Happy Tuesday to all! After 8 hours of sleep last night I'm well on my way to normalcy. I was sort of a zombie yesterday, but I took a half day at work to go watch the marathon, so at least I was zombie-esque outside of work. The entire experience was amazing. I had seen the marathon once before, during my senior year of college, when I ran 8 miles round trip [that was it's own adventure, had never done that before] with the mid-distance/distance girls to watch our assistant distance coach run. We watched near BC so the runners still had awhile to go, and the atmosphere was a lot different. This time around, we were watching at the 25 mile mark so all the runners could taste the finish. It was so interesting to watch how different runners reacted to being so close to the finish. Some were very relaxed, keeping their jaws relaxed and pumping their arms and legs as smoothly as possible. Some were grimacing with all their might, just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Some were laughing and cheering, others were crying. It was quite possibly the most emotional athletic moment I have ever experienced, I basically wanted to start crying for all the runners. All the hard work and long runs were finally culminating in completing one of the most impressive marathons in the world.
It didn't hurt that the #1 male finisher yesterday set a NEW WORLD RECORD. 2:03:03. Holy crap. So impressive. Joan Benoit Samuelson finished her gazillionith marathon, and did so in an impressive fashion at the age of 53. For me personally, it was most fun to watch the 'common folk' accomplish this feat. I was so amazed watching this time around that I think I want to run this marathon. There is something about the Boston marathon that is really special, whether it be the course, the city, or the thousands of supporters that come out for the race to cheer on all the athletes. Anyway, I left totally impressed and motivated. I'm so glad I went out to watch!
I followed marathon watching with a little interval workout of my own. Of course any workout after watching the Boston marathon seems pretty pathetic in comparison, but I have to work up to superstar status. The intervals were challenging, and I was literally telling myself [out loud, but quietly] 'you are doing great!' to keep my legs going. Sometimes you have to look a bit crazy to push yourself through exhaustion.
Marathon Monday interval workout:
1 min walk
1 min @ 7.0 mph
1 min @ 7.5 mph
1 min @ 8.0 mph
1 min @ 8.5 mph
Repeat the 5 minutes x 6. Topped it off with some core: 3 x 20 situps, 20 cruches, 20 russian twists, 30 secs side plank each side.
This morning I did spin with Derek, who ran the marathon yesterday. What a rockstar, he re-qualified for the marathon next year and still managed to spin with us this AM. This was one of his best classes, and also a workout you can do on your own so I thought I would share:
Derek's post marathon spin workout:
5 mins warmup
8 x the following sprint intervals:
45 seconds sprint, 15 seconds rest, 20 seconds sprint, 2:40 rest
* We did the first 3 intervals sitting, next 4 standing [sitting during rest], final interval sitting. My legs have never burned this much on a bike, these are awesome.
Tempo ride x 5 minutes
Cool down and stretch!
Cardio cardio cardio Monday and Tuesday, back to hitting the weights hard tomorrow! Until then...everyone have a fabulous day!
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