Saturday, June 14, 2014

I run for...a change.

This training season is truly a season of changes! I've already experimented with the way I run my long runs, my nutrition, my hydration, and now I'm changing my training program.

I have been a die hard Jeff Galloway training program runner since the beginning. What I fell in love with most about his program was that it was specifically designed for beginners and those that aim to "just finish" a marathon. Well, and I'm proud to say this, I'm not a beginner anymore! Jeff Galloway also offers programs for those that are trying for time goal (5:00, 4:45, 4:30, etc….) and this is what I started out with a few weeks ago but I just am not challenged enough. I still highly recommend his program for any beginners out there but as for me, I have to say good-bye.

So I have switched my loyalty to Hal Higdon. I still value and loosely follow Jeff's walk/run ratio but I am now doing the Hal Higdon Marathon Training for Intermediate 2. This week marked week 1 on this new program and so far, I love it! This week I logged 29 miles. The program goes something like this:

Monday - Cross Training (walking, yoga, bike riding, elliptical, swimming) 30-45 minutes
Tuesday - short maintenance runs (starting at 3mi and working up to 5mi as training progresses)
Wednesday - mid-week "long" run (5 mi working up to 10 mi runs after about 2 months of training)
Thursday - same as Tuesdays
Friday - rest days
Saturday - same as Wednesdays
Sunday - long run

This Sunday marks my first long run of the program and I am scheduled for a 10 miler. This puts me at my first 20 mile run in August. Before race day (10/12/14) I should have three 20 mile runs under my belt. I am VERY optimistic about this year's marathon and I truly need a redemption after last year's 6 hour and 30 minutes disaster. Although it was a great learning experience for me, I never want to be at the back of the pack again. From now on, only forward and upward.


Lastly, I have a bit of sad news. My treadmill bit the dust this week. I can't believe how sad I truly was about this. It completely ruined my whole day on Wednesday. I was in the middle of a 5 mile run, made it about 3 miles and my treadmill started to sound like it was cracking. Then, before long it felt like I was running in a bouncy house. I stopped to examine the underside and there was a huge crack in the deck (the particle board between the belt). I looked up the cost for a replacement board and it's $200!! That's half the price of this treadmill. So…I'm in search of a new and CHEAP treadmill. Although, maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I've become very dependent on my treadmill and as such, I have not been running nearly as much outdoors. Either way, I'm willing to roll with the punches, and I'll stick to my training no matter where I have to do my runs. With that, I will leave you with this...