Marathon Training midway there

I planned on blogging about every week leading up to the Glass City Marathon. Good thing I stick better to my planned workouts than my blogging!

I posted earlier that I'm working with Becki Spellman. It's been nice to not over think my training since I'm letting Coach Becki worry about that part.

I started out in January doing 2 weeks of cross training. Normally that would freak me out but I think my body needed a rest from the fall marathon. Also, I'm not getting any younger... more time stretching, yoga and foam rolling are needed to maintain this "master" runner.

We started doing a 9 day training cycle. So, instead of running a long run every Sunday, now its every 9 days. My training looks like this: rest day, easy day, hard day x3 with the last hard day being a long run. Obviously, this may not work all the time but for now I've been able to do it. The hardest thing is having my long run on a workday and having to do it after work. Since I teach, I have just planned that my long days are days where I'm not having to be up and walking around the whole time. Since, Coach Becki gives me 2 weeks in advance, I've been able to plan for the long runs pretty well. Next long run is tomorrow (yay, a Sunday!) but next week its on a Tuesday. (18 miles after work!). That might be a long week...

this could be my house

I've been feeling really good and my legs are fresh. This is the opposite of how I've felt with the Hanson's Method. I do feel a bit worried about "Am I ready?" I know I will be, I'm just not used to rest days. My chiro reminds me that I've never been healthy at a start line either since my legs are usually pretty trashed.

see the track? my new workout location...

Now that we're in March, this race is suddenly feeling pretty close. 7 weeks from tomorrow. Also that means, soccer season is starting on Monday for Buster. Time to plan those runs during soccer practices. I need to get some new podcasts on the list. I'm digging the Bib Rave podcast right now.
I'm usually a listener of Another Mother Runner, Fresh Air and This American Life. What other podcasts would you recommend?


Join me at the Toledo Glass City Marathon on April 23, 2017 Discount code: brpsavings for $5 off any race.

Christmas Break Training Week

Christmas Break💚....ah, finally. Time to sleep in, eat too many sweets, and promises of all the things that you keep meaning to catch up with during the 2 weeks you have off but somehow they tend to slip away from you.

I am excited to say that I did keep my training for Glass City Marathon for this week in check👊.

Here's what my training looked like for the week of Dec 19-25:

Sunday: Treadmill for 90 mins: 10 miles @ 9:00/mi (That was tough!)⛄

Monday: 5.12 mi @9:07 

Tuesday: Fartlek intervals: 2 mile warmup, 5 mins hard, 4 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins and 1 min hard each with 2 min recovery jog between for a total of 5.58 miles 8:12/mile💪

Wednesday: Xtrain- Spinning class🚴

Thursday: rest

Friday: 6 miles easy with a teammate! Hey, @countryrdrunner, that was fun!

Saturday (Xmas eve): 3 miles easy

Sunday (Xmas day): postponed until Monday.🌲 

Total Mileage this week: 29.71 miles!

Glass City Marathon's entry fees go up on Jan 1. If you ever wanted to run a marathon, here's a great chance. Plus, they have a special 1st time marathoner package! This is the 1st marathon that I've run that has this! 

Discount Code: brpsavings

for $5 off

Anyone running a spring marathon? Which one(s)? What is the best or worst thing about a spring marathon?

Follow me on twitter @runmomdiary

2016 in a nutshell

Apparently, it's been a busy year. In addition to chasing my BQ this year, my youngest is doing select soccer. I now have to take him to soccer 3 nights a week plus games on the weekend.

It hasn't been too bad. The soccer complex is a nice 1.15 mile square with nice even grass or blacktop so I've been training there. I have 2 hours to kill, I might as well run! :-)

I divided my year into two seasons: half marathon PR attempt and BQ at the Chicago Marathon in the fall. I ran a few other club races but those were my BIG races of the year.

My favorite flying pig. 

Finish at the Pig

I decided to run the Flying Pig in Cincinnati in May. I've done this race at least 3 times so I knew what I was getting myself into. I hadn't focused any energy on the half and I wanted to improve my old PR of 1:49. I trained with the Hanson's method again but this was my first try with their half marathon plan. It was definitely as intense as my full marathon plan. I ran over 700 miles in 18 weeks. I PR'd with a 1:42. I know I could have gone under 1:40 if it wasn't so humid that day.  I managed to get 5th in my Age group so it was a good consolation prize. 

I'd hoped my speed training in the spring would translate to more speed in the fall marathon.  

In hindsight, I needed more time between training cycles. I took two weeks off. Then started for three weeks before I had to start my training plan for the Chicago marathon. My hip had been tight all spring but I chalked up to getting older. About five weeks in, it seized  up so much I couldn't even walk. My chiro recommended a few weeks of cross training. So for 4 weeks, I Aqua jogged and ellipticaled it. I went to a PT who was able to get my hip even again, finally no pain! I had nine weeks at that point to get ready for Chicago. 

Mile 23 at the Chicago Marathon

Training 4 days a week during soccer practices with a long run on the weekend. I let go of all my time goals and decided I was going to just have fun and enjoy the experience of Chicago. I'm so glad I did. I was so relaxed even up until the race morning. I had planned that I'd run around 4hrs15 mins. I surprised myself with 4:04.  

Now on to new adventures!

I've hired a coach. Coach Becki knows a bit about marathoning. She won the Akron Marathon this year and ran the Olympic Trials this past Feb. I don't planning on winning any marathons but I know I have some life still in these legs.

Also, I've been selected as a BibRave Pro. I get to help review races and products for runners. I'm super excited to join them.

In 2017, my Spring goal race is the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon in Toledo. I wanted a smaller race, flat and close to home but something new. Also, being a soccer mom, I had to wait to see what the spring soccer tournaments were going to be before I could commit. We still might have a league game that weekend but less of disruption. I'm totally looking forward to it. Check out the BibRave reviews of Toledo. Here's a discount code for $5 off the entry: brpsavings 

What was your year like? PRs? Races to remember? Let me know!