This is week 11 of an 18-week training plan that will hopefully get me to the marathon start line ready to have an amazing race, and maybe even PR!
Monday, January 6
Yesterday I had a runny nose but no congestion in my head or throat, so I just took allergy medicine and a decongestant and passed out. I woke up a bit later than normal today, feeling normal.
Starting this week, my speed workouts are shifting a bit away from speed, and more towards preparing me for the marathon. Rather than running the shorter speed portions at 5K-10K pace, I’m now running slightly longer speed portions at ten seconds faster than goal marathon pace. The workouts are now a bit longer, but also slower. Today I ran a total of 10.5 miles:
1.5mi warm up 6 * 1mi @ goal marathon pace – 10 seconds; .25mi rest 1.5mi cool down
I have to say that from a mental perspective, doing a longer speed workout like this is much easier for me than just running 10 miles. I also ordered several new goodies (like a new box of shot blok energy gummies) that will be cheaper to buy here vs Israel–where I’m returning exactly a month from today.
Tuesday, January 7
This morning I woke up from a nightmare that I was running the marathon (but NYC, not Tokyo), and used google maps to check my remaining distance/time at around mile 20…and somehow transported myself off of the course and was therefore disqualified from completing the marathon. It was devastating! Also, my brother was there and he completed the marathon, and then I had to be happy for him while still being devastated for myself. So when my alarm interrupted that dream, I needed to hit snooze so I could wake up on a happier note.
I woke up feeling stiff (what else is new), but this morning I have yoga, so I’m finally going to deal with that! After yoga (and lunch), I took the tube to Richmond to go swimming! I swam 1000m (750m freestyle and 250m breaststroke)…it took a little over 45 minutes, and was very relaxing. I didn’t even notice that I wasn’t listening to music during this time, whereas I always listen to either music or a podcast while running. It was a nice change, and I’m going to try and introduce more swimming into my cross training routine instead of spin classes, since I’ve been finding those less enjoyable.
I then went to We Are Runners! Between the workout and run to and from the group, I ran 8 miles today. I should sleep well tonight!
Wednesday, January 8
As expected, I woke up sore today. Still, no regrets–I really enjoyed swimming yesterday. However, today’s 10 mile run was the most sluggish I’ve felt in awhile…so I definitely overdid it a bit. I cancelled tonight’s yoga class and am going to try and take things a bit easier.
Thursday, January 9
I woke up this morning feeling a bit less sore. Success! I went to yoga in the morning and afterwards completed an easy 5 mile run, and had much more energy than yesterday.
Friday, January 10
Today’s the big day! My first super long run of the training cycle that isn’t combined with a race. This afternoon, I ran 16 miles. I lucked out and had great weather. My hands were somewhat numb at the end of the run and my dexterity was definitely limited. I’m going to do my future long runs with gloves (which I didn’t wear today because it was relatively warm out–46-48F and sunny…great winter running weather) and see if that helps.
We also continued with preparations for our Japan trip! Lior and I booked the airbnbs for the remainder of our trip. Our plan is to spend the first week in Kyoto before returning to Tokyo for the rest of the trip.
Saturday, January 11
Rest day! I slept in late, and Lior and I went to a larger grocery store that’s farther away, to do some serious shopping. We probably don’t need to buy anything aside from vegetables for next two weeks, and I got to try FOUR different flavors of Pringles!
I continued with trip planning, booking our Japan Rail passes for the first week of our trip, as well as tickets to teamLab borderless Tokyo for the day before the marathon, to release some pre-race nerves. We also ended the day by eating ice cream in bed, because we’re adults, and we can do what we want! And aren’t lactose intolerant!
Sunday, January 12
For breakfast, we made blinis with salmon and sour cream with chives, from yesterday’s Sainsbury’s haul.
Fancy!
Later in the morning, I completed my last short run of the week, at just over 5 miles. In the afternoon, Lior and I went to Draughts, a board game bar. We tried to walk in twice before but the tables were all booked…so this time I made a reservation. Even though Lior won the Catan card game we played, I had a lot of fun. The two hours wasn’t enough, so I booked us a four hour window during our last weekend in London.
Afterwards we wanted to go to Dinerama, but it’s closed on Sundays…so we returned to Mercato Metropolitano, where we went on our first evening in London. The food we ordered wasn’t as good as Dinerama, but the company made up for it. 🙂
I had an amazing time today–we did local-ish things in places we’ve been before, so I didn’t feel like a tourist–more like I’m just hanging out in my city. This was the perfect way to end the week.
Total distance: 54.8 miles, 2 yoga classes, 1000M swimming
A new all-time high weekly mileage! Rather than a new longest run, during this training cycle I’m having new highest weekly mileage. As I write this on Sunday evening, I feel great! Not too sore, and I completed all of my runs as well as a decent amount of cross-training. I’m looking forward to incorporating more swimming into my training during my last few weeks in London, and overall, I feel very good about my training so far.
Comments