Previous marathon training long runs:
I had a FABULOUS 15.0-mile training run this morning! Mileage is ALWAYS better with friends.
Alright – so clearly, Maggie wasn’t involved in the training run, but Jen and Emily sure helped me along!
With any training program – but especially for marathons – there will be ebbs and flows with your long runs. It’s just part of being human. I’ve learned to accept the ‘bad’ runs more gracefully (after all, they teach you a LOT!) and really relish the good runs.
Emily ran the full 15.0 with me, which helped because she’s definitely a tad bit stronger and faster than I am. It really motivated me to keep on trucking.
And we looped back around Mile 10 to grab Jen, who already did her long run this week, and we all finished up together.
The run didn’t start off that well, truthfully. I slept horribly and woke up feeling groggy. I try not to get into the “This is going to be a bad run†mindset because it really doesn’t help the situation at all! I ate my standard breakfast (PB sandwich with a banana and coffee):
Once Emily arrived at my place, I just decided to focus on chatting with her and tried not to focus too much on the actual running.
We stopped at a gas station around Mile 3.0 to buy a Gatorade. I had two servings (about 300 calories) over the course of the run. I’m experimenting with solid food calories (Gels or jelly beans) vs. drink calories. It seemed to work well today!
Emily and I rarely walked – we took a few breaks to drink water or stretch out our legs (timed). I think we just wanted it to be OVER! Once Jen joined us, things really picked up. I actually hit a 9-minute mile during the last mile because I wanted to be done so, so bad.
My splits:
- Distance: 15.0 miles
- Duration: 2:36:35 (average of 10:26)
- Mile 1: 10:15
- Mile 2: 10:07
- Mile 3: 9:59
- Mile 4: 9:48
- Mile 5: 10:08
- Mile 6: 11:17
- Mile 7: 10:29
- Mile 8: 10:30
- Mile 9: 10:26
- Mile 10: 11:01
- Mile 11: 10:41
- Mile 12: 10:28
- Mile 13: 10:32
- Mile 14: 11:06
- Mile 15: 9:48 <— wowza!
Hip, hip, hooooray!
Came home and immediately made a protein shake:
Which contained 1 cup almond milk, 1 banana, 2 scoops brown rice protein, frozen cherries, and two mini Resee’s PB cups <—epic.
Showered and ate lunch:
Leftover No-Cheese Salsa Verde Enchilada:
Two pieces of bread with tabbouli:
And a salad (trying to eat some veggies, too, not just straight carbs):
Now that my stomach is satisfied (for now, this will probably last me an hour at the most!), I’m going to take a well-deserved nap.
One of the things that Jen, Emily, and I were discussing on the run is my training plan. Although I can’t be sure because the weather was so weird for my first marathon, I think I need to do more long runs and have a shorter taper period than most training plans call for (safely, of course, so I don’t get injured). That’s why I’m already at 15.0 miles even though my marathon isn’t until December. Emily prefers a longer taper (3 weeks), while Jen needs a shorter one (1.5).
What modifications do you make to typical training plans to make them work for YOU and YOUR BODY?
Back in the day when I was running long races I preferred a short taper as well, like 2 weeks. Otherwise I felt overwhelmed by the race distance. Good job on 15!