Marathon Training - Week #1

Since last Tuesday was the 4 months out from the South Padre Island Marathon and therefore the “official” start of my training for it, I’m going to post my weekly updates on my marathon training on Tuesdays!  I’m just going to basically do a training log about each run.  How far I ran, did I run outside or on the ‘mill, did I do hills, speedwork, easy, slow, long, you get the idea.  I’m also going to post my Garmin splits for the runs I do outside and my average pace per mile when I run on the ‘mill.  I will also cover how I felt before, during and after each run.  Also, I have a little paper training journal that I got as a “gift” when I subscribed to Runner’s World magazine a couple years ago and I might start using that just in case I’m not able to type on this after each run.

 

So let’s get this started!

 

• Tuesday: I wasn’t going to run at all this day, but right before I got off work  from the night shift, they announced over the radio system that there would be staff members out on the perimeter of the facility and I immediately said “oh man, I really want to go for a run!”  But, when I got off work, I had less than 7 hours to sleep, shower and be back at work that afternoon.  So, what did I do?  I ran after work at 10:30pm.  For the last hour of work and even driving home, I went back and forth a little about whether I really wanted to do the run or not, but ultimately decided that it would be done.  And I did not regret it.  I felt great the whole run, though my split times were not fast.  Since I didn’t think to do this sooner, I don’t remember the temp and humidity at the time I ran, but I think it was in the mid-80°s.  I felt really strong for the whole 4 miles, and then I slept great that night! 

• Wednesday: ran on the treadmill.  It was a bit of a struggle for me.  I was tired from being up late the night before doing that night time run and pretty much kept watching the tenths of a mile slowly tick by on the treadmill display.  I just ran 2 miles as I had an appointment later that morning.  Basically, when the run was done, I was glad it was over.  My average pace for this run was 11:06.

 

• Thursday: on the treadmill again.  3 miles this time.  Feeling much better than Wednesday.  I did work overtime Wednesday night, but they didn’t need me anymore after I’d been there for about 4.5 hours, so I went home early and instead of doing another night time run after work this day, I was able to get up and go to the gym for a short run.  Average pace for this run was 11:18.

 

• Friday: yep, I ran again.  I ran 6 days in a row this week.  That is the MOST days in a row I have ever run before.  Ever.  I felt REALLY strong and able during my 3 miles on the treadmill on this day.  However, before the run, my left knee was hurting.  I knew it wasn’t actually my knee, I knew it was my IT band and I said to myself as I walked into the gym that I would test it out for a couple minutes, if it hurt to run, I’d stop and switch to the elliptical.  But, once I started striding away, it felt just fine and like I said, I felt fantastic throughout the entire distance.  For the remainder of the day, though, my knee would catch and hurt.  Will roll out my IT bands on Saturday to help loosen them up.  Will probably use the foam roller AND my lacrosse ball to really get in there.  Oh and as I ran, I kept bumping up the pace.  Again, felt great during this run.  My average pace for this run was 10:36.

 

• Saturday: REST DAY!  Well, rest day from running.  I did cross training this day.  Some walking, elliptical and swimming along with strength training.

 

• Sunday: long run day!  Well, sort of.  I had planned 8 miles on my new favorite trail, but I think between all the overtime I worked at work and the 6 days of running in a row last week, that I was a little worn out and therefore had some issue waking up in the morning and getting moving.  I didn’t get to the trail until about 11am.  It was about 85° at that point.  No biggie, it was breezy and the trail has a good amount of shade on it.  I figured 8 miles was totally doable.  And I continued to think that until about mile 5.  I didn’t mind that my pace was slower than normal, I was having a great time and felt great.  However, I was very aware that it was heating up and heating up fast.  So I decided to call my run off at mile 6, before any heat injuries set in.

• Monday: rest day. 

 

Total miles: 18.

 

And that wraps up week 1 of South Padre Island marathon training!