Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Return to Marathon Training

The past month of marathon training has been quite eventful to say the least! I had to take almost 3 weeks off of running due to a concussion and some neck pain. I was unable to run during week 15 and most of week 16 of training. By the end of week 16, I was feeling much better so I was able to sneak a run in a couple of days before I was officially cleared to return to marathon training. My first few runs back were a bit slow and sluggish, but I am back in action now and feeling better than ever. I did make the mistake of doing longer runs 3 days in a row this past weekend. By the time that I met some coworkers for a 5 mile run on Sunday, I was dragging behind everyone else for the entire slow 5 miles. Now I know why we have rest days scheduled into our training. I am going to do a better job of sticking to my training schedule from now on. I need to remember to keep rest days in there so that I can be at my best for the long runs.

The short runs during the week are easy to fit into my schedule and I can usually complete them pretty easily. I am scheduled for a 12 mile long run this weekend, but I think that I will probably end up doing 10 miles instead this week. After those 3 weeks off, I let my long run be 8 miles this past weekend so I do not want to jump up 4 miles in one week. I knew that I would need to be careful easing back into my training schedule, but I should be able to get my long runs back on track within another week or two. I am going to live in a bubble for the next 12 weeks and my goal is to make it to the Buffalo Marathon without getting sick or injured again! Lots of people have been telling me that everyone has road blocks or obstacles to overcome in their marathon training. I feel like I am finally back on track and am ready to continue my journey to 26.2. I even signed up for the Syracuse Half Marathon and the Bridge Run Half Marathon, which will both be great races to warm-up for the Buffalo Marathon. I am really excited that all of these races are getting closer and I cannot wait for the spring races to begin. Week 18 of training is going much better than I anticipated and I am feeling confident again about my training. Here's a look at the past couple of weeks of training:

Week 15
NONEXISTENT

Week 16
2/17/13 - 4 miles in 42:58 (10:45 min/mi pace)

Week 17
2/20/13 - 3 miles in 29:25 (9:49 min/mi pace)
2/22/13 - 6 miles in 59:16 (9:52 min/mi pace)
2/23/13 - 8 miles in 1:24:30 (10:34 min/mi pace)
2/24/13 - 5 miles in 54:48 (10:57 min/mi pace)

Week 18
2/26/13 - 3 miles in 27:42 (9:14 min/mi pace)
2/27/13 - 6 miles in 56:37 (9:26 min/mi pace)

203.45 miles complete in 31:04:30 and only 87 days until conquering 26.2 miles!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Minor Contusion

Week 15 of marathon training is now nonexistent thanks to a minor contusion and some strained neck muscles. You might be asking yourself right now how does one get a minor contusion during marathon training season? The answer is a snow tubing! Don't worry because my face broke my fall after I flew off of the tube and rolled over a few times. A quick visit to the ER last night resulted in no running for a minimum of a week and I'm not allowed to go snow tubing again any time soon. I am hoping to be cleared to run after a week and get back to training. I missed a couple of runs at the end of last week so I have not run since my 9 mile run last Wednesday. If I had chosen running over snow tubing Sunday morning, then I would probably be out running right now. I guess it's a good thing now that I was a little ahead in my training so a little time off from running won't hurt my training too much. I have a built up a pretty good base so far in my training and a few days of rest should allow my body to be in top shape for the rest of my training. I am hoping to be back in action for week 16 and be able to continue to get closer to that 26.2!

168.45 miles complete in 28:10:07 and only 109 days until conquering 26.2 miles!