Publix Savannah Women’s Half Marathon Training – Week 11

There is something wonderful and exciting about a training plan. I’m excited to lace up these week, hoping I’ll feel a bit stronger than the week prior.

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Each Sunday brings a new email from Jess with a list of workouts to accomplish for the week. Having someone who I can confide in daily, via email, makes training a lot easier. Sometimes training for a race, regardless the length, can make you a bit crazy. Was I this sore the last time I trained? What do I do if my legs are tired? How many rounds do I do of this workout. Suddenly there is this voice of reason who speaks to you on a weekly and daily basis. Yes, I know I can get training plans for free in many different places or just motivate myself to run but man oh man is it great having her support these days.

This training plan is 11 weeks in length, last week being the first week of full training. I thought it would be tough to jump back into a more strict workout routine, ensuring that some of the fun, “extracurricular” workouts are replaced with challenging runs, but I am actually thriving.

Maybe it’s because amidst lots of upcoming travel and work demands having this training plan makes just one thing in life simpler and clearer. Regardless the reason, I couldn’t be happier with training and am happier now that it’s back in my life. I’m sure I may have a different response ten weeks from now when the race is quickly approaching, but for now, I’m so excited for the half marathon and to see friends and family.

Even though we traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia Thursday through Sunday I was able to easily keep up with training and in fact, it helped motivate Bo and I to workout for an hour each day, helping balance out all the indulgent food and vodka.

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Weekly Workout Recap – Savannah Half Marathon Training Week 11

Monday: Easy run + strides + yoga  My lunch time run was easier than normal thanks to the final Serial episode and some new music. I kept a 9:34 pace which was probably faster than my easy run should be moving forward but it felt good. I ended the run with 5 20 second strides. Monday evening I met my friend for InnerCity Yoga’s relax yoga class. By the end of class I was pretty much melted onto the mat. It is one of the first yoga classes that leaves me feeling blissed out and relaxed versus sweating from pushing myself.

Tuesday: Spin After work we met a few of our friends for a hill filled 80’s night themed spin class at Spin Geneve. It’s been three weeks and I can already feel my legs getting stronger and my body becoming accustomed to the bike. It’s so nice to finally have a spin studio in Geneva!

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Wednesday: Pick-ups This workout was a new one but a perfect way to beat treadmill boredom as the sleet and rain forced my early morning workout inside. The workout was 15 minutes of warm-up followed by 8 x 1 minute 80% effort intervals with a 1 minute 40% recovery in between. My 80% effort ended up being 8:12 pace with 9:30 for the recovery intervals.  I finished with a 10 minute cool down and some much needed time on the foam roller.

Thursday: Long run As soon as we arrived at our hotel on Thursday Bo and I headed to the gym, intent to squeeze in at least a quick workout before dinner. I hopped on the treadmill for a 6 mile run. Having Bo’s company made the run fly by as we talked about St Petersburg and what we’d seen so far while I ran and he biked. My 9:41 pace didn’t feel easy but I was happy to have it done.

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Friday: Strength Workout Jess put together two different body-weight strength workouts I will do each week during training. They look innocent on paper but by the end of the workout I was drenched in sweat. They high knees, lateral jumps and jump squats killed me! It helped me realize just how under-trained some aspects of my body are right now. I’m excited to see the improvements during the next ten weeks.

Saturday: Rest This was an active rest day as we walked more than five miles but it felt good to take a break from formal workouts. Our hotel’s spa special was too good to pass so I also enjoyed a 90 minute deep tissue massage, perfect for my sore legs.

Sunday: Strength Workout Bo and I did strength workout #2 together in the hotel gym after a warm-up on the elliptical and bike. Wall sits are my strength while jump lunges are my nemesis. Just like Friday’s experience with these body-weight plyometric workouts, my body was begging for mercy by the end.

So that’s a wrap. Week one or eleven, depending how you count, is finished and in the books!

How is your training going? What is a podcast or book that you enjoy for long runs or workouts?

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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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Berlin Marathon Training – Week 8

With 7 weeks of training between now and the Berlin Marathon I could not be more excited. This training recap is my first one dedicated to Berlin! The triathlon is over so now all my focus is on preparing my body to meet or exceed my pace goals on September 28th.  After a lapse in training during vacation I came back to Geneva last week ready to put in the effort. My body thanked me for the break and responded with strong splits during every run. Last week was, dare I say it, perfect week of training. I slept at least 7 hours each night, I practiced yoga once, I got back in the habit of doing weights and core work, I logged each of my runs, and I ate well. Here’s a run down of what workouts made last week so successful!

Monday: Sweet, beautiful rest day including 10 hours of sleep!

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Tuesday:

Morning: This week’s speed intervals were longer than normal but I felt strong during the entire workout! 1 mile warm-up, 2×1600 (7:43, 7:48), 2×800 (7:48, 7:41), followed by a 1 mile cool down.

 Evening: 2 hours of intense power yoga including 8 crow poses!

Wednesday:  I knew I wanted to do some weights at home but couldn’t settle on one workout. After skimming my Pinterest workout board I ended up doing 1 round of Julie’s 30 minute living room workout and two rounds of my favorite 5 minute strength workout!

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Thursday: In between hospital visits and a few work conference calls, Anne helped take my mind off Bo’s surgery through ALL the workouts! We started the day with an early morning 6 mile tempo run including 4 sub 9 miles. We had so much fun chatting and catching up that the run flew by and before I knew it we were at our turn around point! The weather was so nice, that we biked 14 miles through Geneva to enjoy some sightseeing and mountain views! By the end of the day, between walking to the hospital and around town we logged 3 miles of walking too!

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Friday: I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck after all our activity the previous day. This called for an active rest day including 3 miles of walking, foam rolling and some evening stretching.

Saturday: A near perfect, strong 15 mile long run. 

Sunday: I spent most of the day cleaning the house, taking care of Bo and catching up on work. Around 5 I was super antsy since I hadn’t left the house so I did 30 minutes of random weights and core exercises including lots of pushups, planks, dips, and arm exercises.

I feel really confident about the next few weeks of training as we don’t have any travel planned due to Bo’s surgery. While work is going to be pretty busy I have no excuses for missing workouts.

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