Weeks until Mountains 2 Beach Marathon: 20
I finished my first week of marathon training, and it’s going really well so far! I stuck to the plan, and since it happens to be the first week of the year, there is lots of talk everywhere of exercising and eating healthy, which adds a little motivation to this whole thing. I mean, I was already really excited, but it seems especially momentous since New Years happened in the middle of my first week. I felt pretty tired after yesterday’s run; last week was the most exercise I’ve done in a while, if I’m being honest. I have been running fairly consistently since 2012 and stuck to a couple Hal Higdon half marathon plans, but for the most part I became pretty lackadaisical about running once my body was in shape to run halfs without much training, and just ran whenever I felt like it. That’s most of the reason I wanted to hire a coach; having someone create a custom plan and someone I have to report back to is a big push for me to stick with it and complete every workout on the schedule.
Monday – 5 miles @ 9:54 min/mile
I became swamped and stressed from work the couple weeks before Christmas, and didn’t do much in the way of exercise during that time. When I started back, I stuck to 3 miles, and this 5-mile workout felt tough. I also wasn’t prepared for how cold it was going to be. It was 41 degrees when I started my run, so I wore three layers on top but kept shorts on. I probably should have put pants on because my legs felt frozen for the first few miles. My body has completely adjusted to warm weather, and it was kind of a shock to my system. I actually really like running in colder weather (I did nine miles last winter in Tennessee and there was ice on the ground and I distinctly remember it was a great run), but I guess my body just wasn’t quite ready for it.
yay for marathon training!
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – November Project + 4 miles
We did 35 minutes of sprinting stadium stairs at November Project, and I ran two miles @ 9:25 min/mile afterward to get in 4.2 miles for the day.
It was so cold and windy.
Thursday – 5 miles @ 9:29 min/mile
This run already felt better than Monday’s. I did three miles easy, then a fast finish of two miles. I couldn’t quite hit the 8:30-8:45 paces my plan called for (I don’t think I’ve ever hit those paces for two miles, but I’m ready to try), but I only got 2-3 hours of sleep the night before so I was a little tired. Splits: 9:43, 9:45, 9:59, 9:05, 8:54.
I had to get a new phone because I shattered my other one and it deleted my pictures, so here’s a screen shot from my Instagram. I got this shirt for free from Brooks a couple years ago since it was my birthday.
Friday – Yoga
I was going to try to make it to November Project, but I made sleep a priority instead of waking up at 5:30am, so I missed it. It’s just as good though, they did hill repeats and I think my legs needed a little break. I got a 10-class pass for a local yoga/spinning studio called YAS for Christmas, so I went to my first class in the afternoon instead. The studio offers spinning classes, yoga classes, and half-spinning half-yoga classes. I chose the ‘yoga for athletes – core’ class, and I was the only one there so I got a private lesson. It was awesome. It had been a loooong time since I did yoga, and I felt it. I’m still sore, actually. I also haven’t done any upper body or core strengthening in a while, and that’s something that needs to change. One more thing, I got a new yoga mat at Whole Foods and my hands were slipping all over it during class… people that do yoga: is that normal? Do I just need to get a towel or something? I don’t remember my cheapo mat from Marshall’s ever doing that, so I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe my hands are just more sweaty these days.
I did sweat. A lot.
I’m so glad this place is 0.7 miles away from my house.
Saturday – 6 miles easy @ 9:44 min/mile
I’ve been having a hard time finding an easy pace lately; my pace has quickened due to all the stadium stair sprinting we do at November Project, and I find myself pushing a little harder on all my runs. I need to remember to slow it down and make the easy runs easy, so I can increase my distance comfortably. My stupid left knee starting hurting a bit during the last half-mile and I’m pretty sure it’s because I was tired and slacking on my form. I’ve been icing it and I’ll have to start wearing my compression band again just in case.
Total: 20 miles
Looks like the weather will be back to normal this upcoming week and work will be starting up again which means more discipline about waking up early enough to get my runs done in the morning.
