Marathon Training - It's A Marathon

I've just completed Week 5 of my 17 week planned marathon training. Overall, it's going really well. Here's the highlights:

• I have transitioned to running in the morning before work. This is a bit tough because I need to leave pretty early. This means getting up around 5:30 am on shorter days and I guess I'll need to get up before 5 on the mid distance run days. Yuck.  I might need to do those runs after work. 5 and 6 miles was bad enough, now I need to do 7. The good thing is that the runs don't seem to tire me for the rest of the day.
• I've missed only one - 3 mile run and one cross training day in 5 weeks. Considering my running over the past 10 months, that is quite an accomplishment.
• I have no significant injuries. Actually, I don't think I have had a running injury that was too significant thus far in my adult running career (knock on wood like substance). Going beyond that, I don't hurt anywhere. Sure, I've had some during and after run soreness, but that is necessary for muscle development. I am hoping that following the Hal Higdon Novice 2 schedule (and not jumping ahead) will be helpful in staying healthy.
• I don't feel a whole lot faster, but I do feel more resilient. I feel like I could still run on Fridays after doing my Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday runs. (But I don't)
• My stamina / breathing is a bit ahead of my legs. The hope is that my legs will acclimate to running more frequently and for longer distances. Then, I hope I will be able to move them faster. :)

I don't feel burnt out and still look forward to most runs. Not necessarily getting up at the "butt crack of dawn" or before, but the runs themselves. 26.2 miles still seems so far off, but then I remember I still have 3 months to go. Thus far, I haven't really done anything out of my comfort zone. I'm healthy and there haven't been any runs longer than I have done before. The long run part changes next week when I am scheduled to do 14 miles. My long run is 14.01 miles per Garmin connect, so I'm nearing uncharted territory. The way the mileage ramps up slowly, I'm confident I'll be able to complete all that the plan asks of me.

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Ran today with Jeff (of Detroit Runner), Kevin, Alexis (of Get2Fit2quit) and Sherri at Pontiac Lake Rec Area on the bike trail. Great day for running - as cool and comfortable July day as one could ask for. My legs weren't really up to it (I did heavy yard / house work yesterday, which took more of a toll on me than most runs), but it got done. Always nice to run with a group and this is a good group. The bike trail is very hilly and "technical". I managed not to fall today, and all toenails seem to be intact, which is always a bonus.

I have a couple races scheduled before the marathon in mid / late October. Well, actually 3. There's the Crim 10 mile late August, the Camp Lael 5k in Mid September and the Brooksie Way Half Marathon in late September. I'm going to try to do well at all of them, but will not alter my schedule much to fit them in. However I happen to feel, that's how I will run. Would love to PR both the Crim and Brooksie, but my goal now is to train properly for the marathon and finish.

 

Marathon Training - Raw Power

I'm a week and a half into my 17 week marathon training and so far, so good. I am trying very hard to stick to the training program I have chosen as closely as possible. As mentioned in a previous post, I am following the Hal Higdon "Novice 2" marathon training program. (Information about the program is available HERE).

I am using this plan, just removing Week 1

Thus far, 6 runs and one cross training session in, I am following this plan exactly (with the omission of week 1, which was replaced by a 5k race week. Other than running on a regular basis (which has been challenging for me since Baby Time), the first few weeks of this training is not too daunting. The key for me is consistency and gradually ramping up mileage and, to a certain extent, pace.

Even though my "official" "training" is just starting, a couple things have come from the runs. Yesterday, I had a pretty decent 3 mile run (wish my legs felt that good during my race a couple weeks ago) and I had my running music playing (I'll do a running music post at some point). Anyhow, Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges came up as well as "Gimme Danger" and "Search and Destroy" from the same album. Since I always need a theme song for my running adventures, I decided that the song and theme would be RAW POWER. I need to tap into my raw power and unleash it. I can feeeeeel it.

Iggy has a ton of energy is still pretty ripped. 

This morning I got up about and hour early and ran 5 miles. I have run before work a couple times before, but this was the first time I felt like I could make it a regular thing. Today, I started out at an easy pace. After a couple miles, I decided I felt too good and thought I should look at my watch. I was going slower than I thought, so I had to go faster, as this was supposed to be like a tempo run. It went pretty well overall and I felt a bit energized during work. I'll need to go to bed a bit earlier, but I can do this.

I'm excited about getting ready for the marathon!

1st Marathon Training Begins

Hi all!

I am about to start training for my first marathon, the Detroit Free Press Marathon on October 20.

In many ways, I have been training for over two years for this race, but this will be the beginning of my training geared specifically to this race. I have decided to follow the Hal Higdon "Novice 2" Marathon training. There are several reasons why I am choosing this training course instead of the Intermediate training or another, more intense program which I think I could handle. One main reason is that I want to keep long runs primarily on Saturdays while many of the other runs push you towards Sunday long runs. There were reasons for this on the other programs and I didn't think it would be ideal to mess with this item. Another thing I like about the program I chose is that I has 5 days of activity per week (4 runs, 1 cross training day) rather than 6. I've experienced the best results in my training when I run 4 to 5 times a week and find those rest days essential to recover.

Overall, the idea is to have a long run on Saturday, cross train on Sunday, rest Monday, run various distances Tues - Thurs and rest Friday. I'm sure there will be occasions where I will need to mix it up, but I think this schedule is doable. 

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This past weekend I ran the Open Door Julie Run 5k. This is the 5th time out of 6 years running this race, which I participated in a couple times before I really started running again. It is an important race to me, being my first 5k race as an adult, the site of my current 5k PR and it supports the Open Door Outreach Center, which provides food and other assistance to people in my community.

The weather forecasters said that it might rain or even storm, but we ended up with a nice day with a bit of heat and humidity. We arrived fairly early and got our bibs and shirts (both my daughter and I were running) and I walked a couple laps on the track. There was still almost a half hour until race time after my "warmup", so I just kinda wandered around and hung out with the family. My mom was in town and came to the race and was encouraging me to get a massage from the group that was offering them before and after the race. I declined, mostly because I subscribe to the school of not doing anything out of the ordinary prior to a race. In hindsight, I should have gotten that massage and it may have helped.

As race time neared, Princess C and I went to the start line. She thought it was a good time to start messing with me, poking me, stepping on my shoes, etc. She was just trying to tease me, but I was not amused at all. I was trying to get into the right mental space to run and don't like to be messed with at that time. Once I articulated this instead of growling at her, she understood and was much nicer. :) The 10k started first and the we lined up in our spot. Knowing from past events that people don't line up where they should (fast runners in front, slow in back is a concept many cannot grasp), I made sure I was close to the starting line. The starter had the bull horn make a lame noise and we were off.

My legs felt crummy from the start, which was unfortunate because otherwise I felt pretty good. My pace was good to start and through the first half mile and most of the first mile, I was where I wanted to be. (I recall wishing that I had the legs I had just a week earlier during my long run.) I really started to hurt in my sides and back after about a mile and a half and that bothered me much more than my legs. I avoided looking at the watch much, but knew after a couple miles that this definitely would not be a PR day. 

I was frustrated because I felt good as far as my breathing and energy, but there always seems to be a limiting factor to these races and my legs and how my back felt was it this day.

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I wrote this post almost a week ago and just finished it up now. Think I'll call it a post and do a fresh one soon. :)