I am catching up on the last two weeks of marathon training. Let’s just say: it’s not ideal to travel for work and move (homes) during two weeks back-to-back AND throw in a PeloFondo for good measure while training for a marathon. I definitely learned what it means to run on tired legs (or just run ‘tired’ for that matter). Despite last Monday being my official “rest” day, I hit 17,000+ during our move.
Anyway. I survived somehow. I guess it is to be expected to have life happening along the way. You roll with the punches.
Despite all the things happening outside of training, I think I rearranged my scheduled workouts well and got most of them done. Maybe not perfectly, but that’s also part of the process. My strategy for the long runs was – again – to stack a bunch of shorter Peloton runs to mentally break up the distance and divert my thoughts from thinking about the distance too much. It’s only going to get worse, haha.
Focus for the weeks:
We’re entering the phase of training during which we train our body’s efficiency over a longer period of time and the ability to sustain a consistent intensity for the prescribed duration. The training included a hill repeat session (which I did on the treadmill) and a mini cut-back in mileage for the long run in week 10, and a longer tempo run and a 16-mile long run with intervals at GMP (goal marathon pace) in week 11.
WORKOUTS WEEK 10
Monday – 6.05 mi easy run + strides @ 9:39 min/mi (morning temp: 63°F) + 10 min yoga
Fuel/water: Fasted, didn’t carry water.
Tuesday – 15 min meditation + 20 min yoga + 10 min spinal mobility
Wednesday – 30 min strength for runners + 15 min walk (treadmill)
Fuel/water: Fasted.
Thursday – 6.11 mi hill repeats @ 9:49 min/mi (treadmill) + stretch + 10 min yoga
Fuel/water: Fasted.
Friday – 5.28 mi easy @ 9:28 min/mi (morning temp: 55°F) + 10 min yoga
Fuel/water: Fasted, didn’t carry water.
Saturday – 12 mi @ 9:33 min/mi (morning temp: 63°F) + 10 min yoga
Fuel/water: 32 oz of water + NUUN, fruit crusher at miles 4, 8, and ProBar Chews at miles 10.
Sunday – 7.82 mi @ 9:36 min/mi (morning temp: 59F) + 5 min stretch
Fuel/water: Fasted, didn’t cay water.
TOTAL: 37.3 mi/ 60 km
MARATHON TRAINING MILES: 301.9 miles / 486.2 km
WORKOUTS WEEK 11
Monday – 10 min meditation
Tuesday – 6.03 mi easy run + strides (morning temp: 63°F) + 10 min yoga
Fuel/water: Fasted, didn’t carry water.
Wednesday – 30 min ride + 30 min strength for runners + 10 min yoga
Thursday – 6.06 mi with 25 min tempo @ 9:05 min/mi (treadmill)
Fuel/water: Fasted.
Friday – 5.32 mi easy @ 9:37 min/mi (morning temp: 63°F) + 30 min strength for runners + 10 min core strengthFuel/water: Fasted, didn’t carry water.
Saturday – 30 min ride (warm up) + 16 mi with 3 x 3 mi GMP @ 9:12 min/mi (morning temp: 66F) + 10 min stretch
Fuel/water: 56 oz of water + NUUN, fruit crusher at miles 4, and 8, and Liquid Gu miles 12 and 14.
Sunday – 50 mi cycling
It was PeloFondo weekend and because I was looking forward to riding with Tanja, my sister, the #BCBabes and a bunch of Streakers365 friends, I opted to skip my scheduled easy run and opted for pedaling on the Peloton instead.
TOTAL: 33.4 mi/ 54 km
MARATHON TRAINING MILES: 335.3 miles / 540.2 km
Marathon Nutrition
I am not changing my pre-long run fuel strategy because it seems to be working for me. Graham crackers are delicious.
