Week 1 Training

Well, it’s that time of the summer when I start trying to increase mileage to begin to prep for fall half and full marathons.  Luckily, my PT has allowed me to start increasing mileage again, at least for this week.  I’ve been restricted to roughly 15 miles a week for about a month, so getting to run more than three mile runs is pretty exciting to me.

My goal half marathon is the Wine and Dine Half Marathon in Disney in November.  I know, a lot of people think it’s silly to try and PR at a Disney race, but I’ve decided that is the race I want to go for.  I am shooting for a pretty big time goal- I’d love to go sub 1:40.  That would be just over a three minute PR, which doesn’t sound that major, but for some reason saying 1:39 makes me really nervous.  My current PR happened on a really hot morning, so I’m hopeful that I can shave four or so minutes off my time with some solid training.  Goal pace is 7:33.

My full marathon for the fall is still up in the air, but I am leaning towards the Philadelphia full marathon the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I’ve read good things about it, it times well because Wine and Dine could lead into a hard two week taper as I don’t like long drawn out tapers, and I like that time of year because I love racing marathons in cooler weather.  Give me 30’s or 40’s for a marathon any day.  So I’m not making it official yet, but that is the one I am eyeing.  I am undecided on my goal time for this race.  Based on my goal half time, I should be shooting for a 3:28, however that would be a 32 minute PR, and I am not sure how I feel about shooting for that.

Week 1 Training

Monday: 1 mile.  This was the day after running the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, where I somehow PR’d off of very little mileage.  This hills took their toll, however, so I needed a short day to recover and maintain my run streak.

Tuesday: 4 miles.

Still rough, and my knee is still sore, with pain traveling down the fibula side of my shin.  So I stuck to the treadmill and got through the miles, throwing in some spurts at 7:30 pace to break it up a bit.

Wednesday: 5 miles. 

Stuck to the treadmill again.  Knee/shin was still sore, though not as bad as it was on Monday.

Thursday: 3 miles.

However, I asked if I could run a couple of track races that day, expecting a big no from my PT as I haven’t been allowed to run any interval or track workouts in a long time.  He surprised me with saying yes, so that was a change in the plan.

Friday: 1 miles.  

I had PT nice and early and did my mile to maintIn my run streak there, followed by a trip to Starbucks and a relaxing float in the pool.  I’m enjoying my quiet Friday mornings at PT and will be sad when I have to return to hectic night ones.

Saturday: 9 miles

I decided to do a group run that did the course for a 15k in August.  It was an urban trail run group and I had been wanting to get out and join them for the last few runs and finally could attend.  Only problem?  It didn’t start until 11 am, and the temps were already into the 80’s and the humidity was pretty high.  I rode the struggle bus for much of the run and was truly grateful to be running with a group to keep me going.  It was definitely a huge help! 

Surprise!  3 extra miles

So my running club did a group run/walk/bike to different restaurants in the area.  I missed the first stop, but was able to meet up for the second place and on.  It was a lot of fun, but that was three more miles added on for the day, and my legs, and my right knee especially, were feeling it.

Sunday: 7 miles: actual 5

I decided I was going to skip another group run and put some miles on my treadmill to give my legs a rest from Saturday’s adventures.  Plus it was super sticky out there again, so I decided my body would be better off inside so that the run wouldn’t be as strenuous as yesterday’s.  It ended up being rough even on the treadmill, with knee pain becoming pretty prominent in miles three and four so I decided to call the run at five in order to save my knee a bit.  It just wasn’t worth pushing onward this early in a training cycle in order to log some easy miles.  This is an unusual decision for me as I often push myself to finish all miles listen in a plan, but I am trying to learn to listen to my body and give it the rest it needs.