What training Week are we on now??

So evidently, we are in week 12 of training. Holy cow! How has the time escaped me! I just realized that I haven’t done a training week recap since week 8. I will just highlight some of the main workouts that have happened since then.

Week 9

Tuesday 8/14:  6 miles in 1:03:36. Awesome first 3.5-4, but really got overheated and started struggling after that.

Thursday 8/16: 4X400 meters at mile goal pace, then 1 mile at half marathon goal pace. Splits:

Sunday 8/19:  AFC Half Marathon in 2:27:55-see this post for a full recap.

Took a rest day or two for sure after the half!!

Week 10

Wednesday 8/22:  8 X 1 minute on/off intervals. Splits: 7:48, 8:18, 7:25, 7:27, 7:25, 7:11, 7:35, 7:05. Good run!

Thursday 8/23:  5.71 miles in 59:00. Not too bad of a run today. It was a little hot, but nowhere near as bad as it usually is at 11am. Would've finished 6, but was already late to my meeting. Really enjoyed my run!

Saturday 8/25:  14:01 miles in 2:30! New PDR (personal distance record) with Ari today on the canal. I was surprised how good I felt considering we ran a half marathon last weekend, and I was going on 4-4.5 hours of terrible sleep! What a great long run! It felt really good to finish!

Week 11

Tuesday 8/28:  6.26 miles in 1:06. First night run in a long time. Still really hot, but much better without the sun! Knee was bothering me, so I decided to stop at 6.25 when I got to my car. This run did have some hill action with 243 ft elevation gain. I pushed myself on the hills more than usual!

I skipped track and my 3 mile recovery run this week. Coach Loken agreed that since I was having knee pain, laying off was the smartest thing to do. I do not want to injure myself before New York! Ari might have to pull me in a wagon if I do .

Saturday 9/1: 13.52 miles in 2:28 on San Juan Rd with 814 ft of elevation gain. The first half was awesome! The second half, I totally hit a wall and ran/walked from there, and ended up not getting to my 15 miles....I hit my time limit, though, so coach said I was done. I need to work on two things: #1. Not starting out so darn fast, even though I already feel like I am running slow....#2. The mental aspect. I have too much negative self-talk in my head. Susan is awesome, though, and told me some good books to read, and gave me some pointers. :-)

So that’s what’s been happening in the training world for me, I have a lot of work to do on the mental aspect of racing. Coach Loken also told me that I needed to start my long runs off more slowly….wow, and I thought I was already really slow! She said she was told the same thing when she was training for her first marathon, and she was like “slower?? I have to go slower??” I don’t feel so bad since she said that. She also said I have definitely been coming along, and that she wasn’t just saying that to make me feel better; that I really have come along in my training. Woo hoo!! That means SO much, especially after a bad long run.

I am currently reading Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald.

Coach Loken suggested I read Running Within, but it only comes in real book form, not Kindle form.

I will be going to Barnes and Noble to get it for sure. For now, though, this book is pretty interesting!

There is one more book she suggested called Mind Gym:

Has anyone read any of these three books? Can you give me feedback on them? Are there any other books you have read on mental aspects of running and endurance athletes? I am willing to read anything that will help. Leave me some love

Happy Trails!

Stacey