Real life happened and I sort of dropped the training log habit, but now: It’s kick-off week! This is the first week of my training cycle for the Erie Marathon on September 9th. I’ve had a lot of fun with shorter distances this spring, but the marathon is where my heart is. It makes me a tad nervous to say it, but this is a serious BQ attempt, so let’s go!
Monday, 5/14, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2100
I swam the “March Madness” workout. I had to go to the pool alone, which I am soooooo bad at, but once I got going, everything was fine.
Tuesday, 5/15, School Bus Crew – 6 easy miles (8:47 pace)
Snarky Girl and I often run right after we put our girls on the school bus. I’m grateful for the flexible schedule that lets me work 6am-8am and then take a break to get my daughter ready for school and dash out for a quick run.
Wednesday, 5/16, Lunch Crew – 3 easy miles (8:14 pace), plus weights
Some runs you know from the first step that everything is going to click. Why does that happen? Who knows and who cares! I’ve learned to just roll with it.
Thursday, 5/17, Lunch Crew – 7 miles, hill sprints
This is 4 easy miles, then 8 x 10 seconds of sprinting up the hill, one minute recovery, and 1 mile cool down. Yeah! Hills! Hills mean marathon training is beginning for real. I’ve been so happy about this all week that I’m slipping in randomly into all conversations. Have I mentioned in the last five minutes that I’m training for the Erie Marathon? Yes? Well, let me mention it one more time. Woot! I am possibly a teeny bit excited about this fact.
Friday, 5/18, Early Morning Crew – 6 easy miles (11:35 pace)
Once upon a time, I used to run on the trails in the state park that sits the middle of our small town. These women are some of my earliest running buddies. It would be utterly impossible to explain how much they have changed my life. They showed me how awesome it is to run through the forest by the light of a headlamp and also that running a marathon is an actual possible thing. It looks like Friday schedules are lining up for a bit and I am overjoyed!
Saturday, 5/19, Early Morning Crew – 9 miles biking plus weights
Wow, it’s hard to get up and out early and alone on the bike. But it wasn’t raining so I snuck in this outside ride before the gym. We had so many kid activities later in the day – this had to get done early early early.
Sunday, 5/20, Early Morning Crew – 14 easy miles (10:05 ave pace)
First long run of the Erie training cycle! But this wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. I got myself in a bad head space about various life stresses and started the run grouchy and out of sorts. It felt like I totally forgot how to do this – what do I eat, when do I start, what do I do about water? Luckily I figured it out and I also picked up all kinds of girlfriend company as the miles went along. First long run in the books!
Total: 36 miles