Week #1 update - 122 days to go

To those who posted comments on the last entry, thanks for the interesting dialogue on the subject of lunch with co-workers. Balancing the social aspect of work with running and diet is a challenge. Leah, Running Rabbit and others all weighed in. Lots of opinions on the “lunch crew”. Balance is key. I think I will make a rule to go out to lunch 1x per week with the crew.

Also had a lot of good feedback on strides. Never even heard of them before the Pfitz book.

By the way, I can't believe how many power & hoo-ah bars I have been eating. I never ate these this often before. What is up?

I'm definitely out of the beginner marathon category, with the way that I am acting. I always felt like I was doing something new the last few years, but not now, I feel like I can plan my diet, sleep and know how my body will respond. Well, that is for now. When mileage creeps up to 50+, we'll see what I say then.

Quick update on this morning’s training…

6:00 AM CDT – 9 miles – General aerobic run – Sleep was good – hydration good -- Humid conditions. Temp was manageable at about 70.

All and all, the run was pretty standard. No problem. Knocked out the miles as planned.

Time: 1:09:25 – DISTANCE WAS ESTIMATED AT 9 MILES

Question for the Pfitzinger training plan followers: How fast should we run our “general aerobic run”? The Pfitz book talks out of both sides of the mouth saying in paraphrase: “if you run fast, you should run at x pace – or if you run slow…” SO tell me, should I run faster or slower? I ran today at right around 7:43 per mile for 9 miles.

Given my 10-mile race pace of 7:10 from last weekend and my marathon goal of 7:15 pace, the 7:43 seemed like a general aerobic training pace. My heart rate avg was 158 or approx 83% of max HR. Sound good or too fast?

Training progress check: Feeling light years ahead of my prior marathon training efforts. Knowing I’ve done 4 runs at 9+ already in the past 3 weeks – one of which was a strong race performance – I feel really good. Doing 7 and 9 milers on Tues and Thursday’s has been do-able for me. I’m on the right program for now. I feel like I will crush my PR at this pace.

Tonight, we’re going on a long weekend with the in-laws to Raystown Lake, PA. A family reunion of sorts. It’s where my wife used to go with her family as a kid on vacations. There will be lots of boating and eating. Having to explain to family members that I need to get up early to beat the heat for a 12-miler this weekend will be fun. I think they think their daughter married an obsessive goal-junky (hint: none of them run).

I have no idea with the running terrain will bring in the local area there, so it will be a bit of an adventure.

Weekend plan:

Fri – Rest, read, boat, and eat and sun and sit and talk
Sat – 4 mi recovery – target pace of 9:30
Sun – 12 mi long – target pace of 8:20-8:40 per mile
TOTAL FOR WEEK #1: 32 miles

I don’t get back until Monday evening, so good luck everyone this weekend on your long runs. Stay strong and go long.