The first week of Boston training is complete! To be honest, it wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting. My awesome coach is making sure to ease me into training and I have to say it is a whole different experience instead of jumping right in so fast.

We had a big snow storm coming for the weekend, so we had to improvise a little bit but it all worked out in the end. Let’s take a look at week 1 of Boston training!

 

Monday

Total: 7 miles

I was off work on Monday, so I took full advantage of an extra day to run in the sunshine! I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a difference it makes running when it’s light out.

I was back at hills on Monday, and since it wasn’t 4:00 AM I decided to run to a different hill and get a bit of change of scenery.  I started with a warm up, then 6 x 45 second progressive hill sprints, and cool down until 7 miles total.

Overall, it was a good start to the week. The hill I chose was MUCH steeper than my regular early morning hill. It was a good change of stimulus, so I’m excited to see how this hill work pays off in April!

 

Tuesday

Total: 4 miles

I was a bit surprised to see a day with only 4 miles on Tuesday, but I went with him and trusted the process. It’s amazing how you won’t understand certain runs but then at the end it all ties together.

I took it nice and slow, and ended with some foam rolling and strength work.

 

Wednesday

Total: 7 miles

The second workout of the week included just about everything.

I started out with a 2.5 mile warm up, 4 x 45 second hill sprints, 2 mile tempo, 6 x 100 meter strides, and then a cool down until 7 miles.

It was a cold morning! I was so thankful my husband chose to run the Marine Corps Marathon all those years. The long sleeve t-shirts they receive make for a perfect layer on those really cold mornings!

 

Thursday

Total: 5 miles

I was really tired of being cold my Thursday morning. I wanted a break from putting on 3-4 layers and not being able to feel my hands, so I opted for the treadmill.

I have to say the treadmill runs I dread the most are the “easy” runs. I’d much rather do a workout, but today called for easy and I know better than to pick up the pace. I sucked it up and got it done. Thankful this was only 5 miles.

 

Friday

Off

Wes, Zoe, and I opted to escape winter storm Jonas and head to the beach. They were calling for rain, but we knew the gyms wouldn’t be closed. This ended up being a good decision as Danville got about 9 inches of snow and ice plus our gym closed down. It would have been really tough to get a long run in.

Zoe spent most of the day like this while I worked. Our office was closed, but I still had to work from home for most of the day.

 

Saturday

Total: 13 miles

I knew this one was going to be on the treadmill, but when I woke up Saturday morning I really wasn’t looking forward to it.

We headed to the gym a little after 9:00 AM, which is a bit later than usual. My workout called for “rolling hills” and progressive finish. The only way I knew to do rolling his was just to keep alternating the incline, which I figured might also help with treadmill boredom.

For a majority of the run I did 6 minutes at 1% incline followed by 6 minutes at 3% incline. This really helped not make me go crazy staring at the walk and the clock.

You can’t tell from this picture but I was a sweaty mess by the end of it.

 

Sunday

Total: 5 miles

The goal is 5 easy miles outside and really just enjoy the last run before we pack up and head back.

 

Overall, it was a good week. I’m feeling like I’m coming to terms with where I want to be come April, but still working to figure that out. It’s always a process and you have to focus on what your body needs. My biggest goal through any training cycle is to stay healthy and build to give me a strong and fast future!

 

How did your running go this week?

Did you get snow where you are?