This Week in Running – Flip the Switch

Happy Friday to all! I’m finishing up on my 3rd week of marathon training and things are really ramping up in a hurry. Coach Craig is NOT messing around.

1/13 – 1/19 Training Summary (running only)

Monday – 6 miles easy – I called this one “dead legs” so I guess I had dead legs. Titling runs on Strava is a great way to look back on how it might have felt.

Track Tuesday – 10 x .25 miles at 6:00/mile pace – This was on the treadmill which I didn’t love, but there are benefits! It was nice to have the pace held steady and that kept me from going out too fast or slacking. 🙂

Wednesday – Rest day! It was needed.

Thursday – 6 miles. I called this one “Dressing Myself is Hard”. January has been a real mixed bag of weather. I’m a notorious overdresser, but this time it’s not my fault!

Friday – 6.34 miles. I called this one “Only semi-dead legs”. I’m starting to sense a theme here.

Saturday – 14 miles! “Yes!!!”  We crushed some pretty good hills, but I’ve been told that they are NOTHING compared to what I’ll be taking on at Blue Ridge. Yikes.

Sunday – 7.39 miles. Titled“7.39 miles does not equal 6.” Running math is hard if you do it WHILE YOU’RE RUNNING. That’s why we have those awesome pace bracelets to use.

Believe what the shirt says…

I finished up with 46.3 miles last week. I’m a big nerd with stats, so I looked up when the last time I had a week with that many miles was. Any guesses? It was January of 2017! Woah.

You got that right, Ted.

I’ve been doing it all this month. I’ve hit some hills, gone to the track, had some easy coffee runs and some long runs too. I’m STILL hitting those weights twice a week too! I’ve had some runs with dead legs, but that’s all part of the process. One things I’ve been doing is SLEEPING. I’m not getting a steady 8 hours and I maybe never will, but I’m probably averaging closer to 7 than 6 and that’s a big jump for me. I’m starting to agree with the various elites that have stressed it…SLEEP MATTERS.

Flip that switch, Sly Stallone.

With all of this work I’m putting in, I feel like a couple of switches flipped. The first switch is related to getting used to this increased volume, or “building my base”. The 6 days of running a week are feeling more normal. The track workout once a week is feeling more normal. My body and my mind are in training mode now.

The second switch is related to another way that ramping up for this training has effected me. I AM HUNGRY. I’ve been eating everything in site. I’ll admit that I’ve cut back on some things (sweets and alcohol), but nothing is cut out. My meals have been HUGE and I always seem to have room for more. It’s kinda fun.

Thanks for reading! I know how precious time and I appreciate everyone that gives this a look.