14 Weeks To Philly - Training Going Well

Today I finished my second week of training and it is now fourteen weeks to the Philadelphia Marathon. While on my run this morning I was thinking about my training plan, and decided I need to write about how it is going.... because it is going great!

Including this current plan, I have started three official training plans. The C25K program, The Broad Street Run training program and of course this Philadelphia Marathon training plan. Besides the one I am doing now for the marathon I have finished none.

Why could that be?

Well the C25K program was obviously my first, and was intended to get me started with running. It is a good program and I recommend it to everyone wanting to start. I did not stop the program for any reason related to the actual program, but reasons completely my fault.

I had bad running shoes which did not help my feet and legs, and I ran too fast which also did not help my feet and legs and breathing. I developed very bad shin splints and was discouraged pretty quickly. I stopped running altogether after almost three weeks of C25K.

Luckily I started running again a few months after that, because late last year I decided to run the Philadelphia Broad Street Run. I snagged a plan off of Runners World and started training for that. Life got in the way of that one and I abandoned the plan because my schedule was interfering with it. Luckily I was still able to run some and did finish the Broad Street Run, and ran it pretty well.

So I decided to develop my own training plan for the Philadelphia Marathon. I like the 16 week plans. Although I would like to run five or six days a week, my body can really only handle three days a week right now. I have also found that running by time rather than distance works better for me right now.

So I spent a couple nights tweaking a plan that looks good for me. All my runs, except for a few Yasso 800's, are scheduled by time. Even speed workouts. This is the first time creating a plan as well as the first time running a marathon, so I am nervous that I may not know what I am doing... but so far everything is going well. We will know for sure in fourteen more weeks.

I had a bad run the other day, because of a long day at work and the heat, but every other run has been great. I am feeling good. My legs feel great. I am learning what my body can do and how to avoid injury. I am looking forward to speed work, and the excitement of the marathon keeps building and building.

I am praying that it is God's will for me to run this marathon. I want to stay healthy and injury free and run a good run.

I am feeling good!

Early Morning Dedication

The first week of marathon training is coming to a close and I am pleased with what I have done so far.

The two mid week runs were both done in the morning due to my work schedule. In order to get the runs done with enough time to shower and get ready for work I needed to wake at 5 am to run. Both runs felt great and gave a great start to the day.

When I woke Thursday morning and stepped outside I noticed it was raining. Not hard, but my first thought was go back to sleep and run after work. I stood on the porch and watched the rain for a few minutes trying to talk myself into running and at the same time trying to talk myself into going back to sleep.

I finally convinced myself to run. The rain was refreshing, and while I was running in the rain I thought about the upcoming training. Will I be able to stick to the plan and run my best?

If this first week is any indicator, than I think I will be doing fine. Lets see how my long steady distance goes tomorrow.

Adjusting My Goal

In the beginning of the year, I stated that my goal for the marathon was to run sub 4:00. I knew at the time it was an ambitious goal, but I could work hard toward it.

Well, my fitness level is not where I thought it would be at this time, so running sub 4:00 is not very realistic for me at this stage. I am not disappointed though, because the fact that I am even planning a marathon is light years ahead of where I was two years ago.

So I am changing my goal for the Philadelphia Marathon. First of all, just finishing it will be an amazing thing for someone that just got off the couch a little over a year ago. My time goal for the marathon will be to finish 4:30 or better.

That too is a little ambitious compared to the few previous race times that I have, but it is realistic and I think that it can be done.

16 Weeks To Philly

Yesterday marked exactly sixteen weeks to the Philadelphia Marathon, so that means today marks the first day of my training schedule. Mondays are rest days so my first day of running will actually be tomorrow.

I am excited and nervous all at the same time. This is the first time I have really committed to a training plan. I had one for the Broad Street Run, but it was really a just a guideline and I ended up abandoning the plan for a number of reasons.

My plan consists of running for a length of time rather than distance. I will be recording the distances in my log, but the plan for each run is to have a good run for the set period of time. My first speed work is not until the fourth week of the plan, and then those build each week after that.

