Week 2: The return of group runs!

Before I jump into how training went on week two, I want to make a few notes about how I am adapting the training plan from Hanson’s marathon method to match my fitness level at the start of this training cycle – since my Chicago registration happened a bit last minute, I signed up about 19 weeks before race day, which did not give me much time to ramp up my weekly training load. For most of 2021 I was averaging about 25 miles a week, but had been derailed for two weeks before training started, first when I threw out my back for a week, and then when my knee started acting up while on vacation.

I did not want to jump from 25 miles weeks to 35+ mile weeks, because I know from previous training that my body needs to ease into training load increases like that. So, while the Hanson’s plan calls for 6 days of running a week, for the few weeks I decided to cut one of the 6 mile “easy” runs down to 3 miles, and make one of the easy runs “optional,” depending on how I was feeling with the weeks training load. This would allow me to increase my mileage by about 10% per week, which I know is more my speed.

I also modified the tempo runs at the start of the program – Hanson’s marathon method training plan starts tempo runs at 6 miles., holds you there for three weeks, and then adds a mile and repeats that cycle. As I started this training plan, I was really only doing easy runs and 6 miles at my goal tempo pace did not seem attainable. As marathon training approached, I started throwing in a mile at a sub-9 pace during these runs, so that I could start to get the feel for running fast (for me) again. When my training plan called for me to start adding tempo runs on week three, I decided to start them up with a two mile “tempo” effort, and then bring them up by a mile each week, rather than pushing for a fitness level that I just was not at. Since the whole tempo run was mean to be 6+ miles, I tried to keep the mileage at the right amount, just with a slower pace for some of the miles, so that I could focus on building up the load before adding speed.

These may seem like big modifications, but I felt like they were necessary if I wanted to ease into this training plan and not wind up injured. As I get deeper into training and I gain fitness, I hope to ramp up the training back to the full schedule. Could I just opt for one of the “lighter” Hanson’s plans? Sure. But I would really like to hit my “sub-4” marathon goal, and I think this plan gives me the best chance at that.

So, without further ado – onto week 2!

I opted to sleep in on Monday morning, and figured that I would get in some miles after work. When I got outside I somehow settled into a decent pace, and actually felt really good with. It was one of those runs where it just felt like things were flowing, and when I returned home I had a full blown glazed doughnut look going. It was a short run – just a 5k, but it was a reassuring reminder that there are days that running really feels good. Nothing like a run that leaves a smile on your face to start the week.

The next morning was not as magical – in fact, I kinda wanted to throw the whole marathon training plans into the trash. It was meant to be the first speedwork session of this training cycle – my calendar told me that the goal was twelve 400m repeats, at a 7:50 pace, with a 400m recovery between each effort.

It was a humid morning. I got through the warmup mile with no issue, and then hopped into pushing the pace for the first interval. I went a little too fast on the first one, and had to remind myself to reel it in – there were a lot of repeats ahead of me. The second one didn’t feel as good as the first, and by the end of it I felt like I was going to puke. That was promising.

I took my recoveries as needed, made pit stops for water during the rest intervals, and I honestly wanted to quit. I told myself to just make it to six repeats. I could quit after six repeats if I really needed to. I got to six repeats, and I told myself I would make it to eight. It wasn’t too many more than six – even if I needed to slow down the pace, I would make it to eight.

My recoveries turned into walks more than jogs, and there was a lot of self-encouragement happening. I knew that I could decide to quit and try the workout again on another day. But I was so close to finishing the workout – if it was a friend struggling through their workout, I would encourage them to do what they could. The intervals slowed down, hitting in the low 8s instead of the high 7s like they should. But I got through 12 of them and was elated that the workout was DONE. It wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t quit.

After a hard Tuesday, I was happy that Wednesday was a rest day. I needed time to mentally recover from Tuesday’s workout as much as I needed to physically recover. I took my day off from running but did complete an hour long strength session to check off a cross training session from my weekly goals. I created a nice strength stack with peloton, and worked my way through a strength for runners class, some core work, and some total body workouts.