More thoughts on fuel options during my long runs: I placed an order with thefeed.com (my coach recommended the site because they have sample packs and a lot of single serve options) and ordered some samples of the fuel options some of you have recommended. I used two GU Energy liquid energy (lemonade flavor) on my long run last weekend and I can confirm: they’re much more easy to stomach than the regular gels. I also got some hüma chia gels, Hammer Perpetuem, and Maurten Gel to try. And I got a whole box of Skratch Labs Energy Chews (Sour Cherry) because sour gummies are always a good option!
My daily macro needs per day (calculated from this marathon nutrition guide).
| Protein | 105 g | 4-5 servings | 25g/serving |
| Carbs | 462 g | 18-19 servings | 25g/serving |
| Fats | 66 g | 6-7 servings | 10g/serving |
In the last two weeks, I averaged 79/83 g of protein, 69/66 g of fat, and 247/232 g of carbs per day, respectively. Pretty happy with the protein and fats, still working on the carb count.
and are merely based on daily calorie intake.
How I refueled after my long run
TL;DR – summary of the week:
Honestly, the last two weeks were a little bit of a struggle. Fitting in five days of quality runs per week when you’re traveling for work and packing up and moving homes is not ideal and will admit that I’ve been tired. I have been able to stick to my training plan but had to ask my coach to shuffle things around to accommodate my schedule, and some of the workouts have definitely felt harder than in previous weeks. I trust that I’ll be able to just keep going and find my groove again.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
October 27, 2024 at 5:42 amI am in awe about the amount of training and the discipline you put into this. I could not.
San
October 28, 2024 at 5:43 pmThank you my friend <3
Tanja
October 28, 2024 at 2:20 amGeez girl – get your carbs under controll!
Just kidding, just kidding!!! You are doing phenomenal, I`m always in awe of you and your dedication. Keep going!
San
October 28, 2024 at 5:43 pmHaha, more carbs for everyone. Can I eat yours?? :) LOL (and thank you, you’re my biggest cheerleader!)
Jenny
October 28, 2024 at 5:56 amNice job, San! Training for a marathon is very hard under these circumstances, but you did really well. Hopefully you can relax a little more this week. Your fueling strategy looks good. I’ll be interested to hear how you like the Maurten gels- I’ve never tried them. I like the Humas though!
San
October 28, 2024 at 5:44 pmThank you, Jenny. I am trying to stick to the plan! I haven’t tried the Maurten gels yet, but will report back… but I had the Hümas yesterday and liked them! They were definitely doable for me! (I had the mango flavor.)
coco
October 28, 2024 at 4:34 pmmarathon training when traveling could be challenging so it’s good to give your self some room for adjustment, either pace, distance, or even skip a day or two if needed. let me know how you like the chia gel.
San
October 28, 2024 at 5:45 pmI tried the Hüma gels yesterday and the mango flavor was pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation. Definitely much, much better than the GU gel.
Elisabeth
October 30, 2024 at 5:47 amYou always have the nicest pictures of recovery food. I am not marathon training, but I’d eat what you’re eating any day :)
Lisa Smith
November 1, 2024 at 2:43 pmThis is such a well-written content, thanks for sharing San!
SHU
November 4, 2024 at 9:36 amwhat I would give for ONE DAY of your weather!! JEALOUS over here. It’s November and the last run I did that wasn’t 70F or more was probably May (well, except for our trip to Seattle in August!). AND YES, Gu Liquid Energy are so much less disgusting than ‘normal’ gels. I still find them mildly disgusting but MUCH less so and I can “drink” them bc they really are liquidy while staying at marathon pace! Glad you got to try them. I don’t know if you use caffeine but I do find it helps too :) i often alternate a caf with a non caf gel during long runs and races.
SHU
November 4, 2024 at 9:39 amOoh! ANd i want details on how you track everything you eat. I find it SOOOO laborious! Do you weigh everything? What about like a mixed recipe? I love tracking things (obviously) but this is an area where I have never lasted more than like a day bc it just seems laborious and/or inaccurate!
For me if I were to track anything it would be protein bc I feel better when I eat ~80+ grams/day.