Final double-digit run of this training cycle is done and done and we are officially in race week!
First, let’s talk about the huma mixed with water in a flask combo that I thought was going to be life changing for my marathoning. Nope. I took one sip and realized it is not for me within a second. The taste and texture was not great in my opinion and I couldn’t imagine sipping on that during a race. Back to the tried and true combo for me of taking a huma and then drinking water separately.
Beretta came along for the first six miles of my run and in the picture below you can see her tail is wagging. She loves our runs and does a great job keeping things interesting (aka we came across another cat along with a lab that decided to come and join us on the run… with the leash around my waist, she keeps me on my toes).
I dropped her off really quick and then went out for another six. I kept seeing little pumpkin patches in people’s yards… We need one of these.
I was really happy with how this run felt. My coach told me to keep it easy and she said to go between 9-12 miles. I felt relaxed and loved spending the 92ish minutes thinking about Saturday and my goals.
PS It took me about a mile to figure out why my right forearm felt sore during the run… Air hockey from the day before. Andrew and I get a little too into that game to the point that it makes my arm sore so I will definitely not be playing that this week.
I came home and had a few minutes to get ready for soccer games. I grabbed my fuel and we were off.
I didn’t used to be a believer of BCAAs but now I am (and maybe it is all placebo effect but I’m okay with that too).
They both had soccer games yesterday. One at 9 and one at 10 and they were at different parks so we drove two cars to the games.
Andrew picked up a hot chocolate for me on the way there and it was heavenly.
The kids love soccer for many reasons but I have a feeling that one of the biggest reasons they love soccer is for the snacks afterwards. Poptarts and gatorade were yesterday’s treat for Brooke:
Chores, Legos and laziness filled up the rest of the day (oh and we had salad and pizza for lunch at home).
My body is feeling pretty good right now but my hamstrings are pretty tight so I spent some time on those.
As you can tell we had egg, spinach and toast scrambles for dinner.
And then the kids went outside and played with their neighbor buddies.
We watched from the blanket.
I finished off the night with a few bowls of this stuff because cereal at night is the absolute best.
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One week to go and here is what last week looked like:
Monday: 8 miles @ 8:45
Tuesday: 6 miles @ 8:27
Wednesday: This one felt terrible but that is part of the taper. 2 mile w/u, 3 miles @ 6:50, 6:52, 6:36. .5 easy. 3 miles @ 6:51, 6:53, 6:36. 1 mile cooldown. 9.5 miles @ 7:15 average.
Thursday: Off and it felt strange. Very strange.
Friday: 5.2 miles @ 7:45 average pace.
Saturday: 12 miles @ 7:42 average. Felt easy and relaxed which was welcome after the first few days of the week!
Sunday: Off.
40.7 miles for the week which is a little higher than I was planning and this next week is all about recovering and gearing up.
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What is your Sunday filled with today?
Best run and worst run last week?
-Saturday was my best and Wednesday was my worst.
Poptarts—> Delicious or no thank you?
-As a kid the s’mores one was life to me.
Favorite NIGHTIME cereal?
-Right now, Lucky Charms.
30 comments
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
Lucky Charms are truly magically as a dessert on long running days. I don’t know why, but I can eat a big bowl of them and be satisfied, but I know that if I had anything else, like ice cream, or cake, or cookies, I’d end up eating close to a thousand calories and not get the same satisfaction.
I’m so excited for your race next Saturday!!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Thank you so so much Beckett! I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!
Molly S
Oddly all my runs were great this week. 4×1200 workout and long run progression run went better than expected. Love when that happens!
And I ate mostly classic strawberry growing up. The real question is if you toasted your pop tart or atevot cold. I toasted always! Crispy edges were heaven.
The Hungry Runner Girl
That is awesome Molly and way to go on the 4 x 1200 and long progression run! You rocked it. I always had them cold:) I should try one toasted. Enjoy the rest of your day!
Amy
Hi Janae, I need to learn from your dedication to the morning run! 12 miles before 9am soccer games is awesome. Your fast pace helps squeeze it in a little quicker but still, you rock! I have a baby question — what suction plate thing does Skye use? Thanks!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh we love this plate so so much! It is a NUBY and here is one just like it:
https://amzn.to/2QlEB2H
I hope you are having a great Sunday!
