Hartford Marathon Training: Week Three

Week Three: Week of 7/17

We’re on the road (in real time) this week. I’m writing this from somewhere in Delaware or Maryland, on the hunt for a Chick-fil-A, because that’s basically the best fast food you can get. Mmmm Chick-fil-A…

Base Week #3:

M 10 miles on the treadmill (7:24/mile, making up for missed weekend long run)

T Pilates mat class + 5 miles (1 mile “race” 5:11 on the track)

W 8 miles (7:49/mile)

Th Pilates mat class + 5 miles treadmill (8:20/mile)

F 8 miles treadmill (7:32/mile)

Sat 12.7 miles (7:16/mile)

Sun REST

(48.7 miles)

This was the first week when I felt like things clicked. I went to Pilates twice this week and had a fun long run with friends. I got a ton of stuff checked off my personal to-do list as well, which I think helped me feel a lot better in general. Sometimes when I have a lot to do I get overwhelmed and my running suffers. So I’ve been making an effort to be more systematic and organized with my daily STUFF. Always working on ways to be better.

What’s your current favorite show to binge on? We just finished The Night Of on HBO and I’m so sad it’s over.

Hartford Marathon Training: Week Two

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Week Two: Week of 7/10

Yesterday I mentioned that my last marathon training cycle didn’t go well. In all honesty, I set myself up for that. With a 2 year old and an infant at home, I was barely hanging on by a thread. Add in marathon training, work, home renovations, adjusting to northeast winters, and it all became too much.

In the last few weeks of training for Boston, I started to feel off. After the race, I realized something was actually really wrong. Although it took me awhile to figure this out, eventually I learned that I had form of post-partum depression (PPD) known as post-partum anxiety (PPA). Basically, I was having more frequent and unexplained panic attacks that would occur without warning, and it caused me to withdraw from my normal activities because I didn’t want to have a panic attack in public. And yes, it’s just as horrible as it sounds.

It took a few months to get better, and then I had a relapse this spring after weaning my second daughter from breastfeeding. You can hear more about my experience with PPA here on Lindsey Hein’s podcast, I’ll Have Another. When we recorded that episode I was coming back from that second bout with PPA.

A lot of people told me that things would get better with time, and I had a hard time believing that in the moment. I’m so used to being in control of everything. But it is absolutely true: you’re not alone, it’s not your fault, and it will get better. And I do think that it made me a much stronger, more empathetic person.

So, anyway, things are much better now. I’m happy to have running to channel my stress for sure. This week was another easy week, although I missed my long run due to travel and laziness and had to make it up the following week.

Base Week #2:

M 6 miles treadmill (7:34/mile)

T Pilates + 4 treadmill miles (8:03/mile, supposed to be easy but wobbly legs after Pilates)

W 8 miles treadmill (7:25/mile)

Th 5 miles treadmill (7:41/mile) + Pilates mat class

F 7 hilly miles (7:43/mile)

Sat REST

Sun REST

(30 miles)

(Week one is here in case you missed it…)

One of my goals is to continue to go to Pilates class twice a week. I started taking classes at the YMCA during my running break, and I fell in love with the joy and pain that is Pilates. It works all of the muscles that I’ve been neglecting for years and my butt is actually starting to take a normal shape again. So, even though we had planned to leave for a trip to our old college town on Thursday morning, I made sure to sneak in a class that day.

I always struggle with sticking to my training when I’m traveling, so that’s something I have to work on. I did well the first day, and got up early enough to (somewhat) beat the heat. But I got lazy and slept in both weekend days.

Do you have any tips for getting in your workouts when you’re on vacation or traveling for work?

Here are some resources that helped me when I was at my worst:

Postpartum Progress

A Cup of Jo: The Hardest Two Months of My Life

Kathy DiVincenzo’s experience with PPD

Shades of Light (*this is a local organization, but the website lists additional resources)

Aug 22

Hartford Marathon Training: Week One

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Week One: Week of 7/3

About 8 weeks ago, I made a [relatively] scary decision. It was something I had been avoiding for months. But, I sucked it up and ignored the 99% of my brain that was telling me “this is a bad idea”.

