Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

Here is a recap of my second week of marathon training: my training schedule and how I fuelled before and after my Saturday long run.

Another week of marathon training is in the books! This past week of training looked much like week one. I am improvising my training based on lessons learned from the many races that I have trained for in years past. This time around, I am keeping my mileage on the relatively low side and focusing on quality running workouts, as well as strength training and cross training.

Here is a recap of my workouts last week. All non-running workouts are available on Beachbody on Demand.

Monday: Insanity Max Interval Plyo

Tuesday: 12 km run at 4:39/km, about 6-10 seconds faster than goal marathon pace (4:45-4:49/km)

Wednesday: P90X Core Synergistics

Thursday: Insanity Max 30 Friday Fight Round 2 + Insanity: The Asylum Volume 2 Ab Shredder. This was supposed to be a running day (speed workout), but it was insanely hot and I knew I had to pace myself for work later in the day!

Friday: T25 Extreme Circuit and 21 Day Fix Extreme Dirty 30 Extreme

Saturday: Long run of 18 km at 4:43/km. It was incredibly hot and humid, and I deeply regretted not wearing my hydration belt. Somehow managed to push through and I’m glad I did, but I realized how careful you have to be in the heat. I feel like I’m still recovering from that hot and sweaty long run now, two days later!

Sunday: Rest day

How I Fuelled Before and After My Long Run

The night before my long run, I had a summer pasta salad with corn, bacon, cheese, roasted red pepper, cherry tomatoes, basil, and baby kale, and some barbecue beef meatballs. Enjoyed that with a glass of white wine.

And dessert, which I didn’t end up photographing because it was eaten at my desk while typing up a blog post, was a homemade almond butter oatmeal cookie s’mores bar (I’ll share the recipe soon) and a glass of goat milk.

Pre-long run breakfast: A bowl of Greek yogurt, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, ground flax, and some Nature’s Path organic cereal, followed by a raspberry oatmeal cup (recipe coming soon) topped with cashew butter and honey. Plus lots of water and coffee, of course.

Post-run recovery: By the time I got home, my energy levels were rather low, to say the least. A big glass of my favourite chocolate milk hit the spot.

Lunch: I forgot to take a photo of it, but lunch was the same thing that I ate the night before: Leftover pasta salad and meatballs.

Snack: Again, I forgot to photograph it! Veggies, hummus, and crackers for a little pre-dinner appetizer.

Dinner: Salmon burgers, corn on the cob from the farmer’s market, and kale salad with honey mustard dressing, and a sangria-style beer.

Dessert: Vanilla ice cream with this hot fudge sauce and strawberries. I forgot to take a picture.

Another simple and delicious meal I’ve been loving this week: This is one of my favourites for when I work late and want something simple and nourishing for dinner. Eggs, veggies, hummus, kimchi, and toast with lots of butter.

On the agenda for this week: My runs are still following a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule. The heat has finally broken and it’s been beautifully cool, rainy, and pleasant today. Tuesday will be another 12 km run, Thursday will be Yasso 800s, and Saturday will be 21.1 km.

My goal for this week is to get plenty of sleep! I am not the best at prioritizing sleep when I have a million and one things on the go, but getting enough sleep is soooo important, both for athletic performance and overall health. That is what I am off to do once I have a snack, make my overnight oats for tomorrow morning and get my lunch packed for work.

This week’s vibe:

Hope you have enjoyed this little update! There will be a new recipe tomorrow. Have a great day!