Most of the week has gone as planned. I have already reported about Monday's 'RUN'. Tuesday, I made it to the evening spin class (while the boys did a kids' yoga class!). I missed my strength class due to a long PTA meeting :( which is probably for the best since I have been pretty sore from Monday. Nothing too bad - just achiness in my quads (front upper leg) and hip flexors (front hip/groin area). It always amazes me that running uses many other muscles than just lower body. I have felt some mild soreness all through my core - front and back AND even some upper body, shoulder blades, etc. It is all from the stability that you need to stay balanced and the way you hold/use your upper body - you are engaging those muscles as well. I think this will diminish as my body grow accustomed to doing this since it isn't particularly the focus or terribly strenuous, but still interesting to know!
I have been stretching and getting extra protein to help recover. I don't have another run until tomorrow (Thursday), but I want to be able to do it.
Today, Wednesday, I made it to yoga. It was tough - in a different way. It is an 1 1/2 class and lots of poses. It wasn't a beginner class, so they were moving pretty fast and it was tough to keep up, but it helped accomplish the three things I wanted/needed. It was good to help stretch - nothing targeted just an overall good stretch, it was relaxing, and it was different - a change from all the cardio and weights and fast paced everything.
So far so good. We will see how my 4-ish miles tomorrow go - wish me luck!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Training Plan - Week 1
Day One - what a lonely, daunting but strangely exhilarating place to be. All things seem possible if not far off, but I am well aware that I have ALOT of work ahead of me.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I want online and used my research to piece together a starting plan. For now, I am taking it one week at a time. All the beginner plans have the caveat that you should be able to run 30 minutes, no matter the pace, without stopping EVEN if you plan to walk and run the event. Check on that one. Thanks to my spin habit, I am doing pretty well in the cardio area though it is a drastically different exercise outside of the heart and lungs!
I decided that I would start Monday (today). I haven't run in months, so I wanted to start at 3 miles and just get a baseline of a time for that, a 5K. I decided to walk and run in intervals so as to not overdo it for now. I don't want to waste precious training time with excessive soreness or an injury!!
I settled in on this plan:
Monday - walk/run for 3.1 miles 5 minutes walk then 10 minute run - repeat until done
Tuesday - strength and spin
Wednesday - rest or yoga
Thursday - walk/run for 4 miles with intervals same (5/10)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - spin
Sunday - 3-5 miles depending on how the Monday and Thursday runs go
From there, I'll have a better idea where I am and where I can go for the next week. It puts me in about week 4 of most 'beginner' plans. My hope was to set a good pace and then just increase my distance over the next 8 weeks.
How'd it go??
I decided to do my run on the treadmill at the gym. I haven't mapped any outside runs or found any safe trails nearby yet - though there are tons of options for that and the weather is GREAT!
Did my warm-up 5 minutes which was a blended speed, jogged (AKA run - but by real standards, I'm not running! but, we will call it that). 10 minutes, walked 5, ran 10, walked 5 and ran a few more to finish out my 3.1. Then did a cool down walk after that.
My official time for the 5K was 38:09, putting my pace at just under 12.5 minute miles (blended rate or my walk/run). It would put me at about 2 hours 43 minutes on race day *IF* I could maintain it for 13 miles. I really need to better it a bit to allow cushion time for hydration and bathroom delays (if people do that - how can you not go to the bathroom for 3 hours?). I guess I have some more research to do....I also need to know how much cushion to add for comfort - I DO NOT want the pacer car to be trying to catch me!!!
It wasn't super easy, but it wasn't so bad either. I could have gone further - at least to 4 or 5 miles with my intervals. I will have to see how sore I am tomorrow. I just don't know how/if I can ever make it over that 6 mile hump?!? Baby steps right - as long as those baby steps are faster than a 14 minute mile pace!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I want online and used my research to piece together a starting plan. For now, I am taking it one week at a time. All the beginner plans have the caveat that you should be able to run 30 minutes, no matter the pace, without stopping EVEN if you plan to walk and run the event. Check on that one. Thanks to my spin habit, I am doing pretty well in the cardio area though it is a drastically different exercise outside of the heart and lungs!
I decided that I would start Monday (today). I haven't run in months, so I wanted to start at 3 miles and just get a baseline of a time for that, a 5K. I decided to walk and run in intervals so as to not overdo it for now. I don't want to waste precious training time with excessive soreness or an injury!!
I settled in on this plan:
Monday - walk/run for 3.1 miles 5 minutes walk then 10 minute run - repeat until done
Tuesday - strength and spin
Wednesday - rest or yoga
Thursday - walk/run for 4 miles with intervals same (5/10)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - spin
Sunday - 3-5 miles depending on how the Monday and Thursday runs go
From there, I'll have a better idea where I am and where I can go for the next week. It puts me in about week 4 of most 'beginner' plans. My hope was to set a good pace and then just increase my distance over the next 8 weeks.
How'd it go??
I decided to do my run on the treadmill at the gym. I haven't mapped any outside runs or found any safe trails nearby yet - though there are tons of options for that and the weather is GREAT!
Did my warm-up 5 minutes which was a blended speed, jogged (AKA run - but by real standards, I'm not running! but, we will call it that). 10 minutes, walked 5, ran 10, walked 5 and ran a few more to finish out my 3.1. Then did a cool down walk after that.
My official time for the 5K was 38:09, putting my pace at just under 12.5 minute miles (blended rate or my walk/run). It would put me at about 2 hours 43 minutes on race day *IF* I could maintain it for 13 miles. I really need to better it a bit to allow cushion time for hydration and bathroom delays (if people do that - how can you not go to the bathroom for 3 hours?). I guess I have some more research to do....I also need to know how much cushion to add for comfort - I DO NOT want the pacer car to be trying to catch me!!!
