What to Know about Marathon Pace Before Your Race
April 10, 2024
Last week’s workouts focused on training for a strong finish at the end of a long race. The week itself was also a practice in a strong finish: I felt exhausted for a few days in a row during the middle of the week, but finished the week strong with a great long run, a solid 40 miles for the week, and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations!
Some runs with Ollie are interesting. On this run, Ollie nearly leaped into the bog (with me attached) when he noticed two ducks. He has gone into full-on bird-dog mode recently and you can see the crazy in his eyes when he notices a duck, goose, or even a robin. He has a new toy that’s a duck, and he carries it around the apartment and shakes it vigorously… so needless to say, whenever I see ducks nearby, I shorten his leash or stop completely. I don’t want another repeat of the time he caught a rabbit!
For strength training, I completed a quick kettlebell workout at home. I usually tag along with Ryan to the gym, but he was resting after his half marathon and I couldn’t muster the motivation to go by myself. Instead, I did three sets of kettlebell swings, squats, kettlebell single leg deadlifts, kettlebell snatch presses, and kettlebell sumo squats to high pulls at home.
8 x 1K is one of my favorite workouts, but I did a different twist on it this week. Instead of running all the intervals at 10K pace, I alternated between half marathon pace and 5K pace. Half marathon pace ends up feeling decently comfortable when compared to 5K pace. This workout required a careful focus on pace and a hard effort by the final 5K interval, but was a fun challenge.
A friend had the day off work, so we met up for a 6 mile easy run. Runs pass by so much more quickly when done with friends!
I was exhausted on Wednesday. After years on medication and then my surgery in December, I finally got my first real period in over 10 years and the fatigue was palpable. I skipped my strength training workout and took a mile long walk with Ryan instead to get fresh air. On the bright side, my surgery did help with cramps (I think and I hope… this is only one data point and I did take Aleve for a few days).
I was wiped on Thursday (thanks, hormones), so I gladly took a rest day. I needed some fresh air and exercise, so Ryan and I took a 3-mile walk in the evening.
This run went really well! The weather was chilly and sunny, which definitely helped. I finally felt back to my normal energy levels. I kept an easy pace for 10 miles and increased the effort to comfortably hard for the final three miles. I cranked out a 7:21, 7:13, and 7:18 for those three miles and felt as if I could have kept going.
When I was harnessing up Ollie for this run, Charlie spun in excited circles in front of the door, so I couldn’t resist taking him as well. Ryan, Ollie, Charlie, and I ran 5 easy-paced miles. We all decked out in green for St. Patrick’s Day!
After our run, Ryan and I went out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It’s one of our favorite holidays – Ryan’s an engineer (St. Patrick is the patron of engineers) and I’m a quarter Irish/Scottish. We enjoyed Irish stout and corned beef and cabbage and the weather was nice enough to eat and drink outside.
Ryan and I had the intentions of skiing, but when we got out of Mass, the sun was starting to peak out from the clouds. Instead of skiing, we opted to enjoy the warm weather and took an hour-long walk. After our walk, I did a magic circle Pilatesology workout.
[Tweet “A strong finish to another week of #halfmarathon #training via @thisrunrecipes #weeklywrap #running”]
How was your week in running?
Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
Are you more likely to skip strength training or a run when not feeling 100%?
20 Responses
Birds do nothing for Cooper. It’s usally squirrels and chipmunks that make him go full on chase mode! That’s so funny about the ducks. Great job on the fast finish 13! You are killing workouts!
Thank you! Squirrels make Ollie go crazy also! Ha, it must be a lab thing! Or maybe because squirrels seem to get their adrenaline rush from jumping into a dog’s path…
Great job this week! When I am tired I can usually talk myself into doing some strength training or easy cycling. Nice work with that fast-finish long run!
Thank you! The spin bike does sound nice for working out when tired!
OMG with the ducks and birds!! That is crazy and I can totally see how it happens. Be careful out there. And YAY for getting a real period but booo for the “realness” of fatigue that comes with it.
Sounds like another great week of training and I love the family picture with both doggies 🙂
Thank you! I am really hoping I can find a way to calm him down as more and more birds come out in spring…
Hey neighbor! I’ve done a few Snohomish running co races, but not the women’s race. I’m looking forward to hearing how you like it. I’m a fan of their races because it means I don’t have to go into Seattle :). Wasn’t it great to see the sunshine this weekend?
Hi! It’s always nice to hear from a local reader/runner! I really like the women’s 10K last year – it was very well organized and the course was fast – so I’m hoping to enjoy the half marathon this year. I’m also looking at doing their River Run half in October. And the sunshine has been so wonderful the past few days (Even weeks!).
It’s rare that my dog will lunge after birds but I’m sure ducks would probably peak her interest! Sounds like you had a great week even with period fatigue. When I finally got off birth control and I got my first normal one, it seriously felt like I got hit by a truck. It got better but whew! Hope you have a great week!
Thank you! I’m hoping mine get better as my hormones regulate -that’s comforting to hear that yours did.
You had some good miles this week! Looks like spring has sprung by you. Your corned beef looks fantastic!
Thank you! Spring is here and it’s been so sunny that I am afraid talking about it too much will jinx it and make the rain return. The corned beef was delicious!
Last year, I would have been more likely to skip strength training but now I’m more likely to skip the run. I think it comes from being injured so much. I mean, when a runner gets injured most people recommend strength training… when a weight lifter gets injured, no one tells them to start running. I guess skipping the strength training might pay off in the short term but feel like skipping the run but strength training instead would pay off in the future.
I’m glad you had a good week and still got in 40 miles despite the rest day!
I definitely wouldn’t skip strength training on a regular basis! It’s something about having a period for me that makes running (being outdoors in fresh air) totally okay but being in a stuffy gym sound awful.
Oh, I feel ya there. I love being outside. Plus, it’s not like you skipped strength training for weeks at a time, or all week- you still did strength another time that week. I do feel like it’s hard though, when you’re training and life gets in the way, to know what to skip and what not to skip if something’s gotta go.
Isn’t it crazy how much hormones affect our energy? But it definitely seems like good news to be getting back to your cycle and with minimal discomfort.
Such a strong week, Laura! How exciting!
Thank you! It is crazy how much of an impact hormones have – and I am so glad I read ROAR so that I knew why that was happening!
My week in running was okay. Thanks for asking. We do celebrate St. Paddy’s day. My mom’s family is all Irish so I love it. I pinched everybody I saw who didn’t wear green … which was everybody for the Saturday swim because we were all suited up in black wetsuits. Ha! I do normally skip workouts the first day of my period. Yup – it’s true.
Ha ha I love how you pinched people not wearing green!
I haven’t tried taking the new, old dog we adopted out on a run — or walk. He weighs probably 85 pounds and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t hold him if he had enough motivation to go after something. But, he is such a sweetie. I’m glad your energy levels returned toward the end of the week and you finished the week out strong. I like your twist on the 8 x 1k workout too. Thanks for linking.