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Marathon Training Week 2: It’s Still Hot

by Megan

Week 2 of marathon training is complete, but I have some catching up to do. This week’s short and medium runs were 3 miles, 4 miles, and 3 miles (the same as last week), and the long run was 6 miles. A 10k in week two! Things escalate quickly when you are preparing to run 26.2 miles! If you missed my first post, visit my Marathon Training Plan for Beginners page, where you’ll find links to each week of training!

Marathon Training Week 2

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I did my first short run on Monday, and then got up very early Thursday morning to get in the 4 miler, which I should have done on either Tuesday or Wednesday. That meant I had to do my other short run on Friday, or get behind. It also meant I had to run Friday morning, because I’m in a musical right now, and we had our final dress rehearsal Friday night.

Well I was proud of myself for getting up so early on Thursday, but I just couldn’t do it on Friday. I’ve been having real trouble waking up in the mornings lately, even when I’m not getting up early. I just wake up feeling exhausted. Now that the show has opened (and we just have three performances left, this weekend), my evenings are now open. My choices are running in the early morning (have to be done and back home by 6:45), or in the evenings, because I have kids at home all day. The other option is running at the gym, but I don’t like to do long distances on the treadmill.

So I missed the second short run of the week. Saturday morning we got up and went to an early soccer game (Carter’s last one, check out his sweet trophy!), and then I went out for my run.

carters-soccer-trophy

Long story short, it was too hot to run 6 miles. Maybe if I was a faster runner and could have gotten through it quicker, or if I was just more tolerant of the heat, but I ended up doing 3 miles instead, which took care of the second short run. So I’m going into week three behind by one long run, but hopefully I’ll get that one done tomorrow night. It’s just so much easier to run after the sun has gone down. Even in late October, it’s in the 80s and 90s here in Phoenix.

I’ve mentioned that I’m following the plan set forth in the book The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer. Here are the tips given for week two:

Marathon Training Tips: Week Two

Mental preparation:

Last week’s chapter talked about the benefits of having a positive attitude, and this week expanded on that topic. One of the tips given was, whenever you have a negative thought (such as, “It’s too hot to run!”) add the phrase, “but it doesn’t matter” to the end of your thought. It takes some effort to build the habit of only thinking positive thoughts, so in the meantime, when you do think negatively, just add “but it doesn’t matter” to the end, to help you get past it.

Physical preparation:

This week’s chapter focused on running form and breathing.

  • For endurance running, you should be running with a heel-first stride (as opposed to running on your toes, as in sprint running).
  • Try to eliminate your upward movement and any “bounciness.” This was something I hadn’t been aware of in the past, so now as I run, I pay attention to moving forward with each stride, and not using any extra energy toward upward movement.
  • Breathe with your mouth and nose.
  • Try getting into a breathing rhythm, such as breathing in for two strides and out for two strides. They also suggested dividing your breaths per stride, so you’d breathe in halfway on your first stride, then the rest of the way on stride two with a brief break in between. “In In, Out Out.”

Last week I mentioned how on Saturday I went to the emergency room with pain caused by a kidney stone, but then I ran my 5 miles on Sunday. Well on Monday I was back in the ER with the same pain! If you’ve ever had kidney stone pain, you can empathize. Or if you’ve ever had a baby. Very painful. Luckily I think it’s gone!

So there’s no slowing down on this plan. Tomorrow starts week 3, and I will also be fitting in my 6 miler, with a 7 mile run on Saturday. I may not be the best runner, but when I set my mind to completing something, I do it. Game on!

Previous Posts:
Training Schedule for Marathon Beginners
Marathon Training: Week One

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9 comments

Herchel Aflleje Scruggs October 27, 2014 - 3:33am

Keep it up Megan! I am cheering for you. I am only training for a 15k and you are right…it’s still hot

Reply
Megan Tenney October 27, 2014 - 10:45am

Thanks! I’ll be running tonight after the sun goes down!! Good luck to you!

Reply
JoAnn October 27, 2014 - 8:11am

You go Megan! Marathon training is totally rough. I did my first marathon training with a Team in Training like program. I learned that it didn’t matter how slow I was, I just needed to put in the miles and I would be successful. Honestly, I didn’t even put in all the miles. I usually skipped one mid week run just because life was so busy. I still finished my marathon though and three more marathons since then.

You can do this! :-)

Reply
Megan October 27, 2014 - 2:04pm

Thanks JoAnn! Wow, you are impressive! My problem has been that I’ve had so much going on that it’s been like “oh yeah AND I’m training for a marathon.” Going forward, that needs to be my main focus!

Reply
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