Patience Is The Theme + 31 miles

Each day last week as I logged the miles and details of my workouts, I would notice notes from my coach.

Stay patient. 

Patience is the theme for this cycle. 

Patience pays off in the end.

I am starting to feel like I'm making some progress with coming back to running. Runs are starting to become a little bit easier and I am not quite so wiped out at the end.
It's so nice to have this time to ease back into training - I am not putting any too much pressure on myself and enjoying the ride. 
I move runs around slightly if I need to and I'm in a good rhythm with running five days a week with two bigger work outs: a slight tempo or modified speed portion mid week and a long run on the weekend. The remaining runs are easy paced and just getting the miles under my belt. It's all about running conservatively with no sudden moves right now.

If I continue to stay patient, it will all come together. I've come to peace about not racing a fall marathon and as much as I wanted that to happen, it just wasn't meant to be. Funny thing is that the months fly by so fast (how is it already almost November??), it'll be time to think about a fall 2017 marathon before I know it. I will get my chance soon enough.
I am really excited about my build up and training for Boston. Sometimes I get so excited, I literally want to start jumping up and down. I am ready to lay it all on the line and see what happens in April. 

One day at a time.

My body has been feeling tight, so I've been performing various yoga stretches every day - in addition to my daily dynamic warm up - (The ones that I love: legs up the wall, downward facing dog, pigeon and child's pose). I'm getting stronger with push ups and really focused on core work this week. We need those core muscles engaged and activated to run a strong marathon!

Overall strength training is coming along slowly but surely - I'm carving out time to hit the weights and will continue to build...

Here's a look at my week of running:

Monday October 17th: 5 easy miles

Tuesday October 18th: 5 easy miles

Wednesday October 19th: REST (I stretched and did some core exercises, PT exercises + exercises for my foot)

Thursday October 20th: 2 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo (paces: 8:31, 8:15, 7:36), 1 mile cool down. 6 miles total. I kept the tempo paces conservative and felt good slowly easing back into things. 

Friday October 21st: 5 easy miles

Saturday October 22nd: REST (lots of family fun today!) - More pics on my Instagram .

Sunday October 23rd: 10 miles. A good long run and my body is remembering what this like!

Total Miles: 31

Again, easing into things - this week's mileage is only one mile more than last week.

We took the kids apple picking on Saturday, and we had such a sweet time together. This trip definitely has a big place in my memory bank. I want to freeze time for a bit and keep them at this age for a while, mmmk? :)

Onward to a new week of chasing my goals and dreams - one step at a time.

Patience pays off in the end.

What race are you working toward right now?

Have you ever been apple picking?

Happiness Is Running Life.

xo,

Natalie