Boston Marathon Training 2018 {Week 7}

Week 7!



Weekly Miles

Running: 52 miles, 07:15:27
Cycling: 15.24 miles, 1 hour
Stairs: 76 floors, 00:12:57

Total Miles for this cycle
Running: 321.73 miles, 45:35 hours
Cycling: 140.36 miles, 11:17 hours

Summary

Another 50+ mile week! It has been cool to look back at my training from last year- same plan {Hanson Advanced}, same goal race {Boston!} For speed work, my pace last year was 6:45/Mile, this year I’m at 6:18/mile. 27 seconds faster a mile! Last year I was not doing tempo Thursday runs because I was scared of injury, and instead opted for GMP miles during long runs. This year I’m doing the tempo runs at pace-7:13 a mile! And throwing some rando faster miles into my long runs to keep it interesting.



I was happy to not be a single double dog Mom this week. I was #soblessed my husband could dog sit the pups so I could take a few hot baths and execute my “me time” of escaping from reality. Just kidding about the cliche over used escape from reality of life “me time” bs. I love my life and actively make decisions to ensure I’m living a great life without regret. There will always be challenges/adversity whatever, but if you feel the need to escape from your life, there’s a huge problem imo.


Lowlight

Tempo 7 felt hot and tired. {recurring theme I suppose}



Highlights

The infamous Hanson ladder workout of week 7 went smoothly. 400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400 with quarter mile recovery all at 6:18 pace felt great. Also, as always, Tuesday Uniform FTW. Thank you Kim!


My 8 miler on Saturday felt very comfortable. I overdressed, but on purpose to continue with the heat training. 14 in the gym on Sunday morning was textbook. Nothing to write home about. I’ve been feeling a bit off the past few days- extra stuffy, slight sore throat at times and decided staying inside was better than outside.

Getting dressed up for an awards dinner was fun on Saturday night. We love photo booths. Fotio!



Thoughts

I’m officially more than a 3rd done with training! 11 weeks to go. Woo! My main priorities are to stay healthy and eventually start dialing back alcohol after beer festivals in February and March- to get to Racing Weight.

This week I cooked 4 new recipes towards my goal of 52 in 2018. A constantly updated list of what I’ve cooked is {HERE}



Looking Forward

I’m so excited for this year and the races I’m doing- pretty much a carbon copy of last year, minus the hustle up the Hancock and the IM in October. I never ever feel like I have to do this- but instead am so thankful that I am able to challenge myself and have fun along the way and never take myself too seriously.




Days to go: 78!!! 🦄


-Xaarlin

Boston marathon Training 2018 {Week 6}

Week 6!

Weekly Miles

Running: 52 miles, 7:20:25 hours
Cycling: 12 miles, 1:00 hours
Stairs: 19 floors, 3:26 minutes

Total Miles for this cycle
Running: 267.72 miles, 38:19 hours
Cycling: 125.12 miles, 10:02 hours



Summary

This week was tough- I was a single boy dog Mom of 2 for most of the week. Coordinating their schedules for school and outside along with my work was a challenge. But rest assured, we all survived to live another day.

Due to being so omg busy, I only took one or 2 hot baths. When you’re so dedicated to taking care of your rowdy boy dogs, you lose track of time and forget to properly schedule enough “me time” for yourself.

I’m now a third done with training! It seems to be going by quickly and my mind is staying engaged vs lamenting I still have 12 weeks of training left. This is a contrast to my base building then 10 week dedicated marathon plans I used to do- because anything more than that was too mentally exhausting to train for. I believe that the reason I’m enjoying another 18 week Cycle is because I’m so busy in life. I thrive on the fine line of being busy without pushing too much. Previously I wasn’t filling my time properly and had too much downtime which doesn’t keep me engaged as much.


Lowlight

Not getting dinner reservations for Noma. Complete first world problem, and I wasn’t upset to not spend $$$ on dinner because I have had other significant costs come up recently. There are plenty of other amazing restaurants in CPH to enjoy. Noma would have been a YOLO moment.

