Hansons Marathon Method: Week Three

The third week of Hansons was again a modified week, just like the first. My Type A personality had a fit about going off plan again, but I shoved it into a corner, because I had the Hatfield McCoy Marathon to run! The race was incredibly fun, and I can't wait to go back next year and look for my sign. The jury is still out on whether I will make Michael carry it for the whole race so I can keep it.

I was also super glad that it appears my peroneal tendonitis is gone. I waited with bated breath the whole race for it to cripple me, but it didn't bother me one bit. It suddenly hurt for about five seconds yesterday, and I was ready to have a meltdown, but then it immediately went away. Weird. But definitely good.

Pictured: me at work

Wednesday, June 11
rest


Thursday, June 12
4 mi easy, 10:52 min/mile
core work


I was spending the night at my parents' house before heading to West Virginia the next morning, and it was nice to change up my route. But for some reason I had trouble pacing myself properly and started way too fast. I seem to run by effort level, so once I should be settled comfortably into my pace, I speed up to maintain the effort. Definitely need to fix this before speedwork starts.

Friday, June 13
rest

Though in a way, rest was a bit of a misnomer. We spent the night at the local firehouse, and it was seriously about as cold as Antarctica in there. I think I got no more than four hours of sleep because I was freezing.

And it also looked like we were at a refugee camp.

Saturday, June 14
Hatfield McCoy Marathon, 6:21:58 (14:35 min/mile)


Recap coming soon, once I get all the pictures from the weekend. Suffice it to say, I didn't finish that much slower than Crossroads of Northwest Indiana, but I felt great! Even despite the heat, humidity, and hills. The time is nothing to write home about, but this was a huge confidence booster that my fitness has improved since the end of April.

Fun fact - I got yelled at by another runner for taking this picture, because it wasn't "that pretty." Ok.

Sunday, June 15
rest


I obviously stiffened up from the five-ish hours of driving home, but I didn't feel sore at all and could even take stairs no problem. Again, this was a huge change from Indiana, where I could only shuffle the day after. (And all my coworkers mocked me when I had to go to the printer.)

Monday, June 16
rest


I felt a little more fatigued than the day before, but still nothing awful. I saw my magic chiro and got my shin splints rubbed out. Holy hell, that was even worse than the treatment for my peroneal tendonitis. By far the worst part was when I thought we were finished, he told me we had to do it in reverse. But I did feel so much better afterwards.

Tuesday, June 17
5 mi easy, 10:59 min/mile
core work

I had spent quite a bit of the day worrying about this run, since I had run a marathon two days before, but cumulative fatigue and all that. Of course it was much easier than I had expected. My legs actually felt light and springy at first before the heavy feeling came on. Honestly, the run was really only hard because of the humidity, not the fatigue. I also watched several young boys beating a tree with their baseball bats, so there's that.

Total Miles: 35.2 mi
Total Time: 8:00:15

Although I modified week three, my mileage was quite a bit higher than the plan called for. This is helping keep my fear of the jump in mileage in week six at bay. I'm super glad I got to run an awesome marathon and get in a bit of recovery.

I have noticed I'm starting to get a bit antsy to up the mileage and start speedwork. I know I should enjoy the lower mileage weeks while I can, but it's so motivating to have a goal to work towards, and it's hard to hold back. I'm hoping when I get back to running four days in a row this coming week, this feeling will subside as the fatigue grows. Good thing I can recover every day with a heavy dose of World Cup.

Boop.