Monday, July 5, 2010

Back to the grind

Today was the first official day of real Marathon Training.

I took a week off from working out post Half-Marathon. Partially because I know it's smart to give yourself a rest. Partially because it was really, really hot. And also because once I started really looking into what program I wanted to do for Marathon Training, I realized my desired program had 18 weeks, and if I started this week, it would be exactly 18 weeks until the ING Marathon.

I have decided upon Hal Higdon's Marathon training, as his was what I did for the Half Marathon and found no problems with it (though, in all transparency, I did not do a single lick of cross or strength training... woops.) Where the questions came in though was what level to do. I did the Novice training for the Half and I found it to be a little lacking. Yes, I did fail to do the cross training, but I found it a bit redundant for me to do a 2 mile run some days. Or even 3. I know myself and know I need a good 45-60 minutes of cardio workout almost every day to burn the calories and achieve a fitness goal. And I know myself well enough to know that, if I go out for a 2 mile run that I will finish in under 17 minutes, I'm not getting home and doing another 40 minutes of workout in my apartment... so that day had no real workout, aside from the 2 miles. I also found the long runs on weekends to be completely realistic. It was intimidating, but mostly because of time, not because of execution.

So I decided to train to Intermediate Level 1. Since the DBF is a guru and master of all things sport, I threw out this idea to him and his response was:

"Babe, you're definitely not a novice runner. I know you haven't been doing it consistently for a long time, but you're naturally gifted and good at it." And we decided that there was no harm in starting at the Intermediate Level 1, especially since it's more on par with what I had been doing in the last weeks before the Half Marathon, and if it gets to hard, I can always go back down to Novice 1 or 2. I may end up not doing as much of the pace and speed work, but this way I get the mileage in that I'm aiming for, as well as the workout time totals I want to see at the end of the week.

And I promise to cross train. I also like this program better because it's only one day of cross training, as opposed to 2 or 3. And I like running. So I don't want to go do the Elliptical Machine for 45 minutes at the gym more than I have to. Speaking of, anyone know where I can get a cheapish pass to a pool in NYC? I'd love to swim once a week...

So today was Week 1, Day 1, which was a simple 3 miler. The DBF and I were out at his family's beach house in Breezy Point, NY for the weekend, and I woke up around 8:30 and decided I needed to get out and get my 3 miles in before it got too hot. It almost reached 100 degrees in the great NYC area today, but fortunately the temperature on the water is a good 10-15 degrees cooler. I walked a bit to warm up, then ran down the boardwalk and on to the beach, heading for the packed sand right on the water's edge. It was a great run, with a nice wind coming off the ocean and the sand was just firm enough to run on but great for my knees and the first day back. I forgot to pack my Nike+, but after the miscalculation realization of the half marathon, I decided perhaps it'll be better to run for time instead of distance. If I can run 13.1 miles under 10 minutes average, then I can only assume I can run 3 miles under 30 minutes. So I ran for 30 minutes, and then headed back to the house.

I started 100 Pushups Week 3 again, for something like the billionth time. But this week I'm committed to passing it! I did take a brief break on my second set of 12 pushups, I did 6, then took a 3 second pause on my knees, then finished with the second half of 6. Not too shabby, I think.

It was truly a beautiful weekend. I think I may never be happier than when we're out at Breezy. Today and yesterday was spent almost entirely on the beach itself, which the DBF and I rarely do, but the temperature is so much cooler up at the water! Plus, whenever you got overheated, you could run in the water and cool off, then sit under the umbrella... I found at times I had to move into the sun because it was too cold under the shade with the breeze! Oh summer.

Here's an interesting realization I had on the beach this weekend:

I have a hot body.

Talk about a new Positive Tape! I saw a woman walk by and I automatically thought "she has a great body" but then I started looking more closely and realized, "she looks a lot like me", and then I started to realize, "I have way more muscle definition than she does... and better curves!" It was a huge wake up call. I'm starting to see my body and myself as powerful, as a force to be reckoned with, and I'm appreciative and loving of the body that I see. Which I think I see clearly now.

And that is a beautiful thing.

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