Today's Run - 7.79mi in 1:31:26 - approx. 11:44 min/mi
Another reason why I have decided to start this blog is to hold myself accountable. I plan on sharing most (definitely not all) of my runs. When I'm slacking, I want to share that with you because I know it will push me to do better. I think it's also important to share when I'm doing well too. If you're not a runner or if you are a beginner, you need to know that, like life, running is full of ups and downs. I am continuing to improve after almost a full 2 years of running. As you can tell by my run time today, I am not fast. I'm short and stocky and just not built to run fast but that does not mean that I cannot be a long distance runner. It just means I'm slower than most. However, I am getting faster. :)
In an effort to hold myself accountable, let me share a few details about my training program. I train based on the Jeff Galloway training method. Jeff Galloway uses a walk-run ratio for marathon training that is perfect for beginners. Last year in order to just finish my first marathon I kept training to a minimum. I ran 3x a week - 2x during the week at just 30 minutes a run & 1x on the weekend for my long run. Now that I'm hoping for a time goal (more on that at a later date) I have upped my training quite a bit and introduced interval training into my routine. Most weeks I still maintain a 3 run base and maybe 1 or 2 extra short runs. Saturdays are generally my long run days.
I think this would be a good place to introduce a disclaimer. I am not an expert. I can share what I've learned and what works well for me but everyone is different. Even with my own training, I've had to experiment with so many different things before I've found what works. Please view this information as mere suggestion. You may do with it what you will.
Ok...back to today's run.
Last summer was miserable for marathon training. I found myself getting up at 4:00am (sometimes before) on multiple occasions, just to run as much as I could without the hot sun and stifling heat. This year I can only remember one time that I had to get up that early to avoid the heat and humidity. I have been SO fortunate this year to train in mild summer weather. Take today for instance. It's mid-August. It should be steaming. Instead I woke up to mid-60s and wonderful cloud cover. It was a B-E-A-utiful day for a run. Which may be a lot of the reason why my pace was so slow today. I really wanted to enjoy my run and I definitely did.
Today's run was just a maintenance run between my longer, endurance workouts. Next weekend marks my first run over 20 miles. 23 miles to be exact. In order to prepare, I have to be extra vigilant during the week to maintain my diet and weekday runs. Hopefully I'll be able to check in with my progress to share that process with you.
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