Eugene Marathon Training: Week Five
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Week five went very well despite some necessary schedule manipulation. Moved Thursday’s run to Friday due to unforeseen events between Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. That left me a bit tired on Friday’s run, and may have contributed to the delayed soreness in my hamstrings (not enough active recovery on Wednesday afternoon). But, an early bedtime on Friday evening meant I felt good by Saturday’s long run!
Monday: Stretching and foam rolling for 30 minutes.
Tuesday: Hill Repeats. Hills while wearing shorts on a February day, with snow on the ground = perfection.
Workout incorporated skipping drills on flat and uphill surfaces, 3 x 50 yds each, focusing on swinging knees straight and forward, swinging elbows back, pushing off slightly with feet, and keeping hands relaxed. Focused on forward movements.
Seven hill repeats on Cat Hill, with last three being the strongest and fastest.
Fueled with one packet of protein-enhanced UCAN.
- Plan = 2 mi warmup; skipping drills; 7 x 2:00 min hill repeats; 1 mi cool down
- Actual = 6.13 mi – 50:36 – 8:15 min/mi avg pace
- Actual splits (each hill repeat) = (1) 7:48; (2) 7:59; (3) 7:43; (4) 7:53; (5) 7:35; (6) 7:35; (7) 7:37
Wednesday: Strength Training for 45 minutes with personal trainer. Shorter but more intense session. Again, fantastic workout focusing on glute activation/backside mechanics. Introduction of weights (dumbbells).
Dynamic warmup: (x3)
- Side lunges (each side)
- High knees (30 sec)
- Butt kicks (30 sec)
Circuit 1: (x3)
- Step ups w/ 20 lbs, right leg (x 15)
- Plyometric lunges, right leg forward (x 10)
- Step ups w/ 20 lbs, left leg (x15)
- Plyometric lunges, left leg forward (x 10)
- Plank (30 sec)
Circuit 2: (x3)
- Squats w/ 8 lbs (x 10)
- Hold last squat (30 sec)
- X lunges w/ 8 lb weight on right shoulder, right leg (x 8)
- Toe touches w/ glute and hamstring extensions w/ 8 lb weight, right leg (x8)
- X lunges w/ 8 lb weight on left shoulder, left leg (x 8)
- Toe touches w/ glute and hamstring extensions w/ 8 lb weight, left leg (x8)
Circuit 3: (x3)
- jumping jacks (arms go straight up) w/ 16 lbs (x15)
- 5-second squats (5 seconds to descend) w/ 16 lbs & explosive lift (x15)
Circuit 4: (x2)
- Static leg raise w/ exercise ball, resisting trainer pushing down on ball (30 sec)
- Leg raises w/ exercise ball (x10)
Stretch
Thursday: Rest Day. Unscheduled.
Friday: Run. Easy run with friends. Beautiful day, ran along Hudson River to Harlem. Headwind on second half heading south. DOMS in hamstrings from Wednesday’s workout. Overall, felt fine on the move. Negative split run.
Fueled with one packet of protein-enhanced UCAN.
- Plan = 5 mi easy
- Actual = 5.13 mi – 43:07 – 8:24 min/mi avg pace
- Actual splits = (1) 8:35; (2) 8:28; (3) 8:33; (4) 8:20; (5) 8:08; (6) 7:50 (for .16mi)
Saturday: Run. Early morning long run through a sleepy city. Weather was cold but comfortable, with snow flurries. First time running Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges since last fall. Missed those!
Plan called for long run with marathon-pace tempo workout in the middle. LOVE that! Naturally the bridges fell into the MP intervals, so that was a fun push on the inclines.
Body felt good whole time. Was a little tired in the last two miles after the tempo portion but was able to hold pace until end.
Also jogged extra mile to and from meeting spot.
Fueled with one packet of protein-enhanced UCAN.
- Plan = 6 mi easy; 4 x 10 min @ 8:10 min/mi with 2 min RI; 2 mi easy = 14 mi total
- Actual = 14.04 mi – 1:55:03 – 8:11 min/mi avg pace
- Actual Splits = (1) 8:24; (2) 8:35; (3) 8:34; (4) 8:30; (5) 8:27; (6) 8:20; (7) 7:55; (8) 7:55; (9) 7:48; (10) 7:54; (11) 7:54; (12) 8:06; (13) 8:21; (14) 7:58
Sunday: TRX for 45 minutes. Strength training circuit consisted of:
- TRX squats, (12×2)
- TRX squats w/ jump, (12×2)
- TRX low row, (20×2)
- TRX low row, single arm, (20×2) each arm
- TRX T deltoid fly, (12)
- TRX standing rollout, (12×2)
- TRX kneeling rollout, (12×2)
- TRX crunches on hands, (20×2)
- Oblique bird dog, (12×2) each side
Weekly Totals:
- 5 hrs 28 mins
- 26.3 miles running
See all weekly workout recaps here.
LV runs NYC 
Great pace for your Saturday long run!! Especially rocking that last mile sub 8! woot!!
Thanks!! Really happy to see pace has returned as quickly as it has after being injured 🙂 Feeling strong! x
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