Monday, March 20, 2017

Boston Marathon Training {Week 14}

Another week full of being stressed out at work and super busy. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, but it might be a train.

Motivation

On Sunday I ran the March Madness Half marathon. Spoiler alert: I got a PR by 2 minutes. It was completely unexpected and awesome and wow. More on that in another post.


crappy "photo of my medal in the parking lot because I didn't have my squad with me" selfie

Workouts

Despite being swamped at work again due to changes, I had one of my highest mileage weeks (running wise) again.

One of the things Ive been working on the past few weeks is to take my easy runs much easier. After reading Pete's blog about 80/20 running, I decided to be more mindful about my pace during runs. Sometimes "easy" is 8:30's for me, yet that's only 35 seconds slower than my marathon PR pace. Lately Ive been taking easy runs at 9:00+ a mile and find I'm more rested and have more energy.

I just ordered the book 80/20 by Matt Fitzgerald and look forward to reading it in my limited spare time.


The highlight of this week of workouts was my speed sesh consisting of a fartlek where I alternated each song at a fast pace 7:20-30 followed with a song at a slow pace of 8:30. The other highlight was my new half PR.

Training Plan



Monday- easy 6 miles @ 9:13 pace

Tuesday- Fartlek every other song @ 7:30-20, with 2x400's @ 6:30 pace

Wednesday- 3.25 miles @ 9:30 pace

Thursday- 7 miles @ 9:18 pace

Friday- 3 miles with the pup (11:33), 3.75 miles @ 9:25 pace

Saturday- 10 miles progressive avg 8:20 pace

Sunday- 13.1 miles 1:42.34 avg 7:49

Goals and Stuff

After Sunday's half, I'm much more confident that I can run a sub 3:30 in Boston. I felt good enough on the hills and will continue doing body weight exercises and stairs post hard efforts.

Other

I ran outside with CBdog on Friday after work. Runs like these make me super happy- I remember the days we used to run 18 miles in Alameda, CA together when he was 6. Now 3 miles is our limit since he is 12 and it takes a toll on his body.


I really need to run outside more. When I'm outside, I love running along the lakefront. But sometimes (most days) it's hard for me to get out there. I hate the cold and how it makes my hands hurt despite having some really nice gloves. I also can't get all the crime I read about out of my head. But on the other hand, running inside my hot gym is great Heat acclimatization in case Boston is a sauna.

Looking Forward

I'm going to make an effort to run outside this week.

I also need to be more mindful of what I'm eating. Ive cut back on alcohol, but need to stop binging on food. I'm much better than I was, but need to stick with proper portion sizes and drink more water.



13 Days to go until Shamrock Shuffle

28 Days to go until BOSTON!






-Xaarlin

6 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for you and your PR yesterday! I'm glad it went so well and gave you such a big confidence boost before Boston! Can't wait to hear more about the race. And the medal by your car selfie pretty much makes you a full-blown suburban runner. Welcome ;)

    I've used songs for speed training like that too - way more effective than time or distance. Or at least more fun.

    Have you tried tracking your food to help with keeping portion sizes in check? Portion control is pretty much my downfall when it comes to eating, so I do find that helpful when I want to reign it in.

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    1. Thank you so much :) I hope to write about the half soon. Work has been nuts lately. :(

      It is more fun for speed songs- especially on a treadmill! Ilthe time just goes by so much faster.

      I need to start tracking food- when I'm writing down what I eat - even just low tech like in a notebook, I definitely think twice about what I'm eating.

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  2. Great job getting your runs done despite your busy week! Congrats on your PR!!! I am also running the Shamrock Shuffle so hopefully I will see you. Oh, and this weather is just ridiculous!!

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    1. Thank you! It's one of the only things keeping me sane at this point! Good luck with the Shuffle!

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  3. I only ran 4 miles on the treadmill yesterday and I could barely stand the heat in the gym. It sure is good training for hot weather running and you'll do great at Boston if it's warm! Congrats on the 1/2 PR! Looking forward to reading the recap and also hearing what you think of the 80/20 book! :)

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    1. Good job on the TM run! The heat is awful at times inside the gym, but I'd still rather be inside than run in rain. Haha

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