Weekly Recap: Two Weeks Until the Tokyo Marathon

The countdown is on! Only 10 days until we head to Japan and 14 days until the Tokyo Marathon.

Here’s how my training went down this past week:

Monday: 1 mile repeats. I did this workout on the treadmill as it was quite cold and slippery outside. 2 mile warmup, 4 x 1 mile on, 2 minute recovery between miles, 2 mile cooldown. The miles were at a 7:45 pace which was supposed to feel easy. It didn’t. It definitely felt harder than it should and I ended up basically walking during the 2 minute recovery but I got it done. 8 miles total.

Tuesday: Easy 5 miles on the treadmill.

Wednesday: Easy 6 miles on the treadmill. I watched “The Interview” (on Netflix) while on the treadmill this week. It was easy, mindless entertainment for treadmill running.

Thursday: Yasso 800s! Dustin was kind enough to run with me for this workout. First time outside for the week! It was cold (14 degrees, windy) but not unbearable. 2 mile warmup, 6 Yasso 800’s, with each run in 3:30 (about a 7 min/mile pace), 3 minute recovery in between, 2 mile cooldown. Now, this is not my goal marathon pace, but my coach wanted me be aggressive in this workout. It was not easy for me and by the last one, I was struggling.  8 miles total.

Friday : 5 miles easy on the treadmill

Saturday: 20 mile long run with the CBRC. My run club friend Lindsey is training for the Phoenix Marathon (she’s going to crush it!). She had 22 miles on her schedule. We met early before the club to get in 7 miles, then ran 12 with the club, and then added on a few extra at the end. It was nice to get those 7 done early and the 12 mile route with the club flew by.

Sunday: Complete rest!

Summary: 52 miles, 1 complete rest day, no cross training

To be truthful, I was feeling a little unmotivated and burned out this week. I’m definitely ready for the magical taper. I know that part of my problem was the cold weather and treadmill running, but I could (should) have found time to do some yoga or cross training, but I really just preferred to sleep in instead. I think today’s rest day was much needed. I recognize that I have not done a good job recently with cross training, but two weeks before the marathon is not really the time to start.

Now is the time for me to focus on sleep, staying healthy, and working on my mental strength.

Oh right, mental strength…

My coach gave me a bit of a pep talk on our weekly call where we set my goal for Tokyo based on my training. I don’t really want to post it on the blog…mostly because I’m scared.

I’m scared, but also, there’s a part of me who wants to just enjoy this experience. I’m going to JAPAN and running 26.2 miles there…Its going to be a really cool experience so I don’t want to stress about the race too much.

After all, I get to see these awesome people in two weeks!

I’m really excited to tour Japan with them. Dustin’s brother has planned a lot of fun stuff for us. We’ll mostly be sticking around Tokyo, with two nights in Kyoto (one night at a traditional ryokan), a day trip to Hiroshima, and an overnight stay at an Onsen.

Yet there’s that other part of me that has hope; that part that believes that I can have a positive race and I can feel great and achieve my goal.  I’m going to try to channel that part of me over the next two weeks.

Get ready family – we will see you soon!