running

Monday, May 28, 2007

Marathon Training Week Two

Week Two was relatively uneventful, but there were a few highlights. I ran a total of 20 miles, because as I mentioned, I was going to try really hard to stick to the training schedule because I have many many long runs ahead of me.

Cross Training on Wednesday didn't happen. It's still dark when I get up and even with the pool light, I'm creeped out to swim in the dark. I'm really thinking that for Wednesdays I might need to get some sort of video workout - I can't find my super old Tae Bo VHS tape (yes, it's that old) and my husband told me the VCR wasn't even hooked up.

We went to Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom on Sunday, so if walking and walking and walking counts as Cross Training ( I'm maybe thinking not...) Sunday I was active - meaning I wasn't sitting on the couch all day...

I had another misplaced Thursday run. I ran that one on Friday instead. I really need to get in the habit of making that happen on Thursday. As I get into the higher milage weeks, I think that rest day on Friday will become more and more important.

Friday I did my first experiement with speedwork - on the treadmill. I ran my standard pace of 7.0 mph and for the speedy part I moved it up to 8.0 mph. I'm not so sure that's fast enough? Any ideas?

Saturday, I met the team for the group run. The majority of the people had a four mile run scheduled. I had a six mile run scheduled. There were no problems at all and I actually felt really strong out there. The coach was running a lot of out and backs to make sure he had an opportunity to chat with most everyone. He met up with me with a little less than a mile to go. He's a little faster than me, but I was able to keep up and it really felt great. I think that with enough push I could maintain that pace for much longer, I just have a tendency to slow down, which means I am not putting everything I have into it. And I really want to. another thing to work on.



My iPod Sport kit isn't calibrated correctly. It runs behind on my treadmill, and runs ahead on the road. For five miles inside, it runs about .12 miles behind. After honest miles (according to the trail markers) My iPod said 6.4 miles. What????

I think next week I will need to calibrate again on the trail rather than the treadmill.

I'm feeling like I need a longer run. The longest run I have had in May was the 15k at the begining of the month. With today's run still ahead of me, I may go longer than the scheduled five. No harm in that, right?

4 Comments:

At 8:49 PM, Blogger ShirleyPerly said...

Oh yeah, I'm not fond of swimming in my pool when it's dark either. Eerie!

As for the speedwork, how fast to run should be specified in your training program. If not, ask your coach. It can really vary depending on the purpose of the speedwork (increase running efficiency, lactate threshold, aerobic capacity, etc).

And as long as the runs feel short and easy for you, I'd say it's OK to go a bit longer. Later, when you have much longer runs during the week, however, it'll be more important to keep the short runs short so you can recover.

Keep up the great work!

 
At 10:34 AM, Blogger CewTwo said...

Being a neophyte to training for races, I cannot offer advice. I do know that I love to run. Listen to your body and enjoy the training as well as giving it your all.

I love to read your blog!

 
At 9:19 PM, Blogger MarathonChris said...

What Shirley said (since she is the coach!). I couldn't run your speed! At least not now. So it really is up to you and your coach to figure out what your speed work should be.

Also I don't think there is any harm in a few extra miles, but you will need the rest when the runs get longer. If it feels good.... :-)

 
At 11:24 PM, Blogger Cory said...

I am with Shirley, the training plan is set up not only to prepare for the race, but also to prevent injury. Be very careful when deviating it. As your miles get longer you will need the recovery time. Sounds like you are doing great so far.

 

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