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I Love Yoga and Week 7 Recap

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This morning I went to the wonderful Candace’s vinyasa class at RYAH.  I feel amazing; like I never ran 20 miles yesterday.  I did lots of stretching and tiger tailing post-run and chugged some chocolate milk within a half hour of finishing.  I think the combination of those things plus yoga are responsible for me feeling so good.

Anyhow, here’s how week 7 of NJ Marathon training shaped up:

MON:  rest (flew back from SF)
TUE:  5 miles speed
WED:  7 miles tempo
THU:  rest
FRI:  6 miles easy
SAT:  20 miles
SUN:  75 min yoga and 3 miles easy (just to put me at 41 miles for the week!)

41 miles this week.  Finally.  Seems like it took me forever to get to 40 miles.  I’m generally happy with the FIRST training plan because I only do quality runs and my legs are fresher overall compared to previous training cycles.  I just can’t shake the low mileage thing.  I need to get over this.  I’m happy with where I am and should focus on that.  I feel stronger and faster than I did last training cycle.  I need to believe in the training, believe in the training…

Reality Check

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1/3/11

Speed work – 5 miles

I know my speed (or lack of) is holding me back.  I need to get faster so I can bring my goal marathon pace (GMP) down to a 8:45 min/mile (your GMP should be relatively comfortable since you need to sustain it for 26.2 miles).

Here’s what plan called for:  3×1-mile repeats (at 7:21 pace) with a 1 min RI (rest interval) in between.  I went to bed dreading this workout and woke up thinking “just get it done”.  I wasn’t too sure how I would handle the 7:21 pace.  It seems my body dislikes going faster than 7:45 min/mile!  And I new the 1 min RI was extremely unlikely to happen.

I did this run on my treadmill since it was really cold this morning.  My first mile repeat was at 7:24 pace and it was tough.  I walked for a few minutes before beginning the second one (and probably let my heart rate get somewhat back to normal but oh well).  Second mile repeat was at 7:35 pace followed by more walking.  Third mile repeat began at 7:35 pace and ended up at 7:41 pace for the last quarter mile.  Of course, I warmed-up for 15 minutes and cooled-down for 10 minutes too.

This was a tough one.  What a way to begin training!  I certainly used adaptive training here 🙂

I wanted to mention this yesterday but forgot…my husband, Matt, is also running the NJ Marathon!  Misery loves company.  This will be his second marathon (he ran MCM back in 2006).  I’m excited and surprised he’s running another marathon.  After MCM, he said never again.  It was something that we wanted to do once.  But I guess he couldn’t stay away.

His training is a little unorthodox.  For his first marathon, he basically did all his long runs and neglected to run any short runs.  He finished in 5:04 which I think is amazing considering his lack of preparation!  I’m really envious of his natural athletic ability.  He won’t run for a year and then enter a 10-mile race and run 10:00 min/miles with no problem.  For the NJ Marathon, I have him using Bart Yasso’s “newbies” plan.  He only has to run 4 days per week and yes, I will make sure he does his short runs!

Back to work tomorrow…ugh.