Happy Sunday! Boy, what a week. I’m going to count this as one of my peak weeks for training. One some days I had a hard time fitting everything in, but overall it was a good week.
Here’s my recap for week 8 of marathon training:
Monday, August 26
OrangeTheory Fitness (Endurance) – 60 minutes.
Mondays are hard for me so it’s always a great thing when I can start the day off with a good workout. This was an endurance day so we had longer pushes on the treadmill. The floor block also had a lot of core exercises with the ab dolly, aka, Satan’s Skateboard. I absolutely hate that thing!
Tuesday, August 27
6 mile run + core work (10 minutes).
I started this run with no particular mileage in mind and decided to stop at 6 miles. Also, this meme makes me laugh every time I see it, haha.
Wednesday, August 28
Spinning (30 minutes) + 3 mile run + core work (10 minutes).
It’s been a while since I’ve done a brick type workout. I also enjoy these workouts because of the transition from bike to run.
Thursday, August 29
OrangeTheory Fitness (Strength) – 60 minutes.
Another awesome #TBT themed workout at OTF. We decided to channel the early 90’s. Let me just say that those pants were such a pain in the butt! They kept moving around whenever I would do squats but thankfully they were find for the treadmill portion of the workout.
Friday, August 30
A much needed rest day!
Saturday, August 31
20 mile long run.
My first (and possibly only) 20 mile long run of this training cycle. Remember how last Saturday’s run was so awesome? This run…not so much! The weather was great but I slept horribly the night before (pre-long run anxiety) and my legs felt like lead from the start of the run. But I knew I really wanted to get in at least 18 miles so I just kept pushing along, slowly but surely. With this run I ended up with 135 miles for August. Not bad for summer running!
I started to have some lower back pain around mile 13. I’ve noticed that on weeks when I go to my ART doctor, I don’t have back pain when running. I always great an adjustment when I go to him. This week I didn’t go to him (I’ve been going every other week). From now until race day I’m going to go to him weekly on Thursdays. I also had to make an emergency bathroom break during the second half of the run – thank goodness all the restrooms in the park are now open! I tried a different flavored SiS gel so I am wondering if that may have been the cause. I’m going to call this a “character building” run.
Sunday, September 1
OrangeTheory Fitness (Endurance) – 60 minutes.
Definitely not the wisest decision to do OTF the day after a 20 mile run but I have to fit the classes in when I can during September (it’s a bit of a weird month for me due to work, etc). This class was a 3G format which means that instead of having 2 stations (floor and treadmill) we had 3 stations (floor, rower and treadmill). To be honest, I didn’t really care for this format as the class just seemed crowded and we had less time on the floor and treadmill. Also my heart rate monitor was acting wacky so I know it didn’t capture all my calories and splat points.
Total Weekly Mileage: 35.1 miles
Marathon Training Miles: 209.5 miles
Summary: 6 runs, 1 spinning classes, 3 strength training workouts, 2 core workouts
Grade This Week – A
This week was a lot. In looking back at my workouts, I ran everyday except for Friday. My knees are not a fan of running almost every day so I’ll need to make sure I drop that down to 4-5 days in the next upcoming weeks. As I type this, I’m currently giving my legs some TLC by using my recovery boots. Hopefully my legs will be fresh for next week!
Week in Review
Next week will be a cutback week, thank goodness! Also my long run will be the Surftown Half Marathon in Rhode Island. I’m looking forward to using this race to see my training progress so far, and also meeting up with Michelle and Darlene!
That’s it! I hope you had a great week 🙂
I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.
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You really are having a strong training cycle! Those brick workouts are so tough and you did it in the middle of marathon training! Way to go
Thanks so much Deborah! I have been feeling good during this training cycle so I’m hoping that continues 🙂
Oh wow a 20 mile character builder is the ultimate in running badassery! Way to get it done! And OTF th day after? I can’t even! I can’t wait to watch you crush Chi as sweet redemption!
Thanks so much Marcia! OTF today was not originally in the plans but I decided to just keep it, lol. I definitely didn’t run as fast on the treadmill today.
My goodness, can’t believe you did that workout after your 20 miler – strong woman! You’re doing so well and you know there will always be one hard run with something weird going on in the bathroom department, so that’s done and dusted now!
Thanks Liz – it was definitely kinda silly/crazy, but I’m happy that it’s over, lol.
Nice job on the 20 miler, even if it didn’t feel good. I mean, 20 miles! I haven’t been sleeping well for a few weeks & it really shows up in my runs. And even just 3 days in a row (like this week) is more than normal for me, but yeah, you do what you gotta do.
