Marathon training week 1/18

Time to get back to weekly blogging!!!


       I just completed week 1 of my 18 week marathon training program for the Chuncheon Marathon in South Korea. I will be following Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 program with the slight modification of shifting the days to meet my needs. Everything will be one day earlier so that my long run is on Friday, leaving me Saturday for cross training and Sunday free. My cross training will consist of the stationary bike and a few miles here and there with the local Hash House Harriers.

       Hash House Harriers is definitely not for everyone, but if you can get past the adolescent humor and beer consumption (or embrace it) the runs are tons of fun and consist more of walking and hiking than actually running (although groups can be vastly different). The best part is we run in a big chatty group so at least once a week I am not running alone.

       One other detail that I have made a goal is to run the marathon barefoot. The weather should be good enough on race day and I have all summer to get out the door at 6:30 before the pavement heats up, so I’m shooting for most, if not all of my training runs to also be barefoot. With the exception of the hash run, all miles were bare this week. Hashing barefoot is not an option!


Week 1

Mon: 3 easy miles. I typically HATE runs like this, but they definitely serve a purpose by knocking off the cobwebs created by the previous week’s pace and long runs and loosen me up for Tuesday’s effort.

Tues: 5 mile pace run. Since taking off at full speed is very hard on the body and not easy to do, I start by warming up with an easy 1 mile run and then step it up to my training pace for the assigned distance. This pace should be the pace you plan to run your marathon. The Chuncheon course includes a lot of hills and I am contemplating running a second marathon 2 weeks later to qualify for Marathon Maniacs so I am training as if I plan to run a 4 hour marathon, but will actually hope to end up running at a 4:30 pace on race day. For my pace run I had to push to keep the proper pace, but it was more of a mental issue than a physical one. As the temperatures rise and the distance increases, I’m sure it will get harder.

Wed: 3 easy miles. I did not mind 3 miles so much this time, LOL. I was tired from my run the day before and this was just to keep the rust from settling in. It had rained just before I ran so the air was like molasses. After getting cleaned up from my run I went for my first deep tissue massage. I hope to make this a regular part of my training plan as I definitely have a lot of knots to work out. I was sore the next day, but felt good!

Thurs: Rest day. I am so ready to run and train that it is hard to take a rest day. The first 3 days felt very easy and it was tempting to lengthen a run or two, but I know I need to build gradually and that the mileage will be more than enough very soon.

Fri: LONG RUN!! Once a month, I have managed to get in a run of 10 miles or more so only running 8 this week actually felt wimpy. It was my favorite kind of weather, 65F and pouring rain! I love stomping in puddles and feeling the rain on my skin. My hat keeps it out of my eyes and I was never too warm or too cool. I could definitely have gone longer, but decided to stick to the plan and headed into the gym for stretches and a little hip/core work. The Korean cleaning ladies were not amused with me dripping all over their floor.

Sat: Hash House Harrier run! We actually did a bit more running than usual, about 5 miles total on my feet and since we didn’t head up into the hills there were no hiking or steep climbs. We did do a lot of standing around and walking so it took a couple of hours to cover the distance, but it was fun and gave my muscles a break while still keeping me moving.

So there you have it, my first week done, 17 left to go!