Workouts: Last week of Pre-Training!
Truthfully, there isn’t THAT much difference between pre-training and training but hey — the distinctions help mentally break things up! Next week I will start a modified version of Hanson’s marathon training plan — I’m adding miles and making some adjustments but will be following the overall structure and doing the prescribed speed and tempo workouts.
Working with my coach for 2 years gave me a good understanding of what I respond to, and so now I feel pretty confident customizing my own plan.
Last week:
M: 8 mi with J + T, 8:58/mi ave. Lovely weather; 56F / 85%.
T: 8 mi total – 2 warmup, 3 @ MP, 3 CD. 66F / 95%. 9:03/mi ave; 8:19/ave on the MP miles. Afternoon: 1 hr strength, mostly upper body (back / chest / arms).
W: Nice relaxed social run with T, 9:47/mi, 58F / 81%. This felt effortless and fun.
T: 8 mi @ 9:21/mi ave (did strides at end), 60F / 80%. Post-work: 1 hr lower body strength @ the training gym – goblet squats, hamstring curls, and many other things.
F: 6 mi @ 9:57/mi. Legs were sore from strength day! 65F / 88%.
S: 13 mi – mini-progression. I averaged 8:51/mi, starting off at ~9:00 – 9:10/mi and ending at 8:20 – 8:30/mi. Weather was meh (72F, 93%) for January (though nothing close to summer!). I felt decent on this run but was WAY more tired afterwards than I am used to; typically I pride myself on being able to complete 2-3 hour runs and then still have a fairly normal day but yesterday I really struggled. Hopefully I will get used to it again!
S: TBD, probably some yoga + strength for runners on Peloton.
TOTAL: 50 mi / strength x 2 hrs (plus anything I add today) – very happy with this week overall! I just generally feel much more excited to run compared to my JAX cycle. This is mostly due to the weather but I also think I needed the break. I hope I can keep the motivation/energy up all the way to race day in late May – admittedly it’s quite a ways away!
Reading
I finished The Wedding People yesterday. Yes, this book topped a slew of 2024 “Best Of” lists for a reason. I LOVED the writing, the ideas, the characters, the premise. Despite the tittle, this is not fluffy wedding/romance — not knocking that genre, but it just isn’t. Themes/triggers include self-harm/suicide, infidelity, sexuality, aging, and infertility. It was a lot, but none of it felt forced.
It’s the first book this year that wins a heart from me (2025 Books Page).
I am still finishing up Minimalista by Shira Gill, which has been inspiring (I already cleaned out my closet). She definitely goes a step beyond what I will ever consider doing (AM NOT EVER DECANTING OUR SNACKS AND CEREAL INTO CLEAR CONTAINERS) but there are so many great ideas in the book, her style is generally realistic and encouraging, and the photos are inspiring.
Screen Time!
A little higher, but I noticed it counting FaceTime as screen time (especially yesterday) and sometimes it said I spent like 20 minutes on “settings” which . . . I did not, what would one even DO for 20 minutes on settings? So if anything I believe this to be an overestimate.
Breakdown of usage over the week:
I am glad that despite some moodier days I did not succumb to scroll-centered coping mechanisms; for me that is really a good thing.
I hope everyone has a restful Sunday!
12 Comments
I read The Wedding People a few months ago, and I still have all the feels for it.
I will join you in never ever never decanting snacks and cereal.
I am so glad that you love the wedding people as much as I did! The book cover did not do that book justice, though! I felt the same way about lessons in chemistry.
It’s great that you’re feeling more energy and excitement for this training cycle. I’m sure the weather plays a big part in your feelings about it. It’s so much more enjoyable to train during the peak weather season.
I finished Parable of the Sower last night, which was good, but there are better postapocalyptic books out there, and started Yellowface, which I think I’m going to enjoy. I have such a robust TBR (including Wedding People) right now which feels good! And thank you for the description of it — it seemed kind of like an Elin Hildebrand novel from the review on Amazon (which can be great, but I’m not always in the mood for that). I might actually try it now.
Workout-wise I am thinking of walking and reading on the treadmill for a while (it’s 14 degrees out and falling), followed by 30 min full body strength (Tonde on peloton). My back was tight when I woke up so I’m wondering whether I should do some yoga too, but also if I plan too much activity, I won’t do any at all haha. And I already did about an hour of work on a future grant this morning, so — win!
Annnnnndddd tomorrow I have an earned day off (we earn them if we have >8h of cases on Saturday call, however they are given back to us… irregularly). HOWEVER I got one! And my daughter and husband are off for MLK day so we are celebrating by… taking Fable (dog 1) for dental surgery. WOOOOOO!!!! (Actually, Luca will probably take her, and I will take Dyl to the mall as a birthday present. Still.)
Jk I did Jess sims 45 min from 11/18/24. It was hard but good!
I enjoy Elin H as you know but def this book had different vibes (darker deeper more literary). And yay for the strength! I didn’t end up doing any today… ahh well!
It’s not too late!!
It was bc I was at a soccer tourn an hour away! I could have done it in the AM but I didn’t. That’s ok though I met my two session a week goal. Hopefully this week I’ll get my bonus weekend session in!
oh i was going to add that I liked Yellowface and yet I have never hated a protagonist more! Rebecca F Kuang is such a good writer. I want to read Babel too.
I am a decanter, but just use jars I get things in/thrift store, and those chalk markers. It is not a stylish endeavour, but it makes it easier to look and see what we’ve got. Otherwise I assume we have spaghetti, and end up with a last minute cycle to the store. We don’t tend to have a ton of food on hand though, so it’s not a big project.
Great start of the year running and reading wise.
I loved The Wedding People so much and kind of started it not knowing anything about it so it was a pleasant surprise. I read it a few months ago and haven’t found one I’ve loved as much since.
I agree, I thought The Wedding People was going to be a little fluffy, but it wasn’t! It was so good.
Nice week of running! Yeah, the humidity was back… sigh. But there were still some nice days.