Work It Out Wednesday

I’m obviously quite behind on these posts. I think I’ve  missed three weeks now? So instead of covering my daily workouts for the past three weeks I’m just going to do a recap of my training and how I’ve been feeling.

Week of 8/7-8/13

I felt on top of the world this week. I did my first multi-sport race on Sunday, swim + run and loved it. The triathlon season is almost over, but I plan to train for a triathlon next year,  maybe several.

Starting the run

End of the swim

My runs went well. I put my full effort into all of my workouts and felt strong and like I was making huge progress.I also ate well and got plenty of sleep that week. It was probably one of the best training weeks I’ve had during this whole marathon training process.

Week of 8/14-8/20

Apparently, fate wanted to pay me back for being on such a high the week before. I worked late almost every night, skipped several runs and I ate like crap. I felt tired, bloated and unhappy. On the two runs I managed to achieve my legs felt like lead and all I could think about was quitting.

It probably didn’t help that I raced a 20K on 8/14, just a week after my first multi-sport race. The 20K course was hilly and it rained and I was miserable. Leslie from DC Running Novice and were planning to run the race together, but we split up in the first mile after my calf started cramping. I finished, but it sucked and my hips were sore all week.

This is what serious yogis look like

I barely did any strength or cross-training, so the week was just one big fail

This Week

I got back on track by starting the week with an 8 mile run. My legs felt fresh, and I felt much better on this run than I had for quote some time. I weight-lifted and cross-trained yesterday and squeezed in a 5k on the treadmill. I had wanted to do 4.5-5 miles, but a 5k is better than nothing at all.

If I don’t die on Saturday’s run then I will hit a new personal distance record, 14 miles. I’m hard-core praying to the weather gods that this hurricane holds off until after my 14-miler as this run will be miserable enough without adding a Category 3 hurricane to the mix. Fingers crossed that all goes well.

Questions

Whose made it through tough times in their training and lived to tell the tale?

Anyone else have long run plans this weekend?