marine corps marathon training, week 2: velosano

This was a solid week of training. I am excited with where my fitness is at already!

Pre-hike view mid-week.

Run 1: 4x800, 2 min RI. 8:46 overall pace. Goal for the 800s was to be at least 7:14 pace. 

It was terribly humid. Hit 7:23, 7:14, 7:26, 7:55. Not my best! But that's ok.I feel like there's always one workout per week that I just don't hit for some reason..Also speedwork does not sit well with my stomach sometimes...and this was one of those runs.

One day I will make it to the track for speedwork.

Run 2: Tempo. 1 easy, 5 marathon pace (I thought it was medium tempo), 1 easy.  8:17 overall pace. 

I ended up doing medium tempo paces which need to be at least 8:17 pace to start (based on my "current" fitness, end goal (for training to a sub 3:35 marathon) is 7:40. These miles ended up being 8:00, 7:53, 7:57, 8:00, 7:56. Way better than where I was for the same workout during Week 2 of Berlin Marathon training as seen below.

2018 (left) vs. 2017 (right). It was 57 degrees for the workout this year, vs. 73 degrees last year. Humidity was the same. Both in the morning.

The Beaver Marsh was moody.

And a sunrise. I started in the dark which was interesting. (By interesting I mean scary)

Run 3: 15 mile long run, goal to be 45 seconds over goal marathon pace (8:55). 8:52 overall pace. 

At the back of my mind, I was wondering if I should be skipping or at least shortening this long run due to Velosano (details coming up next). Apparently 3 miles on a bike is equivalent to running 1 mile..so it's kind of like I ran ~18 miles the day prior. Also there was a wedding the previous night as well. However, I got out there just to see what would happen and decided if I absolutely must, I could shorten it. Luckily, I was feeling pretty good overall. My calves and quads were definitely sore, but the rest of my body was fine. I am very proud of this run!

The train makes me emotional when it comes by.  Everytime. Very normal.

The previous day...

This was something I was terribly nervous and dreading. Mostly because my bike rides had fallen off the radar, I have never rode a bike on the road (only the Towpath), and I am not comfortable taking my hands off of the bike... and my longest ride was 30 miles a month and a half ago. The morning started off dry and cool, then the rain started. And then us 50 milers were called to the start. I figured I could at least stay with a group for most of the way since there were so many of us and that's pretty much what happened for 90% of the time. 

The first 6 miles had each intersection blocked off by cops and volunteers so that was a nice ease into the ride. Then we hit the first dreaded hill. I had just learned about "downshifting" approximately 3 days prior so this was my first attempt at it...and it saved me. There were at least 3-4 other similar hills of this nature, and then one that was in my opinion, way more difficult, due to the length and grade of it, and also it was at mile 35. Regardless,  I did not walk up any hills or really stop too much besides for stop lights and intersections. 

The "party" the night before was pretty cool. Mostly because my favorite was there.

Usually I was with at least one other person so that made me feel much better.  There were a few times I was by myself was 1. after the first rest stop - everyone I was riding with stopped at the rest stop and I was like... feeling fine. And then 2. at the end we got a bit spread out but at this point I was more than comfortable with the roads and following the signs. 

I promise I was very excited and happy to finish!

I hit the 25 mile mark at 2:00 hours even so then I became determined to finish under 4 hours. So.. didn't stop at the rest stops but they looked awesome with plentiful snacks and beverages.

Overall, it was an awesome experience! It was very well organized and supported. The amenities were excellent and also easy to understand. It did pain me knowing that there are not "official" results posted anywhere...but it was a ride, not a race. Though now I totally want to do a bike race and/or a duathlon. Not researching this or anything.

All of the food was included. So naturally I went back a few hours later for more.
I also went to a free yoga festival in Akron this week, and it was a nice experience.

They had many local yoga studios, restaurants, and other businesses set up around the perimeter of the park. Cleveland does their own event like this at the end of August. Anytime there's free yoga, I'm there.

Your selfie of the week.

Finally, I wrapped up my Project 365 this week. THANK GOODNESS. It was a fun project but it definitely wasn't easy. I went up to the Terminal Tower Observation Deck for the last picture. Naturally the reflections of windows made it very difficult to get a good picture but it was awesome to see the city after riding 50 miles in it earlier in the day. In hindsight, I should have done a panoramic shot of the city...but lesson learned (one of many during this project)!!

Now to fulfill my *creative* outlet, I am going to focus on blogging, reading, and possibly..possibly brainstorming ideas for a nice photo series to either post on here or Instagram! 

Until next / this week...!