Boston Virtual Marathon Training Update: Week 2 of 20

This week has been a hell of a lot easier on the head than last week was. It goes to show that starting is often the hardest part. Well starting and peak week probably. This week was some short runs, all the same length that made me a bit happy for no really good reason and a long run verging on really sort of long-ish. I’ve also been pretty good about getting work done and actually doing my knee exercises, coincidence, maybe. I should also note that this week was the one in the summer for me where the work I’ve been doing has finally started to reap rewards. That means if I want to take an afternoon off or work fewer days a week to train I can. I also don’t have to think as hard about what to do next. So that just means a whole column of other life stress just left. So feeling a little freer overall which is just great!

Tuesday 5k: Confession time I’ve been telling myself that it’s best to get up early and get my run in before work because it is. If I don’t there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE my day will get away from me and make it tough to get a run in later. Even if I do it’s a lot more stressful to get it done. So here’s what I’ve been doing… getting up early and then for no good reason not going running. And that’s exactly what I did today! The rest of the week too. So I put off dinner and ran before I started cooking. In my defense though it was colder and drizzly in the morning but warm and sunny in the evening so evening run for the win. I also basically had no pain on this run too! But at this point I did feel the need to wear my most squeezing compression socks even though they clashed with my outfit.

Wednesday 5k: Today was supposed to be a fartlek and I did some of that along the way, at least I tried. In the last two weeks to this point my pacing has not been at all on point. I’ve been running and trying to speed up or slow down but then when I glance at my watch it’s like “really?” This run was also just like that. Sometimes my fast periods were slow and my recovery periods were fastest. I put this down to not having the recent base I should have in starting training. I guess I’m just a little rusty.

Friday 5k: Even if you know that your life means that you’ll have to be flexible in training it’s best to pick certain days of the week to get your workouts in. It’s best for your consistency and it helps you establish a routine and I bit of a habit. I’ve decided that I will follow the schedule I did this week. Runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and the long run for the better weather day on the weekend. Of course some weeks that’s going to change. The fact that I really do believe that this is best training practices really was what got me out the door today. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was nice and basically the same and it was oh so tempting to just not go until tomorrow. But I did get my butt out the door (fairly dramatically) and it was a great run! For the first time I started to feel the conditioning retuning. I haven’t had a problem completing my run or having to take walk breaks but this time I felt like I was starting to hit my stride. Some pacing control was present, I felt in control of my form and you know like I at least knew where I left my groove. That made me kind of excited for that looming long run. That night I also signed up for my conqueror challenge and entered my first distance!

Sunday longe run (9.6 k): I worked Saturday at 4 places and when I opened the tailgate at the first place I was like, nope, not working tomorrow. But the mulch on the truck meant I was committed to a full day. Honey doesn’t have a helper on the weekends so I helped him out in the morning Sunday and I packed a lunch and we went out on the boat for the afternoon. We picked up Lebanese takeout on the way home but some delays along the way meant I had to hit the road even though I was STARVING! That made the drive home a little tense, that and last week my knee suffered after my shorter long run. Since I had pretty much no nutrition on board I did fuel this run a little. But my knee was okay, my run was fine and the takeout was awesome when I came home hungry. I was feeling the twinges and my sore muscles here and there, but it was pretty good. I also lugged home a crazy hitch pin for honey as a running present. So he was impressed but the person with the trailer might not have been. I did think I only have to do this about three more times in 18 weeks time. So yeah at this moment feeling a bit confident. 

It really is amazing how fast and how well getting your physio in makes a difference in your training. So thanks for coming for my TED talk this week on that note. Are you training for a marathon this year? How is your training going so far? Leave it in the comments below!