Sunday, June 18, 2017

98 Days...

The Berlin Marathon is now officially "less than 100 days" away...

I had a great blog post planned for the 100 day mark, but training wasn't going so well and I felt less than motivated to blog about it. Somehow, between last year and now, I forgot how much I hate training in the Summer. Seriously, this humidity sucks. And the bugs... well let's just say they are constantly enamored with me (it's not a mutual feeling and they don't seem to be getting the hint no matter how much bug spray I use). It's mostly the humidity and bugs that have made the past few weeks less than ideal, but adding to that is the fact that I have not been sleeping well. I can't even remember the last time I felt well rested 😩.

Last week I changed my work schedule to four 10 hour days (Mon-Thurs) to facilitate my desire to get a second job (because 1: Kai's college expenses are only two years away & 2: race entry fees don't pay for themselves). The change in schedule will take some getting used to, but hopefully by the second or third week of the new schedule I'll feel better about it. In addition to changes at work, I also started strength training last week Wednesday. It was a very sad attempt at core work and squats, and at the end of it I think I broke my quads...


Today marks the end of Berlin Marathon Training Week 4 and my goal was at least 10 miles this weekend. The original plan was one long run of 10 miles, but I broke that into a 4 mile run on Saturday...

and a 6 mile run this morning...

Both of which felt difficult thanks to heat/humidity, bugs, and my very fatigued legs. But I had great company for both runs so that really helped.

Then I spent some time reviewing my training plan and calculating the proposed weekly mileage progression...

I modified the Hal Higdon's Novice 2 marathon plan a bit and cut it down to three main running days (the other four days I'll just do my 1 mile run to maintain my running streak) and I added two days of strength training and two days of swimming. I max out at about 36-38 miles for my total weekly mileage, which isn't a lot compared to other marathon plans I've seen but I think it will help me save my legs so I can get through both Berlin and Chicago (two weeks after). 

Then I taped the planned runs in the middle of my race bling to remind me why I'm doing this...

Between now and Berlin I only have two events: an open water swimming event in August and a 5K in early September. But once the Fall race season starts (i.e. in September) I have back-to-back events for the rest of the year 🙈. So deep down I know I have to get my act together training-wise. Next week will be a better week... I have a good feeling about it 😊. 

What race/event are you counting down to right now?

Do you track your weekly mileage? What's your maximum weekly mileage during marathon training?

How often do you split up your long runs?

4 comments:

  1. I am in Houston, and then heat/ humidity/ gnats are really derailing my running. I've got an 8K the first weekend in July and a 5K the 2nd weekend in July (which I only really registered to receive the adorable shirt). After that, I don't think there is anything until September.....and the weather won't be much better then, though.

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    1. Ugh doesn't the Summer suck?! I mean for training purposes (otherwise Summer is great!) Good luck on your races! and your training ;)

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  2. hi! how can i out this counting down in my garmin too ??

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