Week 2 of Marathon Training

Week 1 and 2 of marathon training is in the bag!

Week 1 was, of course, fairly easy. And that's the way it should be! I did the 4 mi on Sun, which I posted about last time. I got in all the other runs that I said I was going to also: 2 on Tues, 3 on Thurs, 3 on Fri, and 3 on Sat. This moderate consistent plan seems like it's going to work out so far! I don't dread Sun long runs anymore! I'm just having fun with this, kinda testing out some speeds, and trying to figure out what speed hurts, and what is the easiest (without walking). I just want to know where my range is so I can figure out just how fast I'm going to try to go in the marathon. I don't know how I'm going to figure that out yet, but, whatever. I'll figure it out. No biggy. My main goal is to finish. So anyway, week 1 done and I'm feeling great!

Week 2, still feeling really good. Here is what I covered this week:

Sun 4
Tues 4
Thurs 4
Fri 4
Sat 4

LOL Yeah, this was pretty easy to remember how far I was supposed to go each day! On Sun I did a 1 mi road race called Springfield's Magnificent Mile. I had very low expectations for this race considering I've never been very good at the shorter faster races. And I've never placed in my age group in a running race (only triathlons) so I really didn't expect to start this day. Well, I did. 1st in my age group actually. Who woulda thunk. My finish time was 7:09, and it hurt! I felt like I was going to throw up afterward which brought back memories of track practice in junior high! I did throw up once after practice and I thought I was going to get in trouble with the coach who was kind of a hard a**. She ended up finding me afterward and telling me that she was proud of me because throwing up meant I worked hard. I was stunned. I always thought that woman hated me, but who knows. Anyway, after the race I went home, and since my schedule called for 4 miles today, I had to get out and do 3 more. Ouch. That was a death shuffle. But I got it done. I did Tuesday's run in 85F and sunny weather. Thursday's run was at a hotel in Schaumburg where I was visiting for a work conference. So icky treadmill running. Friday's run was in Dwight, my hometown, where I was visiting my parents and dropping off my doggy so that they can babysit him while I'm on vaca. Sat's 4 was a very hot 85F sunny run. This was the first run that I had my new hand grip thingy water bottle. I like that thing! And guess where I got it? The all to famous 'Runners High 'n Tri' running store in Arlington Heights, the exact same one that sponsors (or whatever) the great podcast 'The Age Grouper Triathlon Podcast'.

So next weeks runs include:
Sun 5
Tues 5
Thurs 3
Fri 3
Sat 5

Tues, Thurs, Fri, and Sat runs will all be done in Colorado which is where we are vacationing. I don't expect very good paces considering I'm going up in elevation by a few thousand feet. We'll see how I acclimate this year. Catch ya'll in a week or so!