Marathon Training Week 11

Training Week 11

It’s starting to get real people!  In about a month and a half I will be running a full marathon!!  That’s 26.2 miles!!!  What was I thinking??  Am I completely crazy??  Yes, Yes, I am!!  But I love it!  I am really enjoying all my training.  I am above all things athletically, a runner.  Yes, I want more muscles! Yes I want to be strong and fit!  But above all, I want to be the best runner I can be.  This is where I am the happiest; out pounding the pavement!  So for now my focus is on my marathon.  I will get to gaining more muscles over the winter off season.  I have potentially 2 races after my marathon, but one is a 12K and the other is a fun 5K.  But other than those 2 races, my focus will be on getting stronger to improve my running for next season.  It’s going to be epic!!

Sunday 9-13-15

Today is Rest day!!!  I am feeling surprisingly good today after running 17 miles yesterday.  I am feeling bloated and fat but that’s from eating junk last night and today during the football games.  I really need to do better.  I’m going to do better!!  I really am!!  Lots of fruits and veggies for this girl this week!  That’s for sure.  I have a race in a week!!   So I took a 3.15 mile walk with Maddie!  It was so much fun!  We talked about all different kinds of things.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with my girlie for an hour!  We have got to do this more often!!!  We spent the rest of the day hanging out, watching football, and having a great time together!

Monday 9-14-15

Arm Day today!  I’m switching up my routine this week since I have a race on Sunday.  So today I decided to do arms again.  I popped in P90X Shoulders and Arms today, lifting as heavy as possible with good form.  I used 25 & 30 lb. weights for shoulders and biceps.  I used 20 lb. weights for triceps.  Boy am I feeling it!  I love it though!  I had low reps but, again, I wanted to make sure I was using good form.  Good form is everything, you know!  It was definitely a struggle getting those last few reps in.  I also did 5X5 of bicep and hammer curls with the 30 lb. weights.  Those burned after this workout.  I didn’t burn as many calories as I would have liked, but I know that I am building muscle and in the long run I will  be burning more calories throughout the day to feed these new muscles.  It feels good to build muscles and to finally begin to see them forming.  I almost have biceps!  I have a slight bump that I can make out and I am super excited about that!  I can’t wait to work arms again, but I’m not scheduled to do that until Saturday because of my half marathon on Sunday, which will also count as my long run.  I’m focusing on eating as cleanly as possible this week so I can have an awesome race on Sunday as well.  I say this all the time, but hopefully I’m going to stick with it since I am so frustrated with my eating habits!  Wish me luck!

Tuesday 9-15-15

Today’s run was pretty good.  I had my heart set on running 8 miles, but my bed was too cozy this morning so I didn’t get out as soon as I would have liked.  I did manage to get in 7 miles.  They were a little slower than I would have liked (11:30 pace) but I do have a race on Sunday so I should save my legs a little for that.  I’m hoping to get out for 8 at some point this week, but if not, I will settle for 7 each day.  I felt really good throughout this run.  I know I need to push myself to be a little faster, but not this week.  I will push it next week after this half marathon.  I really can’t wait!  The weather is supposed to be beautiful on Sunday.  

Wednesday 9-16-15

Today was another beautiful morning for a run!  Even though I woke up earlier than usual, I still didn’t get out as early as I would have liked.  Oh well!  At least I still managed a 7 mile run in less time than yesterday.  Yesterday my time was 1:22:59 and today my time was 1:21:15.  Not much of a difference but I could tell and that’s all that matters to me, anyway.  I ran into my friend Mr. Skunk again this morning.  He must live in a field that I run by on the outskirts of town.  I saw him yesterday also.  Luckily, I always see him early enough so that I can avoid being too close to him.  I don’t need to be sprayed before heading to work!  Maybe I’ll see him tomorrow as well!  I hate my headlamp though.  It always starts to hurt my head at around mile 6 and I have to adjust it.  Hopefully my head gets used to it sooner rather than later.  I feel safer with it on.  That and my flashing vest.  I also carry a small flashlight and pepper spray in my water bottle pocket.  In case you were wondering, I always stick to the main roads that are well lit.  I’m out by 4:15/4:30 so there are other cars on the road going to work.  Plus I always see one of our police officers driving around.  I always feel like I look too goofy for someone to attack me, but I am always aware of what is going on around me.  I only use one earbud so I can hear everything and I am always looking around at my surroundings.  I thought I would share this with you so you’re not worried about me. LOL

Thursday 9-17-15

Today I woke up later than I wanted to and I even went to bed earlier.  I was in bed and asleep before 9:00!!  What is up with that??  Anyway, I knew that I wasn’t going to make it to 8 miles, but I could push for 7, so that is what I did.  I managed a 7 mile run in 1:22:56 today.  My legs felt sore and tired and I can definitely feel my core workout in my hips and thighs.  I have been doing a core workout that I received in an email from Runner’s World Magazine.  This workout includes superman, Hip bridge, metronome, plank and side plank.  I have been holding each move for 30 counts four times.  It’s so important for a runner to have a strong core.  I know this is one of the areas that I am seriously lacking in, so I am making it a point to do this workout daily.  I’m hoping it will improve my running.  I know how sore my back and hips are after a long run so this should help to strengthen those areas.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress with this.  

Friday 9-18-15

SO at the beginning of the week, I had planned on today being Leg Day.  However, I realized as the week went on that that was a really silly idea.  My legs were already getting sore from running and being on my feet all day at work, plus I actually have a race on Sunday. I know I’m using it as a training run, but I still would like to have a decent finishing time.  So I made the executive decision that if it wasn’t storming this morning, I would run an easy number of miles.  Well I was up and down most of the night because of the storms and kept checking my phone for the weather.  So when it looked like I would be able to run, I let myself sleep in a little and didn’t get out of bed until 4:30.  I was out the door by 4:45 to be able to run 5 miles.  I did 5 miles in 57:44. That’s a pretty decent time for me actually.  At first I thought I was completely crazy for being out in the humidity after all that rain, but then I thought I was crazy because my legs didn’t want to run like I wanted them too.  I was worried about my time also since I wasn’t out early like I am used to.  So I decided to quit worrying about the time and to just run.  It actually really helped.  I ran and I didn’t stop as often as I usually do and I felt great.  I got home just as my warning alarm was going off that I need to be done working out.  It was perfect actually.  I’m ready to bust out some arms tomorrow and rest my legs for my race!  I’m excited!!  I love the Whitewater half marathon!  

Saturday 9-19-15

So I totally didn’t want to get up today.  I finally rolled out of bed about 10 to 8!  I put my hair up and was ready to rock some arms when my Little Man came out of the bedroom.  I made the mistake of asking if he wanted to cuddle and he, of course, said yes, so we cuddled, watched TV and had breakfast.  I finally started some laundry and brought up my weights and gloves to do some arms moves while the kids were waking up and eating breakfast.  I used my 30s and did 6X5 reps of bench press, hammers, curls, and supination curls. I did this routine twice throughout the day.  My arms are definitely feeling it.  It was a busy day so I missed getting my core workout in, but I hope to be back at that tomorrow after my half.  I hope to lift a little too, but we’ll see how I feel!  

I love these big weights!!!

I picked up my packet for the Whitewater Half tomorrow!  I am so excited to run this race.  Last year I ran it in the rain!  Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful!!  I can’t wait!!  My Garmin is excited for it’s first race also!!  It’s going to be such a great day!  I’ll be sure to tell you all about it!!

Until next time, Run on, my friends!!

And always remember:

Laura