Rehoboth Beach Marathon Training Week 17 – But Wait…There’s More!

Good morning! I have so much to talk about this week. I wanted to get all of this out of my system right away, but life happens. It’s taper time, the point in marathon training where you have to cut back on the miles to prepare your body for the butt-kicking that is a marathon. Some have been known to lose their minds from the inactivity. I DID run a 5k (I had company too!). You’ll have to keep reading to know how it went (classic buildup).

I’ve been dealing with lots of soreness in my quads and hips, so I had NO problem welcoming a cutback week. I need it. I feel like I’m limping in at this point, which has happened to me in marathons so it makes total sense.

Let’s review this week in running, shall we? I’ll be brief until the Saturday part. 🙂

Monday – Planned 4 miles/Actual X-Training

I felt like a day off of running might be a good thing and that I earned the break with my awesome 15 miler from the day before. I did a light weight kettlebell workout instead. It made my sore quad/hip feel a little better.

Tuesday – Planned 6 miles/Actual 6 miles

I ran downtown and was able to save enough time for a cup of delicious coffee. Brooke and MC ran with me, which is always good for my pace. I’m getting a good mix of running alone and running social. I think both are great in their own ways.

Wednesday – Planned 4 miles/Actual 4 miles

I wasn’t feeling the treadmill, but it was fun to give my Zwift footpod a try. I’m trying it out and will be writing a review later. Long story short, it’s a way to spice up those boring treadmill runs with some virtual interaction and a social aspect. I downloaded the app and created my profile, so I’ll be getting to know Zwift over the next month or so.

I worked out with Jill again. I really think that I’m comfortable enough with kettlebell training that it doesn’t “hurt” my running.

Thursday – Planned 6 miles/Actual 6 miles

Another 6 miler with Brooke and another cup of coffee! We are living the dream. It was that in between kind of cold where I bounced back and forth between being cold and being hot. I didn’t want my hat, then I wanted my hat. Such is life.

Friday – Rest

With my first race in months coming up, a rest day was perfect. My leg wasn’t feeling great, so I had a good stretch session and kept my feet propped up a bit.

Saturday – Planned 4 miles/Actual 5k race plus a little extra

My plan was to push fairly hard for this one, just to see if I can. With my leg issues, I’ve been cautious about training hard, so most of my miles have been at a comfortable pace. I really wanted to get uncomfortable for a bit.

Mile 1: Mission accomplished with a 6:15. It was fairly downhill, but when I saw my watch I wondered when I might crash and burn. There’s quite a hill before mile 2 and the last thing I wanted was to have to slow down to a crawl and get passed by everybody that I had worked to get ahead of.

I settled down and found a pace I could handle at around 6:50 for the rest of the race. I ended up coming in at 20:32 and took 1st for my AG! More importantly, I was able to win one against a running buddy that I have a great deal of respect for. We train together and we race together. We’ve both been looking forward to the days we could compete against each other again and those days are here! He probably let me beat him haha.

Power of the Stache!

I felt so great to be able to run fast! This race gave me the confidence I’ve been lacking. I think I’ll be able to push myself back to my best again. Enough about me though, because there’s a new runner in the family!

Kayli has the gift! 🙂

Kayli came in at a pretty impressive 28:06 and she didn’t even train! I went back to get her, Jen and a friend after I finished, but Kayli had left them in the dust. I was shocked when I saw her moving right along. We ran the last half mile or so together and she rolled right in to the finish line.

My favorite part was that she seemed to get the racing bug. She started looking at her AG times and figuring out how much she’d have to shave off to win next year. She wanted to wear my medal and pretend it was hers. I think we have a runner!

Sunday – Planned 8 miles/Actual 8 miles

I got a run in with running buddies Bethany and Alissa (Alyssa?). Just kidding, Alissa. This is to make sure you read. It was a nice and easy pace and the conversation was good. This is a busy time of year, so it’s always good to have a chat with people that have no choice but to listen.

I ended the week pretty positively. I STILL finished with the same soreness I’ve been dealing with for weeks but hey, at least it didn’t get worse! This week it’s a few easy miles here and there followed by a MARATHON!!! I’m kind of freaking out, but at least my friends in Boston made the qualifying standard 5 minutes faster so I don’t even have to THINK about it now haha. Thanks, Boston.