Last week’s Boston Marathon training + new running shoes!

4 recovery runs, 2 workouts, 1 rest day, 56 miles, 9 weeks until race day!

This week was such a nice respite from winter running with temperatures in the 60s for the first half of the week! It was back in the 30s for my long run but that was probably for the best given the longer workout. I had a couple big workouts this week with a longer tempo run and a long run with some mile repeats. Fueling for my big workouts is super important and while I’ve used the same pre-run fuel for years (including at last year’s Boston Marathon) and don’t plan to vary it, I do want to test some different mid-run fuel. More on that below!

Last Week’s Boston Marathon Training

M – 65 minutes recovery, with 8 strides = 8.25 miles @ 8:29 pace

• I also went to dry needling and did some hip mobility work.

T – 70 minutes, with 32 minutes of progressive tempo = 9.4 miles @ 7:34 overall average pace

• I’d had a ROUGH day at work and went to the gym for a strength session, which really calms my anxiety. I zone out to my favorite playlist and since I use my breath so much when I lift heavy, I find it very soothing.

W – 35 minutes recovery = 4.3 miles @ 8:08 pace

• I did core work and hip mobility again.

Th – 95 minutes recovery = 11.2 miles @ 8:32 pace

F – 51 minutes recovery = 6 miles @ 8:32 pace

S – 8 miles easy, then 6 x 1 mile repeats, then 8 x 15 second strides with 45 sec recovery = 17.7 miles @ 7:55 pace

• This workout was so good! I started the run with a friend for the easy portion and then put in my airpods (read my review here) for the mile repeats and just had FUN. I started my first repeat at 7:40 and gradually increased the speed on each one. The last repeat was at 7:05 and everything just felt great. My left knee was bothering me a little going into the strides so I need to keep an eye on that with stretching and PT!

I also tested a new-to-me fueling option – HoneyStingers. While I really love Skratch, I’ve used them for the past two years and just want something different. I found the HoneyStinger super sweet at first, but I really liked the consistency — better than other gels I’ve used. And I had no stomach distress while running. Winner!

Su – REST! I need to do some stretching and foam rolling to work out yesterday’s hard run!

Total Miles: 56.8

How I feel:

Overall, things feel really good. Dry needling has really helped my hip and calf and the only niggle I felt this week was new knee pain. I’m not sure if it’s ITB or runner’s knee but I have PT again this week so I’m sure we’ll get that sorted out soon. Enoch also texted me Saturday after my long run and encouraged me to stretch my quads and roll things out.

Aside from minor aches and pain, the biggest thing I’m noticing is that I’m EXHAUSTED. I think I may have been fighting a little bit of a bug this week since I went to bed about 30 minutes early each night. (And I had some unusually bad GI issues.) And then on Saturday, I took a 1.5 hour nap. I NEVER NAP so to sleep that long was nuts. And then I still slept NINE hours that night after the nap. It makes sense that I’m tired, given the high mileage, but it’s hard to make the 8 hours a night happen during the week with my work schedule right now. BUT, my body seems to be forcing the issue. 🙂

Overall, another good week! And, at the encouragement of my coach, I ordered some new shoes — the Brooks Launch 5 for recovery days and Nike Vaporfly 4% for race day. And new shoes always make a good week an even better week! 😉 Can’t wait to try them out!

Below is my current rotation of gear + other posts related to training! Happy running!

Other running posts you might also like:

• Why I hired a running coach
• What I’ve learned after having a coach for a month
• Why I quit Crossfit after 3+ years
• My V02 Max Test
• 7 things that helped me run faster
• My Spotify playlists for running
• Cold weather running tips
• Treadmill boredom tips

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