Richmond Marathon Training Week 2

I made it to week 2! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?!? Do a dance and make it a good one!!!After all it is cardio!

 Here's what week two looked like for me on the road to becoming Richmond Ready!

Monday:

Still no information from my coaches so after my workout I emailed Sports Backers just to make sure I did the registration correctly.  

My plan for today was to do as I was told but I wasn't told yet I went back to good old Hal Higdon's Novice Marathon training and it called for strength and stretch. The latter was much needed after the 7miler on Sunday. Normally it would have been a lunch break workout but I waited until I was off so I could do it with my husband. 

 The Workout: Nike+ Train App: Trunks and Branches 

    Warm- Up: 

•  60 Sec Inchworm
• 10 sec Push- Ups
• 40 sec Body weight Squat
• 40 sec Push- Ups
• 40 sec hip lifts
• 30 sec Push- Ups
• 30 crab reaches

Total Body Strength:3 sets of 30 seconds of each of the following workouts:

• Yoga Push- ups 
• Squat Jumps
• Crab reach Toe Touches

Cool Down:

•  Worlds Greatest stretch
• Quad rockers
• Side lying T stretch (Both sides )

Let me tell you it was a short workout but it was truly a good one!  I followed that up... no wait, I tried to follow that up wit Reach and Recharge by Traci Copeland also on the Nike+ Train App. I thought, low intensity, full body flexibility plus core strength.. this will be awesome!  6:49 minutes into the 28 minute workout I tapped out. No more I'm done. I am not a Yogi nor do I pretend to be. This workout requires a little more knowledge of Yoga than I have in me. However I will be back with a completed story of this one day soon.  I have some research to do lol.

The workout: Nike+ Train App: Reach and Recharge 

What I completed was:

• 30 seconds Child's Pose
• 30 seconds Downward Facing Dog High plank 
• 2 minutes Sun Salutations
• 1 minute Core Plank Twist 
• 2 minutes Warrior Series
• Started but did not finish 1 minute of Chair Pose

I will be working on my love of yoga. I've come a long way but there is much more to be done! I want to be flexible.. but for now I'll focus on finishing a Marathon. One goal at a time! 

Tuesday:

Run day!!! YAY!! I was so excited to get out there and tear up the concrete. This morning was so special as my husband joined me!! We seldom get to run together and despite our differences in pace I love having him out there with me. 

Sadly still no training plan from MTT but I did get confirmation that I am registered. Good old Hal Higdon to the rescue who called for a 3 miler. I double checked the Nike+ Run app which called for a 10 minute run. 

Hubbie and I took off, per usual he stayed a little behind me, yes I'm the faster distance runner, so he used me to pace. The run felt great. The sun wasn't out, it wasn't humid, for the first day in what felt like forever. My legs even showed up and showed out for this run. PR!! 

In the coming weeks I am going to focus on making my recovery runs slow and easy runs, you know like they are suppose to be.  I like to just let my body do as it likes but this is called training for a reason. Along this 26.2 mile journey I plan on training my brain as well.

Wednesday:

I finally got the official marathon training schedule! Thank you Louise. Wednesday was a rough day. When things knock you down you have to find a healthy way to pick yourself back up. Normally this would be a hard drinking night followed by a bowl of UTZ Hot chips and no workout. Instead I powered through work, left on time and pounded out the pavement.

A much  needed run where the body does exactly what it is suppose to.  I was so thankful for this run on so many levels.

Thursday:

The schedule was a real game changer. Hill workout.. I  missed the hill workout I was suppose to do yesterday sooooooooooo I did it today.  Let me honest here.. I'd rather do weighted squats , reverse lunges, burpees and then repeat 10 times then run hills. However, I know their importance so I reached out to a fellow runner that I know runs on his lunch breaks to see if there were any hills. Just like a expected he had exactly what I needed! 

Unlike most lunch breaks I took a full hour. I warmed up with 1.5 miles through the neighborhood. I kept coming back to that mini monster hill. I repeated a more shallow will in front of it 3 times before venturing up and over. Boy was it steep but on the other side of it lied rolling hill heaven! Closed golf courses really do have some beautiful landscape and even better hills. It was an amazing find and I will be utilizing it more often. 

Friday: 

Good old rest day!!! More importantly it was my 7th year wedding anniversary. I love my husband!

On our way out for the night

Danced so hard we were dripping sweat! 

Saturday:

Cross training day! It was hot but there was nothing about to stop me from getting some sweat on. Especially after all the alcohol I consumed the night before. I took to Pinterest and found an agility ladder work out. We did three rounds of each work out followed by 20 push ups , 30 burpess, 40 lunges 50 squats and 60 sit ups.

Sunday: 

MTT Day 2: I was excited to meet with the group and get to running. I was up and ready to go on time and was only held back by trips to the bathroom. Finally I decided to just go. Packed and ready to ago I made the drive back out to Richmond.
It was a very humid day. I made sure to keep an eye on my heart rate as well as how my breathing felt. Happy to report there were NO issues!

I have been included in communications from the training team. I must say I really do enjoy and look forward to Sunday mornings. Being included in the emails have lead me to learn that there is a group that meets on Wednesdays near my job to run hills. As my job has showers I am thinking about trying it out this coming week. 

Are you training for any upcoming races? Did you conquer anything holding you back this week. Talk to me below!!