Run 500 miles in 2009

Run 500 miles in 2009: Apr. 19-25

“As one who has finished last, I can tell you that it isn’t that bad. It may be a little nerve-wracking to have a police car or ambulance trailing you, but the sensation of finishing and the emotions that come with crossing the finish line are just as powerful for the last finisher as for the first.” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, The Courage to Start

Week’s Summary: Week 4 of Marathon Training is a rest week, ewww!!! It feels so weird to know that my weekly mileage is cut from almost 20 miles to only 11, but now it’s a matter of how to keep my psyche from going ballistic. I’m sure I’ll be thanking myself for resting when it comes to next Monday’s 12-miler, but for now, it sure is tempting to tack on an extra 6-miler on Monday just to keep me from going crazy.
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Conclusion:

“I run because I want to. I run because through running I am discovering parts of myself that I didn’t know were there. I run because most days it feel so good to move my body with my own strength and will.” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, The Courage to Start

Week’s Summary: I’m very excited about the 10.5 mile run scheduled for Monday – uncharted distances are always so much fun!!!! The weather is looking good for it too; it should be a cool 55 degrees on the beach with slight winds. PERFECTO.
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Conclusion: Last week, I was actually doubting my abilities to actually be able to finish the marathon. This week, however, after Monday’s run, I was PUMPED! My confidence is building and I can actually see the finish line. Woohoo!

“But as I stand at the starting line, I know that somewhere out there is a finish line. And I know that if I only look at what I can do on that day, I will win no matter when, or how, or if, I finish.” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, The Courage to Start

Week’s Summary:
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Conclusion: Since coming back from injury in January, I’ve been doing the the run-walk-run method in 4 min run to 1 min walk ratio. I’m not sure what possessed me to just run non-stop on Thursday (then again, Thurs was full of impromptu incidents), but it just felt soo good. I hear that run-walk-run has no impact on a runner’s endurance, but I felt comforted anyway that I could still do 4+ miles non-stop, in good time too!

““Running is about now. Each step teaches us and transports us. Each footstrike carries us closer to who we really are.”” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, Running For Mortals

Week’s Summary: This week’s long run will feature another personally uncharted distance: 9 miles. Funny thing is that a few months ago, I canceled my half marathon plans in May because of the month I took off, but now, it seems entirely too possible! Next week is another time of rest, with a cut down on mileage.

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Conclusion: An otherwise great week, I was suffering from a severe burnout from a physical standpoint. I was dragging butt all week and every workout took extra effort to complete. After doing some reading, I realized that my lack of energy could have been from not eating enough calories. I increased my caloric intake and in a few days I was bouncing out of bed again! Nice… :)

“The miracle is that I locked away everything I had previously thought about myself and my abilities and showed up.” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, Running For Mortals, p.220

Week’s Summary: This week’s long run at 8 miles will mark the LONGEST run I have ever attempted in my little life! Whereas it’s a big deal to me now, what’s funny is that in my marathon plans, 8 miles will be the longest run I’ll be doing in my rest week. It will be an interesting day when I soon will say “I only have an 8-miler today.” Optimistically thinking, if 8 miles is doable, then who says 10 miles isn’t??? And stretching it even further, the marathon would only be 16 miles longer than the 8 miles. Slowly but surely, I’m getting there!

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Conclusion: Another successful week! My knee pain is almost nil, even with longer distances, which makes me thing the ST is really paying off. Need to work on core though: it was tiring to hold myself up at the 7-mile mark during the long run.

“The miracle is that you have everything you need to change your life at your disposal right now. You don’t need to be any smarter or thinner or more disciplined than you are at this very moment in order to accept the grace that an active life gives you.” – John “The Penguin” Bingham, Running For Mortals, p.220

Week’s Summary: After a week’s rest, I am feeling refreshed and ROARING to go! This week, the long run will be stretched to 7 miles, with 4 mile midweek run (or 3, depending on how I’m recovering from the long run) and the itty bitty 3 mile foundation run on Friday. A quick glance to this week’s weather shows warmer weather, which means careful attention to speed and hydration. Something to be psyched about: This will be the first time I’ve ever run in the spring – yeah!!!!

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^{For simplicity’s sake, Mar. 29-May 2 will be considered a month}

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Conclusion: 15 miles for the week – that means I’m one mile shy from my normal range of miles per week! It’s been a great week for running, almost effortless. I’m so READY for next week. BAM!

“Running is 90 percent mental, the rest is physical.”

Week’s Summary: I don’t feel like I need it, but I’m going to install a rest week here anyway, because the last thing I need is a forced rest due to injury. Cutting back about 25% of the load, I should be fresh, well-rested and continue feeling great next week.

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Conclusion: It took everything for me to hold back for this rest week, but I’m glad I did it! I’m so ready for my long runs again…

“Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.” – “ – Michael Johnson

Week’s Summary: I’m getting a bit antsy about the mileage because I’m not sure if I can get my mileage up to 16-20 by April 12th, which is my first week of marathon training. I’m dying to start adding two miles a week and cut out my rest week, but at the same time I need to be overly cautious; just because the new muscle I’ve built from cross training no longer makes my knees hurt anymore doesn’t make me exempt from other injuries from piling on the mileage too fast! I’ll soon be acquiring the eCoaching services from Jeff Galloway’s website; hopefully I’ll get my answers from there.

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Conclusion: I once heard a running expert advice his professional athletes that in order to run faster, one must run slower. I coupled this idea with Jeff Galloway’s plan of the walk/run plan and within a month, my fitness shot through the roof! For example, on Feb. 23, I ran 3.21 miles in 34 minutes with an average heart rate of 155. Compare that to Mar. 20 run, where I also ran 3.21 miles in 34 minutes, but my average heart rate was only 142! (Run was conducted on the same route as well) It seems that when you put the ego aside (i.e. running slow, walk/run method), amazing things happen. I’m so excited for next week, and the marathon is quickly becoming a reality. Woohoo!

“Once you’re beat mentally, you might was well not even go to the starting line.” – Todd Williams

Week’s Summary: Nothing special, just building up mileage and cross-training in between days. Concentrating on running sloooooooooow.

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Conclusion: Great week, I made my running goals! Knees never felt better, thanks to cross training? Ave heart rate is also going down drastically as I am quickly recovering my fitness. I was surprised that even though I was tired and didn’t feel like running on Friday, I was able to punch through hills with much more stamina without raising my heart rate too high. I guess what that running expert said about how “you gotta run slow to to run fast” is becoming a reality for me.

“You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.” – Gatorade

Week’s Summary: Boy, is it March already??? This week is no different from last week, just building up the mileage, one mile a week. Last Friday’s group run was so fun, I’m thinking about doing it again.

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Conclusion: I planned on Friday’s run with a friend of mine, but it turned out that she couldn’t run for more then about 10 seconds or so soooooooo… Instead we completed a 7 mile walk. My OCD-ness was not happy about it, but it’s not like I was upset about it enough to run it when I got home so anywhoo… It took a weekend, but I’m over it now. Other than that, the week was great! So great in fact that I had to hold myself back from running more than I planned.