Happily Tired Legs

But with those tired legs comes a sense of accomplishment. 

Training is ratcheting up for Lincoln Marathon.  I dithered and dithered over marathon plans.  Remember, I've done the past two marathons while being coached.  I had a schedule provided by me and tailored to specific running courses and efforts to hit.  I am a type of person who really needs a set schedule so that I'll know when to plan for long runs and when big running weeks are.  Some of the tried and true marathon plans seem like a good idea. 

When I really started looking closely at them I'd get completely overwhelmed by a few different details.  The biggest issue is that I just don't run that many miles per week and I do not like running 7 or even 6 days a week.  How the heck do you fit in a well rounded marathon training plan then? 

And I really was not sure what paces I should be aiming for when doing specific workouts.  I ran 2 miles in just under 14 minutes in December.  You put that into the various running calculators (search for mcmillan or merv) and the marathon pace is ridiculous.  I can do shorter workouts at a faster pace but should I when I know my marathon pace and easy runs should be much slower? 

Oh I was a mess debating all this in my head.  I felt like the clock was ticking and May was just around the corner.  then I found this training plan on the boston marathon site:  link

The rookie plan seemed just right.  A range of mileage and easy to follow workouts.  I liked the look of the speedwork and liked that there were specific marathon paced runs.  I mulled it over a bit and asked for a bit of feedback from runango marathoners and decided this plan would work for me with some modifications. 

So that's what I've been doing.  the past three weeks have been a good physically and mentally as I finished my first long run on roads today strongly and happily.

The most amazing thing about this?  This week is the third week where I've hit just about 50 miles per week.  THAT is high mileage for me and I've not been consistently in that range since 2006/2007.   I talked to former coach about scheduling and fitting in miles and he had a good idea of scheduling a "double" in order to maintain full rest days from running. 

It's hard for me to get more than 8-10 miles in mid-week right now and being able to run 8-10 in the am and then a few in the evening is one way to get in more.  I've done this a couple weeks now and it seems to work.  I don't plan on it for every week but so far I'm liking it. 

Oh sure.  This marathon plan, I'm realizing now, just doesn't quite fit in with my running schedule so I'm always having to move workouts around.  for instance, I prefer to generally do my long runs on Saturday instead of sunday.  that plan calls for speedwork on tuesday just two days after the long run.  That totally will not work for me.  I know I need more recovery time from a long run.  Wednesday evenings is the best day to do speedwork for me because I like to do them with the group but that means I might need to do marathon paced runs on tuesday instead. And like was suggested on the marathon forum, i think longer tempo workouts need to be incorporated later in the plan. 

the best part of this is that after running two marathons and understanding what the point of each run is, I have a better idea of how to move runs about and what to focus on. 

It did mean that I decided to skip the two-mile track race last weekend and instead focused on an excellent half marathon distance run with a few miles at marathon pace.  I nailed this workout and was really looking forward to my first long run this weekend.  but the running group I run with for long runs was doing a course that I really didn't want to do a long run on.  What to do? 

Well there was this little 5k race around the lake I run at multiple times a week.  Could I race that 5k and then get in a long run?  yes, i decided. 

And I did.  I need the races.  I need the mental effort but those two mile races while fun are just too short.  And a 5k is so long you ask?  Well yes!  I chose to start out at a pace that I thought would be doable if I'd been rested and trained at 5k pace for.  Of course, I am so not rested nor trained for 5k pace so I expected this to hurt and that was going to be fine. 

5k - 23:30.  14th in my AG and I did get passed by PN right at the end who is 20 years older than I am.  Haha!  I hit my first mile right where I wanted but then gradually slowed.  The legs felt encased in sludge.  I battled mentally though and stuck with it which was really the point.  You want a good article to read?  Read about Kara Goucher in the March 2010 Runners World article about confidence boosters. 

And then I chose to do my first long run this cycle the next day.  yep.  I'd been worrying about this all week.  18.7 miles at a good long run pace.  My feet are sore this evening and my hamstrings feel rather tight but that's about it.  I had to keep reminding myself that I'd raced a 5k the day before when I was running.  No, i didn't feel great but I didn't feel terrible either. 

the best part of the run (besides being done)?  At mile 9, I was on magnolia bluff contemplating the view of West Seattle which looked very, very far away.  This was a bit demoralizing as I was feeling a bit tired and West Seattle (alki) was where my run was going to end.  could I do this?  I'm just coming to the descent off of Magnolia and I see two swooping and soaring bald eagles riding the thermals off teh bluffs.  They were amazing to watch and I kept craning my head around to catch sight of them for as long as I could.

Oh yes I can do this.