Life has been a little hectic these past several weeks, trying to soak up as much as I could of the remaining weeks of summer! I have several exciting updates to share regarding my marathon training journey - so let's dive in!
Exactly a month ago, I completed the Lululemon SeaWheeze half-marathon which marked the official halfway point of my marathon training. I actually ended up running 13.5 miles since I was worried that my Fitbit tracker would possibly have some offset from Strava (the required tracking platform) when I synced the two. Nonetheless, I finished at a 9:15 average pace and even had a little energy left over to do a cool down walk. I supplemented with 2 energy gels and plenty of water to get me through and overall felt accomplished as this was only my 2nd official half-marathon.
Since finishing the half, I have been trying to alternate weeks of adding distance in my long run and stepping back to medium distances. The week after the half-marathon, I decided to run the Philly 10k virtual race as my long run and finished at an 8:38 pace. The following week I stepped it up to a 14-mile long run and added a 7-mile medium run earlier in the middle of the week. Last week I had intended to run over 14 but had to cut my run short at 12.9 due to a scheduling constraint - I actually forgot that it takes well over 2 hours to run that far at my pace!
During and especially at the end of my run last week however I was starting to feel some pain in the arch of my right foot and my knees were feeling particularly sore. I stopped by my local running shop and they reminded me that it had been 2 years since I had replaced my running shoes so I tried on a couple of new pairs along with some inserts. I decided to buy the inserts they let me try - Superfeet Run Comfort Thin and tried them in my old shoes. While the insoles seemed to help my arch pain for the most part, my knees still felt like they were not getting much relief so I shopped around and picked up a pair of last year's model of the shoes I was trying on in-store, Asics Gel Kayano for $80. These shoes haven't arrived yet but I'm looking forward to breaking them in on some short runs before trying them for a long run. Combined with the insoles I hope they provide the support and cushion I need to go the distance with my training this season.
Overall, the cooler temperatures and updated gear should help make training easier. Now I just have to ensure that I can find the time in my schedule and the motivation as days get shorter to do the long runs. I promise to give another update soon, within the next week or two!
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