{week 2} On the long road to 26.2

Phew! Made it through the first week of marathon training AND it's only going to get more serious. It wasn't that it was hard so much as that it was different from my usual week with only 4 scheduled runs including 2 mid-week longer runs.  I can see how running like this with these types of runs will both mentally and physically prep me for the 26.2 miles. 

As mentioned in my previous post, this past week included 3 rest/cross-training days (Rocked them!) as well as an 8 mile run with 4 miles at tempo, a 9 mile regular run, a 4 mile recovery run and a 12 mile medium-long run. 

I had to deal with self-doubt as I prepped for Tuesday's tempo run. I doubted my ability to run 4 miles at tempo. My tempo pace range is: 7:53-8:08 min/mile. As I was fretting over this, Paul asked me if the pace is slower or faster than my 5k pace. I told him it was slower and he said it should be no problem for me. I still had my doubts but Paul's words gave it a new perspective. I ended up running my tempo miles at an average pace of 8:04/mile. I did slow down a bit the last part of those miles and I know that is something I will need to work on as the weeks progress--but I DID IT!

I hit my paces with all the other runs and I learned that I need to wake up earlier for my mid-week long runs because I was late for work on those days. Oops. Also, running the hills of Griffith Park in Los Angeles for my recovery run was probably not a good idea (impossible to keep my heart rate below 143 bpm)--but it was a fun opportunity for a group run with my Oiselle Volée and Lab Rats teammates.

A friend, Jen, encouraged me to DREAM BIG and TRAIN BIG. And that's my plan.

Week 2 (16 weeks until marathon)

Goal Mileage: 36 miles

Monday: Rest or cross-training (taught cycle class)
Tuesday: 9 miles, general aerobic run with 11x100 strides 8 miles, general aerobic run with 10x100 strides
Wednesday: Rest or cross-training
Thursday: 10 miles, general aerobic run
Friday: Rest or cross-training
Saturday: 5 miles trail run with Paul's soccer team, recovery run
Sunday: 13 miles with 8 miles at marathon race pace