I am fresh off the first week of training for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, and I am feeling pumped!
One of my favorite things about marathon running is all the planning and research that goes into it. I decided several months ago that I was ready to start planning for a fall marathon, and I wanted to find one that would double as a fun vacation for my family and fit into our fall schedules. Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon was a perfect match. As the name would imply, the race takes place at a national park where the Battle of Chickamauga was fought during the Civil War. My father-in-law is a Civil War historian, so my husband grew up visiting battlegrounds. He is excited to pass those experiences on to our children. As for me, I may have the ocean in my veins, but I have been craving a little time in the mountains. We found a beautiful mountain chalet about 45 minutes from the starting line where I can cook my own carb-loaded meals before the race, and enjoy an expansive view of the valley below from a hot-tub or hammock after it's over. Another bonus: it's a Saturday marathon and it's a 3-day weekend, meaning I can spend all day Sunday recovering and we can drive home Monday without any expectation of me answering client emails.
The next stage of planning was deciding on a training plan. I'm a big fan of mother-runners Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell's books and podcasts, "Run Like a Mother". Their latest book, Train Like a Mother, includes training plans geared toward women with busy schedules. For each race distance, they have a "Finish It" plan and an "Own It" plan. I went with the "Own It" marathon plan -- go big or go home, right? To seal my decision, I tried out their 5K "Own It" plan this spring and it was a great fit for my goals and my lifestyle. The plans offer some variety from week to week, more speedwork than I've done before, and a weekly optional run. I usually ran the optional runs, but when life got hectic, it was helpful to know which workout I could skip without beating myself up.
Here is a summary of week one:
Monday: Donning some brand new bright orange Saucony Virratas, I set out for an easy 4-5 miles. Everything was laid out the night before, and all I had to do was gulp down some coffee & head down to the bike path, but Monday reared its ugly head & I had no motivation. I must have twiddled my thumbs in the car for ten minutes checking the weather, debating my musical selections, looking at Facebook posts, before I finally forced myself to get out of the car and start moving. I felt like a slug at first, but after a while I caught myself having fun. 4.69 miles at 9:19 pace (a little faster than my typical easy run this time of year, but within target range).
Tuesday: Tempo intervals. A 2-mile warm-up (rather than my usual 1-mile) really loosened me up, and I hit my target pace on the intervals, just barely. An extended cool-down brought me back to earth. Overall mileage & pace including W/U and C/D: 7.35 miles at 9:10 pace.
Wednesday: For cross-training I tried Shiva Rea's Creative Core & Upper Body DVD. It was yoga with sets of push-ups interspersed. I managed to get it almost finished before my son woke up and demanded breakfast. I think I only missed the final relaxation, which is always my favorite part of yoga practice.
Thursday: Life happened. My plan was to sleep in a little and do my speed workout on the treadmill in my garage. I woke up with stiff shoulders from the yoga DVD. The garage is not air-conditioned, and the humidity was oppressive. I tried moving the treadmill around to find a sliver of a breeze, all the while stewing because my husband doesn't want me to display the treadmill in our lovely air-conditioned living room in front of the lovely TV. I finally decided that I'd wait until evening and maybe it wouldn't be so humid. Never a good decision. I never end up running at night, and Thursday was par for the course.
Friday: Rather than running the optional easy run scheduled for Friday, I picked up Thursday's workout and I took it to the streets. My previous speed workouts have had prescribed distances and goal paces, but this one was based on time and perceived effort. I ran some fast 2-minute intervals with recovery jogs between, sweating buckets (because, oh yes, humidity has hovered between 80-95% all week long). Overall mileage & pace, including W/U, C/D, etc: 5.1 miles at 9:02 pace.
Saturday: Long run #1! Again, I made the mistake of sleeping a little too late, which caught up with me toward the end of this hot and humid 12-miler. I may not have carb-loaded well enough either. Or maybe I should have been taking my salt tablets sometime BEFORE mile 10. Poor planning makes for a tough run. Still I managed to make the last mile my fastest (8:59), with a whole lot of effort, a chance run through a sprinkler (which I made a point of hitting twice), and some awesomely potent musical selections. After a long shower, I spent 25-30 minutes stretching out my hips and legs with an "I-swear-it-was-made-for-me" yin yoga routine I found on YouTube. Workout summary: 12 miles at 9:44 pace.
Sunday: I thought about picking up the optional easy run that I skipped, but decided that my body could use a little relaxation. And I didn't feel guilty about it in the least. That's a step in the right direction for me. I'm a pro when it comes to beating myself up.
Summary: I like the plan. I really like it. I think the flexibility and focus on speed workouts are going to keep me motivated for the full 16 weeks. I'm also feeling good about basing my target paces on a brutally hot & humid 5k that I ran in June. I don't feel like that particular race was a good indicator of my best effort under perfect conditions, but it was my best effort under typical Florida summer conditions. When things start to cool down around here, I may run another 5k to assess my fitness level under those conditions, and then I can adjust my training paces accordingly.
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