big sur marathon training: week 5 workouts + a day in half marathon carb loading
Huge half marathon PR and a ton of confidence resulting as week 5 of Big Sur training wrapped up! As far as the race is concerned, I credit several factors for my personal victory: perfect weather, smart pacing, and solid pre-race nutrition. For three days prior to Sunday’s big run, I focused on upping my carbohydrate intake to stock up my glycogen stores and thus provide me longer-lasting energy during the long effort. I outline one day of the carb-loading below – it’s not quite as involved as for a marathon, but a higher percentage of carbs in the diet still benefits the half distance if one intends to finish above 90 minutes (which most of us do).
Monday, 1/27: 25 min elliptical + 35 min strength + 10 min elliptical
Split elliptical and a hell of a lot of curtsy lunges. I considered switching this workout for Wednesday’s easy run but the dreary, nippy midmorning didn’t do much to convince me, so I headed to the gym as planned.
- 25 min elliptical: 5 min easy warmup, 15 min “tempo” effort, 5 min easy cooldown
- 3 x 15 single leg deadlifts
- 15 banded step-outs with jump squat
- 8/10/12 curtsy lunges
- 15 banded step-outs with jump squat
- 8/10/12 squat with single-arm press (4/5/6 reps per arm)
- 3 x 20 fire hydrants
- 3 x 12 row
- 3 x 15 plank hip swivels
- 10 min elliptical: 2 min easy, 3 x :30 climbs with 1 min recovery, 3:30 easy
- 5 min cooldown stretch
Tuesday, 1/28: 10.08 miles, 8:50 pace – 3 x 2 miles
Descending tempo run that scared the bejeezus out of me prior to starting. I wrote this workout to cater more towards the Tallahassee Half Marathon on Sunday, with the goal of negative splitting and sharpening for a fast finish. I woke up quite sore from Monday’s gym session but determined to give my all and lock in the programmed paces I added to my Garmin’s workout function.
I warmed up for 2 miles with some strides, then dashed for 3 sets of 2 miles with 2 minute easy recoveries between each. I wanted to run the first two at marathon goal effort (8:40-8:55 – I know, a BROAD range but I haven’t honed in yet on what I expect for Big Sur) but wound up at 8:30 and 8:34 for the splits. The middle two I wanted tempo effort, and clocked 8:21 and 8:20. The final two I hit 8:11 and 7:59. The sub-8 absolutely shocked me and even though it was literally 7:59.9, I was thrilled to see that split in my log!
Tuesday, 1/29: 5.46 miles, 9:32 pace + quick band workout
Lovely morning for a trot followed immediately with a short session to work on my hips/glutes: 3 x 40 banded clamshells/side, 3 x 20 elevated banded bridges, 4 x 15 single-leg banded rows (2 sets per leg), and 4 lengths/side of single-leg hops (about 10 hops each length).
Wednesday, 1/30: 7.57 miles, 9:37 pace with 7 x :30 hill
A small and sweet incline workout that felt fantastic. After a five mile warmup to my bridge of choice, I hit the uphill at a range of 6:35-7:13 with a 1 minute recovery jog in between and ended with a mile cooldown. Thankfully, not many humans or bikes occupied the sidewalk, so I completed the reps with relative ease.
Friday, 1/31: 38 minute outdoor walk + yoga
Active recovery and some grounding afternoon yoga. I do maintain a daily practice and find it so imperative to my workout – and workday – recovery. I didn’t have much time this morning after my early stroll, but fit in a quick 18 minute afternoon flow to loosen up my hips and backs of my shoulders, which have been uncharacteristically tight of late.
Saturday, 2/1: 4.5 miles, 9:41 pace with treadmill rolling hills + 15 min band work
Relaxed pre-race shakeout before pancakes and stooping in a car for four hours to Tallahassee. Rain pattered down in the morning and I didn’t for once feel like dancing through the droplets, so I took the jaunt indoors and overall was pretty glad I did. No need to risk slipping and jostling something unwanted the day before a big race!
For my rehab exercises, I performed 3 x 30 clamshells, 3 x 20 banded bicycle kicks, 3 x 20 banded step-outs, and 3 x 15/leg standing clamshells.
Sunday, 2/2: Tallahassee Half Marathon! 13.15 miles, 8:27 pace + 2.01 mile warmup @ 9:30 pace + 1.12 mile cooldown @ 10:06 pace (16.29 miles total)
What a dream of a race! I’ll post a fuller recap later, but I was quite impressed with the handling of this rather small road race. I landed a huge PR of 4+ minutes on a very hilly course and felt that I could’ve pushed more if I had the mind to, though I didn’t go into the race necessarily wanting to bust ass and give it my all since this was really just a time trial to see where my fitness sits presently. I’m extremely encouraged, however, and confident that my sub-4 hour goal at Big Sur is certainly obtainable!
Total mileage: 43.9. Really, couldn’t give me 44?
How I carb-loaded for the Tallahassee Half
This log is from Friday, 1/31, two days out from my half marathon. I totaled 2,536 calories and 420 grams of carbs.
Breakfast: Siggi’s vanilla skyr with banana, raisins, blueberries, raw oats, a touch of maple syrup, and 1 tbsp natural peanut butter + black coffee = ~96 grams carb
Midmorning snack: One bran muffin and 1/2 apple = 34 grams carbs
Lunch: Spinach, artichoke, mushroom & feta frittata, 2 whole wheat english muffins, steamed broccoli & 5oz fresh orange juice = 83.5 grams carb
Midday snack: Hot oatmeal with 1/2 banana and 1 tbsp pumpkin spice peanut butter + 1/2 cup grapes = 71.4 grams carbs
Dinner: Panera Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich on whole grain pan bread, an apple and small glass of blood orange lemonade = 117.5 grams carbs
Evening snack: 1/2 homemade peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar = 27.4 grams carbs
