{Week 3 Marathon Training}

Tweet |June 22-June 28|

 

Week 3 Marathon Training called for 24 miles and I logged 15.63 miles.

 

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 3.62 miles
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6.01 miles
Thursday: 3.00 miles
Friday: 3.00 miles

 

First, lets talk about my fun new toy Garmin watch. This is the Garmin Forerunner 220 in Violet. I've had my eye on it for months and have been saving my pennies for it. I finally splurged and went to Fleet Feet Columbus to used my MIT discount (another bonus of MIT).

This was a rough week for me. The exhaustion has set in and I dropped 4 pounds. I'm pretty sure there are a combination of things happening after some Google searches and asking some seasoned Marathon friends:

 

1. Properly Timed Carbs: In the morning when I run my 3-4 miles, I don't eat before hand. Leaving me depleted of carbs right away in the morning. I have started eating half a banana before my runs now.
2. Amount of Calories: I don't keep track of the amount of calories anymore since I have a good handle on my weight now. I'm going to start this back up. It seems I'm not taking in enough since I'm losing weight. I also started cooking my lunches on Sunday to make sure I'm getting all the vitamins and nutrients I need instead of buying frozen meals.
3. Not enough rest days: It appears that I may need to work up to the 5 days a week my training plan calls for. I'm going to be doing 4-5. I'm coming to terms with the fact that cutting out a 3 mile run per week isn't going to make me not finish the marathon but will keep me a little less crabby.
4. The Humidity: I get up at 5 am 3 days a week to get my run in before work. While this saves me from the beating down sun, it tends to be more humid in the morning. It's typically 90%+ humidity. That can take it out of a girl, I tell ya! I'm still going to continue to run at 5 am but I think running with something in my belly will help my energy level through the day.

 

chicken, couscous, broccoli and guacamole

 

 

So after trying to change the 4 things above. I decided that I had one "long run" on Wednesday, so I took Saturday and Sunday off. Caught up on some sleep and got right back to it Monday morning. I'm hoping all these small changes will make a difference for the next week.