Hansons Week 14
It is hard to believe it is already the end of week 14. I feel like I was just writing about week 13 and the next week flew by. Here was my training schedule for the week:
Monday: 7 miles easy
Tuesday: Strength - 2 X 3 miles, 800m recovery
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 9 miles Tempo
Friday: 5 miles easy
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 10 miles long
I had another great training week where I completed all workouts, including the most difficult strength workout.
Strength:
Week 14's strength workout is the last of it's kind before repeating the previous 3 weeks of strength workouts in descending order. This happens to be my least favorite strength workout. Mentally there is something about holding the strength pace for 3 miles that is intimidating and I was nervous about this workout. I don't know if it was the cooler weather or what, but I rocked this workout. Every mile was faster than my assigned strength pace (10 seconds faster than race pace) and I felt amazing. I ended the run with almost negative splits (getting faster as the run went on). Once I was able to get out of my head and focus on what I had to accomplish, I felt as if nothing could hold me back and I pretty much put this "scary" workout to rest.
Tempo:
My tempo run was much the same. Secretly I wondered if the previous week's tempo was a fluke and if I could really sustain 9 tempo miles after doing so well on my strength workout. I started off the run conservatively and by the end I almost had negative splits again. While the run was still challenging, I felt strong and in control of the run and enjoyed the fall weather and beautiful scenery.
Long Run:
My long run was more difficult as clearly the amazing runs I was having were leading up to some major cumulative fatigue, and I struggled a bit at the end of the run. I also believe it was a combination of the heat and the fatigue as the sun was out in full force and I could tell I was a bit dehydrated. Nevertheless, my pace was not bad and the miles seemed to fly by. Let's hope this is the last hot long run I have to do this season!
Fatigue Level:
This was one of those weeks where I kept waiting for the fatigue to set in, and it never did. My recovery after the strength and tempo runs was unlike any other week. I would feel a little fatigued after the run, but my legs still felt relatively light and my stride effortless on the next run. This might be a sign that I was running the easy runs a little too fast, but I still was surprised at how good I felt this week especially coming off of the 16 mile run. I think this is a good sign that I have achieved much greater fitness in the last few weeks and while I still have 5 weeks to go until race day, I am exactly where I should be.
Nutrition:
I focused more on protein after runs this week and as I wrote above, my recovery seemed to be strangely fast between runs. This could be a coincidence or I finally discovered the key to my best recovery, but I plan to continue focusing on healthy fats and protein for dinner and snacks right after runs. I also enlisted my husband this week to help with dinner the night of my tempo run, so between my meal prep and his grilling skills, I made an awesome dinner complete with healthy fats and protein.
Mental & Emotional Strength:
Mentally I felt on top of the world after both my SOS runs (strength and tempos). Finishing two difficult runs really helps to increase my mental strength so that I can reflect on those moments and how I felt when things get tough during the marathon. Sometimes it is easy to feel disappointed after a run or let one bad run get in your head, and I think it is important to focus on all the really amazing runs that show who you are as a runner instead of the few bad runs. My long runs have definitely been the most challenging, but I believe that is the purpose of this plan. There is a reason the long run comes at the end of the week after days of hard miles, and it is not only to challenge you physically, but mentally as well. Some days I feel a bit broken after the long runs because I do not find them as easy as the SOS runs, but at least this shows me what I need to work on and I still have time to do this before the marathon.
The next week will be a repeat week as I am still one week off from the training plan due to building in extra weeks. I am still amazed I have not had to use either week that I built into the training plan. After careful consideration I decided that I should keep the last 16 mile run 3 weeks out from race day as the plan indicates, so I am going to cutback next week and gear up for the official week 15.
Monday: 7 miles easy
Tuesday: Strength - 2 X 3 miles, 800m recovery
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 9 miles Tempo
Friday: 5 miles easy
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 10 miles long
I had another great training week where I completed all workouts, including the most difficult strength workout.
Strength:
Week 14's strength workout is the last of it's kind before repeating the previous 3 weeks of strength workouts in descending order. This happens to be my least favorite strength workout. Mentally there is something about holding the strength pace for 3 miles that is intimidating and I was nervous about this workout. I don't know if it was the cooler weather or what, but I rocked this workout. Every mile was faster than my assigned strength pace (10 seconds faster than race pace) and I felt amazing. I ended the run with almost negative splits (getting faster as the run went on). Once I was able to get out of my head and focus on what I had to accomplish, I felt as if nothing could hold me back and I pretty much put this "scary" workout to rest.
 |
| Take that strength workout!! |
Tempo:
My tempo run was much the same. Secretly I wondered if the previous week's tempo was a fluke and if I could really sustain 9 tempo miles after doing so well on my strength workout. I started off the run conservatively and by the end I almost had negative splits again. While the run was still challenging, I felt strong and in control of the run and enjoyed the fall weather and beautiful scenery.
Long Run:
My long run was more difficult as clearly the amazing runs I was having were leading up to some major cumulative fatigue, and I struggled a bit at the end of the run. I also believe it was a combination of the heat and the fatigue as the sun was out in full force and I could tell I was a bit dehydrated. Nevertheless, my pace was not bad and the miles seemed to fly by. Let's hope this is the last hot long run I have to do this season!
Fatigue Level:
This was one of those weeks where I kept waiting for the fatigue to set in, and it never did. My recovery after the strength and tempo runs was unlike any other week. I would feel a little fatigued after the run, but my legs still felt relatively light and my stride effortless on the next run. This might be a sign that I was running the easy runs a little too fast, but I still was surprised at how good I felt this week especially coming off of the 16 mile run. I think this is a good sign that I have achieved much greater fitness in the last few weeks and while I still have 5 weeks to go until race day, I am exactly where I should be.
Nutrition:
I focused more on protein after runs this week and as I wrote above, my recovery seemed to be strangely fast between runs. This could be a coincidence or I finally discovered the key to my best recovery, but I plan to continue focusing on healthy fats and protein for dinner and snacks right after runs. I also enlisted my husband this week to help with dinner the night of my tempo run, so between my meal prep and his grilling skills, I made an awesome dinner complete with healthy fats and protein.
 |
| Grilled avocados with smoked chickpeas and homemade tzatziki |
Mental & Emotional Strength:
Mentally I felt on top of the world after both my SOS runs (strength and tempos). Finishing two difficult runs really helps to increase my mental strength so that I can reflect on those moments and how I felt when things get tough during the marathon. Sometimes it is easy to feel disappointed after a run or let one bad run get in your head, and I think it is important to focus on all the really amazing runs that show who you are as a runner instead of the few bad runs. My long runs have definitely been the most challenging, but I believe that is the purpose of this plan. There is a reason the long run comes at the end of the week after days of hard miles, and it is not only to challenge you physically, but mentally as well. Some days I feel a bit broken after the long runs because I do not find them as easy as the SOS runs, but at least this shows me what I need to work on and I still have time to do this before the marathon.
The next week will be a repeat week as I am still one week off from the training plan due to building in extra weeks. I am still amazed I have not had to use either week that I built into the training plan. After careful consideration I decided that I should keep the last 16 mile run 3 weeks out from race day as the plan indicates, so I am going to cutback next week and gear up for the official week 15.
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