The 7 tempo miles sucked. I felt hot and tired.


Highlights


Just like running through sand at the beach, except occasionally slippery.

4x1200’s At 6:18/Mile felt great. Tuesday Uniform FTW as always. Thanks Kim!

I also took my first complete rest day in 6 weeks. I typically cycle easy on Wednesdays instead of taking off- I feel better by keeping moving instead of doing nothing. I took a hot salt bath that night so it still counts as “No Days Off” for me because it was about taking care of myself and not just being lazy.


Our first 3rd Saturday run raised $150 for an animal shelter!!

My long run was great too! I ran outside! I ran 16 miles on Saturday- 11 (with 4 around 7:35) to Half Acre, 3+ with MRC for our first 3rd Saturday run and a few extra taking and picking up Ze from school.

I’m also keeping up with my #goalz2018 of 52 new to me recipes in 2018. 8 down, 44 to go! Check out my #Goalz2018 page.


Thoughts

I am continually excited about training. I’d like to run outside more, but 4am runs outside don’t work for me. I’m happy that my indoor workouts translate to outside without problem. Plus, running inside in my stuffy 70 degree gym will prepare me for race day much better than had I been enjoying 30’s all this time. Heat training FTW!


We celebrated CB’s 13th birthday on Monday with a Stans donut. He is so wonderful.

Looking Forward

I’ll be adding hills/stairs into my workouts- only post speed/tempo and long runs because I’ll be participating in the Hustle up the Hancock. Hill training is also required for Boston so this crazy stair race fits well into my schedule.


Days to go: 84!!! 🦄


-Xaarlin

Boston Marathon Training 2018 {Week 5}

Week 5!

Weekly Miles

Running: 50 miles, 7:09:28
Cycling: 26 miles, 2:06:12

Total Miles for this cycle
Running: 217.73 miles, 30:59 hours
Cycling: 113.11 miles, 9:01 hours



All of my outdoor runs/rides visualized. Via Sisu


Summary

Planning the 13th birthday for my precious first dog, CB occupied most of my time this week. I scoured Pinterest for “original” ideas that I see replicated way too much on social that would make for good instagram content.

This was my first 50 Mile week of the cycle- I’m sure it’s the earliest I’ve hit that arbitrary milestone. (I usually top out around 50 miles).


Lowlight

The cold. The black ice. I don’t need coffee when there’s black ice. Taking my wild child, Ze pequeno (anyone get that reference? bueller?) out when it’s slick is no bueno. I initially thought tendonosis was retuning in my right ankle, but remembered I slipped but luckily didn’t fall a few times last week and likely tweaked something.



Tuesday Uniform FTW!

Highlights

Crossing off my first New Year resolution to bring my trainers on speed sesh days. I don’t like wearing my flats for warmup/cool down. Achievement unlocked!

5x 1K @ 6:18/Mile went smooth unlike the 6 tempo miles at 7:15 pace which felt extra labored and hot compared to the week before.


CPH Marathon love

Solidifying our trips through May. It feels great to have a few things out side of work and running to look forward to. I can’t wait to see family and friends again!

Ordering the swag for our run club’s 3rd anniversary was also a high point of the week.

Thoughts

Another solid week where I just put my head down and got the work down vs the cliche of complaining and being dramatic ala social media. I’m seeing good fitness gains and am excited for the remaining 2/3 of this cycle.



My coaches are tough. Right after this pic was taken, they fought over my training plan.

Looking Forward

I need to eat less, better, and drink less beer. It’s starting to impact my training a little which makes me irrationally upset. (Not so irrational when you have goalzzzz) However, with all that being said, I wouldn’t trade the memories for anything. We had a bottle share on Saturday with my run club and it was awesome to chill with fab people and drink good beer.


MRC Chicago bottle share. Best run club ever!

Also, yoga and more hot baths.


Days to go: 90! 🦄


-Xaarlin

#goalz Parte um: Recita Ediçao

For those of you who aren’t Portuguese literate it reads: #goalz 2018 Part 1: Recipe Edition.

