And the second month of marathon training has begun! This was a cutback week, so my overall mileage decreased compared to last week, but I felt good on each and every run despite a few twinges in my hip that I’ve been feeling lately. Getting to the starting line injury free is a top priority, so I’ll consider it a good week overall.
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 5.9 miles
Wednesday: Core strength workout
Thursday: 5.1 miles (1 mile warmup, 5k at race effort, 1 mile cooldown)
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 9 miles @ 11:09/mile average pace
Sunday: 7 miles @ 10:53/mile average pace
My run on Thursday taught me the importance of carrying my own water, even though I have easy access to fountains in Central Park. It was 82 degrees with 80 percent humidity when I went out for my run at 6:45am, and even the 1 mile warmup jog had me sweating until salty. I carried a small water bottle with me that I drained during the 5k I ran at race pace – pretty slow compared to any 5k I’ve raced, due to the heat, but faster than comfortable – and hit the fountain afterwards. No line there since the heat chased people away from spending time in the park. I think it’ll be an essential for the rest of the summer.
As for my Saturday long run, the 9 miles cut back from 11 last week, feeling good as long as I kept to an easy pace. Laura and I decided that my Sunday recovery runs would be longer than is typical because I do better when I have a few miles to ease into a run, and I never start to feel better during a recovery run day until the fourth or fifth mile. This kind of tinkering with my training plan is why I’m happy I found a coach – Laura really works hard to figure out what works for each individual runner. Saturday’s run was definitely helped along by the fact that it was barely 70 and overcast, a big change from earlier in the week.
Sunday’s recovery run felt okay, 7 miles interspersed with some necessary walk breaks. I went out rather late in the morning because we were at a wedding Saturday night. We hopped in the car for an hour-plus drive to get there right after my long run on Saturday, then enjoyed a beautiful celebration with a lot of dancing and good food, so I was definitely feeling it on Sunday! The run was a good way to ease back to normal more than anything else, and after a post-run refuel at Bareburger I’m ready to take on the next week of training.
Best workout for you this week?
How do you beat the heat running in the summer?
Highlight of your weekend?
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renaissancerunnergirl 
I’ve been not very good at beating the heat this year… I think I’ve become a bit lazy about it, so I have been running later in the afternoon, but … it’s getting a good deal hotter in the afternoon. 🙂
It’s pretty neat to hear about people’s experience with a coach. It seems like a coach really keeps the plan balanced and good for your body!
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I’m so happy that you’re finding the plan is working well for you! I started adding longer recovery runs recently and they really do make a difference compared to shorter recovery runs – everything feels so much better after 7 or 8 miles vs 4 or 5.
I beat the heat on summer running by moving to Seattle! Okay, not really, but summer running and winter running are both much easier here. Even if it gets humid it’s never hot at the same time.
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Great week of workouts! Ughhh I ran yesterday at 7am and it was too hot to breathe. I always wear a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and bring like 3 water bottles with me.
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Way to go on those runs! I feel like a wuss since it’s no where near as hot and humid in SD as it was in ATL, but I just can’t motivate to go outside a run right now. I’m not a morning person, so by the time I’m ready to workout it’s already too hot.
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Great week! It’s been a challenging summer to run here in Chicago so far as well. Typically I get out before the sun to avoid as much heat as possible but with speedwork on tap today and it’s already 80 at 5am, I think my 800m repeats will be done on the mill. Thanks for linking!
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Great job for the wk. I also have fountains near where I run but of course I need a drink before I grt to one and regret not carrying any. That refuel meal looks delicious.
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