Marathon Training Journal: Day 5
Five days into Marathon Training and here is my Training Journal Entry for Day 5. Today, it's all about the Short-Long Run.
Making Friends
Fridays are my long run days. It used to be Thursdays until early Fall last year when I met an awesome lady in my Facebook running group who was training for a marathon and we decided to do ‘virtual' long runs together. Different time zones, but kind of cool knowing you're both doing it on the same day. Friday was her long run day and it made no difference to me so I switched and we got to compare notes.
A friendship was born and this year we are training almost in sync again. I'm slightly behind because my marathon is later, but it's just so nice to know someone else is going through the same training.
I love long run days so ending the work week makes the beer taste better and usually ends even the toughest week on a high note
Switching Things Up
My training plan has Friday as a designated rest and recovery day. I prefer Saturday off because it's the one day of the week when everyone in our family can just unplug and be together. I have incredible support from my husband and daughter. Running is a really important part of my life, but it's not instead of it. It does mean that the first week feels a bit longer, but overall, I'm feeling pretty good. Sleep would be nice, though.
Although not as sore as yesterday, I'm hauling around a ton of fatigue in my body now so it's a case of taking the day as it comes. I can feel my resting heart rate is a bit higher than usual and that's my cue to back off a bit.
The Short-Long Run
The Short-Long Run is a term that still brings smiles in my household. During my last marathon training season I had switched my long run day. When I got out of the shower my husband said to me, “Only 12 miles? I thought you were going to do a long run today.”
As the irony of it all started to sink in, the humor in the comment started to rise. Since then, anything under 12 miles, it's called a Short-Long Run. It's official. It's a word and it's a thing.
Today is a designated rest and recovery day, according to my training plan, but I like to take a Saturday off so I just switch the two around. It works really well; it just makes the first week feel a little longer.
I kept my run to 10 miles this morning and ran it really slowly. I'm feeling really pleased about controlling my pace today. It's an area discipline where I've struggled but today I pretty much had it down where I wanted it. If I can make this a habit, I'll be all set!
Week 1 is complete. The smile is not because it's done; it's because I did it.
Overview of the First Marathon Training Week
I like to do a quick recap at the end of every week or so during training. It's easy to get so used to rolling through the motions of the routine that little gems of information and helpful signals are overlooked.
Week one of a new training cycle can be deceptive. There's an adjustment phase as my body adapts to new demands and there is still an overly enthusiastic feeling about the hopes and challenges that lie ahead. I don't like to read into it so early because … like my first three miles on any run, the first few weeks of a new training plan can be liars.
It's too early to get a feel for how the next 15 weeks are going to go. I'm fine with that. I am also very comfortable with reassessing my goals in about 8 weeks time when I have a better feel for where I am at that stage.
It's been a good week. I've run over 200 miles this month so far and feel like my body is responding well to the volume. I just need to adapt to the increased strength training and maintenance work.
It's a lot of hours of training, but the more you demand of your body, the more time you need to spend making sure you take care of it. Don't skip the recovery. And don't skip the running specific workouts that make you a better runner. I am better at what I do when it's not the only thing I do.
What's in the Training Journal for Day 6?
Nothing.
I won't put a post up tomorrow, because it's my recovery day. This is the day I take to tune out of all things running, as much as possible, and spend some family time. It still counts as a day of training. In fact, it is a pivotal part of any good training program. But it's also good for the mind to take a break.
If you are curious to know what I get up to as part of my recovery, it usually involves a beer, some chips and guacamole, or in some cases, wondering, “Why is the rum gone?”
Ok, Im confused, which is not hard to do! I thought Saturday was your Rest day? Is it Friday? Because you said “tomorrow”?
I also thought that the days might be different in FL. Up here in the north tomorrow is Friday, but you know, it might me Saturday down there. Can you help a guy out here? LOL
You made me laugh so much! No, it’s Friday tomorrow in the Sunshine State. The confusion came in because I didn’t get my first week’s posts typed up when I started training, and I don’t want to post the current ones until the rest are up. Otherwise they won’t be in order (more confusion). So these are last week’s updates, but I’m keeping up with the current ones so trying to catch up 2 at a time from last week until I’m current. It’s like hard work!