Marathon Training Week 1

So far I have completed 2 workouts of my marathon training.

The first workout was the speed workout which was completed on the treadmill. It consisted of 10 minutes warm up, 3 mins fast/3 min recovery x 4, 10 minute cool down. It didn't go so well. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I hate the treadmill. Maybe it's calibrated incorrectly. Maybe I was annoyed because I kept hitting the cord on my new headphones and pulling them out. I don't know, but I couldn't maintain the 8:20 pace I was hoping to maintain and instead was at about 8:25-8:35 pace. Which isn't bad, but it isn't what I needed to be doing. I think I'll find a track to continue these.

The second workout was my tempo run, which I completed on the road with my running group. It consisted of 2 miles easy, 3 miles tempo and 1 mile easy. My tempo was to be 30 to 45 seconds slower than my planned marathon pace of 9:35. That just doesn't sound right to me. Shouldn't tempo be faster? It's probably meant to be slower at first to train you to maintain a certain pace. I instead ran 2 miles at about 9:30-10:00/mile pace and then ran 3 miles in 25:15 or 8:25/mile pace. Then 1 mile in about 10:00. I didn't time the easy miles so those times are just a guess.

I felt great after the second workout! I felt strong. I felt like I'd really done a hard workout. I didn't get bored on the run. I left 3 people behind when I started the tempo run and then passed 2 guys. That doesn't happen to me on a regular basis. I did wonder what this will all feel like as the temperature warms up. Last night the temperature was in the 30s. Not as cold as it has been but not warm. I guess I'm really thinking too far ahead. I'm thinking about June-August temps when my race is in May. So I'll let that go for a while.

My next workout will be completed at the inaugural running of the Charleston Riverfront Race Festival Half Marathon on Saturday morning. My training plan calls for 10 miles at PMP +30 secs. That translate, for me, to 10:05 miles. I feel confident that that's doable. I have decided on one of two plans:

1. If I wake up feeling like crap: run 13 miles at 10:05 pace.
2. If I wake up feeling great: run 1 mile at 10:05, then alternate fast mile(9:30ish avg pace)/slow mile(10ish pace) for 10 miles, 2 miles at 10:05

Hopefully I feel pretty good. The race directors have promised a flat course so I'd like to do well.