Virtual MCM Training – Week 3

I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon, which will be held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My race day will be on October 18. This week was week 3 of training.

Monday – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 3

Tuesday – 5 miles easy
I ran at a nearby park where it takes 7 to 8 laps to get to 5 miles. I don’t know why I do that to myself. I actually thought I was going to be relegated to the treadmill. Luckily, I snuck this run in in between afternoon thunderstorms.

Rain in the distance towards the end of my run.

Wednesday – 6 mile fartlek workout
I went back to the section of trail where I did almost all of my run workouts leading up to Dam Yeti 50 Miler. It was fun to return to my “old stomping grounds” for another workout.

This week’s workout included a 1 mile warm up and cool down, and repeats of: 7 min, 6 min at half marathon pace; 5 min, 4 min at 10K pace; and 3 min, 2 min, and 1 min at 5K pace with rest in between each interval. It gets harder towards the end, but it’s also fun to push on those faster, shorter segments.

Next week I have a 5K time trial on Wednesday and I’m already nervous! Why is a 5K scarier than a 50K to me!?

Thursday – Ab circuit; 3 min. mountain legs; 25 min. stationary bike

Friday – 4 miles easy
I am so annoyed at the weather lately. I know it’s normal for this time of year, but I’ve had enough of these freaking thunderstorms every. single. day. Like Tuesday, I was able to get this run in in between storms.

Saturday – 5 miles easy
I flip flopped my Saturday and Sunday runs because the weather forecast called for thunderstorms all day Saturday. In hindsight, it looks like I would have been fine to do my long run on Saturday morning as usual. But you have to make decisions as best you can with the information you have.

Sunday – 13 mile long run
The trail had several downed trees from Saturday’s storms that I had to navigate. Thankfully, none of them made the trail impassable.

It was in the upper 60’s and cloudy during my run and I felt like a whole new person as compared to my recent long runs where it’s been in the 90’s. My run flew by and I felt great the whole time.