February 21, 2012

Madrid Marathon Training: Week 8

8 weeks down, 8 weeks to go!

After a hiccup of being sick and taking almost all of last week off, I'm back into my running routine and feeling pretty good.

As crazy as it sounds, with 8 weeks to go, I'm starting to think about my post-race recovery plan. This will be the first time I'm running more than 1 marathon in a year and I want to be sure that I'm just as recovered and in shape for New York as I have been for my past races.

So yesterday I hit the pool for a 45 minute swim workout...by far, the longest time I've spent inside a pool for a workout ever. Saturday, I headed to Central Park with Emily for 16 miles. Despite my chest still hurting from being sick all week, I was determined to get all 16 miles in.

It definitely wasn't easy. Emily was a total rock star and added a few miles on to her run to make sure I got my run in because I definitely wasn't having an easy time and, according to her, I was looking pretty  pale. So, Emily and I got through 13 miles together before I made my way back to where I could catch the subway. As soon as Emily left, I put in my headphones and started off but within half a mile, my knee was hurting so badly, I had to stop every few minutes. When I realized I was putting all of my weight on my left foot, I made my way out of the park and hailed a cab home.

I used Sunday as a day to rest and ice my knee and Monday, I took the day off from running and did 10 laps in the pool with 3 laps of pool running. I could definitely feel my joints loosening up in the water and I could tell it helped because my planned 5 miles for this morning went great.

This weekend, I'm racing the Cowtown Half-Marathon. Honestly, I don't really have a plan for this race. I'd like to try and run the whole race at my Marathon Goal Pace. Since I've just started incorporating MGP runs into my training, I think it's reasonable to try and run the full race at that pace and see how I'm doing with it.

As far as the 5k goes, I'm planning on just having fun and getting my little sister to the finish line. It's going to be a fun weekend for racing and the weather in Texas is supposed to be gorgeous, so I'm excited to spend some time with my family and run a couple of races and have some fun!

So here's what training this week looks like:

Madrid Marathon Training: Week 8
Total Mileage Last Week: 15.5
Missed Workouts: 4
Trouble Spots: Lingering chest pain from an upper respiratory infection and knee pain after Saturday's long run
Planned Mileage This Week: 33.2

Monday: Rest Day/Cross-Train
Tuesday: 5 miles easy
Wednesday: 8 mile hill workout
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 4 miles easy
Saturday: Cowtown 5k!
Sunday: Cowtown Half-Marathon!

Goals for this Week: Run a smart half-marathon and keep my knee healthy
Current Annoyances: Missing an entire week of training and having to cut my long run short
Things to Keep in Mind: It's still early enough in training that a week off won't affect me too much and will probably be better for me in the long run.

So that's that! Week 8 is in progress! 8 weeks until Madrid!

5 comments:

  1. how is it week 8 already? good luck this weekend, I hope your body starts behaving.

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  2. Can't wait to see you!!! And, wtf, how is it 8 weeks to Madrid?! CUE PANIC ATTACK.

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  3. You're the bomb dot com. I'm so proud of all your hard work, and I know that you're going to have lots of fun running with your sister this weekend :) Enjoy your race!

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