Jenny|Running On Life
My arm gets sore after air hockey too. My parents got an air hockey table when I was a freshman in high school and I remember thinking it must make it a good arm workout if it make my arms sore haha.
Pop tarts, eh, they are alright but can’t be a meal. Strawberry was my favorite.
Every time I see a pumpkin patch a weird thing happens where I instantly want to be a farmer so I can have a side gig of selling fresh produce hahaha. I’m not sure I’d actually enjoy it once I had one though, that’s a lot of work.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Good to know I’m not alone! I want to get an air hockey table for our house some day! HAHAH YES… that’s what happened to me during the run too. I hope your Sunday is a great one Jenny!
Rhiannon
Boring Sunday for me, filled with cleaning and whatnot. I got some major retail therapy yesterday though, so it’s okay! :)
Oddly enough, my best run was my speed workout this week, with my long run yesterday being a close second. The cooler weather here has made a HUGE difference in how I feel doing difficult things! Honestly I don’t think I had a bad run this week!
I was really hoping that flask option would work for you! I still haven’t figured out how to use tailwind for my race… I might just have to have my cheerleaders (my family lol) at strategic places along the course to hand it to me or something! Runner struggles are real!
The Hungry Runner Girl
I hope you get in some resting in today too and I need some retail therapy asap:) That is awesome that your best runs were your speed and long runs. Nice job Rhiannon and all of that summer training is paying off. Tailwind is so much better (I think).. the consistency of the gel and water was rough. I think that is a great idea to have your peeps pass it to you! Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday Rhiannon!
~ R
My Sunday will be filled with: a walk with my friend, church, checking the roof with hubby, dinner, bed.
My worst run was Thursday (not feeling it so bad that I called it two miles in and switched to walking) and my best was Saturday.
Brown sugar/cinnamon pop-tarts are the bomb! The rest are pretty yucky.
The Hungry Runner Girl
I am so glad your run yesterday was so great and good call on cutting Thursday short–> we NEED that sometimes. I forgot about the brown sugar ones… my kids need to experience those. Sounds like a great day… enjoy!
AmandaM
I love your dry humor caption of Skye’s picture with the food everywhere. It was just so well done and made me laugh :-) So thank you.
. My day looks a lot like yesterday. Gym workout, hike with the dog, I’ll go out and do a few errands in a bit. And then an afternoon dog hike with my friend and her dog. Sometimes I wonder if my dog gets TOO much exercise but I don’t think that’s possible. He is eternally energetic. So fun. :) The weather has been absolutely perfect here the past couple of days and I am enjoying it before the frigidness settles in (hopefully not for a couple of months!!)
I am so excited for your marathon. I can sense your happiness and ease about it. ( of course only through your writing but I believe my sense is correct?? -) ). Totally different vibe from the past pre-marathon and I think that will serve you so well. Yay!
The Hungry Runner Girl
I think you are so right about the difference in marathon buildups for me… I can’t even believe the difference this time (and I have a post that is going up this week about it all and why it is so different).. you are good Amanda:) You know me well! Hahah thank you, I had no idea how she could get the food everywhere like that but she did:) Your dog is IN HEAVEN… you are the best owner ever for giving your pup so much movement and experience. Keep enjoying those temperatures! Have a beautiful rest of your day Amanda!
Mary
Pumpkin spiced Cheerios! Get them at Walmart! The best!
The Hungry Runner Girl
I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE!! We had them last year and they are so good. Thank you for the reminder. Enjoy the rest of your day Mary!
Victoria
Yeah I don’t like watered down gels either. It helps people who have trouble with swallowing while running but if that’s not a problem, it’s just diluted flavor and gross texture. Pass!
The Hungry Runner Girl
YES… I couldn’t believe how terrible it was watered down haha! I should have just asked you in the first place!
