I’m a little behind on my week recap!
I really enjoy writing these posts, as they give me a chance to reflect back on my training each week. It allows me to see patterns that are working or not working while keeping me accountable. Time to get caught up!
Monday: Tempo workout after work: 2 mile warm-up, 4 miles at tempo pace of 7:45, 1 mile cool-down. 7 miles total.
Tuesday: 5.5 mile recovery run with Matilda in the morning. [super solidcore] after work. Super solid core ? Aren’t all the classes super? Yes, they are, but super solidcore is the 65 minute version of the regular 50 minute class. That extra 15 minutes is intense! I was pretty sore.
Wednesday: 6 miles easy in the AM with Matilda. She has a big ego after being in Runner’s World and has no patience for my silly morning selfies!
Thursday: Short sprints: 2 mile warm-up, 8 x 300m sprints, 90 second recovery, 1 mile cool-down 6.75 miles total
Friday: 1 hour C2/yoga class at Corepower. It had been a VERY long time since I did yoga and man, oh, man was I tight! I felt great afterwards though and I was inspired to purchase a 10-pack and hopefully make this a more regular part of my weekly routine.
Saturday: 20 mile long run. I did 8 miles before run club with my friend Tricia and my friend Christie and then 12 miles with the club on a hilly Theodore Wirth route. I was supposed to run goal marathon pace for the middle 10 miles, but I only managed about 6 miles around goal marathon pace. My legs were tired and I was struggling. Since London is only 2 weeks away, I figured it was better to worry about time on my feet and not stress about the pace. 20 miles total, average 8:52 min/mile
Sunday: Easy 5 miles in the morning with a few friends and then the Find Your Passion event at Gear (where I got this tank, pictured below- love it!)
Summary: About 51 miles, 1 yoga, 1 [solidcore]/strength class. Lots of PT exercises and foam rolling and stretching.
Fueling Experimentation:
Inspired by my coworker Nordica’s success with Gen-U-Can, as well as NYC Running Mama’s positive experiences, I have started experimenting with Gen-U-Can (Generation UCAN). Gen-U-Can is a slow release energy source, backed by Meb Keflezighi and Dathan Ritzenhein.
From their website: “We’ve always thought about energy as needing sugars and carbohydrates delivered rapidly, but this creates a problem. These sugary carbs overload you with too many calories at once, causing highs and lows in energy and blocking your ability to burn fat. SuperStarch is a healthy, natural, gluten-free carbohydrate innovation backed by proven science. It is a trusted energy source that gives you steady, even energy and helps you maintain stable blood sugar. Finally, there’s a healthier, more efficient way to energize than sugars, caffeine, or high carb meals. And did we mention it starts with the word ‘SUPER’ – enough said.”
I used Gen-U-Can the past two Saturdays, for a 16 and 20 miler respectively. I drank one packet of it about 60 minutes before I ran and had one packet about halfway through the run. So far, so good- it’s too soon to call me a convert, but I’m definitely going to continue with it for awhile. I plan to drink it before London but still supplement with GU’s on the course. I will keep you updated on my experience with it!
Speaking of my fueling plan for London, how about some goals, Jessie?
As I mentioned last week, my goal for the London Marathon is just to enjoy the experience. I get to run the London Marathon! I’ll probably never run it again in the foreseeable future, so I hope to soak it all in and be grateful for the opportunity to see such an amazing city in such an amazing way.
I will treat it like a very special long run because eight weeks afterwards I will be ‘racing’ Grandma’s Marathon! I had such a great time there last year. So many of my running club friends (and Dustin) are running Grandma’s this year, so my FOMO was going crazy. Plus, I’m hoping this will be my opportunity to qualify for Boston by a more significant margin, so that I can actually run it with Dustin in 2017!
Anyways, with Grandma’s as my “longer” term goal, the London Marathon will be a fun “training run” for Grandma’s Marathon. My race plan for London is to try to run about a 9 min/mile pace, which would put me right at 4 hours. If it feels like I’m working too hard, I’ll slow it down. I don’t want the recovery post-London to be very tough, so I plan to take it pretty easy. I hope to keep it under four hours, but if it doesn’t happen, I’ll still enjoy my 26.2 mile tour of London!
Time to start thinking about what to pack for my trip- I’ll be referring to THIS LIST this weekend as I start to plan things out!
Have you been to London? It’s been awhile for me- I welcome recommendations!
Great week of training and like your plan for London. Some races were meant to be enjoyed and savored. Wow – another marathon aready – all that mileage scares me because I can’t handle the level you put up week after week. Really impressive.
I am super jealous that you got into Grandmas – it was sold out when I tried to register at the end of December.
Eric, I got in through my run club’s USATF team. They gave us 5 spots, otherwise I would have been in the same boat as you.
I have never done this many marathons so close together…4 in 8 months!
I was pretty sure you weren’t going to be buying someone else’s bib!! 🙂
No way!
I loved the London marathon when I ran it and would love to return one day. The last time I went to London there was no running involved and I did a lot of walking. I actually walked the end of the marathon in reverse until I hit Westminster then crossed the bridge and had a great walk along the south bank. There are loads of quirky things along there to look at. The London Eye is along there and if you haven’t done that, then I recommend it. Maybe look at going to the top of The Shard as… Read more »
Thank you Allison! These are great tips 🙂
No worries. If you take a trawl back through my blog, I’ve got a post in there on that trip with some photos if that helps. October 2014.
I just love Matilda 🙂 Pretty sure I’ve said that before… ha! Reading your comments above… did you know you can legally buy someone else’s Grandma’s bib? Nick bought his from a friend a couple months ago. Check the facebook page!
Anyway, super excited for you to run London! On my bucket list 🙂 No better way to explore a city than by running!
And, yogaaaaaaah… thanks for the reminder that I desperately need to get to a class!
You are a Vizsla girl Erin 🙂 I did hear about Grandmas, I mentioned in my post about the blogger who cheated for Boston-it’s awesome that it is an option for people to sell their bibs!
Yes…I need more yoga!