Gettysburg Marathon Training : Week 8

Week eight is already over, and my body was very happy that it was a cutdown week.  In this plan, that means that the mileage is lower, but the intensity is higher.  Not only did I have a tough hill workout, but I also had two runs with paced miles in the middle (one was my long run!).  I'm going to be incorporating more paced miles into my runs to get me more comfortable with my race goal, and also grow my confidence that I can hold the pace for 26.2 miles.

This week I also started a new core circuit!  I was following the workout in the Oiselle half marathon plan, but I was ready to kick it up a notch.  Dan found a tough 10 minute workout on Youtube, and we've been doing it together a few times a week.  I'm also still doing my daily yoga practice (today is day 30, so I'll have to find something new to do after the 31 videos are over!).  It's been so great for helping me recover and get stronger, so I think it's really making a difference in my training.

This was another great week for me, so I'm excited to tell you all about it:

Monday

3 miles / 10:00 pace

I felt pretty sluggish on this run, which wasn't surprising to me after a high mileage week!  I kept this run really slow and struggled it out for three miles.  I didn't even want to do one step more.

Tuesday

Rest Day!

Yay!

Wednesday

6.25 miles / 9:18 pace

I had a hill workout planned, so I went to North Park with Dan after work to get it done.  He ran 1 1/2 miles with me to warm up, then I did 6 repeats up Ridge Road, a very steep hill in the park.  Each repeat that I did was 1:00 long and ended up being about .15 miles.  I jogged back down after each rep, so I never stopped moving!  After the repeats were done, I ran the three miles back to my car.  The entire route is pretty hilly, so this was no easy run!

On our way home, Dan randomly asked if I felt like Taco Bell and in that moment nothing could have made me happier!  We never stop for fast food, but as soon as he said that I was craving something not so healthy.  I ended up getting a crunch wrap supreme fresco style with beans instead of beef (btw- TB is GREAT about customizing their food, so it's a vegetarian dream!) as well as a Baja Blast.  This is the only place that I can find Baja Blast, so I always get one when we go there.  It tasted AMAZING!

Thursday

4 miles / 9:00 pace

I expected to feel awful on this run after a tough hill workout, but I surprisingly felt great.  My legs didn't feel heavy or tight at all, and I kept a great pace on this run.  The only challenge was the wind- I was running into it the entire time and it was blowing like crazy.

Friday

6 miles / 8:51 pace

This tempo workout was 1 mile warmup, 4 miles at marathon race pace, and 1 mile cool down.  I did this one after work around North Park, and the weather was perfect.  It was snowing a little earlier in the day, so I pushed my run back and was happy about my decision.  Right away my legs felt terrific and loose, which was a great sign.  My goal for the tempo portion was to hit 8:45, but each split ended up feeling really good so I went with it.  I ended up clocking in at 8:32, 8:30, 8:28, 8:21, so I was happy to see my pace getting increasingly faster and I kept feeling better and better!

Saturday

Rest Day!

I rearranged my schedule to have an off day on Saturday, because I went to the Wine on the Three Rivers Festival!  The event was at the Convention Center, and a bunch of local wineries came to let us sample their wines, ciders and meads.  I went with Dan and my mom, and we tried out so many different kinds!  With our ticket, we also got into the Outdoor Expo, where we looked at boats, kayaks, camping equipment, and other outdoor fun stuff.  We ended up buying new bamboo pillows (we were way overdue for new pillows and these feel AMAZING) as well as four bottles of wine.  

Afterwards, we went to Franktuary where I got a vegan hotdog and kale miso salad.  It was my first time there and it was amazing!  They have lots of vegan options and the food was delicious.  I also hear that they have a great happy hour, so I will definitely be back.  For any locals- this is located right by the Dunkin Donuts in Market Square.  There's also a location in Lawrenceville and a food truck.

Sunday

8 miles / 8:43 pace

Not going to lie- I ended up waking up at 3:30 in the morning to watch the Federer/Nadal final in the Australian Open!  It was such a good match and worth it, but I was a little worried I would be tired and it would affect my long run.  Luckily, I actually felt great from the first step and felt like I tapped into a different gear on this run.  My goal was to run 8 miles total, with 5 of them being at marathon race pace.  I ended up averaging my goal marathon pace (8:45) for the entire run, with my paced miles coming in at 8:32, 8:34, 8:27, 8:28, and 8:18.  This was definitely one of those magical runs where I felt like I could have run forever, but I forced myself to follow my plan and not over do it.  

Have you been to a wine festival before?

Favorite Taco Bell item?

What do you crave after a run?  For some reason I always want a Diet Coke after a long run...I never get one but I'm always craving it.

linking up with Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin and also with Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC.