Best Long Run Since 2016 + What I Do to Help When Brooke is Gone + Week #1 Marathon Training Log

My very excited face was created because I had the best long run I have had in I can’t remember how long… at least 1.6 years!  Things just kind of clicked and I am hoping that means things will click for my 5k next week and my marathon in 2 months and 14 days—>  A girl can hope, right?

The focus on ‘during the run nutrition’ has begun again.  My coach told me to start getting in nutrition 35-40 minutes in so I brought my favorite—>  apples and cinnamon huma gel.  During my long runs I used to take my gels whenever I would stop for water but my coach reminded me to take them while I run to practice doing that since I’ll be taking them as I run on race day.   Now I just need Andrew to stand on the side of the road with little paper cups of water so I can practice not spilling it everywhere like I do during a race.

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The workout was set up to be a 4 mile warm-up, 3 miles at a moderate pace, 1 mile easy, 2 miles faster than the moderate pace but done at a pace where I still felt strong and in control, 2 mile cool-down.

My warm-up was 4.15 miles because I wanted to get in a drink at a drinking fountain before starting the moderate pace work.  I felt 200% better than I did last Saturday and I’m sure that was partly from taking some caffeine before the run:)  I haven’t been using caffeine before running for a VERY long time but it was very needed yesterday morning and I think I’ll be using some before my 5k too!  PS I’m going to try the type of caffeine I used a few more times before I share it to make sure that I really do love it.

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I came home just as the crew was starting to wake up and did some stretching and planking with them!

My planks yesterday:

60 second plank on left side

60 second plank on right side

60 second normal plank on elbows

x 2

It burned.

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Once Knox finished breakfast he asked if we could go out on a run with me.  I couldn’t turn that down so we went out for .55 miles of run/walk together.  Both Brooke and Knox are so fascinated by the Garmin or maybe they like staring at it because they see me look at mine a million times during a race.

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Andrew and Knox went on a date to go see Incredibles 2.  Skye was napping so I stayed home with her (we have also passed the stage of bringing her to movies with us anymore… she wants to be moving and talking whenever she is awake now)!

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Whenever Brooke leaves I love to spend some time just doing something for her.  Sometimes it’s going through her room and organizing everything for her or making her a card or something like that.  Yesterday, I put her birthday together and I bet you could have guessed it… Spirit is the theme.

Yes, Andrew does think I’m a little strange preparing for birthdays almost a month in advance.  My mom always made a big deal about birthdays and it’s just in my DNA:)

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Then Skye joined me.  She is VERY into toys these days… especially ones that are easy for her to attempt to eat.

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Our evening involved a wedding reception for one of Andrew’s cousins!  Andrew has a lot of cousins so sometimes the first time I meet one of his cousins is at their wedding ha;)  The reception was gorgeous and they had the best food!  If Knox and Andrew had to choose one food that they could live off for the rest of their lives, they would both choose pizza.

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Knox made sure to show off his flossing for everyone.

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Marathon training has begun so let’s call this week #1 of marathon training!

A picture of Brookie trail running:

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Here’s what it looked like:

Monday:  8 miles @ 8:36

Tuesday:  6 miles @ 8:52

Wednesday:  8.72 miles total—>  2 mile w/u, 1600m in 6:50 (6:53 pace), 400m recovery jog, 1200m in 4:46 (6:23 pace), 400m recovery jog, 1200m in 4:43 (6:20 average pace), 800m in 3:02 (6:06 pace), 400m recovery jog, 800m in 3:00 (6:02 pace), 400m in 1:24 (5:37 pace), 400m in 1:22 (5:31 pace), 400m recovery, 1 mile c/d.

Thursday:  8 miles @ 8:22

Friday:  6.2 miles @ 9:06 pace with Skye (awake the whole time!) in the jogging stroller.

Saturday:  12.15 miles!  4 mile w/u, 3 miles @ moderate effort, 1 mile easy, 2 mile @ a bit harder than moderate effort (while staying smooth), 2 mile c/d.

Sunday:  Off!

49.07 miles for the week—> So close to 50 again!

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What was your best run last week?  Hardest run?

