Another marathon with Team Diabetes coming up - my 11th. Apprehension - my last few marathons have been dismal - not enough training, too many things taking priority. I want this marathon to be different.
Son-in-law Jerry to the rescue! Sunday night we sat down with about 10 different marathon training programs in front of us and looked at the pros and cons of each one. Jerry is great. He helped me decide what training style I wanted e.g. run 3 days a week, run 5 days a week, run every day. I chose every day. I think I am going to need the consistency of getting out the door daily to stick with a program. Next we chose our 3 main focuses, the long run, speed work and tempo. All the other days would be built around them. So it is going to be Wednesdays Speed work, Fridays Tempo and Sundays long run. Next we filled in the rest of the week with easy runs. We looked up times to see what would be reasonable times for speed work and the tempo run. Based on my Sunday's performance of 1:09:13 for a 10k we decided for 6:35 minutes for 1 k for speed and 7 minutes (1/2 marathon pace) for 1 k for tempo.
A real issue that is effecting my running is the excess weight I am carrying. This is something that we both agreed I would have to address. Jerry says apples and carrots. Also suggested me getting my bike out of the shed and that I ride to work each day. My weight is 161.5 lb.
The next part is getting me out the door. The reality is that I am NOT a morning person, BUT if I don't run first thing in the morning the chances of getting a run in diminish as the day goes by. Also, as part of my training Jerry has added 7 minutes of fast, low resistance cycling on the stationery bike followed by 3 minutes of exercise X 3. Working backwards from when I have to be at work we figured if my alarm went off at 6:45 am and I was out the door at 7:00 am I could fit it all in. Last words of advise from Jerry - lay your clothes out the night before. He sleeps in his socks so thought I would try it.
Day 1 Monday April 18, 2011 Easy Day 15 minutes easy run Freezing outside
I slept in my socks and when the alarm went off walked straight to my clothes. I had piled them inside a heated blanket so they were toasty warm. Couldn't find a working watch, no problem, out the door to do my regular 15 minute route. Stiff - everything seized up. Must be the after effects of 10 k race day before. Tried for some form in my running, a shuffle was the best that I was coming up with. Started out too fast. In no time was down to walking. What's happening? I'm out of breath and have only gone a few blocks. On I went to turn around. The hill - again, had to stop to walk. I feel old and creaky. Ran the last few blocks home. 23 minutes! for my usual 15 minute run. Good thing this was an easy day!
Now to change to shorts and top for cycling. Find yoga mat for exercises. Got organized and began cycling. 7 minutes. 3 minutes doing planks.7 minutes, 3 minutes doing push ups and sit ups.7 minutes, 3 minutes doing stablizing exercises.
Still cold so decide to spend some time in the sauna. 30 minutes of sauna and I am not going to make it to work on time. Make arrangements to arrive late. Shower and off to work. Gained a pound overnight, now 162.5. Must have been all of Becky's birthday cake.
Day 2 Tuesday April 19, 2011 Easy 15 minutes Freezing outside
Slept in socks but didn't heat my clothes. Won't make that mistake tomorrow. In an effort for time efficiency tried wearing short sleeve top under long sleeve, shorts under long windbreaker pants. Wore my Newtons to practice form running. Wore a watch as well!. Concentrated on form. Have been trying to learn the Chi Running technique. About a block out, my hands were frozen. Had forgotten to grab gloves. Now I know why runners will be running in singlets but still be wearing gloves! 15 minutes seemed to take forever. I kept watching my watch to see if it was time to turn around to come home. By the time I was getting near home, I was starting to feel a bit like a runner again.
Transition to cycling was smooth. Grab a coffee, a glass of water, slip off long sleeve top and outer pants and good to go! I did my 7 x 3 and other exercises as well. Added one more push up - now 6. Finished at 8:00 am exactly. Enough time for a shower and off to work.
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