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Berlin Marathon Training – Week 5

Happy Thursday!

My post schedule is all sorts of crazy this week due to our travel to Athens. I hope you all enjoyed Bo’s food tour recap. I’m jealous I couldn’t join but his recap has already convinced me that a Berlin food tour will be the perfect activity on Monday, following the marathon!

Marathon month has finally arrived. In order to ensure that my training is successful during these next three crucial weeks, amongst travel to three different countries, I’m scheduling my training just like i would any other business meetings. Last week I put each long run, tempo run and speed workout on my calendar along with yoga and strength training dates. Waking up early is going to be a hard habit to get back into but I know it is crucial.

Let’s take a few minutes to recap last week’s training, shall we?

Monday: I started the week with a 60 minute yoga class to help my tight hamstrings. This was my first time trying Donna’s hatha yoga class at InnerCity Yoga but I really enjoyed it! The class was less intense than the 90 minute music flow yoga class I typically take on Tuesday nights but I really think it’s perfect for this last month of marathon training. I don’t want to risk soreness for my workouts and this helped take out the kinks without pushing me too far.

1227Tuesday: I pushed snooze one too many times so I slept through my planned morning tempo run and instead ended up having to squeeze it in after work. I listened to Chrissie Wellington’s book to help the 6 miles pass faster but unfortunately nothing made this run more pleasurable. It was one of those runs where my sole focus was getting the miles done.

Wednesday: I kept up with cross training by completing two rounds of Julie’s 20 Minute Bootcamp workout during lunch. It was an awesome workout that moved quickly yet left me sweaty and breathless! I highly recommend this 20 minute workout for anyone who gets bored quickly but wants something that is challenging but easy to follow.

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Thursday:  Rest day!

Friday: I did a 15 mile long run before work as I knew that running in Athens, Greece would be challenging due to the weather and our hotel location. This run went perfectly and I felt really strong. I can only dream of keeping a 9:43 pace for 26.2 miles but for 15 it felt great!

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Saturday: Our flight landed later than expected so this ended up being an unplanned rest day. Ooops.

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Sunday: Our hotel gym only had two treadmills, both of which were occupied bright and early Sunday morning when I tried to squeeze in my weekly speed workout. Bo, nor I, were comfortable with me attempting the speed workout outside as our hotel wasn’t in the best location of Athens. Instead, I covered 5 miles during our 4.5 hour walking tour of Athens, Greece.

Last week wasn’t perfect but I know the areas of focus for this week and the following weeks so instead of dwelling on one missed workout, I am going to focus on the positives!

Your turn – I’m putting together my marathon playlist and am looking for any suggestions. What is your favorite song for a workout or long run? The more random the song, the better. I’m pretty tired of the Top 40 songs on Spotify right now.

 

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20 Mile Long Run – A Reminder in Pacing

While last week’s 17 mile long run was the perfect confidence boost I needed, yesterday’s 20 miler was a bit humbling. It reminded me just how important pacing is when running a marathon.

Due to cool temperatures I slept in later than expected since I once again wasn’t trying to beat the heat and humidity. I woke up at 7:30 to finalize my route while eating my regular long run fuel of coffee, toast, peanut butter and banana. I also sipped Vega Pre-Workout energizer in Acai berry which tastes far better than the lemon lime.

I’ve found that giving my body an hour to digest the food really helps me feel more fueled and energized during the runs.

In order to make the distance a bit easier, I split it up into 3 parts:

Mile 1-6: Music

Mile 6-14: Listening to Chrissie Wellington’s audiobook

Mile 14-20: Running with Amy

This week’s route was similar to last weeks except I cut 2 miles off of the countryside route so that I could be back in Geneva by mile 14 to meet up with Amy, a new friend who just moved to Geneva last week.

