Scraped Knees and Bruised Egos. Week 2 - Marathon Training Complete

Week Two- Grandma's Marathon

Training Complete 

This week started off with a bang, and then somewhere in the middle I lost a bit of mojo.  I managed to throw in a half-marathon and a fall on the ice..... and then I capped it off with a 6 mile easy run. 

Day ONE:  

Yup, hill sprints!  Susan is a great trainer; fantastic really.  But, there is part of me that knows she enjoys to torture us just a bit too much!  2 miles of hill sprints, or as she says a good pace up.  Day one total was 6 miles.  

Day TWO: 

32 degrees at the 5AM start was absolutely amazing.  I could dress lighter and we ran easy.  5.5 miles - nothing too exciting.  Just another day, another grind. 

Day THREE: 

Push pace day.  Run as fast as reasonably comfortable for the entire duration of the run.  It was 11 bitterly cold degrees and this run was horrible.  Everything about it was horrible.  I lost my mojo for the day, couldn't keep up with the group, had frozen fingers and couldn't WAIT to be done.  I talk about it in detail on my last blog post.  I won't bore you with all the details, but look here if you want more. :)   But basically, I felt like this after.

Amazingly, I finished 6.6 miles at 8:22/mile.  Super fast for me for this distance.  After some great social media contact and positive comments,  I reflected with this.  

Day FOUR:

I took a rest day on Thursday and did some light weight training.  My arms actually still hurt from the workout three days later. Apparently, it was a good one!

Day FIVE: 

Long run day.  We decided to do this on Friday morning.  Because I need to be home for my husband to go to work at 6:30 am, my alarm rang at 4:20 am.  I got in 2 miles before meeting the girls at 4:45 am to complete 13 miles; all before breakfast. 

The temperature was amazing at 34 degrees.  Surprisingly, for a day when I was up so early, the run really did feel effortless.  We quickly realized that we were going to be a bit slower because the roads were very icy from the re-freeze over night.  So icy in fact, both Susan and I took a nasty fall at mile 12.  I skinned my knee and elbow right through my clothes.  Stunned I laid there for about 60 seconds and my last 1.2 miles was a bit slower.  

I was surprised to see the break in skin even through my tights!

Even with the fall however, the run felt fantastic.  Pace was great at 9:01 per mile and I felt pretty damn excited to run a half marathon before breakfast.  I tried fuel for the first time during this run and it went just fine.  No stomach upsets....so it's a WIN! 

Day SIX:

Today was a day I probably could have skipped. I was pretty darn sore coming off of 13.2 miles the day before and I am still nursing my knee.  My husband encouraged me to go out and do a recovery run.  Had I not, I woudn't have seen this beautiful sunrise.  It's such a welcome sight.  I rarely run in light until late spring when the sun rises about 5:15.   I'll take any sunrise I can get!

6 miles to complete week two! Although they weren't easy because I was so sore, I sure am thankful for the beauty around me!

STATS:

37.3 miles

6 workouts

5.6 hours

4098 calories burned

Today, like last week, I'm linking up with Hoho Runs and Tricia at MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap! Make sure to check out some other great blogs when you visit!