Hanson's Marathon Method Week 9 Run Down

Week 9 is complete and I'm starting to get back into my groove (despite a pretty tough long run this week)! I can't believe that the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Strip At Night will be here in less than 63 days! This week was really challenging because I tried to fit in my Monday Mileage (was on the schedule to do 8 miles) throughout the week since I could only fit in 2.10 miles before we left Yellowstone and were stuck in the car for 10 hours. It was also really difficult because the wildfires made for harsh air conditions and not the best for running outside (so I did most of my runs on the treadmill). I was able to make it outside for my Track Tuesday speedwork and for a few nighttime runs near my neighborhood (which is farther away from the haze and smokiness that surrounds Steamboat currently). The good news is that the haze has gone down and I can run outside again! My cold is slowly improving (finally gave in and got some Mucinex-D, which dries me out like no other), so that's another plus!

Monday: Scheduled to do 8 easy miles; Actual: did 2.10 miles around the campground in Yellowstone & fit in 3 miles Tuesday evening & fit in another 2.90 miles Thursday evening

Tuesday: 1.5 warm-up; 6 x 800 @ 3:40 (with 400R); 1.5 cool-down. 7.5 miles total. Splits were: 3:35, 3:35, 3:39, 3:38, 3:40, 3:38 I was SO happy with this work-out considering I did it a few weeks prior and it didn't go as well. It's the little things : )

Wednesday: 7 miles easy on the treadmill @ 10:10 & 20 minutes of strength training

Thursday: 1.5 warm-up; 8 miles @ MGP 8:46; 1.5 cool-down. 11 miles total. Actual pace was: 8:41. Had to do this one on the treadmill due to the poor air quality.

Friday: 8 miles easy on the treadmill @ 10:20 & Power Barre Class

Saturday: Rest Day. I volunteered at the Run Rabbit Run 100 miler and had to work a shift from 4am-10am (meaning I had to get-up at 3am and was so tired, so I decided to push my long run to Sunday instead). I was seriously so exhausted I slept for almost 12 hours on Sunday to make-up for it!

Sunday: 15 miles at 9:29. Actual: 15 miles @ 9:45. This run was pretty terrible. I was super dehydrated and it was hotter out than I was expecting. I think I was so off from my strange hours on Saturday and dried-out from the mucinex that I just couldn't push myself. I had to stop a few times and finally finished my run with the last 3 miles on the treadmill to try and cool myself down (didn't really work too well). Oh well, next time is another opportunity!

Sunshine Goods:

• Hit my track paces perfectly and still felt like I had a lot more gas in the tank!
• Fit in one strength training session & one barre class
• Did 3 Epsom Salt Baths to recover
• Nutrition was really good
• Sleep was better than previous weeks
• Tempo run felt hard, but I powered through
• Foam rolled 3 times last week= SUPER WIN!

Gloomy Goods:

• Long run sucked. just totally sucked.
• Oh the chafing. so.much.chafing.
• Headcolds & mucinex= no fun.
• Unpacking after a fun-filled weekend, no fun either

Hole Half Marathon Recap & Life Updates

My HOLE HALF MARATHON RECAP is here! Shimmy on over to my Race Recap page to check it out- you definitely don't want to miss how amazing the finish venue looked and where I finished in my age group!

I'm sharing some of my favorite photos that I took over the weekend from Yellowstone up on the blog tomorrow, so make sure to check back. Here's a little sneak-peek ; ) 

I finally feel like I'm starting to get back into a groove-again after our vacation in July. It's so crazy to me how long it takes to get back on track! No wonder why so many of those who suffer from addictions or weight loss or irregular workout plans struggle so much- it's really HARD to get used to a schedule and stick to it. After 8 weeks of marathon training, I finally feel like I've gotten adjusted to it and am not nearly as exhausted as I was when I first began training. 

Hanson's Marathon Method definitely takes a lot out of you and is a really big time commitment compared to other training plans! I'm just hoping all this running pays off on race day (it's only 66 DAYS AWAY!!!!- that's only a little over TWO MONTHS!). 

We've been so busy trying to fit in camping and hiking and backpacking on the weekends and squeezing-in as much fun summer activities as we can. We just got our second kayak fixed, so hopefully we can take both out on the lake this weekend!

The weather (despite the current wildfires that is creating a constant smokey, haziness that is unfit for any extended outdoor activities) has been so beautiful with mid-80s during the day and low 40s at night. Perfect for early morning or late afternoon runs : )

September is a VERY busy month for us and we only have one weekend free (which I'm sure we're going to fill-up with a camping or backpacking trip). Alex is working at the Telluride Blues and Brews festival next weekend (hoping I can go down and camp there/ spend time with him, but still up in the air) and I will be going back to Maine at the end of the month for my grandfathers service. This weekend is a bit crazy as well because I am volunteering at the Run Rabbit Run 50 & 100 mile races from 4-10am (sleep will definitely be off) on early Saturday morning. 

That's all that's been going on with me, what about you?! Any fun plans for September? 

Favorite season? Mine is definitely Fall- bring on all the apples and layers!

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 8 Run down

What a week it was! This week was pretty low mileage since I had a headcold come on and wanted to get rested up for my half marathon on Saturday. I originally had wanted to race my half, but with my head still staying pretty congested I decided to just have fun and not push myself into a deeper sickness (plus I wanted to enjoy our weekend full of camping!). I still ended up getting fourth in my age group (!!!) at my race and honestly had SO MUCH FUN! It was by far the best half marathon I can ever remember having (race recap to come soon). 

Besides getting sick, I did hit my mile repeats on Tuesday so that was a huge bonus and I just ultimately took the rest of the week off from any hard runs and just focused on recovery and easy paces. 

