MCM Training Week 6

Week 6 of Marine Corps Marathon training is in the books. It seems like time is passing so quickly - MCM is only 3 months away!

3 months until MCM! (source)

Treadmill

Much of my running this week was on the treadmill due to the logistics of my busy life. Lots of people complain about the treadmill, so I will share a couple of things I love about it:

• I have a custom program I created with my 3:1 run:walk intervals and the optimal pacing for my easy runs. The treadmill does all my thinking for me and keeps me squarely in Zone 2 where my body is learning to burn fat most efficiently.
• I can binge watch captivating tv shows. This week I thoroughly enjoyed Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) and Catastrophe (Amazon Instant Video).

Tracking Calories & Macronutrients 

I've starting tracking what I'm consuming in MyFitnessPal (MFP). In 2013, I lost 15 pounds with the help of MFP and Fitbit. I'm a huge fan of both. I wouldn't go a day without my fitbit, but I did stop tracking in MFP for a while. Why did I start again? Two reasons:

• It's easy to get caught up in the mindset that you can eat whatever you want because you are running so much. I gained a few pounds last year thinking that, and it took some effort to get them back off again. Keeping an eye on my net calories (calories in from MFP - calories out from Fitbit) helps me be mindful about how much I'm eating.
• In addition to how much I'm eating, it's helpful to focus on what I'm eating. I tend to eat too many carbs and not enough protein. MFP keeps track of my macronutrients which reminds me to make sure I'm eating enough protein to fuel my training.

It's easy to see how many more calories I can eat and how I'm doing on protein

Week 6 Statistics

I ran 4 times for a total of 25.6 miles.

• Track: 8 sets 600 Hard, 200 walk, w/ 2 min rest between sets (4.8 miles)
• Hard effort is around 5k pace - faster than threshold (T), but not all out.
• I was aiming for 6 repeats, which was the minimum on our training plan. I was thrilled to pull off 8 repeats.
• Given the heat & humidity, Coach Adam advised us to start our repeats at threshold and build towards hard. My pacing was pretty solid, starting at 11:17 and building to 9:53. 
• Easy runs: 3.2 and 4.5 miles
• Both on the treadmill...
• Long run: 13.1 miles 
• I took Friday off from work and got my run in then, since Saturday we road-tripped to PA for my Grandma's 99th birthday!
• I ran 5.5 miles outside on the trail with my training buddies Catherine, Laura, and Natalie (thanks for coming out on a Friday morning, ladies!), and the rest at home on my treadmill.
• Strength training: 3 times (my routine)
• Yoga: One yin yoga class at the gym

Onward to Week 7...my long run is scheduled to be 14-16, so I am looking forward to a new "Longest Run" record on my Garmin. My previous record is 13.5 from the Philly Half Marathon. Yes, I know a half marathon is only 13.1...running the tangents is not my specialty!

Read about previous training weeks: 

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5