Thursday meant another quality run on my calendar – this time the first tempo run. While the schedule said I should be doing 6 miles at an 8:58 pace, I set my goal for two miles at that pace, sandwiched between a two mile warm up and a two mile cool down. By some small miracle, I even managed to get up early enough that I got out to run before work. It was under 60 degrees outside, and it was a comfortably hard run. I struggled to get the pace under 9 minutes for those two “tempo” miles, but did my best to work towards the pace goal. I was happy with my overall effort at the end of the run. I was a little discouraged that two miles felt so hard, but I am trying to trust the process and choosing to believe that my fitness will catch up with my goals, eventually.

The end of the week brought another no-run day for me, and an hour long strength stack. I like to start with a “strength for runners” class, and then make my way through other muscle groups. I sometimes dread strength training, or worry that it will make my runs harder, but I know that I need to take time to focus on it so that I can support my body as much as possible.

I just could not get my body moving on Saturday morning, and decided to commit to a treadmill run – since I had the time I headed over to my parents house so I could run on the peloton tread. I set up a stack of classes, since I wanted to total 6 for the day, starting with a warm-up class, then a 45 minute endurance run with Becs, and a 20 minute fun run with Matty.

The endurance run had a surprising number of hills sprinkled in, and at times I felt like I was just trying to hang on as I moved through the miles. I know that hills are important though, and that even though I didn’t always want to listen to the incline instructions, I clicked up as they directed, and made my way through the treadmill “hills.”

Now Sunday, Sunday was a great day. After a long year apart from the Merrick Bicycles tri team, I finally got myself up and out for a group run! Was I a little late? Yes. But thankfully Katie and Michal were nice enough to wait for me.

We made our way through the rolling hills on the Bethpage bike trail, and were grateful for every bit of shade that the trees were willing to give us. We ran a total of 7 miles together, swapping stories and comparing fueling plans as we ran. When we stopped to stretch at the end of the run, another group of runners from the tri team found us, and since they had a few more miles to run, I decided to join them for their last 3 miles so I could get up to 10 total… because I really thought that I was supposed to run 10 miles that day. It wasn’t until I got home and checked my schedule that I learned I only needed to run 8…. Whoops!

The last three miles were somewhat strenuous, but I talked with Rob and Laura about their training goals – an Ironman and a ultra marathon! Makes my fall plans feel like chump change, but I love hearing about how people prepare for these big challenges!

All in all week two felt pretty solid, even if the summer humidity started to rear its ugly head. I was discouraged early in the week after a tough interval workout, but was so happy to finally make it to a group run again, and I hope that I can make it to more this summer!

Week 1: The shortest week of training

 The first step of marathon training? Pick a plan that works for you, and will help you reach your goals. In the past I have tried a handful of different training plans, from the Runners world app to a Hal Higdon plan. Both were fine, but my favorite so far has been Hanson’s marathon method.

Their plans consist of longer weekday runs, include a speed work session and a tempo run each week, and a “long” weekend run that builds up to 16 miles as the training progresses. The runs all have specific paces, based on the runner’s goal marathon time. I was using this plan to train for the Chicago marathon in 2019, before I got hurt, and really felt like my fitness was building up well.

The training plan starts on a Thursday, for whatever reason, so it was business as usual until then. Peloton had released a new series of classes that were all focused around the musical “Rent,” so my goal until then became to work my way through those classes.

The week before I started training I had gotten to go to Disney world, and after a few says of walking around the parks my knee had started to get sore, in the same way that it had when I had runners knee in 2019. As a precaution, I started using my knee band, and that carried over to runs during the first week of training. I also started doing some of the exercises that I had learned in physical therapy, in hopes that I could squash this issue before it got any further.

On Monday I did the Rent spin class, and the full body strength class, and then followed it up on Tuesday with the Rent run. I bundled my run with a short strength for runners class. Since injuring my knee in 2019, I have learned that the issue I had can be caused by weak quads, so this cycle I am committing to making time for strength training. When Wednesday rolled around I did some yoga before work, and then a spin class after. I wanted to run more early in the week, but didn’t want to stack on miles before my training plan officially started.

Thursday was the day though – I was excited to officially start a new training plan, which would get me to the start line of the Chicago Marathon. It feels like that is a long time coming, since I was supposed to run this race almost two years ago. The plan said six miles. I laid my clothes out the night before and got up early enough that I could get in my miles before work.