I emailed the elite coordinator and asked to be included in the field for the Hartford Marathon. Then I waited. Part of me was hoping I wouldn’t get in, but a few days later I got an email back that I was accepted!

excited booty exercise happy dance black boy joy GIF

My last attempt at a marathon was a disaster, and it took me a long time to get over that.

But, here we are, and this is happening. I’m determined to make this one count. So let’s catch up on how training has been going.

I took May and June pretty easy so I knew I needed a few base mileage weeks before diving into marathon training. My first week of base training started with a local 4th of July race. Besides the race, the rest of the week was fairly easy. I felt pretty accomplished for getting over 35 miles.

Base Week #1:

M REST

T 6.5 miles with 4 mile race (Firecracker 4 23:23)

W 6.1 miles “easy” (8:27/mile… double stroller runs are never actually easy)

Th 6 miles on the treadmill (7:55/mile) + Pilates mat class

F 10 miles (7:02/mile)

Sat REST

Sun 8.2 miles easy (8:05/mile)

(36.7 miles)

I’m going to end each of these posts with an inspirational quote. Just kidding.

reaction taylor swift eye roll loser let it go GIF

But, I will give you an insight into my thoughts each week. I felt pretty defeated after my long run. Or, more like out of shape. I have to constantly remind myself not to make comparisons to my past workouts and races.

I spent most of this weekend at a USATF coaching clinic, and there were a few moments that stuck with me. I was reminded to take easy days easy. Like actually EASY. Logically I know this, but it’s something you have to like, actually do.

The other was a sports psych tip, something that initially made me laugh: the circle of allowed thoughts. If you have negative thoughts, you just have to tell yourself that those thoughts aren’t allowed in your circle. It’s so simple that it just works. Supposedly. I haven’t put that into practice yet, but it sounds good in theory.

Do you have any tips or tricks to help turn negative thoughts around? I really like counting because it helps me disassociate from the pain that I’m feeling. Sometimes I close my eyes in races, and it usually works, but that’s probably not great advice for normal people.

I have a few weeks of posts to get caught up with the present, so look for those in the next few days. Hey, I know it’s just putting one foot in front of the other, but with everything going on right now in our country I welcome a healthy amount of distraction in the form of reading, looking at pictures on Instagram and listening to/watching things that make me laugh.

Dec 30

Houston half training (weeks 4-7)

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A peek into my training for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. In case you’re looking for more detail, I also post all of my training on Strava.

If you missed weeks 1-4 you can find those here

Week of 12/5… As I wrote last time, the lack of sleep and sickness had finally caught up to me this week and I had some pretty bad workouts. Luckily I had a scheduled day of rest on Saturday and got a good night of sleep so my long run went really well (and I had good company to help push me).

Key workouts: 8 x 1k cruise intervals with 1 minute recovery, long run 14 miles in 1:32:39 (6:37 average) plus a cool down mile

Planned miles: 61 miles

Actual: 61.2 miles

Week of 12/12… Kids started sleeping better this week and workouts went well. Hit 70 miles for the first time in forever

Key workouts: 3 mile tempo in 17:47 plus 6 x 1 min on/ 1 min off (I think I alternated 10 mph and 8 mph but can’t remember), 2 x 3 miles in 18:26 and 17:58 with 5 min rest between, relaxed 16 mile long run with some of my WSAC teammates

Planned miles: 72 miles

Actual: 70 miles

Week of 12/19… I had a scheduled day off on Monday which was perfect because I had some Christmas shopping to finish up. Workouts went really well, and props to my husband Pete for biking with me on my Christmas Eve long run so I wouldn’t be bored to death. The conditions for that run weren’t fun at all- I ran back and forth on a 2 mile section of the bike path that had thankfully been cleared, although there were still some icy spots and we got hit with freezing rain for a good part of the run.

Key workouts: 8 x 800 in 2:45 with 400 jog recovery, long run 16 miles with 12 at 6:30 pace

Planned miles: 62 miles

Actual: 62.7 miles

Week of 12/26… I had two somewhat easy workouts planned this week and those went fine. Tomorrow I’ll run some easy recovery miles, and then Sunday I have an 18 mile long run. Planning to run 5 miles before the Hangover Half Marathon at UAlbany (part of our local Winter Series races).

