NYC Marathon Training Week 11 & 12

Two more weeks of training done! I can’t believe how fast this training cycle is going and that it is already time to start tapering.

Week 11

Week 11 started off a little rough. I had been very lucky not to have a bad week of training, but this week was a bit of a different story. I think I was totally worn out from my 60 mile week and my body really needed some rest.

I always say “listen to your body”, and I did just that. I was supposed to have 3 hard runs this week, but I cut it back to just two. Sometimes you have to adjust your plans and do what is right for you. Which is usually much easier said than done 🙂

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 6 miles at 9:17 pace. I declared this the worst run of my training so far. Wow, it sucked. I didn’t want to get up, so I started too late and knew I had to cut it short. I think I was mentally “off” from the start, and then when my legs didn’t want to move fast I was thrown off physically. Overall, a terrible run.

A horrible run with mismatched socks.

Wednesday: 7 miles at 8:51 pace. I took this one nice and easy. I was a little scared after the previous days run, so this one would be a relaxed pace.

Thursday: 18.25 miles at 8:29 pace. I had to do my long run during the week due to 5k’s over the weekend. I ran 11 alone and 7 with friends. No goal pace miles in this run. Just ran for the distance.

Celebrating my one month countdown!

Friday: 6 miles at 9:10 pace. Recovery run with Ramsey. I love our morning runs together!

Saturday: Pumpkin Run 5k – 19:29, 6:06 pace! I WON the females! And I PR’ed!!!! I think I need to write a blog post dedicated to this run, because it was so freaking exciting. And I am still smiling over that PR. (I also ran 1 mile warm up/cool down)

HOLY FREAKING COW!!!!

Sunday: John Glasser 5k, 8:30 pace. Ran with Ramsey and Adam. It was a chilly, but gorgeous morning!

Total Miles: 44

Week 12

This week was my last peak week of training. It was my goal to get to 60 miles again, but I ended up doing 58.

I went into this week feeling great. I think all of the easy miles the week before were good for me.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 8 miles at 7:52 pace. Fun track workout. 12 x 400 with 200M recovery in between each repeat. I never stopped the entire time on the track. All repeats were either 1:29 or 1:30.

Gorgeous morning on the track!!

Wednesday: 8 miles at 8:01 pace. Early morning run with a couple friends.

Thursday: 12 miles at 8:21 pace. I ran 6 miles before meeting up with my Thursday run friends. 4 miles were tempo pace: 7:23, 7:08, 6:58, 7:23. The rest were easy pace.

Friday: 8 miles at 9:15 pace. Super easy recovery miles.

Avoided a major disaster here.

Saturday: 18 miles at 7:49 pace. Warmed up for 3 miles, then hit it hard for 12 miles (actually 13 because I struggled to slow my pace down…I was in the groove). Tempo miles were mostly between 7:30-7:40. I felt really great on this run. I also had good company! My parents came out to the trail to ride bikes next to me while I ran. That way I wasn’t alone. Yes, I have the best parents.

Muddy trail running. And this photo was very difficult to take.

Thanks Mom and Dad! And check out my pretty new Garmin!!

Sunday: 4 miles at 9:30 pace. I was SOOO tired on this run and totally not in the mood to get out the door. But Ramsey talked me into it. And I am so glad he did!

Total miles: 58

Overall, I am happy with these two weeks of training, especially last week. My long run was a major confidence booster and I was so relieved to be able to easily hold a 7:40 pace. Not only was I able to hold it, but I was talking the whole time. I am feeling great about where I am  as I head into taper.

How is your training going? Did you race last weekend or are you racing this weekend?

xo,

Ali

A few more photos from the week (all from Instagram):

Night out with Ellen and Brian.

My brother’s surprise 30th birthday party!

Post run Brunch with friends.

Droppin it.

Celebrating our friend Hannah’s wedding!

Tags: #AliRunsNYC, INGNYC, Marathon Training, nycmarathon