Saturday, March 20, 2010

Taking the Plunge

Into marathon training! I'm an undisciplined runner by choice, but a return to road running as I recovered from injuries has led to a curiosity of what my body and mind might be capable of doing. As much as I love trail running, it's going to take a very gradual return to hills so not to re-stress my Achilles. With that, I've decided to tackle the roads and take on the Pocatello Marathon this fall. In between, I've picked out the Lewis and Clark half marathon and a few other shorter road races for some fun speed training.

Note the word fun next to speed training. I've never been a fan of it. But, this week I tried my training plan's first speed workout and it was indeed fun. One mile warm-up, followed by 6 quarter mile repeats with 2 minute walks in between, and a one mile cool down. Each quarter mile repeat was supposed to be between 2:00 and 2:15. The first one was a bit fast (1:50), but I hit 2:00 directly for the next five. It might have been easier to go to a track. All I've got right now are trail shoes, so instead I ran a flat trail that had areas of ice, snow and mud.

Today was supposed to be the first long run since Snowjoke, but I left work yesterday with a horrible sore throat, headache, and chills. I'm putting it off until tomorrow in hopes that I feel better. If not, I'll wait a week. It's asthma season and history has proven that any cold can easily turn into bronchitis or pneumonia. I'd like to avoid a long illness and more drugs. Bummer in timing because I'm sooo excited to get this training started!!!

5 comments:

Anne said...

Believe me when I say, "I feel your frustration" ...but, you've got the right attitude. May as well wait one week, take good care of yourself, and avoid getting really sick!

Sounds like a fun race season you've got planned...I definitely look forward to following on your journey.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like some great new goals. Since I started running with my dog I find myself rather wanting to be out there for the joy of it as for running and pace. Throwing in some goals/races is a good motivation to stay on the ball.

Good luck and fun with your training. This cold will pass!

Danni said...

Fun! I think I'm going to marathon train too though I'm planning to run the Salmon Marathon in ID and CIM if I'm still into running by December.

T.C. said...

Good news on the marathon! I'm looking forward to following your progress!

Iris said...

Thanks for all the good cheer!

Danni - when is the Salmon marathon? Sacramento in December would be a nice getaway for you! Miss ya, and running Herron Park in the spring.