Marathon Monday: Week 5

Happy belated Marathon Monday!  I can't believe I'm already on my 5th week of training!  A lot of people say that it takes 6 weeks to notice a physical change in the body, and I can already see some of the positive (and negative) ones.

Recap:

• Week 1 (January 1-7)
• Week 2 (January 8-15)
• Week 3 (January 16-22)
• Week 4 (January 23-29)
• Week 5 (January 30-February 5)

I've lost 6 pounds since I started training--shockingly--since my appetite has increased 10-fold.  However, I'm burning a lot more calories than expected because I've slowed the pace of my miles to about 10 minutes.  Last week alone, I burned over 3000 calories.

My legs are also getting stronger and more toned, but as I mentioned last week, I'm experiencing pain in my shins and knee.  My muscles have also been really tight lately so I invested in a foam roller to hopefully help.

This week, I made a pit stop at the running store.  After video taping me on the treadmill with my old shoes (how cool, right!) I realized that I was severely over-pronating.  I literally ran my old shoes down to their core and the support was gone.

I tried on a few different pairs of Asics, Nike and Brooks shoes and video taped myself running again.  After comparing the first film to the film of me running in the new ones, I saw a tremendous difference in my form.  $115.00 dollars later and these beautiful new kicks were mine.

Training this week:

Monday: 7 miles outside (in the dark!)

Tuesday: Cross-training (30-45 minutes of stretching)

Wednesday: 4 miles (on the worst treadmill I've ever been on)

Thursday: rest

Friday: 14 miles! The LONGEST I've ever run! + 6 miles of walking to see the Monuments.

Saturday: rest (it may sound like an excuse, but I had company from Friday-Sunday)

Sunday: rest & the Superbowl so clearly, I ate WAY more than I ran.

Mile goal: 29

Miles ran: 25

I felt great this week, especially because I made the extra effort to make sure that I got my workouts in.  I ran 14 miles. 14!  Longest I've ever run and at a pretty decent pace.  It was tough, but I got through it!

I have a 15-miler this Saturday before I leave for a weekend trip to Richmond.  Dom and I are celebrating an early Valentine's Day there!  I hope you're all having a lovely week!