Marathon Training: Week 15 Recap

Scheduled workouts in pink, actual workouts in purple.

MONDAY: Rest Day / 5 Miles. Tired legs!

TUESDAY: 5 Miles / Cross Training. Only lasted 30 minutes on the bike today. Did some abs at the gym. I just like playing with all the different exercise balls they have. :)

WEDNESDAY: 5 Miles / 5 Miles. Ran with Brooke in the afternoon. There are some serious people on the trails on Wednesday afternoons. I saw more 6-packs than I ever see in the AM.

THURSDAY: 5 Miles / Rest Day.

FRIDAY: Rest Day / 20 Miles. Blech. I don't know what happened, but within the first couple of miles I was light-headed and dizzy. I had to run back to the car and eat a granola bar. I always keep snacks in my purse because... I'm always hungry! The rest of the run was just kind of blah. I'm really glad we did another 20 two weeks ago or I would be very nervous going into the race. The point is: we finished. So that's all that matters I suppose.

SATURDAY: 20 Miles / Tailgating. What? That's not a workout? Have you ever walked up the stairs to the top of the stadium? This so counts as cross training.

SUNDAY: Cross Training / 5 Mile Tempo Run. I wasn't going to run today. I was totally going to skip it. But then we had dinner with the fam and Brooke told me she ran today and I felt really guilty. So I went to the gym with Drew and ran on the treadmill. I think this was a tempo run; I'm not exactly sure what that is, but I think its a run that progressively gets faster. Anyways, I started out at 9:30 minute miles and steadily increased to 6:40 minute miles at the end. That was the very end btw. I mean like the last 0.15 miles. I finished in 42:34. Boo-ya! If my faulty math is correct that averages 8:30/mile.

Total Mileage: 35 / 35

OMG. I'm totally freaking out that the serious training is over. Freaking out. Now we start tapering and there is absolutely no room in the next 3 weeks for any kind of improvement in fitness or athletic ability. Scary! No more really long runs before the marathon!!! Yikes.

***Marathon Training Tip of the Week: Practice Everything! The 20 miler is supposed to be a dress rehearsal for the actual race. You are supposed to do everything the same: eat what you will eat the night before, wear what you will wear race day, drink the drink available on race day, take the GU or gels or whatev you will take on race day. I totally didn't do this. Running on Friday totally messed with my life. I hadn't done laundry and had to wear old ratty socks and the top I wore in my first marathon 3 years ago. And I forgot that it rubs my arm and hurts after several miles! It is never a good idea to go into a race in new gear because you never know how/where it will rub you wrong. The same goes with sports drinks/gels. You never know how your tummy will react. Best to find out during a 20 mile training run than on race day.