As I publish this post, there is less than one week until the Fargo Marathon! It’s a Saturday marathon, which I LOVE. The weather is looking a tad bit toasty in Fargo; hopefully that will change in a week.
After a disappointing (for me) time at Idaho (3:52), my primary goal for Fargo is to stay totally in control and feel strong the whole way, which for me I think should hopefully equate to about a 3:45 time. For reference, my PR (Big Cottonwood, Utah) is 3:35 pre-broken leg and then 3:37 (Indianapolis 2019) post-broken leg. I have some great memories of marathons where I ran around a 3:45 (3 Bridges in Little Rock, Arkansas, the London Marathon) where I felt so happy and smiled the whole way- I want to channel that feeling again! If it does end up being hot, I’ll re-adjust that goal some more, with the hope of staying under 4 hours.
Now that I’ve discussed goals, here’s how training went this past week!
Monday: 8 easy pre-work miles with a few friends, 9:20 min/mile average.
Tuesday: Last long workout before Fargo! (It was interesting as this weekday run was actually longer than my long run the following Saturday!)
3 miles easy warm-up
4x (1 mile @ marathon effort, 0.5mile @ 7:45-7:30, 0.5 mile easy)
1 mile cool-down (with Ruth the vizsla)
12 miles total, 8:40 min/mile
This workout felt pretty good- I wasn’t 100% perfect on all the paces, but was generally in the vicinity. The cooler morning temps definitely helped!
Barre class at the Bar Method after work
Wednesday: Solo 6 mile recovery before work, 9:15 min/mile average.
Ran into a rafter of turkeys crossing from Bde Maka Ska to Lake Harriet!
30 minute Strength for Runners with Matt Wilpers after work
Thursday: Rest day from running! A few dog walks, 10 minute Arms & Light Weights + 30 minute Strength for Runners with Becs Gentry on Peloton
Friday: 6 miles with a few friends.
We took the run nice and easy, 9:30 min/mile average. After work I did a 10 minute and a 20 minute Core for Runners class with Becs Gentry. I didn’t realize that the longer ones are more advanced; I thought the only difference was time, but the 20 or 30 minute core classes are definitely more intense. I kinda wish the 10 minute ones were just as hard, just shorter!
Saturday: Last long run before Fargo! I had 90 minutes of running: 45 minutes easy, “26.2 minutes visualizing the marathon at marathon effort”, and then 18.8 minutes easy, 10.4 miles, 8:45 min/mile average.
The weather was great on Saturday morning (low 50’s) so the 26.2 minutes felt amazing. Fargo is looking a little toastier though; fingers crossed it cools off a bit up north before Saturday!
Saturday night, we had tickets to a Mazza Dinner at “Dervish Mazza.” Read more HERE. It was a multiple course meal of Egyptian food, set in a the chef’s backyard in the Old Highland neighborhood of Minneapolis. Really unique and magical evening of delicious food (and some wine!) Highly recommend.
Sunday: 5.5 miles, 8:40 min/mile average with Dustin and Ruth
I followed up the run with a 20 minute Strength for Runners with Matt Wilpers and a 10 minute Core for Runners with Becs Gentry.
Summary: 48 miles of running, 1 barre class, a handful of Peloton strength classes.
This week, I’m be focusing on sleep and hydration…and maybe more time in the Normatec Boots too. One week to go!
I’m linking up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!
Okay, I looked up the weather in Fargo (I’m such a nerd.). The forecast I saw looks pretty good, although I’m not sure what your ideal marathon temp is. But the temps on either side of Saturday are warmer- hopefully nothing shifts between now and then.
Sounds like you’ve had a great buildup to this race. Fingers crossed that everything goes your way so you can have a great experience!
Nice! I like your forecast better. My ideal temp is 40’s 🙂 I do well in the cold! But even 50’s would be okay. It does look like the warmer day moved to Sunday, so fingers crossed its okay Saturday! It does look windy, and I’ve heard that Fargo doesn’t have a lot of protection (no trees, all flat!) so the wind could be a challenge, but I’m not going to stress about stuff I can’t control! I’ll just focus on the things I can control for now 🙂
Thanks for the support Jenny!
You have worked so hard good luck next weekend. I hope you have a fantastic day out there in Fargo
Thanks Deborah!
I do hope you get that cooler weather! Things can change so much in a week. You’ve worked very hard for this — you’ve got this!
That dinner looks AMAZING!
Egyptian food was very good!
You’ve had such a strong training cycle! Best of luck on Saturday!
Thank you Michelle!
I think it’s supposed to cool down by next weekend but probably not as cool as you hoped! At least it won’t be as hot as this weekend. Are you planning on driving up there or flying?
We are driving! It’s about 4 hours and since Dustin isn’t running (he’s doing Boston) he doesn’t mind driving. It would probably take longer to go to the airport, fly there, rent a car etc, ha!
It’s exciting that the big week is here! I hope the weather plays nice for you…it’s one thing we cannot control (unfortunately). Your Egyptian meal looks like a neat event! Best of luck in Fargo!!
Thanks Kim! Can’t stress about something I can’t control!
Happy race week! I’m so excited for you and fingers crossed the weather cools down a bit for you. You’ve totally got this!
Thanks Marcia!
Here’s hoping the weather holds out to be a cool and crisp day, perfect for a great race! You’ve trained hard and I hope you run the race you know you’re capable of running. Happy tapering this week and good luck at your race!
Thank you very much Debbie!
Let’s hope the weather cools off soon! It sounds like we have similar plans to adjust our goals based on the weather. Good luck in your race!
Performance for me is so weather dependent!
Best wishes for cool temps and a great race in Fargo! Remember its just a 10k with a 20 mile warmup!!
Thank you Eric!
That dinner sounds so cool – I’ve had Egyptian food once, ages ago.
I think some longer core workouts are easier b/c they have more breaks, but I’m sure some are hard. I did a hard 5 min core today – 1 min w/u + 4 min of planking with no real break!
Rest up!
Which core class was that- I like the idea of hard for 5 minutes!!
Thanks Kim!
That is so exciting…can’t believe that it is almost marathon time!
You have done all the right things so I hope you get the results you want… and have fun!!
Thank you Darlene, I will try!
best of luck on your Fargo marathon and I’m pretty sure you will have a great time 🙂
Yes, I guess we do have a lot of runners at my office!
One week! I can’t believe it!
I love the look and sound of that meal! You look so cute too! I’m so happy you had some fun, in the midst of all the training!
Aww, thank you Jenn! You are so sweet 🙂
Oh that food looks GOOD. Fingers crossed for good mara weather but I know you’ll cope whatever. I will think of you as I run to parkrun volunteering!
The Egyptian meal was delicious!
Have fun at park run Liz!
I love that you’re focusing on strong and in control, such an awesome goal.
Fingers crossed that the weather behaves and can’t wait to follow along on IG.
Thank you so much Cari!