CIM Training Week 2

CIM Training Week 2

Hi there! How was your weekend?

This week was my second week of training for the California International Marathon and my first 40-mile week since February. The mileage felt good and this week’s training really made me excited to work hard over the next several weeks. 

CIM Training Week 2

Monday: 7 mile easy run & 15 minutes strength training

Ollie and I ran an easy 7 miles early in the morning. The fog was thick during our entire run, giving an almost wintery look to the trail. 

CIM Training Week 2

 

Thankfully, the fog lifted to reveal clear skies about half an hour before the eclipse. We watched the eclipse with a few neighbors. It was fascinating to watch, but perhaps what was most interesting was how little 91% totality was noticeable without glasses. Shadows were more distinct, but there was no perceivable change in the amount of daylight (at least at our apartment complex). The eclipse was so cool to watch through the glasses!  

CIM Training Week 2

Tuesday: 6 mile easy run

Ryan and I each leashed up a dog and ran 6 easy miles bright and early. We were running at a comfortable, easy pace until Charlie applied the brakes, while we were running uphill, and slowed down. Puggle are stubborn dogs, and when Charlie decides that he does not want to run that pace anymore, he doesn’t. Fortunately, the downhill section on our way back was more agreeable to him and he found his second wind. 

Wednesday: 8 mile tempo interval run

I tell my athletes that as long as the effort is there, it’s okay to be a few seconds off of a goal pace for a workout. The hardest part about self-coaching is taking your own advice when a workout goes well but you would have preferred to do better. My run of the day was 3 x 10 minutes at tempo pace, with a goal pace in mind of 7:15-7:20/mile. I ran 7:21-7:24/mile for the splits – slower than I ran this workout back in January during half marathon training, but that was also January when it was a glorious 40 degrees and cloudy versus 65 and sunny. 

CIM Training Week 2

Ryan and I have noticed recently how we have adapted to the Seattle climate. 65 degrees would be a cool morning when we lived back in Northwest Indiana. Now, 65 feels warm on a run. I have no tolerance to the heat anymore. 

Thursday: 30 minutes strength training

 

I opted for a total body strength workout, including hinges, upper body moves, core work, and plyometrics. I really enjoyed this strength workout and it made the early half hour at the gym pass by quickly. 

3 x 8:
Kettlebell offset reverse lunges
Shoulder presses 
Kettlebell single-leg deadlifts
Kettlebell plank rows
Hamstring stability ball curls
Stability ball pikes
Jump squats

Friday: 5 mile easy run

The sunrise was stunning on this run! Ryan and I took both dogs for a short run. I somehow managed to trip on the boardwalk and skin both knees within the first mile, but other than that, this was a good easy run. We saw an absolutely stunning sunrise on this run! 

CIM Training Week 2

Saturday: 14 mile progression run

Ryan had his last double digit long run before his half marathon in a couple weeks and I had a progression long run on the schedule, so we ran the first 10 miles of our run together. After mile 10, we split and I gradually picked up the pace over a mile before settling into marathon pace for the last 3 miles. It was mid-morning, sunny, and warmer than I’m used to, so I was drenched in sweat and the miles required concentration and mental effort to stay on pace, but I focused on my breathing and ran 8:00, 8:02, and 7:59 on flat terrain. 

Once a long run surpasses the half marathon distance, flat terrain feels so hard on the muscles. I seem to recover more quickly from flat long runs, but during the run my muscles seem to fatigue more quickly than when there’s the variation of uphill and downhill. 

Sunday: 2.5 hour hike

Ryan and I took the dogs on a gentle hike along a river gorge in the northern parts of the Cascades. We had a slow start as Ollie was a little too excited about hiking, but soon we all settled into a good groove. The hike wasn’t anything super pretty, but the river’s roar was serene and it felt good to be outside without pushing too hard the day after a long run. The hike helped in loosening up my legs and working out any fatigue from the week of training. 

CIM Training Week 2

[Tweet “Week two of #runCIM California International #marathon training! via @thisrunrecipes”]

Do you prefer flat or rolling hills for long runs?
Do you tolerate the heat well?
How was your week in running?

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21 Responses

  1. Its been in the 60s here in the mornings lately which feels chilly! I never really acclimated to running in the heat this summer sine I stopped running in early July. I think I prefer long runs with slight rolling hills. Great job with your training this week!

    1. Thank you! It’s so funny how 60 degrees feels in different parts of the country. Whenever we have weather like normal summer weather on the East Coast, it’s considered a heat wave!

  2. Great pictures this week! Funny how your body adapts to the weather so quickly. This week the weather was in the 70s when I ran and it felt AMAZING. Can’t wait for fall weather 🙂

  3. Those last two pictures are just incredible. Wow! I miss doing easy 7s and easy 8s in the mornings. Now, they aren’t easy, and they would take me forever! 8 miles was my go to distance for so long. Ah well. Not really mourning it, ok maybe just a little 😀 I miss doing rolling hills–they upped my mental game so much plus they were so helpful on the uphill to know that your downhill was due.

  4. That’s some beautiful scenery on your runs with the foggy trail and the beautiful sunrise! I had the same experience with the eclipse, we were around 80 some percent and could really only see it with the glasses. It was still pretty cool 🙂

  5. It finally started to cool down here and we have humidity in the 80-90% range instead of all 95-100% now. I actually like hilly runs but we don’t really have hills here. When Clay and I go to visit his grandparents, I love running up there in the hills! You had a great week of training and hooray for your first 40 mile week toward CIM!

  6. Yay for a solid week two in the books! I always struggle more with pacing in the summer. I can’t wait for cooler mornings to get a better sense of where my fitness is at. You’re off to such a great start!

    1. Thank you! Pacing in summer is so hard – I naturally do better in cooler temps, so it’s a bit frustrating to compare summer workouts to ones done in the fall!

  7. Well, I live in the Midwest, and 65 still feels pretty warm to me. I think it’s worth noting that some people just acclimate to heat better than others. The temps people around here say are “glorious” and “nice” still feel pretty warm to me, so I think I just don’t tolerate heat very well. I’ve noticed that I’ve grown less tolerant of heat as I get older, too. I’m not even that old but I remember a few years ago, the humidity did not seem to bother me as much.

    I am the opposite of what you describe – I recover more quickly from rolling hills.

  8. I don’t really tolerate the heat all that well but my body has slowly learned to adapt. it usually takes me most of the summer to get used to running in the heat and humidity before I can say I don’t mind it. although it slows me down, makes me crazy sweaty and I have to be careful not to go too fast to avoid getting dizzy. cooler temps are so much better for running!

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