I am now less than 6 weeks away from the Philly Marathon. How in the world did that happen??
My mileage keeps creeping up higher and higher, and while it’s exciting, it’s super scary! Over the weekend, I completed my very first 17-mile run. Talk about a milestone! I’ll share with you how that run went on how the rest of my marathon training has been going. It was the second week of having some kind of workout every day of the week, but my body is handling it all pretty well (thank God)!
I’m linking up with Hoho Runs and Miss Sippi Piddlin for the Weekly Wrap! It’s a great way to see what your favorite health and fitness bloggers are up to each week!
Join the #weeklywrap and catch up on what your favorite health and fitness bloggers are up to! #runchat Click To TweetI had to think about what my theme would be for the latest weekly wrap and then I remembered…I am officially signing up for my ultimate bucket list race, the Ragnar Relay! It’s taking place in Pennsylvania on June 2-3, 2017!
So what is the Ragnar Relay? It’s an overnight road race that is made up of 12 or 6 runners that usually run a total of about 200 miles. They take place all over the country with some really gorgeous scenery along the way. Each runner will have 3 (or 6) legs to complete of varying difficulty and elevation. The Pennsylvania race will be going through Lancaster and into the Poconos. I’m sure there will be lots of hills/mountains along the way. I can’t wait!
I’m participating with City Fit Girls. There was actually so much interest in signing up that CFG will have 2 teams! Ragnar has been a dream race of mine pretty much since I started running 5 years ago, so I am really excited to finally get to do this event with an amazing group of women. Since I don’t get to go out on their group runs very often, I hope this will turn out to be a great bonding experience. It’ll be impossible NOT to have a blast!
Of course, my main focus right now is marathon training, but I’ve been thinking a lot about which races I want to do in the spring…it’s not as far away as you’d think! Ragnar would be an awesome way to close out the spring racing season. I know I will have so many questions leading up to the event, so if you’re a pro, I’d love any advice that you can share!
Monday 10/3: Lunchtime yoga. We spent most of our focus on hamstrings, which was appreciated after Sunday’s 10-mile run. When I got home for work, I went for an easy 4 miles. They were extra slow since my quads were feeling pretty fatigued. I crashed when I went to bed.
Tuesday 10/4: I woke up with my back and shoulders feeling pretty sore from some of the backbends in yoga class.
Wednesday 10/5: This was my marathon pace run. The plan was to warmup for a mile, then alternate 1-mile of 10:30 and 10:50 pace, concluding with a 1-mile cooldown. This run was really challenging. Once again I struggled to make my paces, and it probably didn’t help that I was running on a somewhat busy street and encountering tons of hills.
Thursday 10/6: Spinning class after work. It was a nice class, but I didn’t sweat as much as the previous week. The instructor gave me a few tips on my form and suggested that I turn up the resistance higher…so I eventually did get a really good sweat. I just have to make sure I don’t overdo it because my hamstrings were feeling a bit sore the next day!
Friday 10/7: 6 am yoga class. I was sooo tempted to stay in bed, but I knew that I would regret not going. It was a really nice practice.
Saturday 10/8: 17-mile long run!! Even though I’ve already run 15, I was so nervous about making this distance all by myself! While I had a bit of a late start because my cell phone wouldn’t charge, I had a really solid run! At one point I looked at my watch and saw that I was going a lot slower than my target pace and knew that I could pick it up and still be comfortable. I was really proud. The only low light was that I did see a few deer when running on Lincoln Drive trail and it freaked me out!
Sunday 10/9: For the first time in ages, Bret and I ran together. It was an easy
I am EXTREMELY PLEASED with how this past week of training went. I ran a total of 30 miles…I can’t tell you the last time I had such high weekly mileage! While my marathon pace training run didn’t go as well as I hoped, I’m optimistic that I can keep working on it. The good thing is that this is my first marathon, so I can’t use my usual methods of finding ways to be hard on myself…I’ve never done this before! I’m optimistic and hopeful to have a good race, but again, I have no idea what challenges an additional 9 miles will bring. I just want to start and finish the marathon in one piece!
Week 10 gets an A+! I’m so proud of myself, but I have to basically duplicate this performance for Week 11 except my long run will be 18 miles. Fingers crossed for another strong week!
How was your week of working out? Have you done/would you ever do a Ragnar Relay race?