Marathon Training: Week 3 Recap

A recap of week 3 of marathon training, including runs, workouts, and what I ate on the day of my speed workout and my long run.

Hard to believe that I am now officially a quarter of the way through training for my October marathon! I’ve been feeling great so far! Three quality runs per week seems to be my sweet spot. Any more than that and I start feeling weak and burnt out. I love alternating between running and strength/HIIT. I have also been making sure that I am eating an ample amount of food. Marathon training is extremely demanding on the body, and it is very important to eat in abundance while you are burning so much energy. Trust me, your body needs the fuel! Now is definitely not the time to restrict calories.

Here is a recap of week 3. All workouts are available on Beachbody On Demand.

Monday: T25 The Pyramid and Insanity Max 30 Friday Fight: Round 1

Tuesday: 12 km run, starting easy and finishing faster

Wednesday: P90X Core Synergistics

Thursday: Yasso 800s. This is supposed to be a marathon pace predictor workout, in the sense that your 800 metre time in minutes and seconds may translate into your marathon time in hours and minutes. For example, if you’re running your 800 repeats in 3 minutes and 10 seconds, the theory is that you could run a marathon in 3 hours and 10 minutes. Of course, that is a bit of a simplification; running fast 800 metre repeats doesn’t necessarily indicate that one has the endurance to run a full marathon and a reasonably fast pace. But regardless, Yasso 800s are gruelling and I definitely started out a bit fast. I was feeling cocky for the first 4 repeats, and slowed a bit in the final 4 repeats. I did a total of 8 800 metre repeats with recoveries of 3 minutes and 25 seconds, with a 2 km warmup and a 2 km cool-down. It was tiring but satisfying to complete another speed workout.

Friday: Shaun Week Insane Weights and Insanity: The Asylum Volume 2 Ab Shredder

Saturday: 21.1 km long run. I decided to start easy and try to push the pace a bit towards the end. I ran it in 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 41 seconds. Now, the goal is to maintain that pace for the full 42.2 km to come in under 3 hours and 20 minutes for the marathon.

Sunday: Much-needed rest, refuel, and recovery day.

what I ate before and after yasso 800s

Breakfast: I’m not one who can run well before breakfast. Pre-run, I had a big bowl of Greek Yogurt Banana Overnight Oats topped with a chopped Cashew Cookie Dough Energy Ball, berries, hemp, and chocolate almond butter. And coffee.

Snack: I worked a late shift that day, so before work, I had a bowl of water buffalo yogurt (8 percent milk fat, so thick and creamy) topped with an energy ball and berries. Kind of like a second breakfast!

Late lunch: Leftovers from the night before, my Sheet Pan Lemon Paprika Salmon with Roasted Root Veggies, Quinoa, and Avocado Sauce. I also added a hard-boiled egg for some extra nutrients.

I was pretty full after this big bowl of food, so I just had an apple afterwards.

Dinner: Thai Black Pepper Chicken Stir-Fry with Garlic Butter Noodles. I love this recipe. I always add some kimchi, too.

During the day, I believe I also had a banana and another energy ball, plus some more yogurt in the evening as well.

what I ate before and after my half marathon long run

Breakfast: My regular Greek yogurt banana overnight oats, surprise surprise!

Lunch: A beef and cheese quesadilla with Greek yogurt, guacamole, and salsa with lime cumin cabbage slaw. So good post-run!

Dinner: Greek orzo salad (recipe coming next week), saucy bbq chicken, and corn on the cob. And an IPA.

Dessert: Chocolate chip raspberry cashew butter skillet cookie (recipe coming next week) with vanilla ice cream and decaf coffee.

On the agenda for this week is my standard 12 km run on Tuesday, speed work on Thursday, and a long run anywhere between 20 and 23 km this weekend.