- Anne
Boston and Marine Corps Marathon Training - Week 11
I'm so excited that my training looked a little different this week and I have something new to share instead of, "building aerobic strength." This is the first week that I have gotten into marathon specific workouts and it felt really good to push my body a little more.
I ran all 7 days this week and most days were still easy paced miles. I did have a nice, big workout on Wednesday to spice things up. The workout was 10x1k and my goal pace was 3:51 for each 1k repeat. I felt really good during the workout and got below 3:51 for all but one repeat. I like to do my 1k's on the track so that I know exactly how far to go for each repeat. If anyone is new or not familiar with running, a 1k on the track is 1000m, so 2 1/2 laps around a standard 400m track. I did not know this when I first started running; you are not alone 😉. I worked hard during this workout but I did not push myself to complete exhaustion. I use to always go 100% during track workouts until I was completley spent, but I noticed that was leading to injury. There is a time and a place to take your body to the absolute max, but for me, it is not sustainable to do that every single week on the track. Now, I try to work really hard, aim to finish the last intervals running faster than the first, but be able have enough left that I could do one more 1k.
I typically like to do my long run on Sundays, but I am going to be running my Virtual Boston Marathon on Saturday September 12, 2020, so I wanted to switch my long run to Satrudays for the next few weeks. I ran 22 miles at a 7:19/ mile pace. The pace felt really good and sustainable. The weather was slightly cooler this week, so I think that helped tremendously.
My weekly mileage ended up being 71 miles and my body is feeling really strong. The niggles I was dealing with in July are not popping back up, which I am very grateful for. Even though life is really busy right now, I have tried to make sure I stretch for a few mintues after every run and do my Achilles PT exercises consistently. There is more I should and could be doing in terms of recover and strenght, but there are only so many hours in the day. For me, stretching and the PT exercises seem to make the biggest difference, so I am making them a priority and I fit everything else in if and when I can.
I am looking forward to another hard week of training and making the most of a less than ideal year. I enjoy having my training to get up and do each morning.
I thought is would be fun to share three things I have been enjoying at the end of the blog posts that are running realted. I will do my best to keep this section up, but no promises, life is crazy right now.
The Running Rogue Podcast Episode #197 - When to Press and When to Rest. The host Chris talked about how to decided when to press and when to rest both during a training cycle and during a specific workout. I found it very helpful. Link to the episode here: https://runningrogue.libsyn.com/episode-197-when-to-press-and-when-to-rest
My new Sport2People running belt. I know so many of us are going to have to be carrying gels and nutrition during virtual races and it is always a dilemma how to do it. I really like my new running belt from Sport2People. It had 2 zipper pouches that held a lot and it did not bounce on my run. The most important thing! Linked here: https://www.sport2people.com/products/running-belt
Beverly International ZMA 2000 - I am not a big believer that supplements do what they say there are going to, but I now have proof via my WHOOP that Beverly International's ZMA 2000 does help me sleep better. My WHOOP was telling me that I was not getting enough REM or Deep Sleep at night. I decided to give the ZMA 2000 a try and on the nights that I have taken them, I got more Deep Sleep and REM sleep according to my WHOOP. I have tracked it for about a week now, and have taken it some nights and not others and saw a difference. I will keep reporting back. Link here: https://beverlyinternationalstore.com/zma-2000/
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great week in your training!
#bostonmarathon #finishstrong #marathontraining #marathonrunner #longdistancerunner #mcm #runwiththemarines