Getting back into marathon training shape has felt harder than I imagined it would (and should) be, but as I give myself grace, relax about my current pace, and just focus on the purpose of each run, enjoying the journey along the way, I’m starting to feel like I’m heading in the right direction again.

Small differences. Sweet moments of joy. Tiny increases in my speed and cadence. A little less huffing and puffing. A little more gliding. Each contributing to a renewed sense of positivity.

The hardest part is being patient with myself, even though I know full well this is not a sprint, but rather a long, winding marathon adventure, filled with zigs and zags, hills and valleys, and a whole lot of time to think and appreciate the process.

What made the difference this week, besides patience and consistency, was adding in a little speed work, reminding my body that it could get out of first gear and hold up to the additional load. Nothing crazy, just some up tempo running and a 1-mile time trial. Even more than the physical gain, the mental gain was just what I needed to reassure myself that my body could hold up to the strain. Having a history of injuries during marathon training over the years, I’ve likely been overly cautious as I’ve been building back up, but now I know as I ease into it, I can trust my body, which is unbelievably freeing.

Here’s what Week #2 of training looked like:

(June 26-July 2)

Monday: Threshold run 3 miles with 6 x 1 min up tempo/ 1 min rest
10 min dynamic warm-ups, 5 min cool down walk
Core exercises, foot exercises, and stretching

Tuesday: Easy run 2 miles with 4 x 20 second up tempo effort
10 min dynamic warm-ups, 5 min cool down walk
30 minutes upper body weights/strength

Wednesday: 1 mile time trial
10 min dynamic warm-ups and 1/2 mile jog, 8 x 20 second strides, and 1 mile cool down jog
Core exercises, foot exercises, and stretching

Thursday: Cross-train ~ 45 min spin bike class [16 miles]
30 min lower body weights/strength

Friday: Cross-train ~ 45 min elliptical [4.5 miles] and 15 min rowing [2,828m]
30 minutes core exercises

Saturday: Long run 5.53 miles @ targeted conversational 10:34 pace with my friend Becca
10 min dynamic warm-ups and 5 min cool down
Foot exercises and stretching

Sunday: REST
Walk, foot exercises and yoga/stretching

This week’s snap shots

Highlights

• Getting my feet to move faster! Coach Rosie from RunCoach, our team training group, suggested I do a 1-mile time trial on Wednesday instead of my usual mid-week medium-long “easy pace” run to see where I’m at with my fitness. In preparation, she scaled back my distance on Monday and had me do short up tempo intervals instead, and then another shorter run on Tuesday with some short bursts. Wednesday’s time trial was what one would expect–it was hard, but exhilarating. I took off way too fast, but ended up taking 1 1/2 minutes off my previous mile effort so I left feeling like it was a fuego morning.
• Doing my long run with my friend Becca on Saturday was also uplifting. I usually run solo, so it was especially fun to catch up with a friend whom I haven’t seen for quite some time while logging some quality miles. The time flew and our pace ended up being a minute per mile faster than I’ve been running solo on my long runs. #strongertogether
• Raising $1,160 of my $2,620 goal for Team for Kids. We are now 44% of the way to the fundraising finish line! Thank you to Janet Cook (my incredible NYC Marathon running partner!), the McNees Family, and Alice Huang and Women’s Athletic Club of Santa Barbara. You are helping make a beautiful difference in the lives of kids (and parents, who often start running with their kids)!

If you’d like to support my marathon run and help create running programs for schools across the US, click on the link to my Team for Kids fundraising page HERE. I will be giving away a pair of Hoka Rincon3 running shoes (men’s/women’s in the color and size of your choice) for anyone who donates $10 by August 15th. $10 gives you one entry, $20 two, $50 five etc. Wishing you all great luck!

As I sign off and get ready to head into Week #3 of training, I wish you all a Happy 4th of July! May you always run free, and may you always celebrate the gift of being able to lace up your shoes and get out the door. Where will your miles be taking you this week? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Running!
xo Becky

If you missed my Week #1 NYC training post, you can take a peek here: Kicking of 20 Weeks to NYC