It wasn't super easy, but it wasn't so bad either. I could have gone further - at least to 4 or 5 miles with my intervals. I will have to see how sore I am tomorrow. I just don't know how/if I can ever make it over that 6 mile hump?!? Baby steps right - as long as those baby steps are faster than a 14 minute mile pace!
The Scoop
I've never considered myself a 'runner'. I have yet to ever get that elusive 'RUNNERS' HIGH' some brag about. I don't *love* running, but there is something unique and rewarding after it's done. It's difficult to describe, but is a mixture of accomplishment (I set out to do this and I just finished it) and just physically using your body in a way it was meant to be used but rarely is in this modern world - harkens back to cave days when you survived because you ran - either to catch food or away from a predator.
So, why on earth have I just signed up to run a 1/2 marathon in 2 months time? That's an excellent question, and I'll be sure to let you know when (if) I figure it out.
I have run the occasional 5K and even the Peachtree a couple times (a 10K in the brutal GA heat and humidity), and survived. David (the hubs) has run a couple 1/2's, and its not exactly that he makes it look easy because I see all the careful training and running he does leading up to an event (He follows a training plan to the exact detail)....but, he accomplishes it, completes it...I wanted to see what it was like to experience the other side.
It is as much a mental feat for me as it is a physical one - and make no mistake, it is a FEAT of ginormous proportions on both levels. Anyone, can finish the last mile of a half marathon (which for the record is about 13.1 miles - thus the name of this blog). The real challenge lies in facing the daunting prospect at the start of knowing that you will literally be running for HOURS. A GOOD time would take you through a feature-length movie!
Regardless, I digress too much into the *why* of it all and what I really wanted this blog to be about was my journey. My mental and physical odyssey from a non-runner to a marathon finisher.
Started last weekend - got a Groupon email with a deal for the VIP package for the US Marathon in my new home city of San Francisco. The race course goes over the Golden Gate Bridge - twice - which really lured me in! Not to mention the other scenic areas of the North part of the city. I mentioned it to David thinking why not - and voila - we were both in. We booked the race and a hotel room for the night before within walking distance of the start and finish line.
Then it started to set in - what will we do about the kids and how are we going to train for this in how many weeks - oh yeah, just 8!
Time to make the rest happen! I googled some beginning programs all a minimum of 10 weeks, and pieced together something that should work for me. I just want to FINISH this, my first Half - no time goals - other than to finish before the pace car has to pick me up!!! Seriously, they close the course after 3 hours and pick up any stragglers! It is a 14 minute mile pace. If I can walk, run or some combination and manage to AT LEAST keep at 14 minute mile pace, then I'm golden. When you look at it that way, it doesn't seem so bad - I could probably do that now - for about 4 miles or so....anything beyond that and I'd be really TIRED and really SORE - for weeks! That's where the training and nutrition come in.
That's the SCOOP of how I got myself in this situation:
A non-runner, non-athlete, almost middle-aged, overweight mom of two signed up for a 1/2 marathon in 2 months!!! More on my training and plan in the next post.
So, why on earth have I just signed up to run a 1/2 marathon in 2 months time? That's an excellent question, and I'll be sure to let you know when (if) I figure it out.
I have run the occasional 5K and even the Peachtree a couple times (a 10K in the brutal GA heat and humidity), and survived. David (the hubs) has run a couple 1/2's, and its not exactly that he makes it look easy because I see all the careful training and running he does leading up to an event (He follows a training plan to the exact detail)....but, he accomplishes it, completes it...I wanted to see what it was like to experience the other side.
It is as much a mental feat for me as it is a physical one - and make no mistake, it is a FEAT of ginormous proportions on both levels. Anyone, can finish the last mile of a half marathon (which for the record is about 13.1 miles - thus the name of this blog). The real challenge lies in facing the daunting prospect at the start of knowing that you will literally be running for HOURS. A GOOD time would take you through a feature-length movie!
Regardless, I digress too much into the *why* of it all and what I really wanted this blog to be about was my journey. My mental and physical odyssey from a non-runner to a marathon finisher.
Started last weekend - got a Groupon email with a deal for the VIP package for the US Marathon in my new home city of San Francisco. The race course goes over the Golden Gate Bridge - twice - which really lured me in! Not to mention the other scenic areas of the North part of the city. I mentioned it to David thinking why not - and voila - we were both in. We booked the race and a hotel room for the night before within walking distance of the start and finish line.
Then it started to set in - what will we do about the kids and how are we going to train for this in how many weeks - oh yeah, just 8!
Time to make the rest happen! I googled some beginning programs all a minimum of 10 weeks, and pieced together something that should work for me. I just want to FINISH this, my first Half - no time goals - other than to finish before the pace car has to pick me up!!! Seriously, they close the course after 3 hours and pick up any stragglers! It is a 14 minute mile pace. If I can walk, run or some combination and manage to AT LEAST keep at 14 minute mile pace, then I'm golden. When you look at it that way, it doesn't seem so bad - I could probably do that now - for about 4 miles or so....anything beyond that and I'd be really TIRED and really SORE - for weeks! That's where the training and nutrition come in.
That's the SCOOP of how I got myself in this situation:
A non-runner, non-athlete, almost middle-aged, overweight mom of two signed up for a 1/2 marathon in 2 months!!! More on my training and plan in the next post.
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