Four Weeks Down!

Well, technically, I’ve completed more than four weeks of marathon training, but this post is going to focus on Week 4.

Here’s my goal: I want to keep y’all (and myself) updated on my training, but I want to keep it short, sweet, and to the point. So below are some of the highlights and lowlights of Week 4. I’ll be messing around with this idea/format/concept over the next few weeks to find a way to give training updates without being incredibly long-winded and risk being – *gasp* – boring!

Week 4: Jan. 19-25
Suggested Week 4 Mileage: 19
Actual Week 4 Mileage: 16.7
Long Run: 9 mi
Short Runs: 3.1 and 4.5 mi (I skipped a 3-mi run)
Cross-training: Some creative basketball on a youth retreat
Total Marathon Training Miles: 63.4

One word to describe the week: Nontraditional

What I liked about the week: During Week 4, I got creative and a bit spontaneous, fitting some of my runs in between other components of my life. For example, I randomly decided on Monday (Jan. 19) to stop on my way home from coaching basketball practice to knock out a chilly 3-mile short run outdoors (I wear running shoes to practice most days, so I had the right footwear). It was a fun challenge for the most part, and it showed me that even though I’m busy and it’s cold outside, I can still find a way to do most of my training runs!

What I didn’t like about the week: I was not a fan of the leftover snow. Two of my three runs (I’m supposed to do four each week, but I skipped one) were on snow-covered ground, which can be tricky to run on. Running on snow every now and then isn’t all that frustrating, but when it happens all the time, it can get annoying. Snow can affect everything: gait, rhythm, footing, SPEED, etc. So my runs were slower than I wanted them to be, which was frustrating.

Favorite run or aspect of a specific run: I’d probably have to say my 9-mile run was my favorite part of the week. Even though there was snow on the ground, which affected my time, the weather was beautiful and I didn’t stress (too much) about my time. It was also the first marathon training run where I listened to music. If the cold, snowy weather keeps up, I may have to listen to music on more of my runs; it can take my mind off the conditions!

Memorable running moment (good or bad): OK, I have two.
-Taking vacation time in order to do my long run was memorable. It wasn’t something I want to do often – or ever again, really – but it made me feel like a dedicated runner.
-I made a conscious decision not to complete all of my scheduled runs. This was the first time during marathon training (and first time since training for my first half marathon three years ago) that this happened.

What I’ll do the same in the future: I’d like to keep being ready to knock out my midweek runs spontaneously. Of course, I’ll try to plan things in ahead of time, but sometimes life happens – or winter weather happens – and plans don’t work out. On those occasions, I want to be ready to improvise, like I did during Week 4.

What I’d like to change in the future: I would like to switch up my running locations a bit more. Thanks to my crazy schedule and the crazy weather, I’ve been limited in where I can run. That’s fine for now, but I don’t want to get sick of these routes. I also don’t want my body to get too acclimated to these particular routes.

What I learned: Sometimes it’s just not possible to do everything. Going into training, I had the best intentions for completing all of my training runs on the specific days that Hal Higdon suggested they be done. Hahahaha. Right now I’m working a full-time job, enjoying being an assistant coach to the most amazing basketball team ever, serving as a youth leader with the best church youth group ever, AND training for this marathon thing! Plus, during Week 4, we had a weekend youth retreat, so there was no way I was going to be able to do my long run then (which is why I used vacation time for my long run and why I nixed my other short run). Week 4 showed me that sometimes it’s necessary to alter the training program, and that’s OK. What’s important, though, is to do what I can and not stress about what I can’t do. For example, I did some impromptu, nontraditional “cross-training” at the youth retreat. Skipping a run here and there won’t necessarily prevent me from crossing that finish line on May 3. Week 4 allowed me to see that.

One-sentence summary: Week 4 stretched my ability to fit the marathon-training puzzle pieces in with the rest of the crazy-but-fun puzzle of my life, but it all worked out in the end!

We rigged up a “basketball net” at the youth retreat so we could shoot some hoops. Great cross-training!

Having fun not running at the youth retreat, which was during Week 4 of marathon training

Down…Set…Work Out!

So there are some football games this afternoon (like, one now and one later). Sure, you can sit on the couch – or stand up and cheer – if you’d like, or you can exercise while watching!

“But I don’t have a treadmill in my living room!” you say.

Never fear. Thanks to Blood, Sweat, and Cheers, there’s a great NFL workout you can do right where you are. No exercise equipment necessary. Here’s the framework:

Of course, it’s adaptable. You can alter it to work for you. For example, I’ve added a few things (like five jump tucks for a safety and 20 crunches for a turnover on downs), and I may end up doing crunches instead of push-ups at some point if I’ve done a bazillion push-ups and hardly any crunches.

If there’s a play that meets multiple criteria, I usually go with the greatest achievement in the play. For example, if there’s a 25-yard running play that results in a first down along the way, I’ll do the exercise for the 25-yard play. If there’s a pick-six (which would be both an interception and a defensive TD), I’ll do the exercise for the defensive TD. You get the idea.

So there you have it. This is what I’m going to be doing during one or both games this afternoon. Try it out and let me know what you think!

The Struggle Is Real.

I just completed Week 2 of training for the Pittsburgh Marathon! That’s two down, 16 to go.

Wow. Hang on a second. Just as I was typing that, it hit me: Yep, 16 weeks from this very moment, I’ll have a marathon under my belt. That’s crazy! And I’ll probably barely be able to walk. But I’m sure it all will have been worth it.

But I digress.

I’m using Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 training program. Each week calls for two rest days, one day of cross-training, three midweek runs (generally, two shorter and one medium), and one long run. So my first two weeks have looked like this:
Week 1 – 3.2 mi, Rest, 3 mi, 3.1 mi, Rest, 6.1 mi, CT. Total Week 1 Miles: 15.4Week 2 – Rest, 3 mi, 3 mi, Rest, CT, 3.2 mi, 7 mi. Total Week 2 Miles: 16.2
(Side note about Week 2: I took a rest day on Monday because I convinced myself it was too cold to run. So I left myself no choice but to run on Tuesday AND Wednesday…and Wednesday was by far more frigid and icy than Monday. Ironic.)

Going into training, I felt that the mileage was going to be pretty easy for the first five or six weeks. And it should be. But for some reason, it’s been really difficult so far. I don’t mean that the distances have been tough; I mean that nothing has really been clicking. Usually at least some runs feel great, but so far ZERO runs (out of eight) have felt good. Every single one has felt like I’ve been uncomfortably conscious of every step instead of just being able to get into any kind of a groove. I just can’t pinpoint why.

It could be that I underestimated these initial couple of weeks and am not as focused as I should be. Or it could be that it’s been really cold and windy lately, which has taken a toll on my ability to cruise on my runs. Or it could be (in part) that running on ice and snow has affected me. Or it could be that I’ve been insanely busy lately and don’t have as much energy. Or it could be something else. I just don’t know.

It’s perplexing, but I’m not going to quit! Sticking with it is the only way to improve and ensure that I end up with some of those great-feeling, in-the-groove runs. And those feeling-on-top-of-the-world runs will come. I’ve been through slumps before, so I’ll break out of this one, too.

Sometimes that’s hard to believe, though. Like during and after today’s 7-mile run. It went so poorly and I was so slow (for me) that I thought, “I cannot imagine running almost four times this distance right now!”

But that’s just it. I don’t have to run four times today’s distance right now. I have 16 weeks to work up to it, and I have the perfect training program to get me there.

I’ll be seeing you in the spring, Pittsburgh Marathon, and I’ll be ready!

Running the Pittsburgh Half in 2013