TWENTY DAYS out. This last week was big and awesome! One thing I very specifically took note of this week is the ability of my body to recover. Lifelong Endurance has guided me to becoming so much stronger, and I am really REALLY looking forward to running 42.2k on July 29th! I haven’t run a marathon in over four months. It’s (almost) time. LOL.
Monday, July 2nd – easy day
10k nice and easy. Didn’t really feel like going, ended up being awesome. Weird 😉
Tuesday, July 3rd – hard day
- 3k easy
- 8 x [800m ~4:30/km, 2:00 rest]
- 3k easy (I only did 2)
Average pace for the eight 800s was 4:25/km. I took the rests very easy, walking for at least a minute of the 2:00 each time. I wanted these 800s to be solid because the last time I was at the track I was sick as a dog and it was very discouraging. Awesome workout!!
Later that day, 7k easy before dinner
Wednesday, July 4th – easy day
Back on the road! I headed to Telkwa to visit my friends for a few days and then go camping with the tri crew on Friday. This is one of my favourite places on the planet.
10k easy was on the schedule. My friends live at the very top of basically a 10k hill. The final 2.5k to their house is the steepest! Every time I go I envision myself being able to run back up slowly but consistently and it never happens. I did intervals of 200m jog, 100m walk for the final 2.5k of this run.
Thursday, July 5th – rest day!
Zero exercising today! My quad was sore from the track on Tuesday and then the pounding downhill on Wednesday, so I was glad to take it easy! Plus, 38km was on schedule for the following day!
Friday, July 6th – long run day
Thirty-eight kilometers!!! This was the kind of run that didn’t feel AMAZING but also wasn’t anything to complain about. I wasn’t able to pick up the pace in the last 8k, which was the plan “if feeling good” but I was consistent and my fueling was awesome.
After food, coffee, nap and more visiting, I headed down to the Tyhee Lake campsite.
Saturday, July 7th – easy day
6.5k easy along the triathlon run course! I considered skipping this run…we were on our feet all day long at the farmers’ market and exploring around downtown Smithers, and then Erin, Corey and myself went for a mini-swim to test the temperature of the lake. Adding on a run seemed like so much work, but I went for it. The beginning felt terrible! My quad felt like it had a rock hard knot in it on the left, and my left ankle was hurting too. But things improved and as always I was very happy to have gotten it done and stuck to my schedule.
Then it was dinner time with the tri crew (now called the Piranhas) and very early to bed!! Wooooo!!!!
Sunday, July 8th – hard day! Tyhee Lake Triathlon!
Okay. Triathlon is the BEST. You know how I am obsessed with marathons? I might be MORE obsessed with triathlon. I’ll write a full review of this race because it’s so great people need to know more about it, but in summary…
Swim: despite having gotten into the water pre-race and practicing some breathing and warming up, I couldn’t calm the F down for the first 500m. It was frustrating. I’ve worked so hard on my swim! At the second buoy, I started to pull myself together over the next 250m. The second loop was AWESOME and went by in the blink of an eye.
Bike: great! I am not an experienced cyclist and didn’t train nearly enough. This was hard, but bike riding is soooo fun! I worked as hard as I could and enjoyed myself. Forty kilometers felt long!
Run: started amazing, faded quite a bit and had some negative thoughts, told them to STFU, and then smashed the second half. I passed a lot of people! AND it was hot out and I didn’t even notice. Stoked on this run overall!
Such an amazing way to cap off the week! A super fun and exciting full-body workout that ended with running on very tired legs – excellent practice for the marathon! Such a positive racing experience with my friends.
SUMMARY
WEEKLY MILEAGE: 95km
INJURIES/PRE-HAB? quad was concerning me but it seems to have loosened up and isn’t irritated anymore!
SLEEP? fine
NUTRITION BRAGS? Um Skratch Labs powder has now served me well three times during hard and/or long workouts. My fueling on the 38k and during the tri was really good!
CURRENTLY READING: probably going to listen to How Bad Do You Want It on repeat until the marathon now..
CONFIDENCE BOOSTER(S): the triathlon! Specifically the last 5km! Also putting 38k on these legs just two days before.
NEXT RACE: Jack & Jill’s Downhill Marathon. Holy shit.
JammieKomadina 