Grandma's Marathon Training - Week 4

It's very hard to believe I've already wrapped up 4 weeks of training for

Grandma's Marathon!

To get in the spirit of the marathon race day, 

here is a throwback to somewhere between mile 14-16 of Grandma's.   It was pretty

obvious I was still feeling pretty good! 

Here's a look at the recap this week! 

32 miles

Sloth-like-behavior

Kick-ass  Kick-boxing

Momentum Jewelry

BeachBody & Oofos 

MONDAY

Monday, we did 1/4 mile sprints.  I ended at 6.4 miles with 9 quarter mile repeats!  The shag was a bit short at .14 miles, so my heart rate didn't decrease as much as I would have liked.  For this reason, I'm going to slow down my shags and add more time to try to get out of the anaerobic zone during the shag period.  Even though I was pretty happy with my splits, which ranged from 1:59-2:05, I'd like to see my sprints be in the neighborhood of about 1:45-1:55.  I think a longer cool down may be just the ticket!   

All in all, I really did feel like a million bucks after this run so it started my Monday out great! 

TUESDAY 

I run with three other women on Tuesday's and it's hard to all be on the same page with our goals.  Wowza!  This run quickly became close to my 10K race pace and I ended 6 miles at 8:29 mile.  It was definitely not something I was planning after a hard day of sprints, but it all worked out and I knew that my Wednesday rest day was coming! 

WEDNESDAY

Actually, Wednesday's have quickly become one of my favorite days of the week!  I wonder why?  NO 4:45 ALARM!!!  WOOO HOOO!!  This day is devoted to an extra hour of sleep.  In addition, it's always fun on Tuesday nights because I stay up a bit later with my husband to catch up on some TV.  

I also found out on Wednesday that I'd be joining the Momentum Jewelry Ambassador Team for 2017.  I have several pieces of their motivational jewelry.  The one I'm wearing in this picture was a gift from Wendy and I really love it!  I wear it the most because it has so much meaning!  She gave it to me about 6 weeks before Grandma's Marathon last year!  Big smooches to you Wendy! 

THURSDAY

Oh, Thursday!  You know the feeling.  The alarm rings.  Your bed is warm.  You're supposed to work out, and then.... you just don't!   Thursday was my sloth morning.  I was feeling insanely guilty because I told myself I would try very hard to not skip a workout during my marathon training.  But... just like that....I did.  The bed just felt so good!

I did redeem myself a bit when I attended my morning kick-boxing class before work.  It's fairly comical because I shower completely, do my hair and then I go to class.  Sounds backwards doesn't it?  If I didn't do it this way, I'd never make it to class.  So, after class, I wash my face in the gym bathroom and put on some makeup.  I change my clothes and head to work - sweaty mess and all.  Nobody seems bothered by it and I get a fantastic workout!  I'm still sore in my shoulders from Thursday! 

Thursday after work,  I also got shipped a few pretty awesome products to test out through Bibrave.  Currently, I'm testing the Beach Body Performance Series Supplements and Oofos Recovery Sandals. 

I have been very pleasantly surprised by the Beach Body supplements!  They taste fantastic and are easy to mix up.  I will be writing a review shortly,  but I have to say I may become a beach body coach 'just' for these products.  

PLUS!  This is a huge bonus for me.  It's been 3 entire days without soda!  The energize product has natural caffeine, so I've been drinking it to help me curb the cravings of my favorite carbonated beverage.   Slowly, I'm using less and less energize to hopefully completely eliminate the need for caffeine.   

Here's to hoping I can kick the habit! 

FRIDAY

This is supposed to be another rest day, but I was feeling so crazy guilty about not getting my run in on Thursday, I hit Millie for a run.  For this workout,  I focused on 3 x 1 mile sprints.  I had one mile of slow warm-up at 10:00/mile followed by one mile splits at 7:50's.  All with 0.4 miles of recovery at a slow/easy pace in between.  I really enjoyed this workout!  I felt that I could maintain these faster 5K-like paces because I had 4-5 minutes recovery in between.  I will be doing this workout again! 

Because I'm going to be testing out the amazing Oofos recovery sandals,  I needed a pedicure STAT!  Also, my feet were pretty tired.  I treated myself to a spa pedicure in my house and wore the recovery sandals after.  They are super comfy and my feet feel light when I take them off! 

SATURDAY

If Minnesota could bring some nice long run weather that would be FANTASTIC!  Unfortunately, this run was very cold and windy.  However,  I accomplished my goal of 14 miles and I sure was happy when it was done.  My pace stayed fairly steady and I ended my run with 14 miles @ 9:06 per mile so I can't complain.  Although, Marcia tells me to run even easier so that I can do 9's all day long.  She's right - I'm going to focus on slowing my pace down even more because I struggled the last two miles to finish.   

Even though it was cold, the sun was shining - so there's that!  

We also had a pretty crazy scare on the run on Saturday as well.  At about 5:30,  we passed a vehicle with a man slumped over in it.  We quickly ran by because the area of our town we were running in has been known to have a bunch of drug traffic.  Sure enough, at the end of the run, he was still there slumped in his vehicle!  My friends immediately called the police. 

Long story short, they impounded his car and he was arrested for DWI and possession of a controlled substance.  Yikes!  My friends said they were tagging the run, "Save a Life, Go to Jail."   

Running always bring adventure doesn't it?!?!

All total this week, I ran 32 miles.  It's my most weekly mileage since LAST February!  I also closed the month of February out with 110 running miles.  I'm pretty happy about that!  

As always, I'm linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap!  I look forward to hearing about your week too!