Enjoy the half next weekend & your meetup — should be fun!
Thanks Judy. I was a little upset that it was such a hard run but I quickly snapped out of feeling sorry for myself because that’s just silly. Like you said, it’s still 20 lies!
Thanks! Looking forward to next weekend’s half marathon and keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather!
Awesome week, Kim!!!! I’d forgotten about your brick workout LOL YES, we keep #KimTwinning 😉
LOL yes we do, without even trying! It always makes me laugh when I see that we’ve done similar workouts 🙂
Congrats on your awesome half marathon today – you rocked it!
Good job on getting that 20 miler done!! I feel like all of my long runs have been building character on this cycle. I don’t remember any of them really being outstanding! Love the meme 🙂
Thanks Lisa! Yeah that 20 miler was rough, but I’m thankful that I was able to complete it!
Wow that’s a lot in one week! Great job on the 20 miler! They aren’t easy that’s for sure! I stay away from gels during marathon training. They always upset my stomach. I typically prefer real food and maybe some chews.
I used to use chews during my long runs but they started to upset my stomach. I recently started using the SiS gels this summer and they have been pretty good. I think the new flavor I tried may not have agreed with my stomach but I’ve tried a few other flavors that have been fine. Sometimes I also like to use mini pretzels.
You had another great week! I cannot believe you were able to go to OTF the day after your 20-miler. I think I’d still be lying in the fetal position somewhere LOL!
Glad you’re going to make visits to the ART doc a weekly thing – hopefully, that will help to keep your back and legs happy.
Can’t wait to see you next weekend!
The combo of the 20 miler and OTF was NOT the original plan, but I had to do it. It hurt, lol.
I can’t wait to see my ART doctor on Thursday – he always seems to be able to put me back together, lol. I think I also need to get a massage at some point this month as well.
So looking forward to seeing you this weekend!
What a solid week of workouts! I look forward to your OTF outfits every week. So much fun! Enjoy the down week of workouts this week.
LOL thanks Angela! No fun OTF outfits for a while but once they bring back themed days, I’ll be sure to post my outfits 🙂
Yay for a 20 miler in the bank! Hopefully that was still a confidence booster. Love the 90’s themed OTF outfits, so cute!
Thanks Jessie! The 20 miler was hard but I was happy that I got through it!
What a strong week of training! And way to push through and finish that 20 miler! Hopefully the weekly ART visits will help with your back on long runs.
Thanks so much Lisa! Yes, I’m hoping the weekly ART appointments will really help my back.
All that cross-training is really paying off for you! Nice week Kim! I think this is the strongest training cycle I’ve seen you do!
Thanks Wendy! I agree – it’s been a pretty strong training cycle, I just hope I don’t burn out!
135 miles in august is impressive! Well done.
When I trained for the marathon 20 miles (32 km) was the max mileage to run.
Have a good running september
Thanks! I was happy with the monthly mileage in August. Yup, 20 miles is the most I run in training. I’ll try to get in 18-20 mile run about 3 weeks before race day
That’s a great peak week! I’m impressed you pushed to 20 miles on a “character building” run, and then OrangeTheory the next day. Hope you have a good cutback week this week!
Yeah the combo of the 20 mile run and OTF wasn’t part of the original plan, that was pretty rough, lol.
Wow. 20 miles. You did it!!
14 is my max so far. Hope I can do 20.
Excited for the weekend. I’ll be getting my bib that morning so I hope to meet you then or after the race. It’ll be a training run. Hopefully a fun one.
You can totally do 20!
Okay, great! Michelle will look for you before the race. We’re staying overnight so we’re going to get our bibs on Saturday afternoon.
Satan’s Skateboard. OMG that sounds terrible! I don’t event want to think about what you do with that thing. .Or what it does to you!
You are incredible! Way to crush every workout!
Everytime I see it in class I pray that we’re not using it, lol
Satan’s Skateboard, haha, I love it!!! I hate when a run starts out with leaden feeling legs. That is never a good way to get going especially when it is for the long run! So sorry!!!
It’s such a bad feeling to have, especially from the start of a run 🙁 I was just happy to get through all the miles.
Congrats on your 20 miler! I hope you enjoy your cutback week and good luck on the half.
Thanks so much!
Great job on your 20 miles!! Definitely do not miss running that long. 🙂 I would also love to get recovery boots.
I got the recovery boots as a birthday present and I love them!