As I write this, my fatigue has subsided. However, during weeks 12 and 13, I felt the fatigue that nearly all marathon runners experience at some point during training. My legs were sore, my IT bands were sore, my knees were sore, the cyst behind my right knee was bothering me, and my body just felt tired. I took a lot of ice baths and/or Epsom salt baths during this period, and that helped too.
Overall, I'm happy with my training during these two weeks.
Week 12 - I got in 6 workouts (4 runs - 4.6, 9, 5.1, and 18 miles - total - 36.7 miles), 1 ride, and 1 swim). I was so fatigued that I only rode 12 miles (2 loops of Central Park) the day after my long run. It felt good to get a "recovery" ride in, but 42 minutes was enough. I've accepted that I'm going through a tough period of workouts and when I do I try to keep my workouts limited to my marathon training only. I've noticed my fitness improving, as my heart rate has been lower lately and I have been getting faster. For one 5 mile run this week, I planned on running around 8:45-9:00 for the entire run, but I felt good so I ended running the last few miles in the low 7s/high 6s and still had more in the tank.
I ran 12 of the 18 miles of my long run on Saturday with BGR, which was great. I ended up running 3 Harlem Hills, which was tough, but hopefully this hill work will benefit me for the flat Chicago Marathon course.
When we were on our long run, there was a guy juggling while he was running. Naturally, I started talking to him. I asked him if he runs entire marathons while juggling, and he said yes. I asked him how fast and he said around 4:50 (although his goal is a little faster than that). Pretty impressive if you ask me! I asked him if I could take his picture and he said yes, so check it out.
Week 13 - 5 runs (5, 9, 5, 14.21, 4 - 38 miles for the week) and 1 race (Greenwood Lake triathlon - 0.5 mile swim, 17.9 mile bike, 4 mile run). I reduced my schedule to running only plus the tri race at the end of week 13. Other than that, I didn't bike or swim during week 13 at all. I think sometimes "less is more", so I tried to train that way for week 13 and it definitely resulted in a strong race for me. One of the things I love about racing is that there are always things to improve upon, and the triathlon is great for that. Overall a great week. I feel like I am getting more fit and peaking at the right time for the Chicago Marathon (for my previous 2 marathons I peaked way too early, about halfway through training. This year, I've been focused on an easier, more gradual build up). Sunrise is around 6:25 A.M. these days, so some of my runs are now in the dark. There's not much better than seeing the sun rise in Central Park while running. It is beautiful.
My Running Song of the Week
As I mentioned before, I am really into listening to music when I run (although triathlons don't allow music so I did the Greenwood Lake tri without it). It pumps me up, plus I just love music. Lately, I've been getting into Motorhead, and my current favorite song is called "Killed by Death". It rocks, I really can't believe that this song was written in 1984 and I never heard it until 2010. The song sounds like it was written today and the guitar solos rock! Take a listen.....
Recently, my brother John found some old pictures of our dad's (he passed away in 2006). I love this one! It was in the Kenosha News around 1977. Our dad used to write his bike to work everyday. He would have loved to see me doing marathons and triathlons.
Want somebody to do a triathlon with? Perhaps the bike below would be helpful? Thanks to PN for this picture.
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