Last week I completed my first week of my marathon training. I was proud, excited, and felt really good about getting off on the right foot. Well, my left foot decided not to keep up and gave me problems this week. Before I go into the week let me go back to check my goals I set at the end of week 1
My goals for week 2 are the following.
1. Do more stretching. I did not do this enough again. I must force myself. I did better than week 1, but not enough to warrant any true benefits. Stretching will not only help with injury prevention, but also to reduce soreness. More dynamic stretching in Week 3
2. Eat better for snacks. I was starving every minute of they day last week. I need to find more healthy snacks to help with the hunger. I need to drop a few pounds to make the running easier for me, but still need to refuel the body. This is something I need to educate myself about a little more. I did eat better this week. I am starving all the time so I did better eating healthier snacks at night. The time window of 7:30 - 9:30 is my worst enemy. A bag of popcorn has become my best friend.
3. Try to keep all my easy runs under 8:30 mile pace. I am not going all out, but I want to have better race times this year so I need to make sure that my easy pace is in a range that will allow me to push harder on the other runs. 2 of my 3 easy runs I was at 8:30 and 8:24 respectively. I had one over 8:30, but am learning that it is not about time. The easy runs are supposed to be easy and nothing more. However, my mind tells me that if I can make the runs under 8:30 and make this pace "easy" I will be better off. I still have much to learn about running as it is a completely different mindset than basketball.
Week 2 has me scheduled for 28 miles of running. I have one 4 mile run, three 5 mile runs(one hill workout), and another long 9 mile run. Will keep you posted as it does me good to reflect on my training.
I ended the week with 3.5 hours of training. Should have been over 4 hours if I did not miss one run due to injury.
Monday: Rest day. Did not do any lifting or anything. We had no school so we did not workout at the Y this morning. Good for body as I was still tired and sore from 9 mile run on Sunday.
Tuesday: 4 mile easy run. We ran 4.25 miles at 9:05 mile pace with heart rate at 159 bpm. Good run. It was cold outside, but am starting to enjoy running in the cold. A nice easy run this morning to help wake up my legs. They feel better after two days of feeling heavy. Soreness in calves and Achilles a little better also. Felt good to be outside in the 27 degree weather.
Wednesday: 5 mile hill run. We ran at an 8:39 mile pace on this course. It was tough. Heart rate was at 154. I accidentally turned off watch for about .5 mile on hill portion of run. So I actually ran about 5.5 miles this morning. Hills kicked my butt, but it was needed. Felt good to be running. Calves and below are pretty sore post run.
It was Wednesday night at basketball practice that I hurt my foot. Not sure what I did, but when I got home that evening I could barely walk. I thought my stress fracture had returned and went right to the boot. Needless to say I was beyond angry and frustrations set in immediately.
Thursday: Rest Day. Wore the boot and just did some light lifting. Completed one circuit of the P90X Chest and Shoulders, but did not work out too hard. Body was tired and frustrations were still heavy on my mind.
Friday: 5 mile easy run. I skipped this run today because foot was still hurting. Starting to question stress fracture as it feels better as day goes on. I went to the doctor and she ran me through the stress fracture tests. I passed them all where last time I could not do any of them. She told to either have an MRI to find out for sure, but it costs $1000 or keep running and see if it still hurts. It might just be a weird pain due to the mileage I am running. I decided to go back to running.
Saturday: 5 mile easy run. I ran 5 miles at 8:24 mile pace with heart rate at 155 bpm. I felt really good today. Pushed maybe a little too hard as my legs were tired after run which is not what I wanted the day before my long run. I had one mile run at 8:02 so times getting better with heart rate not going too crazy. Good signs for training.
Sunday: 9 mile LSD run. Ran 9.26 miles at 9:19 mile pace with heart rate at 155. Considering my foot hurting like heck a few days ago, I feel great. Good run yesterday, pushed a little too hard and I felt it today in long run. Last 2 miles were tough mentally. Felt good to be outside running long distance again. A running partner makes time go by faster. Nothing like running with snowballs on your eyelashes.
I am reading Chi Running and slowly beginning to work on my running form to help with injuries and soreness.
As I write this post, my legs are dead. Calves and below hurt like no other. Time to get in some good stretching and keep learning more about running.
Week 3 has me thinking about a marathon only being 13 weeks away. That does not seem that far away. Does not seem like I will be ready, but time will tell. If I am not ready, then I will continue to train until I am ready. I will have three easy runs, one day of hills, and a long run of 12 miles. A tough week ahead of running 30 miles. That seems like a lot of running. But I must never surrender to self doubt. Thanks for following my journey and I hope these posts help you on your journey to accomplishing your goals.
We all have setbacks, but it is all about how we deal with them. I rested, studied, and mentally prepared to get back on the road.
Until next time.
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