A few weeks ago, after my Chicago Marathon recovery, I mapped out my mini, 5-week training plan for the Kiawah Island Marathon.  The first week of real training was a high (for me) mileage week, with a record 54 miles (!!!!!!).  I had two other higher-mileage weeks planned after that one.  Then the election and tons of work (gotta make that hours requirement for 2016…) and the darkness of daylight losings time and maybe some fatigue from those 54 miles and a head cold and various other excuses happened.  (If you haven’t seen my listicles about backpacking, DC, and vegetarian airport food, which I posted over the past couple of weeks, check them out.) But here I’ll report what I got done in terms of training…

Week of November 7

Planned

• Short runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (approx 15 miles total)
• Rest day (Thursday)
• Orangetheory (approx 3 miles) + 4 miles (Friday)
• Long run: 18 miler (Saturday), 10 miler (Sunday)
• Total mileage: 50 miles

Actual

• Spending all of Monday night at Kohl’s trying to find a fun pantsuit, since I hadn’t packed one
• Driving to the meeting spot for the Tuesday night run, parking, and turning around without getting out of my car, and then eating two of those Reese’s Cups with the Reese’s Pieces in them (definitely not as good as regular Reese’s Cups) while watching the election results
• 4 easy, tearful miles Wednesday morning to confirm that the sun would, in fact, rise
• Losing my iPad somewhere between Colorado and DC
• Canceling Orangetheory on Friday morning because I was so incredibly tired
• BUT then I rallied!  9+ mile moderate hike with scrambling in Shenandoah National Park (Saturday)
• AND! 19.3 mile easy run (with a little walking) with one of my fave ladies (Sunday)
• Total running mileage: 23.2

Week of November 14

Planned

• Short runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (approx 15 miles)
• Rest days (Thursday, Sunday)
• Orangetheory (approx 3 miles) + 4 miles (Friday)
• Long run: 20 miler (Saturday), 3 miles (Sunday)
• Total mileage: 45 miles

Actual

• Monday – 5 miles
• Tuesday – 3.8 miles in the AM and 4.3 miles in the PM
• Wednesday – 3.9 miles (hills!  er, a single 2 mile hill up and then down– see photo above)
• Thursday – rest day
• Friday – Orangetheory strength day (approx 2 miles, 11 splat points) + 3.3 miles to get there
• Saturday – 20 miles easy pace… just kidding.  I wasn’t feeling great, so I skipped that.  Took a trip to REI and then hit up a Friendsgiving instead.
• Sunday – pre-Thanksgiving family time, plus eating allll the clementines.
• Total running mileage: 22.5 miles

I’m not heading to Colorado this coming week, and I’m looking forward to a little extra sleep, plus time with my husband, dog, and assorted family members on Thursday and Friday.  I absolutely love Colorado but GOOD LORD I NEED A STAYCATION.  I’d also love to get in an unplanned swim, or maybe some yoga, and definitely a heavy lift with the squat rack , since I don’t have one in Colorado.  Unfortunately, no turkey trot this year.  Here’s what’s on the training plan:

Week of November 21 (Thanksgiving!) (taper week)

• Short runs Monday-Friday (approx 15 miles)
• Cross training – swim or yoga or squats
• One OTF session somewhere in there?
• Long run: 10 miles (Sunday)
• Total mileage: 25 miles

One last thing I’ll just say for the record: trying to lose weight is really hard.  I had hoped that I’d be down a few pounds for the Kiawah Island Marathon to help improve my time, and it’s just not looking like it’s going to happen.  I could beat myself up about it, since it really comes down to my decisions on what to eat, but I don’t see much point in that.  Not sure where to go from here but stay tuned…

Do you find that it’s hard to maintain high mileage in weeks following a high mileage week?  What average mileage do you shoot for?  This whole 50-mile thing is definitely more than I’ve done historically.  And who else is running Kiawah or has run Kiawah?  I need alllll the info!