With two weeks down that leaves 12 to go but so far I am feeling good…or great but I don’t want to jinx it. Here’s how week 2 looked:
Philadelphia Marathon Training Week 2 (8/24-8/30):
Sunday 8/24: Rest
Monday 8/25: 4.7 miles with no garmin (I couldn’t get a satellite but later mapped my route on MapMyRun.)
Tuesday 8/26: 6.2 miles with 3 miles at 7:58, 7:57, 7:52 and hill repeats. Overall average pace 8:17) PM: 60 minutes hot yoga
This was the steepest hill I could find for repeats
Wednesday 8/27: 3.2 miles easy (9:17 pace). Also did this strength circuit.
Thursday 8/28: 6.76 miles with 6 x 800s. This was probably my toughest workout of the week- by legs were really tired by the last 2 but I was able to push through. Splits were 3:24, 3:25, 3:19, 3:29, 3:25, 3:25). Goal was 3:30 so I was happy with how those went. (Average overall pace 8:08)
Friday 8/29: Decided to take a rest day because my legs were tired from the 800s. Did some core work and foam rolling.
Saturday 8/30: 14 miles (8:52 pace) I did this run fasted (meaning no food before or during- just water). I’ll talk about my experience trying this out later in the week. I was really happy with this run because after a solid week I thought something would go wrong. My legs felt good until the last 1-2 miles but I managed to sort of negative split overall anyway:
Total: 34.86 miles
I’ve been continuing with most of the stuff I’ve talked about on the blog- core work (I’ve just been doing a few hip/glute/ab etc exercises every day before my run), eccentric heel raises just to keep my achilles in check, foam rolling, wearing compression socks/tights, occasional Epsom salt baths, and eating as best I can. I am starting to feel like I have figured alot of this stuff out and now I’m just tweaking it/putting all the pieces together.
The real test will be if I continue to respond well as the mileage increases.
How were your workouts last week?
What do you think contributes to a good week of running for you?
Great week! Your core work and recovery routine are very impressive and I love learning about this part of your training.
I had a pretty good week and did everything I had planned although being away really exhausted me so I feel like I need to watch myself this week. Sleep is something I really need to work on!
Being away can be so exhausting- I can definitely relate to that! Hopefully now that you are back you can catch up on sleep and get back into a routine!
Glad to hear training is going so well so far! I’ll be interested to read about glycogen depletion.
Thank you! I’m hoping to write about it on Tuesday- although I am far from an expert, I’ll just share how it went for me. You will have to check back in a few months to see if it actually helps for the marathon:)
AWESOME AWESOME JOB!! You’re doing wonderfully in your training! The 800s are a tough workout-good job! I love that workout and will probably hit the track tomorrow and do it! Keep up the good work!
Thanks! I hope the 800s went well for you, too! I am doing 3 weeks of 800s and then switching to longer speedwork sessions (mile repeats…ugh might be worse than 800s!) but these workouts will only make us stronger!:)
WOW, I’m really impressed that you do hip/glute/ab BEFORE every run! I try to do them at least 2-3 times a week but after a run!
I used to do them after too but I would find myself getting lazy about it! Now I think of it as a way to activate those muscles to run more efficiently plus it helps me to warm up!
Excellent week of training! 800s are tough, good job! I actually have that same workout coming up this Tuesday :). I’m curious to hear more about your experience running your long run fasted. I’ve done mine both ways and I don’t think I’ve noticed a difference, but for this particular training cycle, I’ve been eating something small before every long run. I’ve had good long runs and bad ones, so I really don’t know if its even necessary, I just like taking advantage of it because it allows me a little more time to wake up before heading out the door so early ha.
I completely agree with you that all the little things really affect training. Sometimes they can be the hardest to do because after you run, you kinda just want to be done with everything, but all that little extra stuff can really affect how your next few runs go. Enjoy your Labor Day! 🙂
Thanks Hailey! I am working on my post about the fasted long run today- it should be up tomorrow! One of the things I am noting is that I think its very mental. The whole time I knew I hadn’t eaten and I think that made me really nervous that I would burn out or something! I would never run a longer race without eating anything but I am glad I tried this out for a longer run. Its all about figuring out what works for you!
Awesome week of training! I have learned so many great tips from you! I missed the part about epsom salt baths. I will have to look into that one!
I think that the Epsom baths are very relaxing- whether or not they help my muscles to recover they help with the mental part of training:)