Week 10: Another Long Run in the Books

I cannot believe I am already 10ish weeks into training and I only have like 8ish more to go.  Yes, I have kinda lost track but I do know when race day is, so don't worry I won't miss that!  This was quite a week for my family and for me in training.  My boys started a new school, I accomplished my first 20 miler of my training cycle and I had a super busy, but fun filled weekend. 

Here is a recap of this past week of training...

Monday: Easy Upper Body Lift
My sons stared a new school last Monday.  I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get them there, meet their new teachers and get them settled in to their new classrooms.  I think the whole experience was a little more nerve-wracking for mommy because, despite my anxiety, they seemed to just go with the flow.  Both Nolan (4) and Lincoln (3) walked right into their new school like they owned the place and seemed to settle in just fine!  Because of the busy morning, I did not teach my usual spin class that morning, but I did get in a light upper body lift that afternoon.  I had a 20 mile on my schedule for Thursday, so my workouts leading up to that were to be relatively light so I wouldn't be too sore or burnt out for the run.

Tuesday: 5.5miles of Speed Work
Not all treadmills are created equal.  Hunter and I have nicknamed ours "The Evil Treadmill" because it seems to be much faster than the ones at the other gyms we go to!  Even it's previous owner would agree, so we are not crazy!  It was definitely humbling the first several runs on it and is even still somewhat tricky figuring out what pace to use.  But I feel like I'm getting the hang of it and had a great speed sesh on Tuesday.  I did 8x800 with a warm up and cool down.  Getting up super early to run on The Evil Treadmill is a little tough for me, but I was certainly glad I made it happen.  Later that evening, I squeezed in a little extra speed work running around the neighborhood with my munchkins.

 
Wednesday: Easy Upper Body Lift + Yoga
With a long run scheduled for the next morning, Wednesday's lift was a light upper body.  I did some simple super sets of a variety of barbell presses with cable column pulls at 4x10 for each.  Lifting is my bread and butter so it's always a little hard for me to pull back in the weight room.  But I have ran with an insanely sore upper body before and it ain't fun.  So I have since learned my lesson and do the best I can to not overdue it in the days leading up to a long run.  Later that evening, I taught my yoga class and even participated in some of the hip opening exercises.  I was feeling pretty good that night and ready to rest up and tackle my run the next morning.

 
Thursday: LSR 20 Miles
I'm still struggling with my pace quite a bit out on my long runs.  I don't get a chance to run outside much during this time of year because of our hectic schedule with work and the kids, so I am not use to the heat and humidity, especially for that duration. I know I shouldn't make excuses, but my body or mind are never prepared for that distance in those conditions.  Each long run, however, I have been pushing myself more and more and am seeing improvements.  My pace is actually getting better with the added mileage.  Though still not where I want and need to be, I find that improvement to be somewhat promising.  I've been approaching each of these long runs with a relatively positive attitude, despite the struggle, and the mentality of what can I learn from it to better prepare me for race day?  It was steamy hot and humid and another slow steady run for me, but it was better than my last long run and it's now done.  I know what I need to work the hardest on and that is my mental game.  I am a strong runner and a fierce competitor when the conditions are favorable, but I need to learn to dig a little deeper when the stars aren't aligned for me.  I've got 2 months until race day, and it's time to get focused if I want to reach  my goal.

Friday: Upper Lift
My legs were not in the least bit sore from my run, maybe the extreme heat and humidity helped warm them up and keep the blood flowing.  Or maybe me going turtle pace helped them from getting too sore, hehe.  Though I was feeling good and ready to rock on Friday, I knew the smart thing to do would be to still take it easy.  So no sleds, hills or MetCon for me that day.  Just a light upper body pump to go into the feeling feeling good!  That night I went out for my first ever girls night that did not include running!  Can you believe it!?!  I met up with my amazing mommy friends who I met almost 5 years ago in our breastfeeding support group.  We have been buddies every since but unfortunately our schedules (especially mine) do not allow us to see each other much.  But on Friday, some of got together for wine and painting, then a movie.  It was a blast!

Saturday: Easy 5 Miles + 1200m Swim
Remember what I said about Friday and feeling good, I took that back on Saturday.  I was feeling fine until I went to run and my legs were DEAD.  Not so much sore as they were just not wanting to cooperate.  The fatigue had definitely set in.  I had hoped to knock out an 8 mile recovery run, but 5 was all I could muster.  So I threw on my suit, grabbed my cap and goggles and finished out my workout with a 1200m swim.  Shhhhh, don't tell anyone, but I'm thinking about jumping into a sprint triathlon next month.  I feel pretty good about my biking and if I can get a few good swim workouts in before than, I feel like I should be good to go.  I swore I wouldn't do any races while marathon training but I am just itching to do a tri and want to break up the monotony of running.  Nothing is set in stone yet, so we shall see!

Sunday: Rest Day
No scheduled workout for me on Sunday.  It is, unless I'm racing, ALWAYS my day of rest.  Since it's the only day of the week my husband and I both have off, we schedule our workouts for the week so that Sunday we have off and can spend it with the family.  This Sunday, week spent the morning at the Orlando Science Center, then the afternoon at a birthday party for one of Nolan's friends.  It was a wonderful, and tiring day, filled with family, friends, food and excitement.  We all were pretty exhausted by that evening, so it was snuggles and a movie on the couch then off to bed before another busy week!

So that was my week of training.  Definitely one of my better long runs but I still need a lot of work if I want to get my BQ.  I feel like I am finding a good balance of workouts, work and family time this training cycle, so that is awesome. 60 days until Chicago and I'm just trucking along, working hard, staying positive, still having a life, and just hoping at all works in my favor come race day!