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October 15, 2005
Week No. 1
REASON NO. 26 FOR RUNNING A MARATHON
"THE CHALLENGE"
Most everyone, given a reasonable amount of training, can complete a 5k, 10k, or maybe even a 1/2 marathon. But 26.2 miles of continous running??? This will be the most difficult challenge that I have tried to acomplish in my entire life. It is a challenge that only those that truly are dedicated to the sport, and that have a certain amount of tenacity, stand any hope of completing the race in the same day that they started.
Well, this is the end of my first week of training for my marathon. This actually is an unofficial week, as my formal training plan does not begin until Monday, October 17th. However, I have been pushing the running mileage these last couple of weeks, to try to get my running base up to around 20-25 mile per week. This should prepare me for the twenty week training program I have decided upon.
This week consisted of running two mile repeats on the treadmill (6'44" and 6'40") on Sunday. Tuesday was the treadmill hill program, 24 minutes, plus 2.75 miles at 1%grade, plus working out on the weights (primarily upper body and ab's).
Thursday was 30 minutes on the spinning bike, and the 3.50 miles running at 6 mph (trying to keep my heartrate under 150). Right now, my fastest sustaininable speed at 150 mhr is going to be around a 10 minute mile. Hopefully, that will improve as my training progresses.
Friday was hill running in Paradise - from the new parking lot at Black Olive/Pearson, up the trailway to above Bille Road - turning around and coming back. Lots of people using the trail, even a few runners. It was a good run, I would have liked to have kept going. Ended up being about 5 miles.
Sunday was my long run - and it was somewhat humbling. I ran 8 miles, from Durham east to Butte Creek, and then headed north on the gravel levee road. Followed it to Oro-Quincy highway, then circled back down the bike path, to Jones Avenue, then back to Durham. The first 4 or 5 miles felt really good - but the last four or so I really started to notice my knees (as in they didn't really feel that good). There wasn't any real pain, it just felt like they wanted me to stop running now!!!! Since I was out in the provobial middle of nowhere, that was not happening, so I just kept going.
About mile 7 it started getting dark, and the rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I had an energy bar about an hour before the run, then a powerbar about 15 minutes before - took a Gel (I using Accel products now) at 25 minutes and at 45 minutes, and drank about 24 ounces of Gaterade Endurance/Water mix (25/75 mix).
Absolutly no stomach or other issues - my previous training with triathlons has really taught my stomach how to handle fueling and hydrating while I run. This will be important during the marathon, as I will likly burn on the order of 4,000 calories, and will need to intake about 2,000 calories to keep for running out of steam.
This was a "LSD" Run - which means Long, Slow Distance. It took me one hour and 16 minute to complete, which is just slightly under a ten minute mile. This is probably the pace that I will use for most of my long runs (and the actual race).
This puts me at 25 miles for the week, I will drop back a little next week (a quasi recovery week) and then start ramping up both my total mileage and the long run mileage.
I just bought a new book today - Hal Higdons "Marathon - The Ultimate Training Guide". I hope to get a chance over the next week or two to read it. I'm still just a little uncomfortable with the training plan I have set up, and I'm hoping that Hal will have some insight for me.
Posted by Dennis at October 15, 2005 01:30 PM