I can’t believe I am entering week 9 of Marine Corps Marathon training! Usually by this point, I’m starting to struggle with burnout and am desperate for fall weather. This has been such a crazy summer that instead, I’m finding myself actually almost back on my training plan and ready to buckle down and get it done.
Last week was the first week in about a month where I actually ran every run on my training plan. I’m not going to lie – I didn’t run every run exactly as planned. Life was just too busy and there was no way I could jump from a low 20s week up to a 40 mile week. So, here’s what went down…
Monday – Plan: 6 easy miles. Actual: 6 easy miles. Woot!
Tuesday – Plan: warm up, 6×800 at 5k/10k pace, cool down. Actual: warm up, 4×800 at 10k pace, cool down. I would have liked to have done all 6, but at the end of the 4th one, my body said “nope”. It was just done.
Wednesday – Plan: 5 miles (instead of rest day). Actual: 3 really slow annoying miles on a treadmill that kept decreasing the speed. I had wanted to do all 5, but ran out of time. Then we walked for 7 hours at the Field Museum.
Thursday – Plan: w/u, 5 mile tempo, c/d. Actual: short warm up, 4.5 mile temp, short cool down. Then we walked 5 miles at the Brookfield Zoo.
Friday – Plan: 10 miles. Actual: 6 tempo miles. These felt amazing, but I ran out of time and had to stop.
Saturday – Plan: 6 miles easy. Actual: 4 really hung over miles. Thankfully, I felt better at the end than I did at the beginning, but I was afraid that two more miles would be pushing my luck. Then we spent the next 5 hours walking around a beer festival drinking some amazing beers.
Sunday – Plan: Rest day (instead of long run). Actual: Total rest day. Barely moved from the couch all day.
Total miles run: 29.8 instead of 42.
This week is an aggressive week – all of the key runs are longer than last week and my long run is 15 miles. I know that it’s not smart to jump from 30 miles to 49, so I’ll be doing a slightly shorter version of some of the workouts. I’m aiming for 35-40 miles. After this week, there are some drop back weeks and much smaller increases, so I expect I will slowly get closer to the total amount of miles each week. Either way, I’m feeling stronger than I have in past training seasons, so I’m excited to see what I can accomplish at Marine Corps Marathon this year.
Don’t forget that we are doing “free August” for Tuesdays on the Run, so feel free to link up any running related posts.
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I’m also linking up with HoHo and MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap and Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC for my training update.
That’s great that you’re feeling strong! Keep it up!
Wow- what a week of training and so many miles! Also- love all the skirt sports I see ?looks good on you!
So you were traveling, not Marcia, LOL! I think you did plenty of walking on top of those runs. And a 4.5 tempo seems plenty long to me! I do not enjoy tempos. 🙁
Fun trumps running any day! Looks like you had a great week, and 30 miles running is nothing to sneeze at.
I’m still sad I couldn’t meet up with you!
I can’t believe fall training is here! What have I been doing all Summer?…lol
I think you had a great workout week especially since you were traveling. I can so relate to those runs where you simply run out of time. Ugh.
It sounds like you have a good plan for getting back on the training plan. I know I couldn’t increase my mileage like that in one week.
Great job this week, nice to see things are picking up! 800’s are so tough…not sure I could make it to doing 4 at a 10K pace, lol!
I’ve been struggling with burnout lately but mostly it’s because I moved and I don’t have anyone to run with currently. I’ve been to a few group runs and I enjoyed them but it’s like that awkward phase where you’re the “new girl” you know?
Anyway, seems like you’re doing well with your training and are going about it smartly! Good luck with your training- your marathon is a few weeks after mine (Chicago) I think so we’re close in schedule!
Hangover miles are always tough!
I love your pic with Marcia 🙂