Week 1 training report

So, this is what Marathon training looks like!
I've finished most of my runs for the week (still have a trail run tomorrow and then a light run on Sunday) and I'm beginning to understand the kind of effort it will take for me to achieve my goal of Boston.

On Monday I took the day off from running and rode the stationary bike for 80 minutes.

Tuesday came my tempo run with Ken and we pushed it pretty hard (for me anyway) and finished doing the 10K at a sub 5 minute pace. At one point during the run I brought my heart rate down considerably and then raced up the final Kilometre. This was by far the hardest part of the run but once I was finished I felt amazing. There were times where I actually thought I was going to throw up but thankfully this didn't happen. I got some great tips from Ken about breathing which I will use on my subsequent runs.

Wednesdays are turning out to be one of my favorite running days as I got to run a nice easy 8.5K run with Theresa and Jane. This was a good time to catch up on some good conversations and also get a good run in at the same time. It was nice not going too fast for this one.
After the run I rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes and this helped get rid of the lactic acid that had accumulated from the run.

Thursday was my first attempt at hill training in months and Nancy and I did 5 sets of hills. By the end of this I was gassed. I can see how this will help when my marathon comes around. I tried to keep a consistent pace from hill 1 to 5 and when I checked my pace it was below a 5 minute Kilometre which was what I was hoping for. In the afternoon I did some core training and a little bit of weights. I haven't lifted weights in months and it felt a little strange at first. I don't want to put on any weight because I feel lighter on my feet at my current weight (155 pounds) and I know it has helped increase my speed.

Today Nancy and I ran 21K at a slow pace (5:45K) and I was feeling sore by the end. This is the longest I've run since my marathon in December but it felt good to get this done. What made the run fun was finishing at the Pickering Running Room. It feels so much like "home" to me when I go there. While there I was asked to do a nutrition talk for one of the learn to run clinics. I've done plenty of these and love doing them.

Although week 1 was a challenge, I'm looking forward to doing even better in the upcoming weeks and months ahead.