What has been the best part of your weekend so far?

A question from Knox (typing this in the car on our way home from the wedding:):  Would you rather eat pizza the rest of your life or noodles the rest of your life?  

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48 comments

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Hi Knox — Pizza, definitely. There’s breakfast pizza but no breakfast noodles.
Hi J — Wow, 50 mile week just staring marathon training! Super impressive, SpeedyPerson. I love seeing the work that goes into this, thanks for the detailed post including planks.
5k race yesterday and there was Starbucks at the start (they sponsor lots of races around here so I try to support them as much as I can) which I think helped, and fresh fruit at the end. Definitely the most fun and best run of the week!

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WAY TO GO ON YOUR 5k! I am so glad it was such a great race and that it felt so good! I love hearing from you and so excited for your NYCM training!! Thank you!

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Knox, right there with you on the pizza.
Best part of my weekend was hosting people for dinner last night. Wish I did it more often.
Hope would love Brooke’s b-day theme.

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I wish we could have come to dinner too last night:) Hope and Brooke need to hang out! I hope your day is going really well!

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STELLAR week of training. You are going to NAIL that sub 3. I’m betting 2:52-2:53. If you upped your mileage, maybe it’d be even quicker, but tbh I think this performance training you’re doing is really interesting and really really working. The emphasis is clearly on the 2 workouts, and they’re super quality sessions. Your coach knows what she’s doing!!

Wouldn’t up the mileage too much; would be really cool to see how this quality over quantity works out. It’s different though than other qualities over quantities I’ve seen; super stoked about it. Would love to try it out myself, as baseline 75mpw going into 95mpw is too rough to do and have a life. Regardless, your performances are making me super hopeful! I know you have talent, but still for the little guy (people who don’t -just- run), it’s inspiring to see those LR workouts of yours!

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YOUR COMMENT MADE ME SO HAPPY! Thank you! So I think that is the plan… to up my mileage! Which makes me very excited. 75-95–> You inspire me big time. Any tips for my 5k on Tuesday?!?

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Great question, Knox! I would for sure choose noodles! Am imagining yummy noodle dishes from around the world—Thailand, China, Italy, Vietnam, Japan…

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I’m with you on the noodles… and now I want all of these different noodle dishes:) I hope the rest of your Sunday is great Tam!

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Pizza all the way Knox!

I had an awful 9 mile run this week. It was in all sun and hot and at lunch time.

Yesterday we played tourist in nyc. We took the kids to see dad’s office, walked the Brooklyn bridge, rode then Staten Island ferry and went to the top of freedom tower.

I’m trying to get off the couch and do my 4 mile run. New York City marathon here I come

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BOOOO to those 9 miles… running in the heat/sun/in the middle of the day…. that is so hard! Your day yesterday sounds perfect. I hope your 4 miler was great and I cannot wait for you to run NYCM! PS reading your comment just made me so happy thinking about how we all get to connect over the internet no matter where we live… fun stuff:)

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My 4 miler was great! I felt so good during and after!

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Oh I am so glad!! Way to go Mary!

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Great job on the 12-miler!!

My runs have been rough last week … I opted out of running Monday/Tuesday and swam instead because my legs felt like lead and unfortunately that didn’t help as much as I thought it would! I still got in back to back long runs (11 Friday and 14 Saturday), which I was happy about, but my speed suffered this week. How do you deal with heavy legs?! I feel like just resting isn’t helping me!

Best part of my weekend – Seeing Jurassic World last night!! Loved it so much!

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Oh thanks Arthi! Back to back long runs–> GO ARTHI!! Sorry for the heavy legs days! I hope your week is filled with better feeling runs. Oh we want to go see that! Thanks Arthi!

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I’m right there with ya Knox! I absolutely love pizza and there are so many ways to mix it up!
Now I want pizza and I haven’t had breakfast yet.. mmm breakfast pizza…

The best part of my weekend so far was getting fro-yo with my daughter then coming home to snuggle and have a girls night of watching our super girly TV.

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I hope that you get some delicious pizza soon Kristen! Okay, that sounds like the perfect date to me. Enjoy the rest of your day!

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Hi Knox! I would prefer noodles!

