Vermont City Marathon Training – Week 10

What a great week of running! After my funk last week of being sick and not getting my long run done, this week was a total turnaround. I missed a regular run early in the week, but my main focus of getting my mileage back up and back on track for the marathon was a success.

Current Goal: 

This week I have a 20 mile long run set. Originally I was going to run 18 miles, then a cutback, 20 miles, a cutback, 22 miles, then two weeks of taper, but since I was ill I had to adjust that to having the 18 and 20 in back to back weeks. My goal is to have a strong 20 mile run and not hit the wall.

Long Run:

This was such a great run for me. It was a gorgeous day, I felt surprisingly good, I was running along the gorgeous lakefront – it really couldn’t have gone better. I had gummi bears at 1 hour and at 2 hours and get this – I didn’t run with music or podcasts or anything. I realized about 1 mile and a half from home that I didn’t bring headphones and it was just far enough that it would have eaten into the mileage I get along the lake, so I decided to suck it up. Incredibly, I didn’t miss it once.

I ran the day before Tanner’s first birthday, so I was thinking a lot about what’s happened in his first year of life, about how I felt giving birth to him and meeting him for the first time. I really can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by. 

I will tell you that I definitely felt the 18 miles for a day afterward. I don’t remember noticing the soreness after my 16 mile long run – it could have been the extra 2 miles, but I think it’s more likely that I hadn’t run regularly for 10 days or so beforehand.

Speed Workout / Regular Run:

I missed a day of training early in the week, when Tanner’s nap schedule inexplicably changed. So I ended up taking Baby T out for a stroller run for 6 miles and change and figured that counted as a regular run as well as some kind of special workout (since it wasn’t exactly speedy). Stroller running is tough. I’d forgotten what it’s like to have to push that puppy while trying to keep good form and a rhythm. My running buddy did a lot of pointing accompanied by excited exclamations for about a half mile, then he conked out for the rest of the time.

Other Workouts:

Nothing. I would normally feel vaguely guilty about this, but I think I needed a good rest to recover. This week I think I’m going to skip my regular run for cross training instead, since I’m doing two weeks of long long runs after a break. I’m also planning on doing a couple of sessions of strength work at home.

Notes From the Week:

I’m sure watching Boston today will get me excited, but honestly, I’m already feeling the marathon fever. I’m pretty psyched to be a little less than six weeks out. There’s part of my long run that overlaps the finishing section of the marathon and I’ve been trying out the mental training tips of visualizing how I will feel at that point in the course and how I can gain strength from knowing the course. I’m also really excited to see what it’s like to be part of a smaller marathon – it will be a new experience since my only marathons have both been NYC.

And of course I’ve already started to think about what I’m going to wear. 🙂

Weekly Mileage:

24.1 miles

Total Mileage:

161.99