Key workouts: 3 sets of 4 x 400 at 5k race pace with 10 min tempo at 5:56 between sets, 10 x 20 second strides at 5:00 pace on the treadmill (that was interesting… and loud), 18 mile long run at a relaxed pace

Planned miles: 72 miles

Actual: 44.9 miles (as of Friday)

Long running with Karen at Lions Park. Two weeks later (on Christmas Eve) this path was covered with ice and snow…

I can’t believe in 2 weeks I’ll be headed to Houston. I think 8 week training cycles are perfect. Just enough time to build fitness and not so much that you’re over it by the time you have to race.

Hope y’all have some fun plans for New Years Eve/ New Years Day… whether you’re going out, staying in, running a race, or headed to the gym to start off 2017 I hope this year brings you health and lots of happiness.

So this is the new year…

Dec 08

Houston Half training (weeks 1-4)

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A peek into my training for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. In case you’re looking for more detail, I also post all of my training on Strava.

Week of 11/14… I took Monday off after Stockade-athon and had a week of easy running planned. I also took off Friday and Saturday because it was my husband’s birthday and I didn’t plan well to get in my workouts around dinner and everything else going on both days. I decided to join some of my teammates for a faster-paced long run on Sunday, which I ended up having to miss because of a freak snow storm on Sunday morning.

Key workouts: Long run 13.1 miles in 1:27:53

Planned miles: 54-56 miles

Actual: 39.1 miles

Week of 11/21… Realized that I probably ran my solo long run too hard because my legs felt terrible for the next few days. I had a 3 mile tempo planned for Thursday which was perfect since I wanted to run the Troy Turkey Trot 5k that I do every year. I was disappointed with my race- my legs felt flat and I didn’t run as fast as I wanted to, but I felt great for the rest of the week, including my long run.

Key workouts: 3 mile tempo @ 6:00 (actual 5k race 17:42), long run 14.1 miles in 1:34:56

Planned miles: 57-58 miles

Actual: 57.5 miles

Week of 11/28… Solid week, no complaints running-wise. Had to get a little creative fitting in workouts because both of my kids were sick with a terrible virus and we basically couldn’t leave the house. Lots of running on the treadmill in my basement, and my one hard workout for the week was done at 7 pm on Wednesday night on the treadmill. Looking back I’m not sure how I got through this week because I never got more than 2 hours of sleep at once. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Key workouts: 8 mile tempo in 51:15, long run 15 miles in 1:49:21 (including the HMRRC winter series 15k)

Planned miles: 65-66 miles

Actual: 65 miles

Week of 12/5… The lack of sleep and sickness finally caught up to me. Monday and Tuesday were awful- I kept having to stop in the middle of my runs to catch my breath and a few times I had to take a break for a few minutes because I felt light-headed. I was costantly thirsty and just felt tired and shitty. I finally got a full night of sleep one of those nights (I can’t remember which) and on Wednesday I felt slightly better but decided to scrap my planned workout and just run easy again. Then today after another full night of sleep I finally had a good run. So, I’ll do some 1k repeats Friday, take Saturday off, and then I have a 16 mile long run planned with a fast finish.

Key workouts planned: 8 x 1k cruise intervals, long run 16 miles (12-15 at HMGP)

Planned miles: 61 miles

Actual: 36 miles (as of Thursday)

Jul 22

July Races and Places

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This July has been all about treadmill runs at the YMCA (thank you free child care) and racing my way back into shape. Since the Firecracker 4 on July 4th I’ve done 3 races: 2 track miles and the Roller Coaster Race 10k.

Roller Coaster Race 10k

Our local running club, HMRRC, hosts free track meets on Tuesday evenings in July. I hadn’t been to one since I was in high school, but I wanted to take Emma to run in the kids race and figured I’d hop into a race while I was there too. I surprised myself by running a 5:23 for the full mile. Emma ran the 50 meter kids race, although she kept running through the finish line and didn’t want to stop.

That weekend we took a quick trip up to Lake George, where we stayed at the Great Escape Lodge (the host hotel for the Roller Coaster Race). It was a nice hotel, and the kids loved the indoor water park. It was convenient for race morning too because we were able to just jog from the hotel to the start line, and then run back after the race to shower. The race itself went pretty well- I’m not usually a fan of 10ks because they just seem so long but this course had a lot of twists and turns, so you really had to pay attention and couldn’t zone out. I ended up running 39:58, which wasn’t bad considering my lack of workouts lately. We spent the rest of the day at Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom (tickets were free with the race entry). Emma had the time of her life on those rides!

