I cannot believe chilly half marathon was already two weeks ago. And that it is only FIVE WEEKS until the Boston Marathon!
Training has continued to go well. I took a few easy days the week after chilly. I did not do any hard running until Thursday which was a timed tempo 3x 10 minutes hard and 2 minutes easy. It went well and I felt as though I had recovered well from the half marathon. Then a bunch of the women on my team headed up north to Huntsville to a cottage for a running and relaxing get away weekend. I am so thankful to have such a great team of inspiring and supportive women that are not only great to train with but also to be friends with.
It was so nice to do a long run with company instead of by myself. Four of us braved the snowy and hilly roads to do a 36km loop, finishing with 2km hard. This is the longest run I have done so far this training session. It went really well and I felt strong throughout. The next morning we headed out for an easy 12km in the fresh falling snow and hills. All in all a great weekend of running and relaxing.
Last week we attempted the Yasso 800 workout. If you are a seasoned marathoner or a Runner’s World magazine reader you have likely heard of this workout. But here is the idea. You run a bunch of 800m repeats at your goal marathon time. No I do not mean I set out to run 800m in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Instead if your goal marathon pace is 2 hours and 45 minutes for example then you run the repeats at 2 minutes and 45 seconds. It is said if you can keep this pace for 8-10x 800m then you are in shape to run that marathon time.
So how did it go? Really well! I ran the first 4 at 2:44 and I was definitely shutting it down in the last hundred meters. From there I got a little faster each one and finished the eighth one in 2:40! I was sure to tweet Bart Yasso (inventor of the workout) to say I expected big things at Boston. We are set to do this workout again in a couple weeks and we will aim to complete all ten of the repeats. I definitely felt like I could have done all ten in that workout. So this has made we quite excited to put the workout to the test!
I was tired from the workout the next day so took it easy for the next couple of days. Then it was back to a long run on Thursday. The weekend workout was 6x 1mi. I always find Saturday workouts tough because the team does them in the morning and due to work commitments I cannot make them. So I work all day and then go do the workout by myself. Luckily from all my training on my own I have become quite good at pushing myself.
Last week mileage hit 120km and that is what I am scheduled for this week as well. Then it starts to decrease from there. So I just need to get through this next week and then things will begin to ease up.
I am so happy that the snow has been melting and there is a glimpse of spring in the air! I will not jinx it by saying we are completely out of the winter weather but I will take the nice break from the cold.
This week I have a long execution run and some fast intervals scheduled so that should be fun!
Also just a reminder I am fund raising for the Alzheimer’s Society research department for my efforts of training and racing the Boston Marathon. My dad has early onset Alzheimer’s and it sucks! So I wanted to try and do something to make a difference. The fund raising site is https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=2677043&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=%26Referrer%3dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.memorymakersforalzheimers.ca%252f#&panel1-2 There is more information about my dad’s story on the fundraising site. I have well surpassed my goal and am so touched by the generosity. I am currently the second highest fundraiser for the Alzheimers society at $5360.00. Help me make even more of a difference!
Please feel free to pass this on to any of your contacts and donate if you would like!
Happy training!
-Brittany
Toronto Running Chiro 