My long run peaks at 4 hours which comes four weeks before the marathon. I also have a couple of runs over 3 hours. The goal with these runs is just to get the time on my feet and make sure my mind and body are ready for what will be coming. After the 4 hour long run I will begin my taper.

It is definitely a beginners plan, but I am confident that it will do me good, and as long as I stick to the plan I will have a good run on November 22. I created the plan myself, so it is customized specifically for me. And I consulted different training plans on the Internet and in a couple of books, so I am confident that it is a quality plan for its purpose.

It is going to be a long and hard four months, but it is going to be very worth it come November.

Training By Time

I have only been running a short time, but ever since I started I have read many times over that it is best for beginners to run by time rather than distance. It is beneficial in different ways to run for thirty minutes rather than run for, say, three miles.

It has taken me an entire year to heed that advice.

A couple of weeks ago, when coming back from a slight foot injury, I decided to run by time and not worry about distance at all. I have not had a bad run since then. (knock on wood)

There are a couple of different things, both mental and physical, that make training by time better for me. First of all the body does not know what one mile or one kilometer is, but it does know what thirty minutes or an hour is. Time is more realistic to the body, and the body knows the difference between minutes rather than miles.

Another aspect for me is mental. Twenty minutes will always be twenty minutes, but one mile can be anywhere from eight minutes to eleven minutes for me. As long as I keep my pace the way it needs to be for that particular run, my mind is in it better because I know how much longer I am running for.

Another thing that I tend to do is run fast to get that first mile done with, or speed up to finish that last mile. This can mess up my workout and I will completely fail to reach my goal for that run. Now if I focus on time, then it does not matter how fast I run, that last five minutes will always be five minutes.

One of my problems however, is that I am a stat whore. I love compiling numbers and measuring the distance I run each week and month. No problem there, I can always plan my runs by time and log them by mileage.

Problem solved.

So the training plan I have written up for my first marathon starts next week. Every run is by time rather than distance, even the speed workouts. The only workouts where I am measuring my runs by distance are the Yasso 800's.

I will be doing five of them starting at 6x800 and working up to 10x800 a few weeks before the marathon. I am interested in seeing how well that will measure preparedness for the marathon.

I Will Never Learn

The good news is that I am now signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon and the Philadelphia Distance Run. The bad news is that it cost me more money than I originally was going to pay because I procrastinated, as I always do.

I was going to sign up as soon as registration was available, but why do it now when I can wait? Of course I waited too long and the prices went up July 1st.

What is really funny to me is that I could have signed up for them at the Broad Street Run expo and not only paid the early costs, but avoided the online fees.

I am literally paying for my procrastination this time... but now I can focus on the races and be well prepared!

Back To The Basics

When I get passionate about something, I tend to overdo it and either get frustrated and stop or quickly get bored and forget about it. Running is the first thing that I have truly become passionate about and continued to do for any extended period of time. Unfortunately overdoing it in running can lead to injury.

Thanks to Runners world Beginner forums and reading other running blogs, I was smart enough to give myself rest when my foot felt wrong. I really wanted to start running high mileage weeks and pushed myself little too fast, but luckily I stopped and rested before it got too bad.

Today was my first run in about two and a half weeks. I took it really easy and pretty much went back to basics. I ran for 5 minutes and walked for 1 minute. I repeated this for a total of 42 minutes and finished with about 3.5 miles. It felt really good to run again, and strangely it felt really good to get back to basics and run like a beginner again.

I am going to repeat the run/walk routine for a few runs and then continue conditioning myself until marathon training starts next month for the Philadelphia Marathon.

I am no longer focused on running 5 to 6 days a week. That will come in time and it may be a long time. I know that it is more important to get in 3 or 4 quality runs a week rather than run 6 mediocre runs.

Here is to falling in love with running... again and again!

R.I.C.E.

My foot has really been bothering me lately. It is the top part of the foot, on the outside. It is a little tight, but when I move my foot into certain positions the pain is a little more intense. I did some searching on Web MD and think that it might just be a strain.

I definitely do not want to injure my foot any more than it is. Right now it feels like it can get better pretty quick, as long as I take care of it. I do not want to make it worse and then have it require weeks and weeks to get better... or worse.