One more question: are there any other How I Met Your Mother fans out there? Jeremy and I just finished the series last night and I’m feeling NOT GREAT about the finale.
Lily Runs the World 
Sounds like a great week of training – congrats!! In terms of easy pace, it’s kind of hard to define a certain pace. Some days a 9:30 could feel easy while other days that same 9:30 pace gives you trouble. For my easy paced runs, I either don’t bring my watch with me (I map out my course so I know the mileage) or I switch my watch to just show distance so I don’t worry about the pace. Just let your body find what’s easy. Some days that pace may surprise you and other days it might frustrate you but just let it be easy for that day.
And the HIMYM finale was awful. It basically tore apart every character it built up for the entire series
I did not enjoy it one bit either.
That’s such good advice, thank you!! I think hiding the pace is such a good idea. Ugh I know, the whole time I was watching the finale I was just like, no no NO NO NO.
Great start to training! Oh, I hated the HIMYM finale! It made so mad and just ruined so many things for me. I yelled at the tv a few times.
Ugh I know! I feel like the whole last season was wasted in thirty seconds in the finale.
Congrats on completing your first week! I think that marathon training is just so much different than half training. I am a HIMYM fan and I wasn’t happy about the finale either!
Thanks! I think it definitely is different so far, even though I’m only two weeks into it!
Looks like a hard week training! The idea if marathon training terrifies me.
I am a HIMYM fan and like you I hated the finale. Not sure how not to spoiler this but basically they did far too good a job of making me like that coupling before making it not work out? Felt like a cop out.
It terrifies me too… I’m trying to only think about the present and not what is in store the next five weeks. But also visualize crossing the finish line a lot, then I get really excited.
I’m hoping that anybody that doesn’t want any HIMYM spoilers won’t read the comments here, but yeah having the entire last season all about Robin and Barney’s wedding and why Robin and Ted don’t belong together and all that (and there was such good closure between the two of them), then in thirty seconds, everything changes. Apparently they filmed the scene where the kids are telling Ted to ask Robin out way back in season 2, when Robin and Ted were still very much in the forefront of people’s minds. But it seems to me that they should have reevaluated the relationships after nine years because a natural progression occurred and just because that’s how they originally wanted to end the series, doesn’t mean it was absolutely necessary.
Yay for finishing your first week of marathon training! 🙂 I wasn’t happy with the How I Met Your Mother ending either BUT I heard that the DVD version is going to have an alternate ending!!!
Thanks!! I heard that too, I hope it just ends with Ted meeting the mom under the yellow umbrella at the train station. That’s how I like to imagine the ending in my head 🙂
Nice work on getting the first week of training done! I always feel like I’m struggling to “find” my pace during the first week or two of a new plan, but then I settle in to one. Hopefully you’ll find it soon. That feeling of starting too fast and slowing down is always annoying.
I’m a HIMYM fan as well. I think I’m literally the only person in the world who liked the finale…
Haha I think you might be too! I never thought Robin and Ted belonged together so I guess that’s why I hated it so much. You’re right about finding the pace, I feel like I’m settling in more and more with each training run!
Awesome start to training. And burrrr that is cold compared to the weather you get normally.
Seriously! I couldn’t believe it was in the thirties. Thankfully it’s back to normal 🙂
Sounds like you had a great week of training. I’m coming back from injury and ready to get back into it. I was able to walk 30 minutes today without injury. So I’m hoping the PT will let me run soon! 🙂
Nice work on getting back out there! I’m sorry you got injured, was it from running?
Looks like a great start on your marathon training! Looks like an extra incentive to working out earlier is that you get to run when it’s cooler and in the 50’s.
True that! It’s been perfect weather this week in the morning, I’ve been pretty happy 🙂
Maybe throw a towel down over your mat? That sounds like a great studio to have so close to home! An easy pace really varies for me from day to day.