Nike Women’s Marathon SF: Week 3 training recap

After a really rocky start, I sure am glad to put this week behind me!

This is what “summer” (and I use the term loosely) looks like in San Francisco

Here’s what the schedule looked like for Week 3:

Tempo run – 7 mi
Track workout – 6 x 800s
Long run – 13 mi

The fact that last Saturday’s 12-miler went so well got me pumped up to tackle week three, but Tuesday’s workout burst that bubble very quickly.

What started off as a typical 7-mile tempo run quickly spiraled into what shall henceforth be referred to as “The Worst Run Ever.”

Three miles in, I started to feel a little “off,” but I pushed through it, thinking that I just needed to get the lead out of my legs from the previous long run. But by mile four, I started feeling waves of nausea and lightheadedness.

In typical stubborn-runner fashion, I plugged along (partly because I “only” had three miles left at that point, and partly because it was an out-and-back run, so I was nowhere near home).

(Un)happy feet

By mile five, I was using every trick in my mental arsenal to just.keep.moving…from “I have to run to the end of this song” to “I’ll just stop and slump over – i.e. ‘stretch’ – by the side of the path for a minute.”

When mile six finally came, I was so dizzy and sick to my stomach that I could barely make it a block at a time before stopping to catch my breath and hunch over to get some blood to my brain. I staggered a tenth of a mile at a time, my thoughts racing back and forth between, “I just need to get home,” and “How the hell am I going to get back up the hill to get there?”

Runner problems

Just then, in what I attribute to some kind of divine intervention, my friend Colleen, a bestie from grade school, called me. We chatted as I slowly trudged along, telling her about the evening’s disaster.

Her response? Something that gave me just the boost I needed to get back home: “It’s funny how running works. You can go out and have the best run ever, and another time it can be horrible,” she said. “But that’s what keeps us going – because that next run might just be a great one. So I guess that’s why we keep doing it, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. By the end of the call, I was home, grateful for the words of encouragement and that she helped me put it all in perspective.

(By the way, I think quinoa may have been the culprit wreaking havoc on my stomach, so note to self: Cool it on the quinoa until marathon training is over.)

Thank goodness for recovery protein shakes

I didn’t feel back to normal until Thursday, so I was a little concerned about the evening’s track workout, but it actually went really well.

My pace was supposed to be in the 3:45-3:48 range for each 800, but I ended up with splits that ranged from 3:39-3:45, even with a monster headwind down the back side of the track.

Finally, back “on track!” (…see what I did there?)

I’m not gonna lie: Despite Thursday’s rebound running session, gearing up for Saturday’s 13-miler was a little intimidating. But we mapped out a new route that took us down by the ocean for some different scenery, which was a welcome distraction.

Unfortunately, we didn’t really factor in a little thing called “elevation,” which always keeps things interesting for runners here in the Bay Area.

But we finished fairly strong and rewarded ourselves by overindulging on Cajun and Creole cuisine at dinner. (If you’re in the Bay Area and get a chance to go to the Boxing Room, I highly recommend it!)