Wendy
I have that same flask and have always used powerbar gels straight. I could fit 5 gels in the flask (no water). I LOVE carrying it for the entire marathon, I don’t even notice it and it’s great to take small sips throughout instead of a whole gel at once. You just need gels that are thinner. Powerbar gels are now discontinued and I can use gus or anything with no problem, but all the others are much thicker and I’m not sure they would work. Might be an option if the huma gels are a thinner consistency. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do yet.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh that is a fabulous idea… I didn’t even think about that. Hmmmmm YES I wish that I could find a thinner gel. They need to bring those ones back! I’ll have to try it. Thanks Wendy and I hope you are having a great Sunday!
Christina Witczak
Good luck next week. I am doing 10 miles today then taper week starts. 5k next week. I am finally realizing that the 10k or 10 miles is my preferred distance. The 5k will hurt. Do you have a post where you talk about BCAAs? Why did you choose that specific brand? Thanks for what you do.
The Hungry Runner Girl
I hope your 10 miler was amazing! Good luck at the 5k… you are right, they do hurt. BUT you are strong… you’ve got this. So I don’t have a post about them but I bought the kind I did because of a few people that I know that recommended that brand. I wish I had a better explanation haha:) THANK YOU for reading and keep me updated on how you are doing and your races!
Noelle
It makes me so happy that you also love “nighttime cereal”. Cereal is one of my *favorite* snacks, and we always put it on our grocery list as “snacking cereal” haha. We usually get the malt-o-meal cereals (the ones that come in a big bag), and our favorite is chocolate marshmallow mateys – basically, if Cocoa Puffs and lucky charms combined to make one super cereal, this would be it. I also love the chocolate & peanut butter cheerios!
This week is all about rest and recovery for me too with the Twin Cities Marathon a week from today. Just did my last long run this morning! It’s made me so happy that you’re training for a marathon in the same weekend as mine so I could follow along with your training and compare notes :) You’re going to rock it!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
I NEED THOSE… that sounds like the perfect cereal:) I love those cheerios so much too. You are going to do so well next Sunday and I’m thrilled for you. It’s been so fun to train together:) Please let me know how it goes Noelle!
kelly
Sunday was quite unproductive for me! We finally made Kodiak Cake pancakes (we brought some home this summer) and they were delicious! Yum! I went for a spontaneous trail run while my son met up with his friends. Then he decided to go with them to the city so I had afternoon to myself. Basically if I have alone time I get nothing done, or I get stuff done but it takes forever.
Made pumpkin muffins. That was the “big task!”
Cereal-I’m a mixer so cereal like Honey Bunches of Oats works for me. Otherwise is Rice Crispies + granola; Frosted mini wheats are pretty up there, too though. When the kids were little we used to hide Lucky Charms in my giant stock pot. That was dessert after they went to bed.
Poptarts are never on my radar but when they are, yes. I love the brown sugar ones or strawberry. I’ve been known to put them in my bike jersey pocket if they’re in the house and I’m out of the usual fuel. So maybe once a year?
Hang in there with the taper! Our rule: no sharp knives. When my mom was tapering for her marathons decades ago she’d always cut herself by accident while cooking dinner. It quickly became a rule.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh I am so glad that you tried out Kodiak Cakes! Trail run with your son… that is awesome! We all need days like that (and I’m joining you today too). I love hearing from other cereal mixers. It’s the best. I will totally take on that rule now too, that is something I would do. Thanks so much Kelly!
Liz
I ran a PR in the marathon today. And it was fuelled by Gatorade and S’mores Pop Tarts. Now im relaxing on the couch and read this post. I agree with Brooke’s taste in treats! Good luck with your race next weekend!
The Hungry Runner Girl
AHHH LIZ!!! HUGE HUGE HUGE CONGRATS ON YOUR PR!!! Soak in your accomplishment for a very long time!
Danielle
Best run was my first race ever yesterday…the wineglass half marathon in corning, ny with a time just under 1:45 wahoo! I didn’t know i had it in me, and now, just like everyone said, I am wondering if I can beat my time in another half at some point. Maybe with less rain next time ?
PS I decided I like gels and gu the best too. They go down so easily, but weird texture things are a no, including super chewy shot bloks!
Patty Sweigart
Where did you get your gray running sweatshirt?
Thank you! Best of luck this weekend! Can’t wait to read you crushed your goals!!