Chicago Marathon Training Week 10

It turns out that a cut back week during week 10 of training is still a lot of work. The miles that were cut out of the long run were added to the mid-week runs, so I still put in a lot of time on my feet. It feels odd to say that a cut back week was only 30 miles!

Here was what my week looked like:

Sunday: 5 easy miles, Jasyoga - Low Back Love

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Fartlek Run - 14 X 1 min on, 1 min off with the rest easy miles, Jasyoga - 5 minute hamstring reset

Wednesday: Strength training 

Thursday: Tempo Run - 20 min at tempo pace with a warm up and cool down, Strength training, Sports Massage day!!!!

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 15 mile fast finish long run, Jasyoga - Optimal Hip Reset

Total: 30.37 miles

Yes, that was THREE quality runs in a week. The fartlek run was challenging, but not horrible. I think the hardest part was the easy running that took place after I was done with the 14 repeats. My legs were tired and I was ready to stop running, yet I still had to run my cool down miles. While it felt like every minute "on" seemed to coincide with a hill, I was pretty impressed to see some of my times for the repeats. 

The tempo run took place on a pretty cool weather day so it passed quickly. I started the 20 min at 2 min faster than race pace on the slower end of the pace spectrum because I didn't want to burn myself out right away, and then gave it my all about half way through. It felt like a good quality workout.

Finally, the fast finish long run consisted of 15 total miles, with the last 6 miles run at goal pace or faster. The McMillan workout notes list the purpose of this run as "Build endurance, leg resistance to fatigue, practice race pace, try equipment and nutritional routine." It was challenging, but it is a good run to mentally prove to yourself that you have more in your legs than you think. I also find that it helps me better pace myself as I know I need to start the run conservatively and make sure I have enough in the tank at the end to really push myself.

I've been saving my Sunday easy runs to try and enjoy myself and focus less on pace. Usually my legs feel like lead at that point and while it is important to get the miles in, I need at least one day to just enjoy myself. This past Sunday I explored a section of a trail that has been closed for nesting herons for the past few months that finally opened. It was pretty amazing, and the 5 miles flew by because I was so focused on everything around me and didnt care what my pace was.

Sunday runs have been my saving grace. This next week coming up is essentially peak week, and it will be exhausting, both mentally and physically, trying to juggle running and life. It helps to have a day to just enjoy running without worrying about pace or time, and to remember why I want to run a marathon.