Sometimes all it takes is a moment for me to tell myself “Get it done!” Just 72 hours ago I was feeling very defeated about marathon training. Two training runs later and I’m back in the game. It’s funny how that works. One minute running is my worst enemy. It’s just another line on my to-do list. And then I remember how much I love it. How much life and energy training for a race gives me.
I’m going to run a marathon, people!
This is my motto for marathon training. It’s what I tell myself during the hard intervals of my track and tempo workouts. It’s what I tell myself when I stare at my schedule for the week and wonder if I’ll ever get enough sleep. I’m mighty. I do hard things.
Running makes me feel like a super human. If I have a challenging moment at work, I shrug it off. A wife and mom who keeps a house, works full time, AND runs half marathons FOR FUN isn’t going to let a little hiccup at work bother her.
Workout summary this week:
Total miles: 20
Monday – Week 16 Key Run #1 – Track – 3×1600 (8:32) with 400RI
5.75miles – 56:19 – 9:48 pace
I programmed this workout into our treadmill. We have a Nordictrack 1750 with iFit, so I can program workouts and the settings will change automatically. It was really cool to just let it “push the buttons for me.” This workout was tough, but I was glad I was able to do it. And I wasn’t too sore afterwards either, which was good because I had a full work day ahead of me.
Friday – Week 16 Key Run #2 – Tempo – 2mi Easy, 2mi Short Tempo (9:05), 2mi Easy
6miles – 1:00:30 – 10:05
Our schedule this week was BUSY, so I wasn’t able to get this workout done until Friday after work. Not the best time to try and run 2 hard miles. Mr. Neon, the boys, and I headed to our trusty pond loop. Tiny Boy ran 1.25miles, Runner Boy ran 3miles, and then they headed for the playground while Mr. Neon and I finished our laps. The playground is visible from the entire 6/10ths of a mile loop, so it’s an ideal spot for us to do workouts like this. I see us doing this many times over the next 15 weeks.
Sunday – Week 16 Key Run #3 – Long Run – 8mi @ MP+30
Run Less, Run Faster says my marathon place is 10:09. This is based on my 5K PR of 27:20. We’ll see about that. But this run was EASY. I usually use a 9:1 interval on long runs. I didn’t have to at this pace. I stopped once to eat a Honey Stinger kids waffle at mile 4. I did this on our home treadmill since it was hot and windy outside today.
Workouts this week:
Week 15 Key Run #1 – Track – 4×800 with 2min RI
Week 15 Key Run #2 – Tempo – 1mi Easy 5mi MP 1mi Easy
Week 15 Key Run #3 – Long Run – 9mi @ MP+45
Neon Runner Girl 