I haven’t posted in a while – been busy with training, preparing for Season 5 of Project Runway, and house hunting. I finally got a dorky water bottle fanny pack thing which saved me last weekend on a long, hot, 8-miler. I also bought what I think are the world’s suckiest shoes – Mizuno Wave Inspire 4. The reason I got these were for their moderate stability and great reviews. I find that they provide absolutely no padding – much needed for someone who runs up and down hills all the time. They go in the spare bin – I will stick to the Brooks Adreneline 8 thank you very much. I’ve been dealing with some minor pain – mainly my left hip (I suspect mild IT Band syndrome) and right knee (old injury flares up). Nothing too terrible, though.
My training since my last post has looked like this:
- Sat., June 21 – 8 mile moderate pace
- Sun, June 22 – Rest
- Mon., June 23 – 4 miles (Hills)
- Tues., June 24 – 5 miles (moderate pace)
- Wed., June 26 – 4 miles (Hills) / core
- Thurs., June 27 – TRACK 2x[1200 (400), 800 (400), 400 (400)] – About 5 miles
- Fri., June 28 – Rest
- Sat., June 29 – 10 miles moderate
- (28 miles total
So I have been pretty much sticking to my Marathon Training schedule.
Week 2 of the training plan started off well. Sunday was a fabulous day of rest, and Monday I did strength and hill training. Tuesday I went for a 6 mi (2 easy/2 tempo/ 2 easy) and while the first 4 miles of the run were great, the last 2, my legs felt like lead and I was just thinking, “I really don’t want to be running right now.” I haven’t felt this way in a while.
Background, this week at work has been pretty stressful (plus we have painters doing our flat, which is the topic of another blog), and we are also in the thick of house hunting. We thought we had one, but alas, someone swooped in and bid just before us, so we are in “back up” position, whatever that means. (There may be a housing downturn, but here in the Bay Area, or at least in the desirable, walkable neighborhoods in Berkeley, CA, there is still a ton of demand – at least for perfect, historic homes with lots of charm like I am looking for.) Anyway, this morning was the usual 5:30 am wake time for hill training with my running group, but I just stayed in bed. I slept til 7:45 which seemed sooo luxurious. Then, to cap it all off, I stopped to get donuts on the walk to work (I am an addict, but haven’t had one for literally a month!).
However, instead of beating myself up over this, I think I am embracing it as my body telling me that it needs a little break. Schedule will pick up again tonight with strength training, and track workout tomorrow. And donuts? I decided it’s a perfectly fine once-a-month treat. Especially since I’M TRAINING FOR A FREAKIN’ MARATHON. 
Perfect weather here in SF for a run – about 60 degrees, overcast, breezy. Did around 10 miles at a pretty good clip, but I didn’t pace myself today. I love that the city is so compact – today my run took me through the Castro (near where I live), Lower Haight, Panhandle, Golden Gate Park, The Richmond, and back around to my home in Noe Valley. The one thing that’s difficult is it’s hard to completely avoid hills (I train on hills during the week but want to practice on relatively flat since Chicago is a pancake.) I’m at the top of a crazy-steep hill (35% grade) so there’s really no recourse if I want to leave my house.
These longer runs really do wonders to exorcise demons, too. I feel very Zen. And I am SO happy Sundays are complete rest days – now I can look forward to the rest of the weekend. (If you want to see my training plan, check it out here.
Off to look at houses (we’re thinking of buying a condo in SF or a house in Berkeley – so East Bay for us today), then a Giants game, and in between, a stop at Sports Basement. Tommorow? The couch is in my forecast.
Have a fabulous weekend!
xoxo, Heather
Haven’t been to the track in about a month and forgot how much I liked it. So easy to kill 5 miles in a short time. I’m also getting faster – and can feel it in the repeats.
Almost ready to check off the first week of training – after the long run this weekend of course!
Completed tonight:
1×1200 PI (8:45/mi)
2×800 CI (4:08/800) – 200 recovery
4×200 SI (1:00/400) – 200 recovery
4x strides (800)
1 mi. warmup/cooldown
Stretching
Total: 5 mi. Link to my complete training plan here.
xoxo, Heather
And I’m pretty happy about it. I read a TON of books and sites trying to get the right mix of training and strength, plus I needed to fit in a half-marathon in August before the October 12 Chicago Marathon race date. I take a great bootcamp class a few times a week with hill and interval training, so M-W I plan to keep attending (some running but more cross-training).
Here’s a link if you want to check out my Marathon Training Calendar:
Heather’s Fabulous Chicago Marathon Training Plan
I’m hoping this is a good plan – let me know what you think! Too much running, too little? I’ll also let you know how I feel at the outset of this plan. I’m really looking forward to hitting the track tonight for the first time in a while – I think it has really helped improve my running times.
xoxo, Heather
