Week 1 of my marathon training is complete. I ran the distance run yesterday (5 miles) and it went really well.  I feel like I could have run longer, which is a good thing.  And surprising considering ym lack of running over the last year.  I've pretty much run once every other week.  I guess that was enough to not make me completely hopeless.  It's pretty much 90% mental anyway.  I ended the week having run a total of 13.2 miles.  That is using intervals of 3 minutes running and 2 minutes walking as prescribed by my model for training, Marathoning for Mortals.

As per usual, nowadays, I was playing Pokemon while running - an extra motivator and caught a special shiny version of Delibird.  :-)

So...after my last race (see this post), for which I did little training, but still somehow pulled out a PR, I've decided that it's time to get back into shape - marathon shape, that is.  I have a 5K on August 23rd, so in preparation for that (and for marathon training, which officially starts August 25th), I have been running 3 miles at least three times a week since July 22nd.  Yesterday marked my 5th day of doing this, and I feel good.  Not quite ready to run a marathon, but good nonetheless.  I've mapped out my training as well, and my scheduled 10 miler and two half marathons fall on days where I should (according to the book) run 9 miles, 14 miles and 8 miles, respectively.  All in all...things are looking up.  Now, if it would only get cooler.

Not likely - August and September are the hottest months here in Tampa.  :-/

On Tuesday, I ran 40 minutes on the treadmill at work at 6.6 mph (and did the same thing today).  On  Wednesday, I used the elliptical at work for 30 minutes.  Another 30 minutes of cross training tomorrow and a 5 mile run on Sunday,  and Week 13 is done.  

Treadmill run on Tuesday during my lunch break at work - I varied the speed between 6.6 and 6.8 mph.  I definitely noticed the difference, which is strange because it is so small of a measurement, but I guess I can tell.  I went for 50 minutes.  I wanted to go for more, because I missed last week's endurance run, but I was not feeling at the top of my game, and Marathoning for Mortals advises you not to "make up" missed workouts...so there you go.

On Wednesday, I planned to swim, but Mother Nature had different plans.  Torrential downpours and lightning tend to close public pools, so I didn't even bother to stop to see if they were open.  Instead, I went to my apartment gym and tried the new elliptical's "Complete Body Workout" or whatever it was called, which changes what you're doing on the machine every minute or so, with the following options: lift toes, lift heels, bend knees, push bars, pull bars, forward stride, reverse stride, stationary (feet on sides).  So, a certain combination of those is presented on the screen of the elliptical and you follow along.  I watched the season four finale of Oz and changed up my cross training for the day.  It was pretty fun, and I did feel a little sore the next day - a sure sign it did something!  lol.

earlier in the evening and was slightly cooler - the sun had set at this point - so I was able to finish the run behind the scenes on the service roads.  Not the best option, but it was kind of fun to pretend to be in Entertainment.  I sometimes see the dancers here at the park running along the service road as part of their training/job/healthiness...and now I got to feel special too.

The next night, it happened all over again, but I was prepared with the sheet that said the gym closes at 9pm!  The security guard checked with her supervisor and let me stay.  But my dinner break (which I use to work out) was interrupted by work, so I had to cut the elliptical short.  It was 10pm by the time I was home, and I had to work at 6am the next day, so I decided to sleep instead and finished that workout the next day, which is technically a rest day, but this sentence is  going to run on and that makes everything okay, doesn't it?

Today, I ran for 40 minutes at 6.5 mph - my legs felt a little tight today, so I took it "easy."  I finished the workout with a set of  sprints on the treadmill - I maxxed it out (10 mph).  After my cooldown walk, I did four sets of 30 sec sprint + 1 min walk.  I feel great, and will continue to do the sprints post-run every Thursday as prescribed by Marathoning for Mortals.  I had forgotten to do them that last four weeks...oops.

I was able to run on Tuesday.  I didn’t look at my training schedule, so I ran for 40 minutes at 6.4 mph, thinking that it was Week 4 and the minutes would probably be upped (which is why I "downed" the speed).  I was wrong – so that day I ran an extra 10 minutes…but that worked out because I was so wiped the  next day that I did not cross train.  Hey, when you’re not feelin’ it, you’re not feelin’ it.  Marathoning for Mortals also recommends not to train when you’re tired. There is a greater risk for injury and you might overtax your body and immune system.  And Thursday was a rest day, which was sorely needed.  I went to bed at 8pm!  Technically, I did have a pretty hard day at work - a large tree fell across the train tracks and we had to remove it.  It took seven of us about 30 minutes to get the pieces off and loaded onto a truck.  So...we'll call that a "more or less."

Today, I ran for 30 minutes on the  treadmill at the gym after work.  I was able to hit 6.7 mph, which puts me under  a 9 minute mile pace. Woo hoo!  It did feel like a little extra work, but with me pushing the speeds up the last few weeks, it was doable.  Going to finish out the week strong, but I am looking forward to seeing Man of Steel on Monday (my “Sunday”)!

Well, I definitely slept well last night - about 10 hours.  The chihuahuas were anxious to get up.  I thought about putting the run off until later today, but morning is always the best time to run for me.  It's cooler and gets me energized for the rest of the day.

I got dressed and leashed up Sherman - the big lug on the left in the photo below - and was off.  I've run quite a bit with Sherman - I'm his designated dogsitter - and when I eventually buy a house, I plan on rescuing a canine running buddy of my own.  The first week of training in the Marathoning for Mortals "run a half marathon" program is pretty basic.  Sundays - one of my weekend days - will be for my endurance runs, which gradually increase in distance over the 14 weeks.  I had an easy 2 miles today, though I sweat a lot!  We had a ton of rain last night and it was fairly muggy out even at 8:30 am.  Sherman keeps up well, but he's still sleeping it off 5 hours later.  Hazel - the little brindle chihuahua on the right in the photo below - accompanied me to Einsten Bros. to get bagels after I showered when I got back.

As prescribed by my training manual - the highly recommended Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield - I integrate cross-training with running.  Cross-training, according to the book, is really any form of exercise that is dissimilar to running, i.e. bicycling, swimming, yoga, stairclimbing, rowing, etc.

Basically once you are "in shape," training to run a half marathon - my next race - involves a 14 week program, which starts Tuesday.  One week includes two days of rest, two days of cross-training, two days of shorter distances (that increase as the weeks progress) and one day of long distance (which also increase).

Today, I used the elliptical for 40 minutes - alternating between less resistance with high incline and more resistance with low incline.  I'm excited to start the 14 week program this week.  It's supposed to be under 70 degress!  Woo hoo!