This past Tuesday I hit the track again for another mile, this time a few seconds faster (5:16). Emma and her cousin Mia ran the kids races again. We’ll be in town for one more track meet next Tuesday, so I might break out the spikes and see if I can get under 5:10!

We’ll be in Lake Placid this weekend for IMLP to cheer on my brother-in-law for his first Ironman! I’ve never spectated an Ironman race, so this will be a fun new experience. I’m not sure what to expect of an all-day endurance event (what do we do? will there be beer? where will my kids take naps?)… I’m still at a loss trying to figure out how anyone could swim and bike for hours BEFORE running a marathon. Badass.

Jul 08

A quick recap and Roller Coaster Race giveaway!

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Training has been very, shall we say, “relaxed” recently. After months of structured marathon training, I welcomed the recovery with open arms. It started with plans to take it easy for a few weeks after the Rhinebeck Marathon, and then all 4 of us got hit with a round of chest colds and ear infections, and no one slept through the night for the entire month of June. Let’s just say we were a cranky group.

My local team, Willow Street Athletic Club, was planning to run the Firecracker 4 on the 4th of July (this past Monday). I was in the middle of organizing Natalie’s 1st birthday party on July 2nd, so I was hesitant to commit to running it (never mind the fact that for the past 7 weeks I have averaged 10 miles per WEEK). But I knew I could run 4 miles, so I decided to just go for it and I’m so glad I did. I went out faster than I planned, and paid for it big time in the last mile (which happens to have a huge hill that I almost walked up), but in the end I still managed to run a decent race and finish just under 25 minutes averaging 6:15 (6:05, 6:08, 6:24, 6:27 woof)*.

After the Firecracker 4 with Mia and Emmaline!

Okay, all that being said, I found myself looking for more races to stay motivated over the summer and one race stood out as a MUST do- Roller Coaster Race at Six Flags Great Escape in Lake George. I told Pete about it, and he thought it looked fun (and it’s hard to impress him with running). They have a 10k and 5k option as well as a roller coaster challenge that you can do in addition to the race OR by itself (if you’re not a runner) for a special medal. Plus the rides open early for the race participants and you get a ticket to Six Flags Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom with your entry. I kid you not, the next day I woke up to an email asking if I’d be interested in doing a blog giveaway for this exact race!

roller coaster race

So, if you want to enter a giveaway for a free entry to Roller Coaster Race next Saturday July 16th in Lake George at Six Flags Great Escape, here are the rules:

To enter, just comment below and tell me your favorite roller coaster (or 2 or 3 if you can’t decide).
Share this blog post on twitter and tag @molliedeturner and @runorriderace for another entry. Make sure you follow me @molliedeturner and follow Roller Coaster Race @runorriderace so we can see your tweet!
Share this post on Facebook and tag me for another entry!

You can enter the giveaway through Sunday night July 10th at 8pm EDT** and I’ll announce the winner on Monday morning.

If you’d like to sign up on your own, here are the details:

Registration is open through Tuesday July 12th at 11:59 pm EDT. There are discounts on hotels through the race website as well as the option to purchase additional park tickets (if you have friends or family who want to cheer you on)! Registrants receive:

A t-shirt (tech for runners, cotton for riders- both if they’re participating in both events)
A ticket to the park good on event day
Free parking at the park on event day
A finisher medal for each event in which the registrants participate

Here’s my referral link if you’d like to sign up through that directly : The Roller Coaster Race

Disclosure: I did receive a free entry for this race, but I was planning on registering on my own anyway. I paid for a registration for Pete as well. All opinions are my own!

*this is not the way to run a race, positive splits are BAD!

** I learned something today! EST is Eastern Standard Time (during the fall/winter) and EDT is Eastern Daylight Time during daylight savings (spring/summer). Lived on the east coast most of my life and never paid attention to that little detail…

piece of cake running

Running is cheaper than therapy. So is cake.

Category Archives: Training