Boston and Marine Corps Marathon Training Recap - Week 12

This week of training felt slightly more difficult than last week. My body was just a little more fatigued. It is the second week that marathon specific workouts are in my training plan, so this is to be expected. My body is having to adapt to the change in training stimulus. Thankfully, I don't feel sore or little niggles, which is good.

I ran 7 days this week with one midweek workout. I ran my long run on Saturday again; it did not go great. I woke up feeling not my best and a little unmotivated. The weather forecast for the day was 109 degrees and it was already hot at 5:30am, which did not help my motivation. My training plan called for a 18-22 mile long run. I just started running and told myself I could call it a day at 18 miles if I really was not feeling good. The first 5 miles was a slog. My legs felt really heavy and I was not sure how I was going to make it to 18 miles. After that point, I don't know if my adrenline picked up or I just finally warmed up, but I started to feel better. I was able to push through to 20 miles. I even pick up the pace a little and had my fastest mile splits for the day in miles 18 and 19 before I cooled down in mile 20.

This is my eighth week of running a 20 miler on the weekend and it is crazy to me that my body is adapting to this distance. A 20 mile long run does not feel nearly as hard as it did 8 weeks ago. The human body truly is amazing! I finished off the week with an easy recovery run on Sunday and that brought my weekly mileage to 70 miles.

Next Saturday I will run my Virtual Boston Marathon. Participants can run the virtual race anytime between September 5th and September 13th. It has been fun to "see" and "cheer" for people online who have ran their Virtual Boston Marathons over the weekend. Even though it is a virutal event and not at all how I pictured my Boston experience, I am thankful to have "closure" to this chapter of my running journey. Especially in light of how uncertain the future of 2021 racing is at the moment.

I am using the Virtual Boston Marathon as a training run in my build up for the Virtual Marine Corps Marathon. I will not be tapering this week or doing anything different leading up to next weekend. With that in mind, my goals for the Virtual Boston Marathon next weekend are:

- Have fun

- Execute a solid, hard training run

- Practice race day fueling

- Practice mental endurance and toughness to run 26.2 without crowd support

I am looking forward to finally running 26.2 miles again!

Three Things I am Loving This Week:

- I'll Have Another Coaching Series - Lindsey Hein has been doing a coaching series on her podcast "I'll Have Another." The line up of coaches includes Maurica Powell (Director of Cross Country and Track at the University of Washington), Andrew Kastor (Head Coach of the Mammoth Track Club), Shayla Houlihan (Professional Running Coach for Under Armor), and David and Megan Roche (Running Coaches for Some Work All Play)! ⁣ I love learning about running and I have been enjoying hearing insights from a variety of running coaches. Here is a link to the

show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ill-have-another-with-lindsey-hein-podcast/id1100818156?mt=2

- ChafeZone Anti-Chafe Stick - I have long been using anti chage sprays on my feet in spots where I get blisters. It works well, the only problem is when I spray my feet there is always overspray that gets on my floor and makes the floor VERY slippery. This week I tried ChafeZone Anti-Chafe Stick, which you apply like you would stick deodorant (no overspray) and it worked great! It is available online and also at most Walmarts. Links here: https://www.medzonecorp.com/collections/sports-medicine/products/chafezone

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ChafeZone-1-5-oz-Anti-Chafe-Cream-Unisex-Athletics/840625845

- Kirkland Signature Protein Bars - Anyone who has trained for a marathon knows that when you are marathon training, you are often hungry, none stop. I try to eat real, whole food most of the time. But, I am also a busy mom and I can not always prep my snacks to take on the go. For those times, I love Costco's brand of protein bars. They are very tasty, but do not cost as much as the usually protein bar. I keep one in my purse and car so that "hanger" never strikes. My favorites flavors are the cookie dough, choclate brownie, and choclate peanute butter. They are available in stores in a mixed package or you can buy single flavor pacakges at costco.com Link here:

https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-protein-bars-cookie-dough-and-chocolate-brownie-20-count%2c-2-pack.product.100655710.html

I can not wait to recap my Virtual Boston Marathon next week. Stay tuned and feel free to subscribe if you would like to get an e-mail when I post an update. Happy running!

#BostonMarathon #FinishStrong #MarathonTraining #MarathonRunner