One week down, nine to go...
Well, week one wasn't bad at all. I do have to confess that I only did 3 out of 4 of the runs. It was so unbelievably hot with such a major heat index on Saturday that I didn't dare go run my second 2 mile run. I'm pretty sure I would have melted about half way in. As it was, the 5 mile run yesterday was a really warm one. When I got back to the cabin it was 93 degrees. I kicked off my shoes, took off my headphones and promptly jumped in the swimming pool! LOL What an awesome way to end a run. I wish I had one in town now too!
So, this week I am scheduled to run 2 miles, 5 miles, 2 miles and then 6 miles. The 6 mile run will be the farthest I've ever run. I really like this schedule though. The two longer runs this week are LSD (long slow distance) runs. They stress setting a pace where you can hold a conversation so you can concentrate on making the distance first and foremost. Next week it asks me to bump it up a bit with my shorter long run and do part of it at half marathon pace. It should be interesting. I did walk a little bit yesterday... lots of hills that I'm not used to since it's harder to find hilly training areas in town. But I still kept a pace averaging less than 12 minutes per mile. I'd like to keep that up. Right now my goal is to do the race in less than 2 1/2 hours. Totally doable! I hope....
I will say that I got some awesome, helpful advice from a friend. He told me to focus on exhaling on my left stride. It really helped in three ways. 1) I was focusing so hard on my breathing that I was able to get out of my own head. 2) This was the first run quite a while that I haven't struggled with a side ache part of the way in. 3) By focusing on something besides my distance or time the run actually moved along pretty well. It took a lot of concentration, but when I had it down I really got into a good rythm. I felt like I was really getting into a groove this run. :) I'll have to work on it a bit more each time I go out.
So, this week I am scheduled to run 2 miles, 5 miles, 2 miles and then 6 miles. The 6 mile run will be the farthest I've ever run. I really like this schedule though. The two longer runs this week are LSD (long slow distance) runs. They stress setting a pace where you can hold a conversation so you can concentrate on making the distance first and foremost. Next week it asks me to bump it up a bit with my shorter long run and do part of it at half marathon pace. It should be interesting. I did walk a little bit yesterday... lots of hills that I'm not used to since it's harder to find hilly training areas in town. But I still kept a pace averaging less than 12 minutes per mile. I'd like to keep that up. Right now my goal is to do the race in less than 2 1/2 hours. Totally doable! I hope....
I will say that I got some awesome, helpful advice from a friend. He told me to focus on exhaling on my left stride. It really helped in three ways. 1) I was focusing so hard on my breathing that I was able to get out of my own head. 2) This was the first run quite a while that I haven't struggled with a side ache part of the way in. 3) By focusing on something besides my distance or time the run actually moved along pretty well. It took a lot of concentration, but when I had it down I really got into a good rythm. I felt like I was really getting into a groove this run. :) I'll have to work on it a bit more each time I go out.
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