Weekly Recap: 6 Weeks Until the Boston Marathon

6 weeks until the Boston marathon!

That means spring is almost here, right? This week’s weather offered some challenges, but looking forward to next week, it appears that “false spring” might be here – there’s a high of 50 in the forecast for Minneapolis!

Here’s how training for the Boston marathon went this week:

Monday: I wasn’t sure about trail conditions after the terrible ice over the weekend, so I just opted for a recovery run on the treadmill before work, 7 miles, 9 min/mile. After work, I did 20 min of core with Selena + 10 min of upper body with Tunde on the Peloton app.

Tuesday: My friend Christie was willing to start at 5:30 am, as she also had a longer workout. The trails around the lakes were actually quite clear, it was just getting to the lakes from my house that was a little treacherous; there was lots of walking on icy sidewalks and roads until I arrived at the lake. Then my workout was 30 min easy, 12×2 min hard intervals with 90 sec recovery, cool-down.

10 miles, 9 min/mile average.

I walked some of the recoveries, or at least parts of them to catch my breath.

On my cool-down, I encountered a rafter of turkeys wandering in the sunrise on Bde Maka Ska and caught a picture of one of them in the sun!

By the end of that run, I actually felt somewhat warm, even though it was only 15 degrees!

I followed up the run with 20 min of upper body + 10 min core on Peloton.

That evening, Dustin and I flew to Michigan to visit my parents. Even though I’m technically back in the office (hybrid), I was able to work remotely from Michigan, (same with Dustin), which was great. You might recall from this post that my mom was recently hospitalized. She’s home now and even got her feeding tube out while we were there, which is great progress. She’s still dealing with a lot, so I’m glad I could spend some time there.

It had been quite a long time since Dustin and I had been to Michigan! (I grew up in Beloit, Wisconsin, but my parents moved to Michigan for my dad’s job after I left for the University of Minnesota.)

Wednesday: 8.4 miles, 9 min/mile average. My dad directed me to this new trail system near their house, which was lovely. It was also 45 degrees and sunny. Amazing.

What a treat- clear trails! No hat!

Later in the day, I used some 5 pound dumbbells I found at my parents’ house to do a 10 min arms & light weights class + 10 min core on Peloton.

Thursday: Another sunny Michigan morning run! I had 30 minutes easy, 20 minutes moderate, 5 min easy, 10 minutes slightly faster, 15 minutes to cool-down. 9.7 miles, 8:44 min/mile average. Great run. I really enjoyed this one.

Same outfit as the day before, yes. I swear, I did laundry, ha!

Friday: I had hoped to do my long run early Friday since I had been enjoying those clear trails and milder temps, but of course, the weather didn’t cooperate…The snow followed me from Minnesota to Michigan!

I was up and ready to go, but then looked out the window to see 4-5 inches of new snow on the ground.

I thought I could still give it a try, but the trail I ran on was not plowed and it was tough going.

I managed 4 miles, but was going over 10 min/mile so I knew I wouldn’t have time to get in my full long run. I called it quits and moved some things around on my training schedule.

Michigan has some big weather swings, as it had been 65 degrees last weekend but of course not while I’m there. I can’t escape the snow!

Same trail. Much different view!

10 min core + 10 min upper body later in the day.

Saturday: I actually had a potential 20 miler on my schedule as the long run, but with the weather as it was in Michigan, my coach and I chatted and moved it to next weekend (when it might be 50 degrees in Minneapolis!) Instead, I had 13 easy miles with Dustin, though they weren’t all that easy since the trails were still snow covered!

13.1 miles, 8:50 min/mile average. No picture as we were in a bit of a rush to shower, pack up, and head to the airport.

Our visit to my parents may seem to have included a lot of running- it’s just what we do! My parents understand. I would run in the morning before logging on to work and Dustin would run after he was done with work. But there was a lot of downtime too of course, chatting, cooking, and enjoying meals with my dad (my mom is only drinking Boost & Ensure right now.) I’m grateful that I was able to spend this time with them both and that Dustin could join me as well.

We returned home Saturday afternoon; I was so excited to see both pups! Ruth was at Pampered Pooch Playground where she plays all day, and Matilda was at her bff Breck’s house:

Sunday: Daylight Savings Time! Since we had just been in Michigan on EST, it didn’t seem like a big deal, though the dogs actually slept in until almost 7 am before wanting breakfast.

Dustin and I ran a quick 4 miles with Ruth and then 4 more just the two of us, 8:30 min/mile average. Ruth had a big week at Pampered Pooch Playground, so even though she can run 8, I didn’t want to overdo it, so just 4 for her today. But the sun was shining, the trails were clear, and it was 35 degrees! I was overdressed in a light long-sleeve + light jacket. Yay for spring?!?

Summary: 60 miles of running (even though it was a cutback in the long run), daily 10 min of core, lower amount of strength training than usual since I was at my parents.

And that’s a wrap on life and training for the Boston Marathon!

I’m linking up as always with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!