Marathon Weeks 8 and 9

I'm halfway done with my marathon training! Which is equal parts exciting and terrifying. I haven't quite figured out if I am feeling well prepared and on track or completely under trained. I guess I'll find out in another 9 weeks.

Week 8
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4.32
Wednesday: 8.01
Thursday: 3.52
Friday: rest
Saturday: 5.12
Sunday: 15.08

Total miles: 36.05

Even with four days in a row off (Chicago trip!), my left IT band was a bit problematic this week. On the plus side, it seemed to hurt less with each run. So while I think last week's attempt to run all the miles in the fewest days possible aggravated it, I don't think running in general is making it worse. I've been foam rolling and stretching every day to try to stay on top of it. Even during my long run it only bothered me for about half a mile.

My week went almost exactly as planned, such a relief after the week 7 mess. Only major issue was that Saturday's run was meant to be 6 miles. For some reason I was positive it was 5 miles. I didn't check my training plan until after my run, whoops! I ran this run at my predicted marathon pace to throw a tiny bit of speed work into my plan.

Sunday was my longest run ever! And it went really, really well! I choose a fairly flat out-and-back course and aimed to hold a steady pace of 9:30 for the run. The first seven miles were at the right pace, but I think I lost a bit of time during the next few miles. Fortunately I felt great during the last 3 miles and made up the lost time.

Week 9
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4.32
Wednesday: 8.01
Thursday: 4.32
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6.2
Sunday: 17.1

Total miles: 39.95

Another week where everything went as planned and I had another "longest run ever" on Sunday. My IT Band only bothered me on one or two runs. I only wish I would have run an additional 0.05 miles to bring my weekly total to 40.  I might have tried to sneak it in tonight, but my legs are completely shot from the 17 miler.

I once again used Saturday's run to sneak in a bit of speed work. This time I ran at an easy pace and added four strides to the end of my run. Sunday's run also had a bit of speed work at the end, except not really. I tried to run the first 15 miles at a steady pace and then do a fast finish for the last two miles. I was much too tired to push as hard as I had hoped, but I did manage to do them marginally faster.

I also spent the last five miles fantasizing about a Mountain Dew slushie. It was the most delicious reward for making it through all 17 miles.

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