Marathon Training Begins!

Training for the 2009 Chicago Marathon Begins Today!
Bad Start?

Up until a few days ago I had a training plan all set and completely mapped out for the next few months. I was planning on using a Hal Higdon intermediate plan. I had calender all written out and everything. Then I saw some tweets by good ol' Steve Runner. He was talking about the reason that he uses the Hansons Brooks moderate consistent plan. He said that he used to use Hal's plans, until he was injured one too many times. I have heard him talk about the Hansons Brooks plans a lot on his podcast, so I knew what all it entailed. I decided to change my plans at the last minute to go with a Hansons Brooks plan because I just don't feel like getting injured. This new plan only has me doing my longest runs at 16 mi. I've already done 16 before during my training for the half marathon, so I know that I can do it. The HH plans had me doing a long run of 20 mi which was a little daunting. So, Hanson Brooks it is, I hope it works!

So the original plan that is laid out for Hansons is an 18 week schedule. I'm going to follow it very closely (hopefully!) plus I allowed an extra 2 weeks for mishaps or bad weeks. Plus I have a vacation during June so I wanted to allow myself some leniency.

Today was the first run of the training schedule. 4 mi seemed easy enough. Nice way to start the Sun long runs! I was really excited to get started. Until I got a half a block down the road.

Problem #1: You know that rule of thumb that says if you're running and you're thirsty than you are already way too dehydrated? Yeah. That was me. Half a block into the run.

Problem #2: It really didn't help that I had two very large cups of coffee before this run. I work the midnight shift and tonight is my night off. So I got off work this morning, got a 5 hour nap, and woke up early so that I can sleep at normal times tonight with my family. I had my coffee and no food.

Problem #3: No food? Really? I thought I knew better than that.

Problem #4: Also, I just raced a biathlon yesterday. A great race, but it definitely left me feeling a little tired today.

Bad Start? I refuse to believe that any start to any marathon plan would be considered bad. I'm out there. I'm doing it. There is nothing but goodness that surrounds the excitement of training for your first marathon. So, in an attempt to keep a good attitude about my said problems, I decided to start working on strategies throughout this training schedule.

Strategy #1: HYDRATE! I've always had issues with this, but I need to make this a true priority. Starting this past January, I started carrying a 1 L bottle of water with me everywhere I go. Now I just need to discipline myself to actually drink it empty at least once a day!

Strategy #2: CUT DOWN ON THE COFFEE! Ok, I've got serious coffee addiction. I drink at least a pot of coffee a day. It's quite ridiculous. I'm going to attempt to cut down to one cup when I get up, and one to go cup on the way to work. If I can do that, then I'll see if I can go even further.

Strategy #3: FUEL! I need to learn a good fueling plan. This one is kind of hard because I am trying to drop a few more pounds and I'm very concerned with every calorie that goes in. And I also don't like to eat when I first wake up, but I need to get over that. I can always have some fruit or something before a run instead of starving myself!

Strategy #4: STRETCH! I need to stretch and use the foam roller as much as possible because this is the only thing that keeps the IT band pain away.

So, I'll take this hard 4 miler as a chance to learn from my mistakes and a great new focus for this training season!

This weeks schedule:
Sun 4 mi (today)
Tues 2 mi
Thurs 3 mi
Fri 3 mi
Sat 3 mi