Great job on your training Janae!

So I’m not joking…. I spent half of the weekend cooking out of shalenes cookbook And will continue to do so today. I’ll have such healthy tasty food on hand all week. :)

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I’m with you on the noodles… especially if it was lasagna. Sooooo can I come over this week and eat all of the goodness you have made? What’s your favorite thing from her cookbook? I need to get making more food from it!

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Yes, anytime!!! It’s hard to pick a favorite! I make the homemade chicken broth but I add more veggies to it. I was recently sick for 2 weeks and now that I’m well I want to super charge my health and drink the broth daily. I like the bison kale spaghetti. So great for us running and living in altitude. I don’t make meatballs I just make it like pasta sauce. And my favorite dessert in her book is definitely the sauteed pears.. and you can make that in 5 mins! It feels like a fancy treat at home!!!

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And now I am drooling… that all sounds so good! I need to make the pears for me and Brooke (those are her favorite) asap! Thanks Emma!

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You are so inspiring me to do speed work! And, the half marathon training I am following has me doing speed work on Wednesdays too! ? This last week, my best run was my hilly run on Tuesday. That rarely happens, but this week it just felt good and conquering the hills made the post run endorphins last all day!
Great question Knox! I love both, but I would have to say pizza would be my choice too ?
Have a great Sunday!!

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Oh thanks Wendy! Meet me at the track on Wednesdays:) I am so excited for your half. Way to go on those hills… you inspire me to do more! I hope you get some pizza soon!

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Tell Knox, Pizza! I love pizza with bacon, pineapple, and green peppers.
Best part of my weekend is the Panic! At the Disco concert with my 11 and 13 y/o daughters.
No running for me yet. I finally get to see the doctor tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for a clean MRI. I just want it drained and a cortisone shot so I can get back to running and make one of my three races I’ve already registered for.

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That sounds like the perfect pizza!
Okay, coolest mom ever…. I LOVE Panic! How fun that you took your girls. PLEASE let me know how the appointment goes tomorrow, I’ll be thinking about you!

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Best run was Monday….worst were the ones i missed due to a cold….boo! But I have a short 3 miler planned for today and then some long runs in Nashville this week…….so excited!!

And i would choose pizza 1000000% of the time. pizza is the best ever.

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I hope that your 3 miler felt great today and enjoy those long runs in Nashville Loribeth. Oh and celebrate your cold peacing out with some pizza please!

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What a great idea to get things done for her while away!
Knox I am going to say noodles because I can use many different sauces to top them with:)

Great long run!

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Thanks Christina! I am with you on the noodles… they sound so good right now too! Thank you and I hope you have a really great week!

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Knox, I’d go with pizza for sure. That pizza from the wedding reception has me hungry!

What a strong week and so glad it’s feeling good!

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Thank you so much Michelle!! Wish I could ship you some of that pizza:) Have a beautiful Sunday!

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You are going to do very well in your next race and in the marathon!
Nice work!

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Oh thank you so much Christine! I hope your weekend has been amazing so far!

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So happy to see that your running is bringing you so much joy and that you’re in a good running-place so quickly after having Skye. I bet the imposed break after birth made a difference. You are truly amazing for doing everything you do with three kids! Such an inspiration! My best running workout this week was a short but fun one: 10 x (400m&10 burpees).

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And for Knox: my 8 years old son says pizza is the best! He loved incredibles 2 so much that we went to see it twice! We hope you liked it too!

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Oh thank you so much Mel! I totally agree that the break after having her helped a lot:) 400m PLUS 10 burpees–> 10 times. YOU are inspiring to me! Burpees kill me haha. Yes, that movie was so good and I just told knox that your son agrees that pizza is the best. Enjoy the rest of your day Mel!

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The best part of my week: I can run again!!! I’ve been dealing with hamstring pain for a long time and I’ve realized it’s from too much treadmill and not enough strength training.

I’m doing a trial run (haha) this week with only outside runs to see if this pain clears up more. But I’m feeling really good and ready to tackle my next third half, which is in 7 weeks! :)

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YOU CAN RUN AGAIN… absolute best news. I am so so happy you are back and that you figured out what was causing the problem. Keep me updated on everything, you are going to rock that 1/2 Jaime!

