Welcome to the Weekly Rundown. Recapping 2019 Chicago Marathon training week 2. Getting back into the groove of summer marathon training and coaching. Linking up with hosts Deborah and Kim for this weekly training recap.
Monday 6/17
Run: Easy. I welcomed my recovery week with just 4 easy miles at zone 2.
Other: Office Day. About 80% of my job is working remotely so I am not used to the office life. It drains me and leaves me useless by the time 5pm rolls around. Anyone who runs in the evening, KUDOS. Biking home felt like I was moving through mud.
Tuesday 6/18
Run: Speed. I arrived that the Oval Office at 5am and it was fog city. I could barely see the other side of the track! The workout was 4x 800m alternating one at 10k, one at 5k, then 2x 800m at 5k push to mile pace, then 4x 400m at 5k push to mile pace, and finally 4x200m at mile pace. All totaled 4.5 miles of speed work, a DOOZY for sure. If this is only week 2 of Chicago Marathon training…. I can’t imagine what I’ll be up to by the end! My legs didn’t have quite the pop they’ve had these past two weeks, but I hit everything and finished just in time to kick off Sprint Tuesdays.
Other: Coach Kitchen! It was just Coach Katie and myself this week, but that didn’t stop us! I had planned a resistance band routine and she planned a hip and core routine. See ya later, glutes!
Wednesday 6/19
Run: Cross Training + Strength. Usually this is a running and strength day, but because it was a recovery week, cross training replaced the run. I went to Robyn’s strength class in the morning and then chose my to count my bike commute as cross training since it’s about 25 minutes each way.
Other: Another office day. I was even more exhausted by the end of today than Monday. Immediately after work I went home, ate and slept…. for ELEVEN HOURS straight!
Thursday 6/20
Run: Tempo. Waking up eleven hours later was disorienting. Why is it so light out? It was “only” 7:00am, but after getting up at 4:30 the past few days, it might as well have been noon. Luckily, the recovery week tempo was only 3x 1 mi repeats at tempo pace with an easy jog between. I chose to do it on Frank the Woodway since the weather looked a bit dicey.
Other: TBT. I shared a pretty personal throwback post over on Instagram, remembering last year’s NP Prom. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, it’s gotten a good amount of feedback. I think it’s worth a minute of time as a reminder of what we can all bring into this coming week. Check it out here.
Friday 6/21
Run: Rest Day. I must have needed a recovery week more than I realized. My body wanted to take advantage of all the rest, so when my alarm went off at 5 to go to November Project, I promptly hit ignore and rolled back over. I had a full sloth day today, but I was able to get a lot of work done.
Other: New Blog Post. Ta-da! Rest Day productivity at it’s finest! One of the questions I fielded the most during the EDGE group training intake calls was about how to stay injury free throughout marathon training. I finally put to paper the 10 minute resistance bands routine that I do during marathon training. Check out the new workout post here, and if you would like more resistance band routines (or workout routines in general) please let me know!
Saturday 6/22
Run: Long Run + Race. Since the past two weeks of training have been SO stellar, I thought I would try jumping into a 5k this weekend. Unfortunately, the race was in a park with gravel paths. Double unfortunately, with all the rain we’ve been having, it was puddle and pothole ridden. After one lap, I turned it more into a tempo than a race, especially because I felt some groin/adductor tension. Darn it. After the race, I extended my cool down out to get the rest of the mileage – 12.5 miles in total for the day.
Sunday 6/23
Run: Easy + Strength + Yoga. My easy run was just a short 3 miles. I considered it more of a warmup for strength and yoga class. It had been since MARCH that I last went to a yoga class, and I forgot how much I appreciate Fran’s Sunday class. My groin/adductor were still bugging my in the morning, but after a good stretch the tightness decreased. Going to have to keep an eye on that.
Other: Book Club! This month, Ladies Who Lit decided to go with a much lighter novel. We read My Lady’s Choosing
And that’s a wrap! Chicago Marathon Training week 2 done and dusted. The recovery week had 32 miles, still with quite a bit of speed work. Next week I build back up, with lots of strength. I have also been thinking of getting my blood tested again with Inside Tracker. In the past two weeks, I’ve had friends and athletes reach out with questions about it (ps, use this link for a discount), which reminded me that I am overdue. I’ve been adding more magnesium rich foods, healthy fats, and taking vegan BCAAs
How was your week? Do you use resistance bands? Let’s stay in touch! Follow me on Instagram or Facebook for more food/fitness related posts.
Happy running,
Becca
11 hours of sleep? I don’t even work, yet I can’t even imagine that. I just can’t/don’t sleep that long. Most nights it’s about 8 hours if I’m lucky, which is good for me.
That’s too bad that the 5k didn’t really work out. This darn rain!
I am in awe of people who run after work (and I know a lot of them). Running that late is just hard for this earlybird!
I am learning to let go of my hatred for resistance bands — I use them for some of my PT exercises. I think I hate them because they make me feel so week, LOL. Interesting on finding office work exhausting. I usually think I have more energy on work-at-home days because I skip the commuting, but maybe the office atmosphere itself is draining too. You had a great week.
you REALLY needed that rest day ! seems like training is going well though all in all. I always mean to use my bands, but I’m just not in the groove yet of doing it at home. I’m going to take a closer look and maybe add that in on Saturday (my cardio / strength day). Looks a bit like pilates movements though with the bands? Or maybe I’m just on a pilates overdose at the moment! my chicago training started officially today – with yoga this morning and pilates this evening. Tomorrow is the first run! I’ve already gotten… Read more »
Awesome job this week! Thanks again for posting that resistance band workout – I’m going to make sure I do that at least once weekly during marathon training.
Oh, I feel you on the office work. I work part-time, but I have 2 early days and I’m exhausted by the end. I give kudos to anyone who can workout after work. Me, I head right for the wint!
My coach has me do a lot of resistance band work, so I can attest to the effectiveness!
I pinned your resistance band workout last week, and am hoping to remember to do it LOL Tuesdays seem to be a low-key day for me, so that’s on my roster. I work in an office, at the reception desk, so I know what you mean about office fatigue. Things are especially busy (in my department) spring and summer, so I don’t get out of there before 5:00 very often. I’d love to come home and crash for about 20 minutes, but I usually try to use that time to catch up on blog reading.
Hah, working in an office IS exhausting…I would much prefer remote 🙂 I get to do it about once a month, but definitely not the norm as I have a lot of meetings that really need to be in person. Oh well. I do agree that running after a day at the office is much tougher though, that’s why I am definitely a morning runner!
Awesome week of work for you- you had a ton of speed in those 32 miles! It’s true my coach has me do a lot of miles, but 80% of them are really easy.
Sometimes you don’t realize that you need a rest day until you realize that you need a rest day 🙂 Took one myself today too. A choose your own adventure romance novel sounds fun! Thanks for linking up