So weeks 7 & 8 of marathon training have flown by.  I was seriously nervous about the long run in week 7 (16 miles) and I also had some scheduling juggling around to get it squeezed in.  Kids and husband have been pretty supportive and understanding of all the running.  Here’s how it all went

Week 7

Week 7 Plan	Week 7 What Happened	Notes
Monday	5.17m @ 8:14/mi	Run with Sweatshop
Tuesday 6 miles	Rest	But not really, it was a cycle commute day, 18 miles.
Thursday 10x400m (200m recoveries)	Intervals w/ Sweatshop 4.44mi @ 9:15 avg	Not the run that was on the plan, but it was still a nice session.
Friday	16.32 @ 9:56/mi	Long run done after school pick up, weather diabolical.
Saturday 4 miles	Rest
Sunday 16 miles	10x400m (200m recoveries) 5.92mi @ 9:59/mi	With Ellis (my coach) on his bike.

Plan miles: 32 / Actual miles: 31.8

Thoughts: I shuffled everything around this week so that I could get my long run done before the weekend.  You see I was getting my hair highlighted on Saturday morning (so that knocked out Saturday for the long run) and going out on Saturday night (so that knocked out Sunday – potentially – for the long run, in case I was hung over.  So I knew I needed to get it in on Friday, and the weather was diabolical, the rain, wind, cold – it was intense.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I hope.  I also then slotted in the actual interval session my plan asked of my on Sunday (and not the random interval session that I did with SweatShop on Thursday).  Ellis offered to come with me on his bike, and it was lovely having him along for the workout, even if it did slow me down a little bit.

Week 8

Week 8 Plan	Week 8 What Happened	Notes
Tuesday 6 miles	Rest	Well I did cycle 18 miles on my commute
Wednesday	4.46 mi @ 9.19/mi
Thursday Yassos 6x 800m	Rest	Feeling under the weather with an earache.
Saturday 4 miles	Saturday 6.50 miles (@ 8:56/m)	I did the Yassos  on this run (3:39-3:53)
Sunday 12 miles	Sunday 13.1 miles (@ 8:39/m)	Hampton Half Court Marathon

Plan miles: 29 / Actual miles: 30.2

Thoughts: I was feeling under the weather with an earache earlier in the week so I took some rest days earlier than I had planned.  Ideally, I’d have liked to rest before the half marathon, and instead I ended up doing the Yassos the day before.  I was pleasantly surprised with the results from the Yassos, I had no idea what to expect, and I was nervous about the session.  I mean I know that 10 Yassos are a predictor of a marathon time (the average time you run the Yassos in minutes is supposed to equate to your marathon time in hours).  And I had no idea how fast I could run 800m, and now I know.  Do I think I could have done 4 more 800m reps and kept my average page below 4 minute per rep, yes – does that mean I’m on track for a 4 hour marathon?

Things I’ve learned these past 2 weeks: 

• Don’t stress about these runs, just take them as they come, and try my best
• All the best scheduling in the world can go out the window if you feel poorly

What’s coming up?

Week 9 & 10 sees my long run shoot back up to 16 miles, and then to 18 miles.  An 18 mile run, wow, I just don’t know how I will do it. I’ll just have to leave it there.

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Any and all advice welcome!