday: Vinyasa Flow class at Squeeze!


TOTAL MILEAGE: 30 miles (almost a 9 mile increase...YIKES!)

Last week was a bit of a jump for me as far as mileage goes. Since the last few weeks have felt great, foot and all, I decided to return to running 3x a week. And I'm sorry to say, I think I'll actually be flipping back down again permanently. 1) I think I should've crunched some numbers before making this jump last week --- a NINE mile increase is kind of huge for someone that's trying to avoid the return of an over-use injury. 2) Maybe me feeling so good the last few weeks was actually a sign I should continue the same routine? Duh. 3) My mile greed got the best of me. Garland introduced me to the term "junk miles" yesterday...yeeeeeeah, I know about that
The week before last was pretty much devoid of speed work and it seems my legs' way of thanking me was a ridiculous pace (for me) on Tuesday's run. I was just shy of 10 miles when the run wrapped up and I felt stellar the entire time, like I was gliding on air. It was the best run I've had ever in a long, long time! Total time: 1:22:19; average pace: 8:23; fastest mile: 7:31; slowest mile: 8:49.

Since we started from Bryan Park, north of Richmond, I stopped by Early Bird Biscuit Co. I've been hearing about this place for a few months (since it opened) from a friend that works in the area. Yes, they just serve biscuits. And yes, they are awesome. I got one of each order on the menu: a buttermilk biscuit with homemade jam, a "special of the day" biscuit (OREO!) and a buttermilk biscuit with sawmill gravy. 




Gym was solely cardio machines and body weight exercises this week---no swimming at all! But I did try out another class, Body Sculpt Core, which truthfully felt a little silly. I did sweat some, so there's that. And stretching, lots of stretching...and sunsets...



Thursday was a difficult run. I started out too confident (read: fast) and as a result, struggled to keep moving the last few miles. It's runs like these when I'm happy to have a group to keep me distracted and motivated. Otherwise, what's keeping me from stopping? (besides needing to get back home) Total time: 52:38; average pace: 8:45; fastest mile: 8:04; slowest mile: 9:26.




Fifteen miles on Saturday? Ouch. Fifteen miles on five hours of sleep and poor nutrition? SO MUCH WORSE. Garland and I went to The Legwarmers concert on Friday night with friends, so that put us to bed late + we had drinks and dinner out before hand, which included a Bavarian pretzel (my fall fav!). We started our 15-miler at Chimborazo Park, at the top of Church Hill...so there were downhills, uphills and flights of stairs aplenty! I hit a wall at mile 12 but picked myself back up just in time to do some stair climbing and a slowmo run the final ascent. It all ended with this huge watermelon (which we only ate half of it was so big!) and some Old Church Creamery chocolate milk. HIT.THE.SPOT. Total time: 2:21:51; average pace: 9:27; fastest mile: 8:46; slowest mile: 12:12.




We relaxed at home for most of the remaining weekend. On Sunday afternoon, a friend and I checked out a new yoga / juice / massage place in Carytown called Squeeze. How perfect is that combo? They were offering free classes for opening weekend, so we chose to do the vinyasa flow. It was challenging for tired legs, but a lot of fun! I loved the instructor and the welcoming atmosphere of the place. I can't wait to go back---with the location and a $10 drop-in rate, it'll likely happen frequently.




This (current) week will definitely include my return to water running and the elimination of a weekday run, as well as a better dinner and night sleep on Friday night. Because if I thought 15 miles was bad...just wait for 18!

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