The Road to 26.2: Week 6

For those of you keeping track at home, six is one third of eighteen, which means that I'm 33% of the way through my marathon training journey.  That statement seems quite unbelievable.  It still seems like I'm just getting started, warming up before the real training starts.  Looking ahead, I know my plan will ramp up in intensity in the coming weeks, but the first six weeks of training were certainly no gimme.  I'm proud of what I've done so far, and I'm excited to see what else is to come.  In the immediate term, however, my week six workouts looked like this:

Monday (1/12):  3 mile run and strength work.
Continued cold temperatures and patchy ice found me running on my treadmill yet again.  So soon after my treadmill long run, I wanted nothing to do with the hamster wheel, but I sucked it up and powered through the easy 3-miler.  I followed the run with some strength work, including squats, lunges, and core work.
Tuesday (1/13):  6 mile run.
The temperature was barely 15* (with a windchill around 5*), but I couldn't stomach the thought of facing the treadmill yet again.  Perhaps against my better judgment, I headed outside, running the first half with Emily and the second half solo.  My watch died after a mile and my phone froze not much later, but I survived.

Desperate to warm up after Tuesday's cold run,
I camped out directly in front of our heating vent with a mug of hot green tea.

Wednesday (1/14):  yoga.
For the first time in several weeks, I heeded my alarm on a non-running day and did my yoga before everyone else was up for the day.  I love my early morning runs, but I seem much less likely to wake up for an early morning cross training session.  Today I conquered the snooze and made it happen.
Thursday (1/15):  3 mile run.
The temperatures began to thaw, and we enjoyed this run with one less layer of clothing!  It's the little things...
Friday (1/16):  strength work.
A day that was far from routine and one in which a workout seemed unlikely to happen.  I squeezed in 20 minutes for strength work (core, squats, and arms) and counted it as a victory.
Saturday (1/17):  9 mile run.
With temperatures slated to be in the 40s and 50s, my one goal for this run was to complete it in the sunshine while wearing capris.  Mission accomplished!  I felt happy and strong throughout this run.  Sunshine + no need for reflective clothing + Serial podcast = one happy mother runner.

Exposed ankles and sunshine: nothing but good things on Saturday's long run.

Sunday (1/18):  REST!
I usually look forward to my rest days, but this week, it felt tough to take the day off.  I wanted to do something to get my body moving, but heading into a hard week of training, I knew a complete rest day was the right choice.  I threw my energy into deep cleaning the house and blogging :)

Besides my workouts, I also visited my chiropractor this week.  All my problem spots from last spring (low back and hips) are holding strong, and she put my ankles, neck, and shoulders back where they belong.  Walking out of the appointment, I felt like a brand new person.  I plan to continue checking in monthly during this training cycle to keep everything in its place and hopefully prevent injuries from cropping up.  The best rehab is prehab!

Sunshine on my favorite tree, which refuses to drop its remaining leaves.

All in all, a solid week of training and one that showed me how much my psyche has adapted to the marathon training load.  When my sister asked how long my weekend run was, I told her it was a step-back week, so just 9 miles.  She shook her head and laughed at my blase attitude.  When did I become that lady to whom 9 miles is a drop in the bucket?  I'm not sure, but I think I like it :)