Hi there! I’m back! I have to say after a few days off of blogging it has really helped me to get my things back in order. I’ve caught up on a lot of necessary work! I think this 3-4 posts per week is going to be good for me!

I really enjoy my weekly recap posts mostly because they allow me to really look back at my week and evaluate my training. Before we get started, here is a run down of week 7 of my Hanson’s Marathon Method training:

Marathon Training

Monday (9/1)

6 miles easy

 

Tuesday (9/2)

1.5 mile warm up
3 x 1600 (6:58 pace)
1.5 mile cool down

7 miles total

 

Wednesday (9/3)

6 miles easy

 

Thursday (9/4)

1 mile warm up
8 mile tempo run
1 mile cool down

10 miles total

 

Friday (9/5)

Rest day

 

Saturday (9/6)

11 miles easy

 

Sunday (9/7)

10 miles easy

 

The difference between last week’s training and this week is night and day. My body felt so much better and I was able to relax so much more. I guess it goes to prove that some weeks just aren’t your week.

Saturday’s longer run was a bit different this week. Wes was on call at the hospital starting at 8:00 AM and had to be there for rounds. He had set his alarm for 5:00 AM and once it went off I decided I might as well just get up and make it happen!

Running

The first couple miles were slow to help get my legs woken up. After I got into it I stayed on the roads pretty close to our house until the sun came up. It was really relaxing running as the sun was rising.  My training plan called for anywhere from a 9:01 – 9:40 pace depending on how I felt.

Long Run

I ended up averaging a 9:09. Early morning running is always tricky with pacing. I can’t seem to “feel” the pace as easily, but it worked out perfectly!

Post Run selfie

Compared to two weeks ago when I went out for practically the same run and completely died, this one was so much better! Plus, I ran it with no music since it was early and it made it so much easier to relax! I am so glad to feel like my old self again.

 

Best Run

This week my best run was actually the run that I thought would be the worst. I’ve mentioned before how often I stress about my tempo runs. The week before my 8 mile tempo had been hard, really hard.

I felt off the whole time and I just wasn’t mentally into it. That had set me up to really stress about doing another 8 mile tempo.

This week I said “no more treadmill” for tempo and headed outside early to run the tempo on a road that is about .60 miles from our house. It allows me to get in a 1 mile warm up and then start the tempo.

Tempo Run

This tempo run couldn’t have gone any better! After a mile I got into a rhythm and could really feel the pace as I was running. 8 miles and I averaged at 7:59! Perfect pacing and a great confidence boost!

Tempo runs are scary, sometimes difficult, but when you hit it they give you a huge boost of confidence.

 

Toughest Run

I have to say this week there really wasn’t a HARD run. I ran pretty much every run first thing in the morning and aside from the first mile that takes a while to get into, they each went well. I didn’t ever feel like I was completely drained when I finished it.

That has to do somewhat with the fact that my mileage stepped back. I think it allowed me a little more recovery.

There aren’t many weeks where every run goes well, so I will be thankful! I needed a week like this after a couple tough weeks.

 

How Am I Feeling?

This is a tough question that probably could be answered a million different ways depending on the day or week you ask me. I’ll be doing a post soon on my marathon selection, but as of right now I am feeling happy with my progress.

As you may remember from my goals, I would love a BQ but my primary goal is a PR and that I feel very confident that I can make happen. It will all end up coming down to how I feel the day of. That’s something thats fun and terrifying about marathons.  They are always so up in the air no matter how prepared you are.

I take it one day a time and do my best to prepare and get my body to where it needs to be. The rest is up to the marathon gods I guess! Ha!

 

Tell me, how are you feeling?

How is your training going?

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