Boom! What a week of training. I made up for my lack of training during week 3, that’s for sure. I felt awesome for most of the week. Check it out:
Marine Corps Marathon Training: Week 4
Tuesday — 6 miles of hillz
Tuesday was fantastic. I met my friend Eugenia in a nearby park for some hill work. It was a beautiful morning — cool air, clear skies, and a lot of sweat.
Hillz for breakfast.
Wednesday — 4 miles + strength training
Wednesday was my “easy” day so I met Eugenia again and we hit the trails. It was cooler than on Tuesday. She showed up in leggings and a jacket. I was a stark contrast in my shorts and a singlet. It was fairly chilly! And despite poking fun at her at the beginning, I joked that I should have worn my gloves about midway through our run.
In an unfortunate turn of events, with just about a mile left, my left foot started hurting. It was kind of a burning sensation and it honestly just felt like I had a tendon rubbing in the wrong spot and I thought it would fix itself once I got home and walking barefoot.
Overall, a really great run with my friend.
Thursday — 6 miles
Irony’s a bitch, isn’t it? On Wednesday I had written a post about what to do when injury strikes. And wouldn’t you know I got injured on Wednesday. And of course the pain never went away once I was out of my shoes. In fact, I’m still in some pain as I type this now.
But I’m a runner and I’m stubborn, so I ran 6 miles with a foot specific compression sleeve. It seemed to help a bit. It was a decent run.
Friday — strength training
No running for me on Friday but I’m making a serious effort to get on with my strength training. I don’t want a repeat of my 2015 Cleveland Marathon and I don’t want a repeat of my 2016 Cleveland Half Marathon. I just want to be injury-free.
So — strengthening and stretching it is! I did my IT band rehab routine plus a bootcamp style workout.
Saturday — 14.14 miles
We’re all pretty well aware of the heat bubble we’re all trapped in right now, yes? Great. So imagine that and then imagine running 14 miles in it.
It all started as a beautiful, summer morning…
I ordinarily love running in the summer. But this was too much even for me. I started my run at 6:30 am (to attempt to beat the heat) and met Julie just before 7:00 am. She was running 12, I was aiming for 15 miles. I didn’t wear my compression sleeve but I brought it with me just in case I needed it halfway through. I also packed a bag for Julie to pick up because I knew if I needed to change shoes, I would likely need to do so within the first two miles of my run. I didn’t end up needing to change shoes, but I did end up putting on the compression sleeve.
I felt great until around mile 7. I started to feel some nagging in my foot and since it was so dang hot and I was moving slowly anyway, I popped a squat to put the sleeve on. I also ditched my singlet which was completely soaked by that time.
Around mile 8, I decided I just could not turn around and run back to Julie’s car. We debated about it for a few minutes and ultimately decided to call my husband to see if he would pick us up if we kept going straight instead of turning back. I was mentally not prepared to run back up all the hills and through the sunlight and repeat what we had just done. Moving forward seemed to be the only viable option. And I’m so happy we made that decision because it made the rest of the run so much more enjoyable!
We talked to Noemi for a few minutes on our run, too. She had just completed 11 miles and was complaining about how hot it was in ATL, so it only seemed right that we talk with her while we endured our run.
Hot. Dying. Sweating. Need water. Send help!
An unfortunate series of events led up to this run: on Friday I had gone to the pool and forgot to put sunblock on my face and chest. I got my back and my shoulders, so at least I wasn’t completely baked, but it was still fairly uncomfortable. I also got a migraine while I was at the pool, which made me paranoid I would get it again on Saturday. (Note: I get migraines with aura, which are so horrifically scary even though I know what they are.) It was hot as heck with very little wind. And my foot was bugging me. So if I were giving this run a rating, I would say it earned 3 stars out of 5. It definitely could have been worse. But it could have been so much better, too.
By the end of the run, I was guzzling all my fluids. I went through two 20 oz bottles and could have had more if available. The combination of heat, humidity, and my sunburn basically made me a hot mess. Literally, hot. I was so happy to be done with that run!
Long run aftermath!
Sunday — 2.56 miles + strength training
I met with my 5K training group on Sunday for a couple miles and some strength training. It wasn’t as hot, which made for a more pleasant morning. My foot hurt a bit but not too bad. But the burpees I made my clients endure — those just about killed me! I was hobbling around most of Sunday evening and into Monday morning as well. Some may say “burpees suck,” but we know they’d be wrong. I think.
All in all, it was a great week of training. I’m still nursing my injured foot. I’m hoping it will resolve itself but I’m keeping a close eye on it just in case it doesn’t. I’ve been in contact with my doctor so she knows what’s going on. Fingers crossed it’s nothing!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Hey! How’s the weather over there??
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.
