Marathon Training Weeks 3 and 4: Solo Runs and Minimal Geese Attacks

Oh, hello there. Week 4 (well, actually week 5 at this point) of marathon training and I’m already behind in my posts. Not surprising. Anyway, I’ll just combine week 3 and 4 here, yes? Okay, cool.

Week 3

Miles: 19

Long Run: 6 miles. Wooo! First cutback week!

Geese attacks: one. Seriously, they're vicious, and they chased me off the path. Please see the below photo for how many GD geese I have to deal with on my daily running path.

Cross-training: yoga. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (yeah, oxford comma, b*tches. get used to it)

Breakdowns: zero. Again, wooo!

The vicious gang of geese. (Not pictured, an additional 50 geese on the other side of the path)

Overall: Pretty great week. Still trying to get more miles in, but it’s kinda difficult with an 1:40 minute commute (that’s one hour and forty minutes. UGH). I skipped running with CARA for my long run since it would’ve taken longer to get to the starting point than the actual length of the run. Also, only six miles? Child's play. Anyway, I found it interesting  that my long run seemed SO much more enjoyable alone. 

Also, first week using my new Garmin watch! Hollllaa. Still trying to figure out all the buttons and how to keep myself from deleting parts of my run, but I'm really digging it so far. And it matches my shoes, so how could I not?

Week 4

Miles: 20 (oops)

Long Run: 11 freaking humid miles. See below photo in which you can physically see how humid it was. (Also, once again accidentally deleted the first 1.2ish miles from this godforsaken watch)

Geese Attacks: zero. Thank christ

Cross-training: yoga on Friday and Sunday. (week 2 of actually getting some cross-training done on Sunday. holler.)

Breakdowns: none, shockingly

Um. Sorry this photo is so gross.

Overall: Once again, not nearly enough week day runs. In my defense, it was a holiday week! Anyway, despite a truly terrible difficult 11-miler on Saturday, I’m really feeling like I’m starting to hit my stride. My body is remembering how to perform and react to the long runs which is a pretty cool feeling. Muscle memory is a pretty amazing thing.

Additionally, this was the second week in a row that I skipped my CARA group. I know, I KNOW. But honestly, even though it was absurdly humid, the sun was beating down, and I had to stop at pretty much every mile, I still think I might’ve enjoyed this run more than the 2 runs I did with CARA. There’s something just SO embarrassing about having your mental breakdowns around people that you’re supposed to be casual chatting with. Not to say that I don’t love the social aspect before and after runs, I’m just wondering if I really am a solo long-runner, especially since I did my first marathon alone. Honestly, I really love running by myself on the lake, not having to chat with anyone, just listening to my jamz. I’m going to do everything in my power to make it the run next week, so stay tuned!