Mileage Complete: 42.1
The second week of training went about as good as I could dream any week would go. High mileage, felt good, got in some great workouts.
I started the week easy, heading to a yoga class on Monday night with Emily. We went to a "move and meditate" class at Emerge, our local yoga studio. It was a great class, with a lot of movement and core work. I left the class feeling recharged and ready to take on the week.
Tuesday morning I had planned to run 5 miles, but since Kasey also wanted to run 5, I wound up running 6 since I run to her house before we run together. It was a little chilly, but the temps were warmer than the week before, so I was thankful for the brief reprieve from the cold. That night I headed to swim, and knowing that I was going to have to miss the Thursday class because of a family obligation, I put in as much effort as possible. It was a night consisting mostly of laps, with a 25m lane configuration. We did 3 sets of 50 m repeats, consisting of 50m easy and then 4x50m hard. The second set of the night was a long one, with two 800m sets. Each 800 m repeat had a 10s rest after the first 400m, so that we could check the time and make sure we match the time for the second 400m. It was a challenging class, but I was really happy that I got through it. After the class I met up with Kasey and Emily to grab dinner, and I was starving thanks to the days hard work!
Kasey and I headed to the local track before dawn on Wednesday, hoping to get a workout in. It was a windy morning, and there was a 100m strech of the track where the wind was blowing against us, but we powered through. The plan for the track session was:
1 mile warmup
3x400@1:46/200 recovery
2x600@2:39/400 recovery
2x400@1:46/200 recovery
2 mile cooldown
I ran to Kasey's house, so my warm-up wound up being a little longer than planned. When we got to the track we got to work, and I was really impressed with Kasey, who managed to keep pace with me for the first three 400m repeats. She has been improving so much as she continues to put in more miles. We took the 600m repeats at our own paces, and then Kasey had to head home so she could get to work on time. I finished up my workout, feeling good and hitting my numbers for the rest of the run. Jennie had come to the track as well to get her own run in, and I ran some of my cool-down with her, then headed home. Wednesday night I headed to Orange Theory to get in some strength training.
The other big event of Wednesday: an opportunity presented itself to me to register for the Disney marathon... which was about two weeks away. Now, I have been considering signing up for this race for months, but because of the uncertainty of my fiancé's schedule I wasn't sure that I would have someone to travel with and had hesitated in signing up. This lead to the race selling out, much to my disappointment. But on Wednesday, I saw a post from a RunDisney travel agent in a facebook group, and after getting the travel priced out Dennis and I decided that we were going to make a weekend trip to Florida so that I could run the marathon. Since the NYC marathon I have been maintaining a weekly base of 20-30 miles, but my longest run was 10 miles. So, it won't be my best marathon, but I am just happy that I will get to participate in it!
So, I adjusted my training schedule for the coming two weeks, and made plans to do an 18 miler in place of the 12 miler that I had planned for Christmas eve. The week went on, with an easy day Thursday, with just a walk with Jennie to start the day - complete with a beautiful sunrise.
I had off from work on Friday for the holiday and spent the day hanging out with my cousin Jen, who was in town so she could spend Christmas with her parents - and of course, so she could run with me. We got super lucky with the weather on Friday, it was in the 50s, and a little overcast. Jen and I headed to Kasey's house, and we got the run underway. Jen and I chatted as we got moving, with Kasey occasionally chiming in. Seven miles would be a new distance milestone for Jen, and she was worried about getting through the whole distance without walking, but she rocked it! It was her first time running on Long Island since the fateful day we ran one mile together two days in a row over the summer, and I am so proud of how far she has come! The miles just slipped by, and before I knew it we were six miles in, with an average pace of 10:02 - so I did some quick math, and figured if we could get the pace down to a 9:45, we would average less than a 10 min/mi pace for the run. We successfully picked up the pace and pulled off a 9:26 for the last mile, and averaged just under a 10 min average.... well, at least Kasey and I did - Jen's Garmin insisted that she came in at exactly a 10 minute average, much to Jen's annoyance.
Saturday Kasey and I headed out for an easy three miles in some rainy weather, keeping it easy and chatting throughout. I was worried that it would be too cold, but it was super refreshing. Plus, I love any excuse to break out my reflective jacket, which is water proof and perfect for rain. The rest of the day Saturday was spent with my bridesmaids, who were all together in one place for the first time! We went dress shopping for my wedding, which isn't until October, but because of everybody's complicated schedules it made more sense to dress shop early. We were successful, and chose two dresses for the bridesmaids to pick between to wear to the wedding.
Finally, Sunday came as the week's big mileage day. Like I said before, I upped the planned mileage to 18 miles. Kasey agreed to do the first six miles with me, and Kevin (my brother) agreed to do the last three miles with me - he picked the last three that way I couldn't trick him into running more than three miles. The weather was pretty good, a little chilly but no snow on the ground, so my shoes would stay dry at least. Kasey and I got a late start, since we didn't have much else we needed to get done today other than Christmas eve festivities. It was nice to not have to start our run in the dark for a change. We did our regular neighborhood loops, and parted ways after six miles. My next nine miles just flew by, and it was the kind of day where I comfortably and effortlessly settled in to a 9 min/mi pace, and the run just felt right. I looped by my house as was necessary for fueling needs, and then eventually when I hit 15 miles picked up Kevin and we headed out to finish up the long run. As I closed in on 18 miles, I was feeling good. Kevin and I chatted over the last three miles and just took it easy, slowing down as the run came to an end. This was my longest run since the NYC marathon, and it made me feel a little less ridiculous about impulse signing up for a marathon - I think I will be able to make it through.
It wound up being a high mileage week, and a great holiday weekend spent with family and friends. I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas, and a Happy long run!
So, now I am packing in some last minute marathon miles, and as you will read in the week three recap, I of course will catch a cold. But no matter how things play out, I am excited to be heading to Florida for Marathon weekend!
Are any of you heading to Disney for the marathon? Let me know on instagram or in the comments below!