By the time this post publishes, I’ll officially have 54 days until the Marine Corps Marathon. I’m equal parts excited and nervous. My nerves came to a head last week with the announcement of the new start time as well as trying to figure out when we would arrive and leave, along with where we would be staying. I finally hashed it out with my husband, friend, and her significant other, and we have a plan. My pre-race anxiety of getting to the race and finding my friends is gone because now we’ll all be staying together. Phew!
With all the anxiety and preparations out of the way, this means I can now focus solely on training and getting stronger, and my last few weeks to push the envelope before taper. I’m still a few weeks out from peak week, but heading in that direction.
Marine Corps Marathon Training: Week 10
Monday — yoga
I’m really getting into the groove with yoga these days. It’s a nice way to stretch out sore and tired muscles. I’m also noticing a nice improvement with my balance poses. I was doing great with dancers’ and tree pose and then stopped doing yoga. Once I was back into it, it was hard to stay upright without wobbling for too long, but I think I’ve got it down again.
Tuesday — 5.75 miles
Tuesday was hill day with my friend, Eugenia. We met for an early morning session. Our easy miles warm-up was perhaps a little too easy, but the hills were pretty hard — and fun!
Wednesday — 8.02 + strength
I ran mid morning on Wednesday. It was glorious. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I was so happy to be outside in daylight hours. It was crazy humid again, though. Luckily part of my route ran near my friends’ place so I stopped to chat with him for a few minutes and guzzle some water. After my run, I did a mini strength session. I didn’t do a full one because I was so darn hot from the humidity.
Thursday — 6.22 miles + strength
Thursday was 50% awesome run, 50% sucky run. The positives: it was cooler, low humidity, and sunny. I ran faster than I have been recently and that felt really good. The negatives: my run was fueled in part by a mini panic attack I had around the 3 mile mark. Not cool. Something clicked in my brain between the first and third miles that started shooting up red flags of impending doom. There were plenty of people running, walking, and cycling. I was never in any danger. But for some reason my warning bells were ringing and it was totally not awesome.
I finally calmed myself down around the 5-mile mark. I finished up my run and did some strength work. The run itself felt amazing and the strength session after did, too. But I could have done without my episode in the middle there.
Saturday — 12.7 miles
I met up with Julie and Sara for some Saturday miles. It was a beautiful morning. Admittedly, I’m enjoying these cooler temperatures. I think 53˚ is my sweet spot. It’s still warm enough that I can wear a tank or singlet but cool enough that I’m not dying from heat exhaustion.
We ran our old school marathon training route which is essentially hills with very few flats. The elevation change is just ridiculous. But we all know that hills make for a tough runner — so we embrace them.
Sara also showed us a fantastic aid station along the way. Too bad Farmer Dan didn’t have any peaches, otherwise I would have been all over that! Saturday ended up being a great run and I felt wonderful. Good times with friends — never a dull moment!
Sunday — 2.02 miles
I didn’t have a run scheduled for Sunday but earlier in the week I purchased a pair of Saucony Zealot. They felt pretty good and I even took my dog and had a nice run with her as well. She’s finally learning some decent leash manners!
Week 10 was pretty good. I had to juggle my schedule a little bit because of both kids being in school, but it worked out well. I’m looking forward to week 11 because I get to see the chiropractor again and hopefully get some relief from some foot pain I’ve been having. Plus Saturday will be my son’s first 5K and I’m so excited for him. He’s going to do great!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Do you remember your first 5K?
Did you have s’mores over Labor Day weekend? Be honest: how many?
Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs for Tuesdays on the Run, and HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap. Also linking up with Nicole, Annmarie, Jen, and Michelle for Wild Workout Wednesday.
