Week 2 Training

Week two of marathon training is up. I’m exhausted! I’ve trained for events before – a 15k and a half marathon – and I remember being tired after the first two to five weeks. After a few weeks though, I start feeling strong; super strong. That’s until the long runs hit. Don’t we all know that feeling though, right?

Here’s how the week went:

• Tuesday (5/27): 3 mile run at a 10:19 pace. The slower pace came in when I got a phone call around 2.7 miles. I ended up walking the last .3 while talking. Productive? Yes! I got a letter of recommendation sent in for grad school and finished the run in a (fairly) decent time.
• Wednesday: Another 3 mile run, according to schedule, at a 9:38 pace. This one was on a treadmill since it was so cold out compared to the day before. I had too much fun with a good playlist and rocked out.
• Thursday: I have found a way to combine exercise and Netflix! My life is set. I sat in the living room doing resistance core and arm exercise for 45 minutes while watching Supernatural.  Nothing inspires me more than watching two hot actors flexing their muscles against ghosts….well, maybe. It sure did make the 45 minutes go by fast though!
• Friday: Another 3 mile run at a 9:30 pace. I actually stayed home from work this day in order to get stuff around the house done and catch up with everything else in my life. Sleeping in must have paid off because I was quick on the run and then had enough energy to swim. The weather was so beautiful that I did laps in the pool for half an hour and swam around casually for another hour. Thank you, Portland, for finally deciding to be summer!
• Saturday: I had a busy and long day planned but I made sure to get up early and do my required 25 minutes of cross training. 15 minutes of weight lifting and 10 minutes of elliptical. After eating an awesome brunch (and $2 mimosas!), I headed out to the river with a friend for a little cold swimming, followed by heading how to swim casually in the pool for an hour with another friend. Swimming is awesome!
• Sunday: Long run day – if you can call it a long run. Today started out lazy but I eventually got myself out the door for a 5 mile run.  I’ve realized that I start out way too fast for any amount of running and I need to stop this and slow down.  Looking at my splits, my first mile was a good :56 faster than my usual running pace of 10:00/mile. By the time I hit mile 3 I’m a little slower than I should be. Also, let’s not talk about mile 5. It was a lot hotter out than I’m accustomed to, the Gu I took at mile 2.5 wasn’t settling well with me, and it was all in incline (excuses, excuses…I know).

Overall, I’m happy with this week. Lots of work done and 14 more miles of training down! Now next week I must manage balancing more miles (17) with a busy social schedule and calender. It will be a magic trick, for sure.