Monday, February 29, 2016

Carmel Marathon Training: Week 7

7 weeks down and 7 weeks to go until Carmel! I feel that 7 weeks is not enough time, and also a long ways off to prepare for race day. This week went pretty much according to plan and I felt really good about all the workouts for the most part.

I had 2 main issues come up this week which needed attention. First of which was getting a bit dehydrated on Saturday's 8 miler. I was likely overdressed, but also did not bring any liquids (not out of the norm for me for a run of this distance) which left me feeling a bit crappy later on in the day. The 8 mile run itself was textbook. Lesson learned. For Sunday, I took a 25oz bottle of Osmo + one GU with me for the 16 miler so not to repeat Saturday's mistakes (even while overdressing on purpose).

The other issue were my shoes- I wore my Newton Distances for the 8 miler and got another hot spot on the bottom of my foot. Since I had 16 on deck for Sunday, all I could think about was the damn thing turning into a blister during that run. I decided to wear my Nike Zoom Fly shoes for the 16 and luckily there was no issue with the hot spot. Post run I got to thinking about my shoes and was  shocked to see the Newtons have 420 miles on them and the Nikes have 357. Needless to say a shoe order has been placed.

I know that my biggest weakness for the Ironman will be nutrition. I will train my ass off and nail all of my workouts no problem, but properly hydrating and fueling for extended rides and runs will be a challenge for me since I dont like to eat or drink much while working out. In the coming months I will be researching proper fueling and hydration for these longer sessions.

February #'s

I was happy with my mileage for February despite some training setbacks.  30+ hours total and 321 miles.
Workouts:

Monday: 14 mile cycle

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: 10 mile cycle, 4 mile run BRICK!

Thursday: 8 mile run- 6 x 800's

Friday: 16 mile cycle

Saturday: 8 mile run, 12 mile cycle

Sunday: 16 mile run with miles 11-15 @ GMP, 12 mile cycle

Total: 9:35:25  for 100 miles
Running: 4:55:40 for 36 miles
Cycling: 4:39:45 for 64 miles 

Snapshots:

L and I went to the Bulls game on Tuesday- it was fun as always and Benny even dumped popcorn on us!
I ran 8 miles on Saturday and it was so nice out- not too windy compared to Sunday.
Sunday was gorgeous minus the crazy wind.
After the long runs I was beat and ready to relax.
Looking Forward:


  • I renewed my swim membership and plan to finally swim again soon.
  • I will continue to tweak my nutrition during longer workouts. I like to train using minimal nutrition so that race day I experience a bigger effect from the GU/Osmo/Etc, but will be smarter about it so I don't have any setbacks.
  • I will up my arm/core/leg workouts and weights.
  • Time to cook more meals, reduce alcohol intake  and drop the last 5-8lbs before Carmel. 


Cheers!

5 comments:

  1. I am happy you placed that shoe order. Maybe two pairs?! :)

    Hmm, I wonder if that minimal nutrition technique will work for an IM. It seems like you really need to find something you can force yourself to eat, since you are going to need to. A LOT. Ha ha. It sounds like you naturally do the Hansen (it's Hansen who does it, right?) method of going on a long run without fuel. That would NOT work for me!!! Props to the people it DOES work for.

    You said you nailed your workouts but 7 weeks isn't enough time for the marathon. GET OUT OF THAT HEADSPACE!!! Start talking yourself up, and keep hitting your workouts, and eating the right food and reducing your drinking. You got this.

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  2. Do you use moleskin to prevent blisters? Also, do you wear a 1/2 size bigger running shoe than your normal shoe size? Just curious. 100 miles? Nice! Nutrition is always an issue for me. During my marathon PR I took random sugary things from spectators and felt great. In other marathons when I focused on taking GUs at certain intervals I felt nauseous. Go figure. Anyway, I agree with Kim that you got this. You PR'd at the F^3 four weeks ago and you definitely have better fitness now. Just focus on getting your workouts in, get a decent taper and figure out your race plan. Then wait for the magic to happen on race day!

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    1. I don't use moleskin because I never (rarely) get blisters. My running shoes are 1/2 size bigger than my normal shoes. And yes- 100 miles total for last week's training :) I've worn those newtons for several marathons and many long runs and never had an issue before this year with them (same pair lol)

      That's a great idea to take foods from the spectators- I think oranges and bananas would hit the spot in the dark places of a marathon. Usually I do GU every 4-5 miles and am fine. But for the long run even the one GU made me feel a little sick probably due to the sugar. Thank you for the confidence boost! It's just so weird to put so much faith in the cycling and random swims to hopefully get me to the finish in a decent time. I'm excited for us to do awesome in Carmel!

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  3. Hmm. Hopefully the hot spot was a fluke or something. Yes, oranges and bananas do hit the spot during the marathon. Real fruit sits better in my stomach than sugar goo! Yes, we will do awesome! :)

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  4. you will do awesome!

    I drink a lot of fluids everyday and when I run even more. I haven't been running, just doing the elliptical, I have heard that those applesauce pouches are a great nutrition tool. I am not a fan of apples...but just in case you do like them :)

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