Marathon Training Week 4 Running, Eating and Reading Updates

Hello! Is it week 4 of Marathon Training? It might be week 5. I lost count because I usually count down from 18 weeks of training (or however long the training schedule is for that race). Luckily, I just paused this post to update my training schedule with a count of the weeks going up and down. Boom.

Now I’m sharing an update on what I ran this week. PLUS – What I listened to while running with recommendations.

Marathon Training Week 4 – RUNNING

I ran the Surf City Half Marathon last weekend so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel this week and was open to switching up my training schedule if I needed extra easy days or rest. Before I realized there was a half marathon on Saturday I’d planned some speed work into Monday’s run. But, I skipped that and did 5 miles easy to check in with my body.

My foot felt a lil tight but didn’t hurt. I decided to err on the side of caution and keep it easy except for the 2 runs that are the most important = tempo and long run. So, this week’s running looked like this:

M – 5 miles easy
T – 3 miles easy / S&C
W – Speed Run
Th – Strength & Condition
F – 4 miles easy / S&C
S – 15 miles Long Run
Sun- Rest

I also did some strength and conditioning on Tuesday and Friday. Sunday was a complete day of rest because I had an early appointment to get a body scan (more on this later).

Overall: It was a good week. And I see a lot of room for improvement. I have a super tight hamstring on one side that needs extra time and attention – so I need to start earlier or make time to do that later in the day.

After my long run I made a magic drink with all my favorite runner recovery drink supplements. I usually am not hungry after a long run, especially on a hot day – but it’s important to eat and/or drink something within 30 minutes after your run. I usually make a smoothie but decided to try this combo Satuday.

Running Recover Drink Mixes (pictured above):

V ital Performance Recover – I’m not in love with the Guava Lime Flavor and would recommend the Lemon Grape instead.

Primal Kitchen Collagen Quench – love this flavor alone or mixed with almost any of my other drink mixes

MRM Bone Maximizer with Collagen – this is the same one but they changed the packaging

Post Run I think I had the usual breakfast and then ordered Thai while meal prepping for the week.

And I ate a watermelon.

Dessert was Biscoff Crunchy Cookie Butter and Mint Chip Ice cream with a side of massage gun.

After finishing A Little Life: A Novel by Hanya Yanagihara I needed some time to listen to light, happy things for a while. That book is DARK. It’s well written, but I wouldn’t recommend that you read it. I read it because someone mentioned it was their favorite book AND I saw that it’s LONG. I needed a good, long book because I’d been going through my Audible credits SO FAST with breezy lil novels.

So I figured I found the perfect next novel – a long book that a well read person calls their favorite. But, it just turned out that I had to listen to story about someone being abused their entire life FOR A LONG TIME.

At one point Ben told me to stop reading (I’d fill him in on the story when we’d walk together). But I figured it was about to turn around at any moment and I needed closure. I wanted to know the main character would triumph and everything would be okay.

A Little Life SPOILER ALERT: It wasn’t.

I’m sure it’s not just the book’s fault and there was probably an unfortunate combination of hormones and low blood sugar and the isolation of a worldwide pandemic, but I felt sad and weird a lot of the time while reading it. (Okay, that makes me think I should’ve stopped reading it. But at the time I was sure it would end up on a high note.)

My point is – after finishing that book I listened to funny podcasts for a few weeks. Then, I decided I needed some light fiction to get back into books. So listened to Eliza Starts a Rumor and The Lion’s Den.

Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L Rosen – Recommend. It was a good story, well written and easy breezy – just what I needed.

If you like the Betch Sesh podcast – you’ll like this book because it’s a combination of gossip and scandalous stories from fun young moms.

The Lion’s Den by Katherine St. John – Recommend. Good story. It’s suspenseful without being stressful (does anyone else get stressed if there are high stakes during a story?).

If you like the Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald Podcast you’ll like this book because it reminds me of her phrase ‘hooker light’.

Now I’m listening to Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. I listened to Nine Perfect Strangers by this author somewhat recently and didn’t really like it. But, I LOVED Big Little Lies and I’m still chasing that high.

Luckily, I really love a cute lil Australian accent and the narrator is always so pleasant to listen to I always enjoy that no matter the story.

I just started Apples Never Fall and will report back with my thoughts.