marathon training – Page 5

Happy Friday! Last night was a gorgeous evening in Boston- can’t believe how warm the weather has been!

Drone over my favorite city. Thanks @imnotquitejack!

I decided to take a “rest day” from running and instead did some stretching (mainly using the foam roller) on top of a 7 minute workout. I love this short workout because it targets all areas of the body and enables you to get a little sweat in only a few minutes. Check it out if you haven’t already (link here)!

With my alarm set for 6am this morning, I headed out for a quick morning run before work. It was another unseasonably warm day and I was able to head out in a tank and shorts, with compression socks.

Foam rolling is my heaven and hell!

Saturday marks my first day of training for Phoenix marathon at the end of February. I recently chose this marathon as my next target for a Boston qualifier, given the fast and flat course (with the exception of a large hill at miles 4.5-6!), the positive reviews from other runners about the course and race logistics, and because I wanted to run a race in a new state! Phoenix marathon will be my 10^th state– I am super excited to explore that area of the country through running. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to head to AZ in the middle of a Boston winter :)

That time I went to AZ for work and it was 100 degrees– hopefully it will be a bit milder in February!

My training cycle will start with a 12 mile run on Saturday, followed by a 5k fun race on Sunday. I will be taking it relatively easy for the rest of November as I continue to recover from Marine Corps Marathon. Longer runs and more intense speed work will start in December. Have a great Friday and start to your weekend! Happy running!

Happy Thursday guys! Thank you so much for checking in to my new blog. I am very excited about it and appreciate any feedback you have.

Boston has had some great weather recently, so I have kept my runs and workouts outside- even in the dark after work-hours. But as I start to train for my next marathon (Phoenix Marathon in February- post coming on that soon!), I am anticipating some treadmill runs in the future as we head into winter. I like to run outside as much as possible, but there are some winter weather days that are simply safer to be inside.

Let’s face it- not all of our outdoor workouts can be met with a gorgeous hot sunset over the Charles River.

Here are a few treadmill tips that I have learned through trial and error over the years:

Dress for warm temps- shorts and tank are recommended for sweaty treadmill runs.
Bring everything you need so it is easily accessible during a run/less tempting to stop. This includes water, GUs/other fuel, headphones, ipod/iphone (to watch movies/listen to music/stream Netflix/text friends that you’re treadmill running in order to make you feel hardcore), and a towel.
As suggested above, bring your iphone/ipad for distraction. I stream the Netflix app on my iphone- might not work for everyone, but it is a great distraction for me. Nothing like binge watching Lost, Sex and the City, or Friday Night Lights to get me through a long treadmill run!
Even though you might have a goal of running “X” miles, play with different speeds or inclines on treadmill- it will also be a good distraction. Note that the incline should normally be set at 1% to simulate outdoor running. I like to mix up my treadmill runs by running 30 seconds to a minute at a certain speed or incline, then increasing this speed or incline in the next 30 seconds, and repeat until you’re running uncomfortably fast. Staying on autopilot mode/never changing things up can make treadmill running boring very quickly.
Treadmills can be handy for hill training- uphill or downhill. A previous marathon I ran, Big Cottonwood Canyon in UT, was a steep downhill course for the first 19 miles (followed by a very unfortunate uphill). Given that I was training in Boston as opposed to the mountains in Utah, I knew that training solely on flat terrain wouldn’t cut it for this race. So I did several runs inside on a treadmill with a downhill decline. This wasn’t an exact replication of the trail, but the constant downhill did help somewhat. The same can go for uphill terrains. Play around with the incline/decline function to mix things up!
Similar to running outside, remember to warm up and stretch appropriately prior to treadmill running. Warm-up can include a few minutes of walking or slow jogging.

Boston sans snow