It was pretty nice out that morning, and I was just so happy to have a goal to work towards once more. I did not worry about my pace, and just worked on getting to my goal of 6 miles. I know that by the end of this training cycle 6 miles will not seem like that much running, but right now, that is a longer run for me. I was really happy with myself for showing up and getting my run in before work on the first day of training – this is something that is sure to become a battle as the runs get longer.

Friday had the same plan as Thursday, but things did not go quite as smoothly. Six miles was on the schedule once more, and like I mentioned, at this point that is a “long” run for me. I did succeed in getting up and out on the road before work, but I just could not catch a groove. My breathing felt labored, the air felt heavy, and I was struggling to stay in a running pace – so at mile three I decided to call it. My body was tired, and I felt defeated…. Not the mindset I needed if I was going to make it though marathon training.

But something that I have learned in the last 5 years of running, is that you need to learn to listen to your body – and on this Friday morning run my body was saying stop, I am exhausted. I am not used to six miles two days in a row.

So I listened. It is rare that I start a run and do not finish it, but this was just one of those days. I would try again on Saturday and try not to mentally beat myself up too much. On Friday night we went by my aunts house, and enjoyed hanging out with my family - it is nice that things are going back to normal, but still a little bit weird! We ate pizza, and hung out by the fire, just chatting and catching up.

Saturday was a new day, and I had no plans. Which meant I could get out early and get my run done, before moving on with my day, right? Wrong. It meant that I could procrastinate my run for hours before finally getting out the door. I mean, I hung around the house doing chores in running clothes for hours before finally getting in the “run” mindset. Since I had time, I decided to do some resistance band warmups in a “strength for runners” peloton class before heading out the door, and when I finally got out the door things felt so much better than they had on Friday.

This time around I slipped into faster (for me) paces without really meaning to. Maybe coaches are onto something when they tell you to warm up and cool down. It was a little bit cooler and less humid than it had been on Friday, and by the end of the run I realized I had even managed dip into a sub-10 pace for a few miles. Post run I made sure to cool down and stretch, so that I would be as prepared as possible for my final run of the week on the following day.

Sunday morning I had picnic plans with Mike and Carson. I had intentions to run before heading to old Westbury gardens, but It just didn’t happen. But we spend a fun morning among the flowers, and found a shady spot to enjoy some bagels together and catch up. 

After a morning outside, I decided on a treadmill run for the afternoon. I felt like sitting around and watching T.V., which was honestly a big part of my treadmill decision. I had 8 miles on the schedule, and settled into an easy pace to get through my first “long” run of. It was for sure a “dedication over motivation” kind of day, but I got it done and was happy that I talked myself into getting on the treadmill – it felt like a strong finish to my first week of training!

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 11

After babysitting on Sunday night, I had gotten to bed much later than usual, so when Monday morning came around I had no intention of getting up and running. The weekend had been pretty non-stop, so I wasn’t too concerned about taking a rest day to start the week. My rest days have been pretty fluid lately, not on a set day, but I usually take 1-2 a week. And this week, Monday just felt like the right time.

I texted Mike on Monday night to see if he would be up for a track day on Tuesday morning, and he was on board. Dad agreed to join as well, and Tuesday morning we all met at the track. Dad walked laps while Mike and I warmed up together, but the meat of our workouts were going to be different today. Mike was planning to get in a few maintenance miles, while I needed to get speedwork done. It was going to be a high-mileage week if everything went according to plan, and I was excited to get moving.

Once again, I had three mile repeats to do, with a goal pace of 7:30. Since I am following the Hanson’s marathon method, this would be my last “speed” workout, as after this week track days switch to being “strength” days, and the repeats get longer but the paces get slower. Since I have done this workout a few times lately, I knew it would be hard, but I also knew I was capable. When I took off for the first repeat Mike ran along for about a lap, and then I was on my own. The first repeat clocked in at 7:36, which I was happy with. I was even happier though when it was time for some recovery, and guzzled some water down. Two more repeats, which came in at 7:30 and 7:33, and then the hard stuff was behind me. I said goodbye to Mike, and Dad biked along as I ran back to the apartment.

That night Sophie and I headed in the gym to get in some strength training, since I know that with the traveling that I have coming up soon it will fall off of my list of priorities for a few weeks. We spent about an hour lifting, focusing on arms and core strength.

