Marathon Training Wk 3 Recap - Heat and Waves and Paint, Oh My!

First, a quick thank you for all the supportive comments on this post (via blog, FB or real life). For those of you who may have been worried - don't. :) 99.9% of the time, the numbers don't hang with me. That other .1% is just a high level of annoyance.  ;)

Now, a quick recap of last week!  Overall it went pretty well, training-wise!  

Planned/Completed/Avg Pace:

Monday:  3 miles/3.1 miles (10:43) - I was running late on Monday and debated skipping the run. The box-checker in me decided I couldn't and I eeked it out just in time!  It was a nice start to the week.

Tuesday: 8 miles/ 8 miles (11:08) - The alarm felt WAYYYYY too early and coffee did not help.  Dragged my butt out the door. Finished all 8 miles, but legs felt tired. It was garbage day, which is always stinky. :( Also, there are some jerk-kids (or something?) around the neighborhood that keep knocking over trash and making a huge mess (this is the 4th week in a row). So I did stop my run a few times to help clean up.  

Wednesday: Rest/Rest - I did take Perry on a 45 min or so walk in the heat of the day, so I suppose that's something. :) He was darn tired.

Thursday: 5 miles (mid 3 tempo) / done! Average pace was 10 min.  I was shooting for tempo paces between 9:15-9:33. My actual splits for miles 2-4 were 9:36, 9:22, 9:33. Not too bad for my first tempo attempt!  I was pretty pleased overall, since (again) I had to drag myself out the door. 

Thursday also included an unexpected workout - crazy swim conditions at Lake Michigan!  I took my kids and met some other family out there for a beach afternoon. The waves were amazing, but EXHAUSTING.  I came home so utterly tired and sore (and sunburned!). Yet, we stayed up late to watch Olympic gymnastics.  Friday morning's alarm was painful... 

Friday: 3 miles/nada  (moved this run to Sunday, see below)

Saturday: 16 miles / done... painfully (11:41)  I was really disappointed in how this run turned out, especially since my 15 miler last week went so well. But I slept terribly and it was hotter than I'd expected. Despite pretty good fueling/hydration, I was zapped by mile 8. 

 

[me about mile 7 - still feeling pretty good!]

The entire 2nd half was a mental battle.  I was SO close to calling it quits at 14 miles, but too stubborn.  My Garmin clicked to 16 miles while I was about a 1/2 mile from home.  I could've walked but I just collapsed onto a park bench and called Mark, who came to get me. :) I was fairly tired the rest of the day (since it was busy and no nap chance) but not too bad. No lasting soreness or other adverse affects. 

Sunday: Rest/3.1 miles - Color Run 5k!  This race was a blast, mostly because it wasn't a race at all (not timed).  My sister and Mark's sisters joined me (along with another friend).  We walked a lot of it, but that was fine. It was a beautiful morning and just a fun event.

Weekly Total:  35 miles

Before:

 

                                                                    After!

 

Color Explosion in the Plaza!