Monday: 6 miles Easy @ 10:20 on the treadmill

Tuesday: 1.5 warm-up; 3 @ 7:20 (600 R) ; 1.5 cool-down- 7 miles total

Wednesday: Sick- took a rest day

Watching Sheep Herders because what else are you supposed to do when you're sick?! 

Thursday: 3 miles easy on the trails @ 9:54

Friday: 3.25 miles easy @ 10:00

Saturday: RACE DAY! 13.2 miles @ 9:17 - 2:01:37- I turned off my auto alerts for mile splits on my Garmin and just went by feel. I negative-split my race time by over 2 and a half minutes and kept my heart rate under 160. I never pushed myself too hard and felt super recovered after I finished. I also got 4th in my age group!

Sunday: Rest Day

Sunshine Goods:

• Kept my health and rest a priority
• Fitness is still there!
• 4th in my age group
• Negative-split by a huge amount!!
• Kept positive the entire race and never felt like I had 'hit the wall'
• Hit my mile repeats

Gloomy Goods:

• Got sick (bummer!)
• Didn't hit my mileage for the week 
• Didn't get a PR for the half like originally planned
• Took an extra rest day
• So much running = so much laundry!!!

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 7 Rundown

Another week of Marathon training is done and gone! I can't believe I'm almost halfway through training. This is typically where I always need a little 'restart' and 'reset'. I sometimes find myself getting sick (ahem, like this week) or tired. I just need to keep on chugging along!

Monday: 6 easy miles on the treadmill at 10:20 & 20 minutes of strength work

Tuesday: 9 miles on the track- Ladder; 1.5 warm-up; 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 (400 Recovery between); 1.5 cool-down

Wednesday: 7 miles easy @ 10:11 min/mi & Jumpboard Reformer class

Thursday: 10 miles with 7 @ GMP (8:46); actual- 1.5 warm-up; 7 miles @ 8:41; 1.5 cool-down. This run felt SO great and I was super happy that it didn't feel nearly as much of a 'struggle' that I thought it would feel.

Friday: 8 miles easy @ 10:20. I slept in this morning and fit it in the afternoon. It was pretty hot, but a nice change to run during the day!

Saturday: 14 miles @ 9:29; actual- 14 miles @ 9:28 on the treadmill. I had to travel to Denver this weekend for some Figure Skating Coaching Exams & Seminar, so I did it on the treadmill in the afternoon and the gym was SO amazing that I didn't even mind that I was inside!

Sunday: Rest Day & Drive back from Denver

Sunshine Goods:

• Hitting my marathon goal paced run
• Felt strong during my jumpboard pilates class
• Feeling super fit & strong
• Hit my long-run and felt strong
• Fit in 2 strength training sessions

Gloomy Goods:

• Didn't hit all my tempo speed work paces
• Sleep wasn't a priority
• Legs feel pretty sore/tired each day

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 6 Rundown

We are officially under 90 days from the Las Vegas Strip at Night Marathon! Wooohhooooo. This week of training had several low-points, but I honestly feel that those struggles make us stronger when we get to the finish line. If we're able to push through them, then it makes it THAT much easier to push through a little "marathon" pain (well, it's not SO little and it's actually pretty painful, but I'll keep telling myself that ;) ). 

I did 43.5 miles this week (I was planning on doing 47, but unforeseen circumstances I let those extra 3.5 miles slide :) ) and totally nailed my tempo workout outside! This was a HUGE confidence booster, as I've never tried a goal pace run for multiple miles in a row before and I couldn't believe how easy it felt. Talk about empowering! I also switched my rest days this week because my knee was giving me some trouble on Friday, so I did a bunch of leg strengthening exercises and iced it and it's feeling better now (I'm also determined to get more strength sessions in on my own throughout the rest of the training cycle). 

Monday: 6 miles easy on the treadmill @ 9:59

Tuesday: Track Tuesday! I actually made it out on the track this week! This one was super tough and it's really HARD to stay motivated to keep pushing yourself when you are pretty exhausted towards the end of the repeats. 7 miles total with 1.5 warm-up; 4 x 1200 (400 Recovery between sets); 1.5 cool-down. I wanted to hit them each at 5:27, but my average was 5:33. It wasn't perfect and I did hit a few splits, but really need to continue to work on boosting my confidence when things get tough and getting my legs to turnover faster. I also did a CoreBarre class at lunch.

Wednesday: 6 miles easy outside @ 10:01. I did this one during my lunch break and it was SO nice to sleep in (well, turn-off my alarm) and get some miles in during the day. 

Thursday: 10 miles outside with 1.5 warm-up; 7 miles at 8:46 (actual: 8:47); 1.5 cool-down

Friday: Knee was achy; 30 minutes of strength training and 35 minutes on the bike

Saturday: Planned 8 miles @ 10:00 (actual: 4.5 miles @ 9:17). This one was later in the day and I was working through ALOT of emotions, so I really had a need for speed and couldn't reign it in...

Sunday: 10 miles on the treadmill @ 10:00

Sunshine Goods:

• I hit my tempo work-out pace!
• I was able to do my track workout actually on the TRACK and OUTSIDE!
• I fit in 2 strength training sessions (including CoreBarre)
• I took 3 epsom salt baths (these are my favvvorrrittee recovery method)
• 4 out of 6 runs were done outside

Gloomy Goods:

• Oh, the tiredness. Hanson's wasn't kidding when they said it'd be normal to feel achy and exhausted throughout the workout
• Knee achiness. Hoping ice, salt baths, and more strength training will ease this!
• Slight head-cold going on and loss of grandfather/ friend this past week...