Week 7 - Marathon Trainin Recap

Hello Summer!  Welcome to Seattle, thanks for staying for the entire week!  I don't think the weather could have been more perfect...sunny but not too hot, perfect for perfecting my running tank top tan line.  Sorry for the lack of pics this week...I was too busy soaking up the sun to remember to document it.

Monday - 5.0 mile run- DID IT
51:00 - 10:15 pace
Took the pup on a run and we went north on the Burke Gilman trail for a change.  Took it slow since the pup is starting to show her age and had a hard time making it 5 miles.  Did a yoga on demand quick routine when I got home.

Tuesday - 6.0 miles with 5 - 3 minute pickups - DID IT
59:00 - 9:47 pace
Warmed up for 2 miles then started the 3 minute pickups.  Kept the pickup pace between 8:30-9:00/mile and took a 3 minute rest in between sets.

Wednesday - Personal Training - DID IT
Another hot day!  Sara pushed me as always and we did lots of lunges then about a million step-ups on a bench, pushups and tricep dips.  My shoulders were on FIRE the next day...in a good way of course.

Thursday - 5.0 mile easy to moderate run - DID IT
48:00 - 9:30 pace
Ran around Greenlake before meeting a friend for dinner and decided to push it a bit more than usual.  Pace felt good and I stretched in the park before having some mexican food followed by self serve fro-yo!

Friday - Rest Day - DID IT
Enjoyed happy hour outside in Madison Park followed by a good night's rest to prepare for the big run on Saturday.

Saturday - 16.0 mile long run - DID IT!!!
16.0 miles - 2:47:39 - 10:28 pace
OMG...this run was HARD, but I guess that is why marathons aren't easy.  I ran this alone and it was definitely more of a mentally hard time than physically hard.  I mapped a loop course from my house that had me running through some of my favorite Seattle places like Montlake Park and Lake Union and Gasworks Park.  The great news was that my pace remained pretty consistent and my hips had NO PAIN!  I stopped at Gasworks to refill my water bottles and splash water on my face...the sun was beating down hard and I even have a fun tan line from my Garmin watch to prove it.

The run was so long it wouldn't even fit on my computer screen to get this screen capture!

I can honestly say after this run I feel like I'm really almost ready to run a marathon!  I would have never imagined being able to run this much mileage in one week including an almost 3 hour run a year ago.  It really is amazing what your body will do for you when you treat it right and train smart.  My new marathon fear is now what the weather will be like on race day which I know is silly because it is something I CANNOT control.

Sunday - No Plans - Yoga at the Gym
I realized I didn't plan anything for whatever weekend day I didn't run, but I woke up Sunday morning and hit up my gym for yoga since my personal trainer, Sara, was teaching.  It was the PERFECT thing to do after a long run.  We spent lots of time opening up the hips and stretching hamstrings.  I may have had some influence with the teacher and what she focused on ;).

Total Mileage: 32
Total Strength: 1
Total Yoga:2

ALL goals met for the week!!

Marathon Training Week 8 - Say It Do It - August 22-28
Monday - 5 miles easy - boot camp workout at Element 5 Fitness
Tuesday - 6 miles marathon pace - aim for 10:30
Wednesday - Personal Training
Thursday - 5 miles - run last half faster than first half
Friday - Yoga or rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 18 miles! <---swapping weeks for this long run to free up my Labor Day weekend

Question: Do you have any mental "tricks" to help yourself through a long run or race?  I try to break the run into parts, like 3 miles to Montlake Park, another 3 until I go downhill, etc.