For the first part of my published #goalz I’ll talk food. I love cooking- especially very complex recipes. It’s relaxing for me and I also love learning new techniques and flavor combos. When 2018 was knocking on my door I answered with a goal that was half heartedly started in 2017- in 2018 I will cook 52 new to me recipes.



I only do “SMART” goals because how could I properly measure an intention to cook more in a season of recipe making? If you don’t set a specific goal how can you measure success? Coasting through life not holding myself accountable sounds like such a crappy way to live imo.

With being a full time working double dog Mom, I tend to make the same stuff each week, because it’s easy. (And delicious! Hello salad and chicken burgers!) Variety is good too, actually better- and I love the challenge of cooking. I’ve since mastered making French style omelets. Chef Ludo would be so proud of me!



I’ve unintentionally turned intentionally started buying cookbooks from places I visit, and from chefs I admire. As I looked at the stack of books collecting dead bugs and dust, I was bummed a little that I tend to make the same stuff out of them. That’s how #goalz 2018 food edition was born. As of today- 12.1.18 I’m 4 recipes down!



First recipe was Paprika Egg noodles from F*ck That’s Delicious. It was super easy and not surprisingly, delicious.


2nd recipe was Moroccan Salad with cauliflower cous cous from Run Fast, Eat Slow. It was really good for lunch this week.


3rd recipe was millet pizza also from Run Fast, Eat Slow. They held together better than I had read about online.


4th recipe and my fav so far was the mushroom soup with chicken meatballs from The Nordic Kitchen by Claus Meyer.


I saw on the news yesterday that one of the top “resolutions” of 2018 is to cook more at home- mainly because of saving money. I would have to say that this recipe challenge I’ve decided to take on is making me spend a bit more money than had I gone with cooking the same stuff I usually do. I already need a larger food processor. Smh.

48 more recipes to go!


-Xaarlin

Boston Marathon 2018 Training {Week 4}

Week 4!

Weekly Miles

Running: 47.72 miles, 6:46:26
Cycling: 42.49 miles, 3:15.13

Total Miles for this cycle
Running: 167.73 miles, 23:50 hours
Cycling: 87.08 miles, 6:55 hours


Only the finest for Boston training- Unicorn Blood coffee.

Summary

With the temps in the extreme negative, butt ass freezing cold air hurts my skin range, I ran inside most of the time. That is not much different than my normal routine- because I don’t feel safe running outside at 4am for a variety of reasons. Maybe I should read some run bloggers “tips” on how to run in the cold. Nah. Who am I kidding? Taking advice from people who seemingly don’t like to run/ don’t run much/run only for selfies/aren’t running coaches seems like a really bad idea.



Lowlight

The extreme cold. Raynauds is no fun. I have really good mittens + gloves but my fingers get swollen, numb, and full of pain regardless. I also end up feeling really crappy if I run outside for any amount of time when it’s below 20 degrees.



Highlights

Nailing my 6x800’s @ 3:09 and slaying my 6 mile tempo @ 7:15 pace.

Running with MRC Chicago for our 36th run! It’s crazy my running club will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary in February. Join us!



Thoughts

After completing the 6x800’s at 6:18 pace I thought- wow! I’m running faster than ever and feel great! And then I thought about how the Olympic marathon qualifying time for women is around 6:18/mile. For 26.2 miles. Its just crazy! Perspective.



Tuesday Uniform FTW

I feel good about the balance of training and real life so far. I just put my head down and do the work because I want to PR the shit out of Boston this year- also because we are spending a lot of money for Boston weekend. I’d feel guilty as hell if I half assed my training (which is never an option because mediocrity is a waste).



My coaches are tough. Especially when they want food.

Looking Forward

I’ll continue building my cycling base and eventually do some yoga. I’m so excited for this training cycle and beyond- but I’ll be living in the moment and not getting too caught up with the future until race day is much closer.


Days to go: 98!!! 🦄


-Xaarlin