Monday, December 16, 2013

RNR Raleigh Marathon Training Week 1

Last week was the first week of my 18 week training cycle for my first full marathon!  I had the thought to keep up with the training on my blog so I can look back on it afterwards and remember what I've done and how far I've come. I'm not sure how interesting and entertaining it will be for others, but I'm going to give it a go anyways!

As far as a training plan goes, I have my running group's plan for the long runs, but the mid-week runs are up to me to figure out. I wish I had enough extra cash for a coach, but I don't so I am going to do my best to figure out on my own what works best for me and my family's schedule. I've been checking out a few different sources like Hal Higdon and the New York Times Run Well Blog (Thanks Courtney for sharing this with me!). I'll have to compare them and figure out something that will work. But for the early weeks of training I am going to try to get in definitely 2 and maybe 3 mid-week runs. Add that to 2 runs on the weekends for 4-5 days of running per week.

I have a modest time goal (5:30) so I won't necessarily be focusing on speed during my training, but rather time on my feet. And hills. Lots of hills to prepare myself for running in Raleigh.

For week 1 I was happy just to have some structure back into my running. I didn't have quite the week I planned, but overall I am happy with how it went.

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 3 easy miles on the teadmill + Core work

Wednesday - Sleep (after 3 nights of not being able to sleep, I slept right through the alarm. I needed it and didn't beat myself up over missing this run)

Thursday - 4.3 miles on the treadmill with the 2 middle miles at HMP. This run was just plain fun.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 10 miles. 4 miles with my running group + 6 solo miles. Felt great to be out there for a long run since this was my first double digit run since the Philly half.



Sunday - I had planned for 3 easy miles but when this face is begging you to bake Christmas goodies with her you don't say no. Christmas memories >>> easy miles.

She's a goober.
We set a family PR in rice krispy treat eating.


Total miles: 17.3

Overall, there's definitely room for improvement. Missing 2 runs in my first week does not bode well, but it was a nice gentle transition back into training after 3 weeks off.

4 comments:

  1. Meh. Don't be too hard on yourself. You've got 17 more weeks of training. I swear training plans are so long to account for all the missed runs. At least that's my experience. :-) I think it's more important to have fun and not let the training become tedious. Mix it up and don't forget to cross train.

    Good luck! I'll be rooting for you. :-)

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  2. Hi Clarinda! Thanks for reading and for the good advice!

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  3. Take it is and go through the process. Glad to hear you are running RnR Raleigh. I am one of the ambassadors for the race. Do you live in Raleigh, if so there are a number of running groups that you could meet up with during the week.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Take it is and go through the process. Glad to hear you are running RnR Raleigh. I am one of the ambassadors for the race. Do you live in Raleigh, if so there are a number of running groups that you could meet up with during the week.

    ReplyDelete