Almost 6 Weeks Till CIM + Race This Weekend!

Training is chugging away for CIM and I know these last six weeks will fly by in a blink. The name of the game is sleep, friends. I slept nine hours last night and it felt like a dream... wish I could say that I feel so well rested and ready to take on the world. Truth is I need to do that again and again and again. I started setting my alarm to remind me to go to bed each night, which is really helpful. I was able to sneak one nap in this week and that made a big difference in my training the next day. During marathon training, we work our bodies so incredibly hard, in addition to everything else we have to accomplish during our day that sleep becomes such a critical part of the recovery process.

My body is absorbing the training really well, I feel strong and in addition to sleep I'm focused on the nutrition piece and strength training. A good mix of carbs and protein, lots of fluids plus tons of fruit and veggies.
I can't believe it's already time to test my body with a race, so I've chosen the Ventura Half Marathon this Sunday. I'm excited to get out in a race situation (I haven't raced since July!) and test the fitness. Twenty miles last Sunday means there wasn't a taper happening for this race and that's the way it goes during marathon training. Coach did schedule a gentler tempo this week and I made sure not to push the pace.

This is the perfect time to race and then get back to work with the last six weeks of training. I'm taking over the Women's Running Magazine Insta account (and stories) on Sunday morning, so be sure and tune in for race coverage over there!


Here's a look at my workouts from last week:

Monday October 9th - Rest Day (18 miles on Sunday and I was ready for a rest day today.)

Tuesday October 10th - 7 easy miles. I like wearing a watch especially on the easy runs just to make sure I'm not going too fast. Easy does it...

Wednesday October 11th - 10.25 miles broken up like: 2 mile warm up, 5 x 1 mile repeats (6:27, 6:26, 6:23, 6:18, 6:21) .25 jog in between each set, 2 mile cool down. Even though only one repeat one within the prescribed range (6:10-6:20 pace), I still feel like I worked hard on this and as always, it'll be interesting to see where I am in November. #itsawin 

Thursday October 12th - 7 easy miles.

Friday October 13th - 10 miles: first 8 miles easy, then last two at 7:09 pace.

Saturday October 14th - 7 easy miles

Sunday October 15th - 20 miles at 7:31 pace. It was hot day today, so the thought on my mind was let's get this done. No messing around, not trying to be out here forever - how fast can I wrap this up and get home? ;0

Total weekly miles: 61.25


Josh has the relaxing thing down to a science:

I can take tips from him!

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Anyone racing this weekend?



Do awesome things.

xo,
Natalie