Marathon Training Week Ten (Week of August 12, 2013):
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Treadmill work-out. 55 minutes total. The hard part: 10 min. run, 1 min. walk, 10 min. run, 10 min. walk, 11 min. run. All the walking was done at under 14:00/mile, so it was POWERWALKING!
Wednesday: Off.
Thursday: Treadmill work-out. ~34 minutes total. The hard part: 10 min. run, 1 min. walk, 10 min. run.
Friday: Powerwalk outside, ~32 minutes total.
Saturday: Does ping-pong count as a work-out? Either way, it was a lot of fun!
Sunday: LONG WALK! 2 hours.
Total minutes walked/ran this week: 241. Estimated miles: 17.
You know you’re training in Texas when a few days of 90-ish degree weather feels like a relief. It’s been a little less sweaty around here and a whole lot nicer to be outside, hence the powerwalk on Friday night. The idea of escaping the treadmill was too much—I had to do it. But Sunday I was supposed to be on my feet for 2.5 hours, and I only finished 2. Boo. I know. I wasn’t feeling so great at the 80-minute mark, and I managed to get another 40 minutes under my feet, so I consider that a success.
In other news, my passport arrived! The second-to-last piece of this marathon puzzle is in place. (The final is my plane ticket for October.) Diligent readers or other Detroit Marathoners might recall that the race goes into Canada, so you must have a passport to pick up your race packet. My application was approved, so I’m good to go. My only regret is that I look like a damn serial killer on it—it is truly one of the worst photos of me that I have ever seen.
(No, I’m not going to show you. There is no way I am immortalizing that image by sharing it with the internet. But suffice to say that I am not smiling, I am staring blankly, and my hair looks terrible. But it’s a real passport, and it’s mine, so that will have to be good enough.)
Happy school-starting days to all my friends in academic spaces! I am getting excited for the students to come back for the fall semester at A & M.
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteI am an avid reader of your blogs, and really admire your efforts to train for a marathon during these hot Texas summers. I’ve been considering running a marathon lately, though I’ve never had the strength to do so.
Yeah, ping-pong does count as a work-out -- I like ping-pong myself. Just curious, where did you find a ping-pong table in College Station?
I wish you good luck with your training!
Hi there! Thank you for your kind comment. The ping-pong table was in Houston at my boyfriend's sister's house. But Paul and I were plotting a way to find a ping-pong table in College Station...maybe in one of the A & M dorms? Not that I would ever do something so naughty ;-)
DeletePS Have you run shorter races, like a 10K or a half-marathon? The marathon is one serious beast--I'm glad that I have a lot of experience with shorter races because otherwise I think marathon training would eat me alive. And I'm pretty sure that at the end of this marathon training cycle, I'll be able to say that the half-marathon is my favorite distance to race.
DeleteNo, unfortunately, I haven't run any short races; it's a good advice to start from there, though. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize you would run through two countries during one marathon! That's really neat and makes me wish I was running Detroit too. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's true! I think the Detroit Marathon is going to be really cool--the course is definitely one of my motivations to keep plugging away in brutal summertime Texas :-P
Delete(Not to mention that Detroit will most likely be at least 30-40 degrees cooler than what I'm working with now. Oh man, I can't wait for October.)