I’m excited for a couple of things coming up, but for me to really enjoy those things I have to be healthy and strong.  I’ve got Marine Corps Marathon in October and I never thought I would have the chance to run that race so I want to make sure I make it through all 26.2 miles of that race with a smile on my face. Plus, I running the St. Jude Marathon in December with Willie.  These are some big moments for me.

This week I’ve been pretty beat up.  My knee was really stiff due to a tight IT Band which loosened up after 5 minutes of foam rolling. (Why couldn’t they have had a foam roller at the aid stations?) I’ve been rolling and icing all week long. Note to self: buy a travel foam roller.  The stick just isn’t the same because when it hurts you don’t apply as much pressure.

Willie has banned me from working out EXCEPT for teaching my cycle classes.  Honestly, that has been the hardest thing for me. Rest days = HELL, for me at least. I haven’t had this many rest days in about 2 years.  I’ve felt like I’ve lost a part of myself though. I even drove to the gym on Wednesday but decided not to go in because I didn’t want to the wrath of Willie.  He still tried to lecture me but I told him I didn’t go in so he couldn’t be mad that I thought about going to the gym.

But that should speak to you on the severity of how beat up I felt after the Revel Rockies marathon.  Yesterday was the first day that I walked normally.  My legs have been really tight this week and I’ve been trying to get stronger.  I’m just glad to kind of be back to normal because I hope to get back to running next week.

Here are a couple of things I will do differently with my next round of marathon “training:”

1. I will focus more on the long run.  My focus has been just to make it through the long runs for the past year.  I want to work on finishing my marathons strong which means I need to put a greater focus into my long runs.

2. I’m going to up my mileage.  My easy run will no longer be 3 miles.  I’m looking for 4-5 miles for my short runs from here on out.

3. I have to work on a better fueling plan.  I was fine during the Revel Rockies because I made some modifications to my fueling plan but I need to make sure it works.

4. Build more confidence.  I think I’m starting to get my mojo back because last weekend was a really hard race weekend for me (the 10K and the marathon) but I made it through…and I had a good time.  I feel like I’m getting back to myself.  I think running all those marathons in the front half of the year without proper recovery really hampered me.  I won’t make that mistake again.

I am looking forward to hitting my old routine next week and I’m sure my body will thank me for the week off, even though I’m going crazy nuts! But I want to change my workouts up a little bit for the fall. I do a lot of cycling, strength training and of course running.

What workouts do you think I should try? What are your favorite workouts?