Week 5 – Detroit FreePress International Marathon prep (Feb 02 – Feb 08)

Time for the week number 5. You can check out my Marathon preparation here.

Without further ado, let us get started!

Day 1 – Sunday, February 02, 2020
Well, many thoughts went into this run. The first and foremost was the importance of this date. It is one of the rarest dates that you could find (02022020), so it was such a sweet coincidence that I ran the longest distance on this day without even taking a break.

Talking about the run, it was very important to keep the pace throughout the 9-mile distance. I think it is very crucial since I am aiming for 100 miles in the year 2021.

So, the run started off quite well. I did not even feel the first three miles. I was accompanied by many CrossFit athletes at the gym, so it was easy to pass the time by and not care for anything else.

Things started to change a little bit as soon as I hit mile 4. It was the first time I was running this long distance and even though I use the bathroom before starting the run, I felt an urgent need to go and pee. I needed a distraction and needed it fast. That’s when the new CrossFit batch arrived and they were some 7-8 year olds.

I cannot tell you how funny they were while working out. The trainer had to keep them on tight leash because as 7-8 years olds do, they were cheating when their trainer was not looking at them. It was funny to watch them skipping squats and burpees and telling the trainer that they just finished all the reps.

This was very important to distract myself from the urgent need to pee. I was just counting the number of miles before I reach the goal of 9 miles. I still remember I was telling myself like just 5 miles to go, 4 miles to go, 3 miles to go, and so on.

I finished the 9-mile run in 1 hour 49 minutes 54 seconds. I maintained an average speed of 12.12 minutes per mile.

I was so relieved after finishing this run and finally got to go and pee. I finished my stretching after that and was finally done for the day.

One thing that I would like to tell you here is that though it did not hurt while run or within an hour after finishing the run, but the pain slowly settled in. Even though I did stretch after the run, I could not contain the pain. I should come up with more effective recovery mechanism and soon before I injured myself.

Day 2 – Monday February 03, 2020
This was the rest day for the running, however I did enjoy my CrossFit workout.

It was one of the toughest workouts that I did in a long-long time. I still remember my shoulders making a click sound as soon as I lifted a 45 LB dumbbell. I was scared that I would get injured, but, thank god it was nothing like that and could continue with the rest of the workout.

Check it out.

Day 3 – Tuesday February 04, 2020
One more run day. Today, I had a target of 3-mile run. No problem, right? That’s what I thought, but I was wrong.

I could still feel the soreness from the CrossFit workout I did the last evening. As I mentioned in the Day 1 above, I finally realized the importance of recovery after the run and decided that I must do some research after the run.

But, before that, I found out one more way to motivate myself. This time, I kept looking at the EXIT SIGN which is right across the treadmill that I use to run.

Here, you take a look.

Whenever I feel like I am tired, I just look at the SIGN and tell myself that once this run is done, I get to go home. It works, even if you are giggling right now! 😂

I finished this 3-mile run in 36 minutes 32 seconds with an average pace of 12.09 minutes per mile. This run felt great!

Here’s my Apple Watch after this 3-mile run.

Day 4 – Wednesday February 05, 2020
This was the rest day for running, so I was supposed to go to CrossFit. But, I had a work Happy Hour to attend to, so, I had to miss my CrossFit session this day.

I did not feel good about it, but, realized it was an important day-off that I needed quite desperately.

Day 5 – Thursday February 06, 2020
Run day. This time, it was 4 miles. I remember waking up at 4 for this. As mentioned, I was out with my colleagues last night, so I slept as soon as I came back to my place. Took a nice 8-hour sleep and was ready as ever for the 4-mile run.

I remember not even breathing heavily to finish this run. I had 6-7 CrossFitters working out, so I did not realize how long I was running, but I kept a close tab at my pace and was able to stick to my target pace. At the end of the 4-mile run, I felt like I could go for more, but I didn’t to avoid the risk of injury and fatigue.

I finished this 4-mile run in 48 minutes 11 seconds with an average pace of 12.02 minutes per mile.

Here’s my Apple Watch.

Day 6 – Friday February 07, 2020
Feels so good to have a second rest in a week for both running and CrossFit. Saturday, the last day of the week, is going to be a big day!

Day 7 – Saturday February 08, 2020
Where do I begin this day? Many things to tell you guys.

First of all, imagine getting to the car in a thick blanket of snow as we had a *small* winter blizzard early in the morning. That is what my Saturday felt like. Unfortunately, I could capture the video, but it looked something that I have shared last week here.

So, when I reached my CrossFit gym, I forgot to take my running shoes inside, so I had to go back to my car to fetch them and you can see the snow in the video below.

Once I was inside, I had a target of running only 3 miles, as it was a CrossFit Saturday too. So, I finished it within 36 minutes (the first), and I was happy with my performance.

Here’s my Apple Watch.

After the run, I took a considerable break of 20 minutes or so, before starting the workout.

Before that, I had to fetch my pair of workout shoes from the car. This time, I was in my workout shorts. Take a look.

The workout was quite simple, so our trainer, Jen, did not write it down. I did, however, took the screenshot of the workout and it looked as follows.

Though it says it was a 40 minutes AMRAP, we could finish it in only 28 minutes, giving 10 more minutes for pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats (which was previously not part of the workout).

After finishing the workout, it was time for our weekly brunch time, and boy, we had fun! Here’s my usual Western Omelette, coupled with wheat bread, hash browns, and black coffee.

It was time to call it a day and this week, as far as the Marathon prep is concerned, after the brunch!

I must say, this week flew quickly and I was feeling more confident each passing day.

I think, the biggest highlight was to run 9 miles without being too tired and having stamina at the end for going a few miles. Also, learning the effects of the long distance run a few hours after the run and coming up with innovative ways to trick yourselves in running long distances.

Week number 6, here I come!