It still has not really dawned on me that it is the middle of June. The year is almost half over and in less than two months I will start my marathon training. I want to make sure that I am healthy going into that so that I can complete my first marathon in November.

So it will be plenty of RICE for me over the next week and see how my foot feels. I will not run on it until it feels 100%, but I may walk and cycle very lightly as it feels better, just so I can keep a certain level of fitness.

One of my problems is lack of exercise other than running and cycling. I need to do more core exercises and stretching throughout the week in order to keep my body stronger and run better.

Things to focus on.

Benjamin-Ross Memorial 5k Race Report

Local races are my new favorite. This 5k was held at a high school that is only two miles from my house. It was an easy decision to run there as warm up and run back as a cool down.

After a very easy run there I signed up and then stretched. I then did a couple of laps around the high school track with a few sprints in there to get my fast twitch muscles awake and ready to go. I have been itching to set a new PR and break 30 minutes for a long time, and I was now very confident that I would be doing it today.

Something in me sounded an alarm when I saw that the start line was at the bottom of a pretty steep hill. Short... but steep.

At the start I was keeping a steady pace with the rest of the group, and since we were going up hill it helped me to stay at a slow pace to start. But the top of the hill brought out some speed. For some reason I kicked it up a notch and was going pretty steady. It felt comfortable, and I refused to look at my watch, but toward the end of the first mile I was feeling winded. The mile split came up and I could not help but look at my watch.

8:14.

Not good.

That is about two minutes faster than I wanted to do the first mile. I think that triggered some mental block in my head, because I now felt even more winded and it was hard to get into a better pace. I slowed it down, but now it just did not feel right.

Despite slowing the pace I was still going pretty hard. The course was extremely hilly, which was a surprise to me since I have never run this course and could not find a map of it before the day of the race.

Throw in the heat, 70+ degrees, add the hills and the fact that I started way to fast, I was starting to bonk. It took just about everything I had to keep pushing hard. My HR went up pretty high and maxed out at points.

The end of the run was downhill, then a slight uphill onto the high school track. When I turned the corner and got onto the track I saw the clock. The first number on the clock was a 2! I could not believe it... Not only was I going to set a new PR, as planned, but I was going to break 30 minutes, as hoped.

I sprinted into the chute and finished in 28:30. The run killed me. I was totally spent and as I slowed down I felt like I needed to lay down. I got some water and forced myself to walk for a few minutes in order to cool down. I started feeling really good.

Even runs that take everything out of you, and feel horrible during the run, feel so great when they end... not because they are over, but because the body has reached a peak and pushed itself the way it was designed to be pushed.

Some of my first thoughts after finishing were "how will I ever be able to run a marathon when I almost committed suicide in a 5k?" but those thoughts only lasted a few minutes. My mind quickly shifted gears and I started thinking... "I almost killed myself running 5k, can I push it harder to get through a marathon?"

As for the race... the registration form said that it was an informal race in keeping with the Ross tradition. I expected that this would mean no frills and only the basic essentials. But I was wrong.

It was well organized and very well run. The t-shirts are pretty nice and the bibs actually had the name of the race printed on them. This is definitely a race that I will be doing again, and at $18 on race day is a great deal!

A Funny Thing On My Ride Today

So I went out for a bike ride today.

I was riding through a neighborhood that is not a bad neighborhood, but isn't exactly high class either. I passed by three kids that could not have been more than ten years old. They were trying to look tough by the way the strutted down the sidewalk.

As I went by them, the kid wearing a wife beater yelled out, "I'll jack your bike fool."

I was riding too fast to respond, and did not even care, but once what he said registered I could not help but laugh.

Anyway, the ride was spectacular. I just finished watching Paul Blart: Mallcop... the most disappointing film I have ever seen. It sucked so bad I could not return it to Netflix fast enough. I decided to take it back to the post office right away.

I rode a little over five and a half miles to the post office, passing two other post offices and a number of mailboxes along the way. Once there I dropped off my movie and took another route home. I finished up with a little over 14 miles, and my legs feel great.

I am running a 5k tomorrow morning and plan on setting a new PR. I do not want to sound cocky or anything, but I feel good about this run and think I should be smashing it if all goes well!