I toyed around with my schedule for the rest of the week, debating if I wanted to get my tempo run in on Wednesday or Thursday, knowing that I was planning on doing a long run on Saturday rather than Sunday. Ultimately it was raining when I woke up on Wednesday, so I thought maybe I could run after work, but alas- thunderstorms. So Mike and I once again made plans to meet up at the track on Thursday morning - it’s definitely gotten me through many training miles this time around. As usual, my run to the track was my warmup, and I picked up the pace once I started laps. Mike got there a moment before me, and was nice enough to bring me a water bottle, since I had ran to the track, but he drove. 

We dropped the pace down into the high 8 range, trying to stay between 8:35-8:50. Mike ran the first three miles with me before heading home, and I had another 4 to get through solo. I stopped every mile and a half or so to take in some water, and as I got into the later miles I had to talk myself out of stopping more frequently. The last mile was by far the hardest, and I was so relieved when it was through. Then it was only a cooldown as I ran home, and the tempo run was done. Ten miles total, 7 of those at tempo pace. I had struggled so much with that 7th mile, and was disheartened when I realized I should have done 8 that day. I was disappointed when I realized I messed up the duration, but at least I had gotten some sort of tempo run in for the week. 

Plus, I was relieved on Friday morning when I woke up and only had to do an easy run, after the previous two runs being quality work. 

I started my run heading towards my parents house, and Dad met up with me along the way on his bike we rad by the pool, weaved around the town, and slowly passed away the miles. I learned during this run that my arm had apparently chafed during my run the day before, and it definitely lead to some strange arm positions, which Dad found highly amusing. Eventually we got back to my parents house, and Dad ended his bike ride, but I opted to run back to the apartment solo to amass a total of 6 miles.

That night I started to pack for my upcoming trip to Vancouver and Alaska, since I don’t have the ability to do laundry in my apartment. Even though I had a week left before the trip would start, I wanted to make sure all of the clothes that I wanted to bring along were clean.

Another reason for keeping things light on Friday night was my plan for Saturday morning: a 16 mile long run. Since I would be out of town for two weekends I wanted to get in a good, long run before I left. Dad and Mom agreed to bike along with my run, and the three of us headed to our usual spot - the Jones Beach boardwalk. We got out around 8 A.M., and the weather was warm, but not scorching. There was even a nice breeze. My goal for this run was to keep an average pace between 9-9:20. At first the paces were coming easy, and I had to remind myself to slow down so that I wouldn’t burn out early in the run. I switched off between chatting with my parents and listening to music, and things felt good until around mile 13, when the pace started to become a bit of a struggle. I had some time banked from faster, earlier, miles, so I didn’t stress to much, and just tried to keep pushing myself. I had managed to make it to fourteen miles without any stops at all, and was hopeful that I would make it non-stop to mile 16 - but then I went to take a sip of water and somehow managed to choke on it a little bit, and had to stop and sputter after the mishap. Whoops. At least I managed to pause my Garmin.

Miles 15 an 16 went off without any other eventful mishaps, and I even managed to speed up a little bit. The one mistake - well, we were about a mile from the car at mile 16. I had some level of awareness that this would happen, but was okay with getting an extra mile in. I did drop the pace down to a cool down though, and just kept moving forward. The car was parked right near one of the food courts on the boardwalk, so when I finished up the 17th mile I headed in, really hoping they would have an Icee and a pretzel - but alas, they did not, so I settled for some Dippin-dots, and they were basically the greatest thing ever. Even with the slower last mile averaged in, I still managed a 9:16 pace for the long run, and I was really pleased with that.

The spirit of long runs would continue on Sunday, as my schedule told me to run 10 easy, and 10 was the distance that Mike needed to get done for his long run! Since he was heading to a board game expo that day, we opted to stay local, running around where we live rather than heading somewhere more scenic. Mike ran to my apartment from his house, starting two miles ahead of me, and we started our loops. We stopped for fuel at the apartment one time, and for water at my parents, before heading towards Mike’s house - the miles always fly by when we get to run together. I ran home and my watch buzzed indicating I had hit 10 miles - meaning a total of 27 for the weekend, and just over 50 for a week.

I was tired, but felt great, after a solid week of training. The next two weeks would be lower mileage, the first so that I would be ready to race the seawheeze half, and the second because I would be cruising to Alaska, but I felt really confident in all of the work I had put in so far.