Week 2: June 12-June 18th, 2016
Exactly 3 months from today (June 18th) I will run my first marathon!!
Sunday I didn’t get my strength training/cross training workout in until later in the day vs the morning because I treated myself to homemade blueberry Belgian waffles instead! Yum! My workout takes about a 1/2 hour and I do 2 rounds of weighted reverse lunges, goblet squats, side lunges, single leg glute bridges. Then I do some upper body- push ups, assisted chin ups, planks and mountain climbers. It’s a low key workout that I think I will replace with some form of cardio – a short run or bike ride over the coming weeks.
Monday was another cross training day, it’s usually a running day but I had to rearrange my workouts due to commitments after work. It was the last week of my “Day 1” exercises, so I am excited to start a new and more challenging round next week. (See the workout here)
Tuesday was a hill running day. I had debated whether to do my intervals today instead of on Thursday because I had a hilly 20K on Saturday, but thanks to a consult with my unofficial coach (my dad) I went with the hills. I thought about running a totally new route around work to see if I could do it, but it was 6 miles and I didn’t want to over do it, so I stuck with 5. The sun was shining, my legs felt good and my cadence was improving, it was the best part of my day.
Wednesday was a strength training again, which I completed before work. (see the workout here) I will also get a new batch of workouts for this day next week.
Thursday was Interval Running. I decided on a slightly harder set than last week but didn’t want to push it too much with race day in 2 days. So I decided on 1 mile WU, 4x800s with 2:45 min rest (a mix of run/walk), then .6 mile cool down. My 800 splits were 3:37, 3:43, 3:27 and 3:29 (3:34 avg). It was in the mid-80s out and my legs felt heavy for the 1st two, but I figured slower 800s were better than not doing them at all, so I pushed through and made sure I drank water during my rests.
Friday was a rest day, but I did get a walk in at work, like I usually do during my lunch hours.
Saturday morning I ran my first 20K, the Vestal XX. It is the oldest race in my area- this year was it’s 46th year, and is infamous for the number of hills throughout the course. There are 12 hills, and as I was waiting to start the race I overheard someone describe the race as “torture” and I wondered what I had gotten myself into and I got a little nervous! My plan/goal was to not walk, keep a steady pace and finish in under 2 hours. The first 5K was a lot of rolling hills, then it got a little flatter. But at the 10K mark I hit “the face”. It’s called this because the hill is so steep it hits you in the face, haha. A lot of people were walking up it, which I could have easily done and it probably would have saved me some energy, but I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could do it. Thankfully the hill was short and what followed was 2 miles of flat. I could’ve picked up some speed there, but since I had no idea what the terrain for the rest of the course looked like I didn’t want to kill my legs. I had also been warned that there was a 1/2 mile hill toward the end, so I had that ahead. I just took it a step at a time and ran as if it were a training run vs a race. But once I crested the last mile I was also aware it would be all down hill so I finished strong running an average 8:42 pace for the last mile and half and I finished in just under 2 hours.
Even though only about 150 runners ran the race, I would be willing to complete it again, especially now that I know the course. It’s also nice to realize that the longer miles don’t feel as hard now, which helps mentally since my training runs will continue to get longer as the summer progresses. My next race the Utica Boilermaker 15K in 3 weeks, which I hope to run a lot faster than the pace I ran today.
Quote of the week: “Running is a mental sport…we’re all insane.”
How did your week go? Are you training for anything?
I also just want to add that I appreciate everyone who reads this and continues to follow my journey. If this is your first view of my blog, thanks for reading, I hope you find my writing honest and interesting. For those who have been reading since the beginning your support means the world to me.
Sarah Chasing Life 