Weeks 19-20 were the last weeks of my third phase of preparation for Orlen Warsaw Marathon. Unfortunately they didn’t go as I expected. Frist of all, although I didn’t feel bad I was prescribed antibiotics and I lost another week of running. I was doing some other workouts during that week, but running requires running… Second, I did some additional exercises that disturbed my regular routine and made me give up one long run. Third, the weather has changed during those two weeks from winter to spring in Warsaw. It meant rain form most of the time, melting snow and wind – just the conditions that everyone would want to avoid.
That is what I have been doing in details:
Monday, 13.02.2017
Plan: strength training
This day I did a set of general exercises (squats, pull-ups, pushups) and planks – all in three sets. Afterwards I did thirty minutes of stretching to loosen up, especially after the Sunday long run.
Tuesday, 14.02.2017
Plan: easy run
Beside the fact that I was still coughing I felt good and had no other health issues. The running surfaces in my area were slowly getting better so I could speed up a little with my easy running.
Execution: 12,91km, 1:10:39, av.pace: 5:28/km, av.hr: 155 (77%hrmax)
Wednesday – Sunday, 15-19.02.2017
No running, just stationary biking, stability and strength workouts followed by stretching. My cough that I had for the last week turned out to be more severe than I thought. I was prescribed antibiotics for three days, and I had to miss few outdoor workouts.
Monday, 20.02.2017
Plan: strength training
I did a set of general exercises (pushups, pull-ups and squats), some work in plank positions and few additional exercises for calves and shoulders.
Tuesday, 21.02.2017
Plan: easy run
I was going to run a regular easy run, but after few kilometers a freezing rain started to fall almost horizontally and it turned into hail in the next few minutes. I was soaked and cold so I decided to head back home. After all it was my first run after infection and I was still not one hundred percent well.
Execution: 7,91 km, 0:40:25, av.pace: 5:07/km, av.hr: 144 (72%hrmax)
Wednesday, 22.02.2017
plan: VO2max intervals
This day I finally did a proper interval workout. I had to wait till it stopped raining, but when I finally went out, I was lucky with the weather. I did twenty minutes of warmup and then five times one kilometer with four minute rests. The workout felt hard and I had a hard time with keeping the proper pace. After three intervals I felt some strain in my left leg, but I decided I could continue without getting hurt. After the fifth interval I was really tired but satisfied with the work done. I jogged about two kilometers back home for some stretching.
Thursday, 23.02.2017
This day I was going to have an easy run, but it was raining heavily and I was not feeling like running in such weather right after getting back to training.
Friday, 24.02.2017
The rain started to change into snow, luckily I had no running planned for this day
Saturday, 25.02.2017
Plan: Parkrun + 2 hours of aerobics
This day was different than normal Saturday, I was going not only to run a Parkrun race, but I was suppose to take part in parents’ competition that my daughter’s preschool took part in. This time it was different aerobics classes. I have chosen step and interval group. Unfortunately, that morning it started snowing, so my Parkrun race became pretty much impossible to be run the way I wanted, so I decided not to go out and just focus on aerobics. The first hour was a step class. I felt pretty stupid during those exercises, as there were only few guys on the floor and we had no idea what we were doing. We had to look quite ridiculous trying to keep up with the ladies… Every time I thought I finally got the drill right, the lady in charge was happily adding something new or just switching to something new. It was hopeless for me, but I managed to survive somehow this hour. The other class was interval, it consisted of eight exercises done for twenty second each with ten second breaks and about one minute rest between the sets. After those two hours I can tell you one thing – never again I will laugh from girls going to aerobics. That day I thought I was going to die. Actually, I felt worse than after running my last marathon. My legs were burning and I couldn’t even walk normally.
Sunday, 26.02.2017
Plan: long run
When I thought I felt horrible on Saturday I was wrong. This Sunday was one of the most painful days in my life… After several hours of morning struggle with moving around the house I knew that my long run was a fantasy. I went out and started pretending to run. Fortunately it was dark and raining, so no one could see my struggle for each and every step. I stopped limping after two kilometers and after six kilometers I was slowly starting to look like a runner. All in all I managed to shuffle for 12 kilometers which took me over ten minutes more than usually, but I was positively surprised that I made it at all.
Execution: 12,17km, 1:16:02, av.pace: 6:15/km, av.hr: 140 (70%hrmax)
What’s next?
During the next eight weeks I will focus on long threshold runs and long runs. This final phase will be divided into two parts. First will end with Warsaw Half Marathon and the second and final part will end with my main event – Orlen Warsaw Marathon.