Marathon Training 2015

I've been procrastinating from writing this post.  Maybe somewhere not so deep down I feel like if I actually put out there that I'm training that I'll have to actually admit I'm knee deep in this thing.  It has been 9 years since I trained for anything.  And I can't say I really trained for my marathon back then either.  I pulled my achilles tendon 5 months before the race, spent a month in an aircast, and was happy just to get there and finish.  I had hired a personal trainer to get me to Boston and I remember him saying to me that he could train me to get even faster.  I knew though that wasn't where I wanted to go, and I had been wanting and waiting to have kids for a few years already at that point.  I hung those racing and training shoes up, and now here I am, 9 years later, and ready to lace them back on (with some trepidation).

In the past nine years, I did run two marathons.  Goofy when my eldest was just over 18 months, and then this past year I ran Calgary.  But both of those races I jogged (can you jog a marathon?).  I found a pretty easy cruising pace, and I cruised (don't get me wrong, I cruised with pain).  But I got through those marathons running minimum runs per week (with Goofy I only ran the back to back long runs!!).  My third baby is now 2.5, and when my eldest brother suggested our family all run the Vancouver Marathon together, I felt the push to start taking my running more seriously again.

My eldest with my Goofy medals

I drafted up a plan.  It includes 4 runs per week.  One long run, a tempo run, a recovery run, and a hill or speed session.  It looked scary on paper, and it feels scarier trying to actually get it done.  In particular a mid week tempo run is proving really challenging.  It is "easy" to get in a 5K, hill, or speed workout done on the treadmill with my 2 and 5 year old around, but I can't do longer than that with them left to their own devices.  That means I need to find time to do a 10K tempo run at night.  Hmmm.  There are a few things I've learned about myself.  I don't do anything well past 7:30 at night.  Trying to do a tempo run at 8 pm has not been working.  This week I moved it to a Tuesday night which worked much better as I was able to get out at 6:30, but that puts my tempo and long run VERY close together.  Not wise when the kilometers start to increase.  Semantics.  I'll figure it out.  Like getting back onto a bike after years away.  I know how to run but figuring out all these little bits is challenging me.

I have no idea what my tempo pace is.

Or my long run pace.

Or what a steady run is.

I do know what an acheivable marathon time though is.  So I'm working from there and each week trying to figure out the other stuff.

I'm going into week 4, and each week feels a bit easier than the one previous.  My kids are adjusting too, especially after the Stride Run Streak, knowing I spend quite a bit of time lacing up my running shoes.  My son said to me the other night "When I grow up, I want to be a runner".

I'm glad that such a big part of who I was, is becoming a big part of who I am again, and that it is having a positive reflection on my kids.

13 weeks to Vancouver!