Marathon Training: Week 13

Total kilometers run: 539.1km

This Week: 57.8km

Week 13's runs:
Tuesday: 13km easy (6:31 min/km avg pace)
Thursday: 6.5km easy (6:30 min/km avg pace)
Saturday: 12.6km easy (6:21 min/km avg pace)
Sunday: 25.7km easy (6:35 min/km avg pace)

Ah, lucky week 13! It actually went fairly smoothly, though I was worried it wouldn't. I did 13km on Tuesday and then saw my Physio on Thursday and she did shockwave treatment on my knee. Shockwave is basically a nice way of saying she took a jackhammer of electric shocks to my knee. It hurt SO much! She still encouraged me to run Thursday, but my legs were tired and I skipped the 1.5km of sprints I was supposed to do at the end of my run. I'm kind of avoiding speed work while I heal anyway.

Saturday my legs were still tired, but I did a fairly quick 12.6km run. I was supposed to go 12.9, but I had plans and needed to rush home! Saturday night my knee was really starting to bug me, especially while doing my daily exercises (which now include 1 legged squats). I was worried about Sunday's run, but I actually woke up feeling great and the whole run went smooth as butter with no pain! Right after I got back I got a massage at the local spa and took a nap. It was a great day overall! It was my last "long run" of training! Now I am tapering (AKA- reducing mileage) until race day so my legs are well rested!

Also on Sunday I was planning on running up by the Don Valley River, but it was temporarily blocked off for a movie shoot (or something like that), so I ended up running out to the Leslie Spit and I had SUCH an enjoyable run out there! I ran all the way to the lighthouse!

Finally, I tried some new on-the-run snacks and wanted to share!

Vega Gel in Raspberry: This one was okay. Wasn't the biggest fan of the flavour. The orange one was better.

Clif Shot Bloks in Fruit Punch: I found these harder to chew than the Gu chomps I tried a few weeks ago. Plus they were pretty sweet and I had a bit of sharp jaw pain from that when I bit into them. But the flavour was good!

Gu Gel in Jet Blackberry: Pretty good! Much better consistency than the Vegas (though maybe the Vega gels had slightly frozen on me?). I also like that it has sodium and caffeine. Might be a good option in the 2nd half when I'm depleted. 

Honey Stinger Gel in Mango Orange: Really liked this one! It wasn't too sweet at all, and I am I would prefer that on race day. This one will definitely be in my pack. I also like how Honey Stinger has pretty normal, easy to understand ingredients. +1 if you like putting real food in your belly.

Honey Stinger Waffle in Caramel: same issue I had with the last Honey Stinger Waffle- it froze on me! However, these things are still ridiculously delicious. I think I will pack one or two for race day to get a change from the gels. It will hopefully be above freezing by then!