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Best run this week? Eh, not sure any of them were best. Started last week with a randomly (and weirdly) rest day achy hamstring so kept all paces easy until Friday when I did half of a harder workout – 3 mile easy, 3.5 miles with 4×2-3 minutes (however long the song was) mid-level pace pick ups. Iffy success at best but probably the best workout of the week since hamstring didn’t whine.

Hardest run was long run – 20 min at mid-level pace followed by 11 miles at easy pace. My long runs have felt soooo hard the two weeks and left me with achy legs/hips/butt…not sure why since they were easy pace. Maybe heat/hydration related? Or phantom taper pains with all the easy-for-the-hamstring runs (even though taper doesn’t start for another 2 weeks)?

Tell Knox I would choose noodles because I think I could get more variety over the rest of my lifetime. But shorter term…pizza would win.

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Any advice for someone who cant seem to get over the mental 10 mile hump. I’m training for my first marathon which will be Chicago this year and I feel stuck! Help!

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I know that straws are a bit controversial these days due to their environmental impact, BUT… I carry a straw or two with me during races and doing so has changed my life. Seriously! I see a water stop approaching, I grab my straw from my Spi-belt and I am able to drink and run simultaneously without spilling, choking, or coughing. It’s seriously amazing.
Have a great day, Janae!

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I have never even heard of doing this. Stacey, I think you just solved one of my biggest racing problems. THANK YOU x a million. I hope you and your little guy have had a wonderful weekend!

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my best run was saturday, too! maybe there were GREAT running vibes in the air bc it was my BDAY :) so that lead to the obvs best part of the weekend…all of that day! but mostly amazing sushi and prosecco and cupcakes haha.
and knox…definitely pizza my man

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happy belated birthday Adrianna! i also had a birthday :) sushi plus prosecco sounds so delish and a great way to celebrate!

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and happy belated birthday back at ya!!! hope it was fab :)

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Hi do you think you can do a post that asks your followers if any of them started running from a unfit, overweight position? I have just started last week after turning 50 in May and deciding moving up a size in clothing is not what I want. I converted from metric and I’m 198lbs and 5ft 3 so overweight. I am doing a C25k programme on the treadmill (not confident enough to run outside just yet) Does it get easier because today was day 5 and I still want to kill the voice on the app that tells me it’s time to run again. Any hints or ideas would be helpful. Oh my goal at the moment is to do a 5k Parkrun on a Saturday morning before the Brisbane summer heat starts in November. Thanks

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Knox- noodles all the way. There are so many types of noodles! Asian noodles, Italian noodles, etc. but pizza is also pretty good :)

Janae, I’ve always loved your blog but have to confess I disagree with you on just about every food opinion. That is the WORST huma flavor in my opinion…. I was curious as to what your personal philosophy was on caffeine since I know members of the LDS church don’t like to drink it. Is that just drinking it though? Is there a common rule?

I know you don’t talk about religion much on here but I have wondered for a while what you think of caffeine in stuff like this. I personally love caffeine before workouts except I’m too dependent on it now ;)

Hardest run of the week was when my friend and I decided to do 4-5 miles, but we ended up doing a much longer route that was 7 miles. I know that’s not a huge jump, but it was 95 degrees with 90% humidity so we were dying. Gotta love the south!

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Girl you are CRUSHING your training! I am somewhat envious of your schedule- so weird. It sounds kind of fun to be training for something. GOOD LUCK on the 5k. I can’t even imagine the pain =)

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Best run last week was probably a trail run up and down this river for speedwork. it was flat, i exceeded my target paces. it wasn’t humid and there was cloud cover/tree cover – that run, also tied with a trail long run around a lake. both were great, especially when i got cover from the sun and was able to remain nice and cool.

Best part of the weekend was seeing friends and meeting new people i’d say! the runs were pretty great too!

i’d totally rather eat noodles for the rest of my life! what a great question Knox! and i have to agree with Savannah ^^ there are so many variations to keep it interesting.

i totally need to try the straw for races, too – that sounds so smart!

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