my training last week + a Partiots game

Last week was probably one of the best weeks of training I have had so far.  It was one of those weeks where every workout felt great and reminded me why I love running so much.  After a couple of weeks struggling with a minor injury, last week was just what I needed to get my confidence back up.  The timing is great since I am now just under 3 weeks away from the marathon (holy crap!).

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 10 x 1min on, 1 min off @ 10k pace w/ warm up and cool down.  My paces were between 7:50 and 8:00.  It's been hard for me not to just sprint when running these types of workouts, but I think I'm finally learning how to do a better job of controlling my paces.

Wednesday: 35 min easy after work

Thursday: 7 x 800 @ 7:50-8:00 pace w/ 90 sec rest in between and warm up/cool down.  These were supposed to be done at half marathon pace.  My half PR pace is closer to 8:10, so these were a little fast.  Everything about this workout just felt so right though.  I went up to the track and was the only one there, which rarely ever happens.  There were a couple of people working on the football field in the middle of the track.  The day was absolutely beautiful.  Low 70's, not a cloud in the sky.  For the first time ever I listened to music while doing a track workout.  I was focused and felt great.  I probably ran all 7 800's with a silly grin on my face.  It was perfect.

Friday: rest

Saturday: 20 miles w/ last 20 min @ marathon pace.  The last and only time I have ever ran 20 miles was 6 years ago.  I was a little nervous for this run, but excited at the same time.  After having a great week of running, I felt ready to go.  I ran with a friend who is also training for a marathon.  We kept the pace pretty slow but I was ok with that.  I knew I'd be happy if I could get through the miles without walking.  My coach, Stephanie, said to do the best I could with the last 20 min at marathon pace.  If I felt good, I could go for it, but if not that was ok.  I didn't end up getting quite to marathon pace (my goal is under 9 min miles) and the last 20 min were just over 9 min/mile.  Even though I didn't quite hit my paces, I was really happy with this run.  For the first time I wasn't scared that I still had to run X amount of miles to complete the marathon.  I felt like I could run another 6.2 and was pretty damn excited about it.

Sunday: 42 min easy w/ 4 x 100m strides.

I woke up early on Sunday to get this run in before we had to leave at 7am to head down to the Patriots game.  My boyfriend and his band, Small Town Stranded, had the amazing opportunity to place inside Patriots Place before the start of the game.  We got to the go to the game as well and even got to go out on the field before it started!  I was so happy for them and they did a great job!

You can check out a clip of it HERE.

Small Town Stranded

On the field! 

the boys + me 

Sweet seats!

Coming off the high from last week, I am ready to (hopefully) have another great week.  Everything is starting to feel like it's falling in to place.  I'm happy with where I'm at and looking forward to the next 3 weeks!