I’m presently writing this from a plane somewhere in the air between Kentucky and Pennsylvania, after wrapping up a great few weeks in Lexington.
While I’m so, so sad to be leaving Kentucky already and before Pony Finals and Derby Finals, I am looking forward to getting back into a non-horse show routine, because do you know what’s not particularly easy on a long day filled horse show schedule? Lifting regularly and training for a marathon – particularly as the training becomes more and more of a time commitment!
Today marks the start of week nine of my training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team and Training, and we’re now only 16 weeks away from the marathon! To learn more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and to support Team in Training click here!
Here’s a recap of my runs these past two weeks in Lexington!
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| Running around Lexington is so beautiful |
WEEKS SEVEN and EIGHT:
I started off week eight by being a bit of an idiot and completely blowing out my legs lifting. (After I just got done saying in my last training update that I wasn’t going to do that anymore!) That definitely affected my runs for the beginning of that week and threw off my whole plan for the week.
Instead of two of my scheduled runs, I ended up doing only an easy mile on both Tuesday and Wednesday of week 7. Not good. ☹ As a result of that and as a result of how much time I had in each day, the order of my runs didn’t exactly fit my training schedule, but they got done nonetheless!
– Run #1 – 40 minutes (4 to 1 ratio) – 3.85 miles
– Run #2 – 45 minutes (4 to 1 ratio) – 4.32 miles
– Run #3 – 36 minutes (4 to 1 ratio) – 3.24 miles
– Run #4 – 1 hour 30 minutes (4 to 1 ratio) – 8.38 miles – This run was amazing and it felt like even a breakthrough run in my marathon training. I set out to do an hour and 20 minutes of running, but I ended up just adding on the extra 10 minutes because it was so beautiful!
I knew there were miles and miles of running trails across from our hotel, but I never realized that they go on for so long!! I was sad to have to turn around four miles out and to not get to see more.
More than just being scenic, it was a breakthrough because it actually felt easy, and it restored my faith that I’m on track for the marathon. For some reason, the last two weeks of running had felt hard. They were all less than five mile runs, but they seemed difficult. This one just seemed like I could go on and on. A few things that I credit that with?
– I got my run in before the sun started getting hot. Kentucky can be brutal in the summer, and waiting until 9 a.m. or so for other runs was definitely detrimental.
– Proper nourishment. I had a good dinner the night before, and for the first time in my training I actually took water with me on my run. I know that sounds super basic, and Team In Training continually stresses hydration, but for some reason, I was always of the mindset ‘oh it’s only four miles, I don’t need water.’ But, wow; it makes such a difference! I’m going to start incorporating GU energy chews into my longer runs as well going forward, as I’ve used them before and really like them.
– Run #5 – 40 minutes (4 to 1 ratio) – 3.86 miles – This one felt super, super easy too. I found that when you suddenly start running for an hour and a half plus, 40 minutes just seems like a walk in the park!
That’s it for now! Back at it tomorrow, and don’t forget to support Team In Training here.