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The first six miles flew by as I listened to music. I didn’t have to check my map many times since I knew this portion of the route. I took a salted caramel Gu at mile 6, checked my route on MapMyRun and switched over to Audible to listen to my audiobook.IMG_1604IMG_1602IMG_1603The scenery between mile 6 and 10 felt as if I was running through a painting. I couldn’t stop smiling as I ran through vineyards, cornfields and small rustic homes and villages. IMG_1610IMG_1499[1]IMG_1613

By mile 13 I was ready for another fuel break and used this one to check in with my pace. I’d felt so strong at the beginning that I decided to ignore my Garmin and run by feel versus continuously checking my pace. This used to be a method Gia used with me when I would let my mind takeover during training runs. I quickly realized that my average pace was around a 9:40. I decided to scale things back as much as possible for the next mile, before meeting Amy. I figured that running with her would be a great way to slow the pace since I assumed we’d be talking. As I ran down the hill my Garmin beeped low battery, reminding me that I better charge this bad boy all night before the marathon versus forgetting and only charging an hour before the run. Luckily I’d also been using MapMyRun so I swapped to using that for pace and distance versus the Garmin.

IMG_1615IMG_1617The final miles with Amy were beyond a struggle. It sounds stupid but talking while running was quite hard at this point. By mile 16 my legs were screaming at me for the stupid fast early miles. We pushed on, winding through Geneva but each mile became tougher both physically and mentally. I should have requested that we stop talking and put on our headphones, but felt the need to chat since she’d been so kind to come meet me for the last few miles. Mile 17 through 20 were a walk run mix, averaging 8-9 minutes of running and 1-2 minutes of walking. Even with this ratio we were still able to keep a 10:20-10:30 pace. 

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20 miles in 3:18:07 aka 9:55 pace. Done and done!

Mile 1 9:34 Mile 11 9:35
Mile 2 9:25 Mile 12 9:40
Mile 3 9:40 Mile 13 9:41
Mile 4 9:41 Mile 14 9:55
Mile 5 9:49 Mile 15 10:06
Mile 6 9:49 Mile 16 10:20
Mile 7 9:30 Mile 17 10:34
Mile 8  9:40 Mile 18 10:36
Mile 9 9:41 Mile 19 10:21
Mile 10  9:32 Mile 20 10:01

 

We ended our 20 miles by meeting Bo at the farmer’s market and brunch at Le Pain Quotidien. IMG_1620IMG_1623IMG_1625

This week’s long run lesson: Remember to respect the pace. For my next long run I’m going to keep a focus on my pace for the first half and then try running the second half by feel.

 

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Berlin Marathon Training– Week 7

It is still sinking in that there are only 5 long runs left between now and September 28th. My mind goes into scary places when I realize that 3 of those will most likely be 20 mile runs. In the hopes of staying positive, not negative,  I will repeat this in my mind multiple times on Saturday. Maybe Saturday’s playlist will require a few Disney tunes!

Monday: Working from home combined with helping Bo left me exhausted by the evening. I took an unplanned rest day other than 5 minute workout and foam rolling.

Tuesday: Oh sprint days. I’ve come to look forward to this day of training almost more than any other day. I can’t decide whether it’s because I’m seeing so much progress or because it’s the shortest distance run all week. This week’s speed workout was 1 mile w/u,  2 x 1600 repeats (7:51, 6:57). It was tough but awesome!

Wednesday: I gave my legs a rest and focused on my arms and abs during a 30 Minute Abs & Arms workout.

30 Minute Abs & Arms Workout

Thursday: The weather kept me on the treadmill for this week’s 6 mile tempo run. I ended up loving it and negative split the workout. I started the treadmill at 8:57 and went faster from there. I felt stronger than expected due in part to the fact that bright workout gear makes you happier and faster!

Friday: I slept 9 hours on Thursday night which left me feeling WONDERFUL on Friday. I had so much energy that instead of taking my normal rest day I did my 5 minute workout, foam rolled and 20 minutes of yoga for runners.

Saturday: An awesome 17 mile run that leaves me excited for this weekend’s 20 mile run (!?!).  The trick this training cycle has been consistency and focus during my long runs. I fuel the same way and wear the same outfit consistently each week. I push through emotions and feelings during my run, not letting myself take multiple rest breaks.

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Sunday: I couldn’t resist being outside Sunday afternoon as it was 70 degrees and sunny! I headed down to the lake and spent an hour power walking just over 5 miles along the lake while calling two of my girl friends back in the US. It was the perfect way to enjoy sunshine and fresh air while also enjoying an active recovery after Saturday’s long run.

If you’re looking for new tunes, check out these two posts which each provided me with a few new songs for this week’s runs!

Runner’s World asks readers to vote for the best running song

Julie’s Pimp My Playlist is meant for SPIN but will be perfect for any workout!

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