It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage - birthday marathon training journal

[GollyGadget]

You look like you had the most fun possible! What a great race.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Your pictures are amazing! You looks so happy.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Congrats!

 

[avondale]

Congratulations! Great job! And fun photos!

 

[nancipants]

Thank you, everyone, for the nice comments! I had an awesome time at the 10k and definitely have the bug. I’m already anxious about registration for the Princess Half because I want it badly next year!

 

[nancipants]

Week ending March 4

Post Princess, I wanted to make sure I kept my three times a week running schedule even though I’m not training for a race. I did 30 minutes each day. M&W I did my regular intervals. Friday I tried running for longer intervals at a slower pace. I was able to run 5 minutes before I needed to walk, and I was also able to keep a good walking pace in between. I want to try incorporating more of these runs to hopefully increase my running interval times and improve my overall endurance.

I’m also trying to walk on the treadmill on my off days. I want to increase my walking pace to as close to the balloon ladies as possible, so I don’t ever have to worry about falling behind even if I need to walk tor longer periods of time.

I did some short core/stretching videos on YouTube. It’s getting close to pool season here, which means I’ll be able to jump in the pool after runs and get another workout on my off days.

 

[nancipants]

Week ending March 11

Not much to report. Still running three times per week. I have been alternating outdoor runs with the treadmill and experimenting with different paces and intervals.

On non-running days, I've been doing 10-minute youtube videos to incorporate stretching and strength workouts, as well as walking on the treadmill at 3.5-3.7 speed.



Writing Update: Finished my outline. I'm still trying to get back into a writing routine. Writing at lunch gives me free time at night, so hopefully I can keep that up.

Next up: Starting draft zero. (Where I write the bulk of the plot/character stuff but leave out a lot of description/setting because I'm bad at that part and save it for revisions.)

 

[nancipants]

Week ending March 18:

Sunday, March 12: Took advantage of a weekend at my mom’s to run in the morning. Did 30 minutes around her neighborhood with no walk breaks! Avg pace 13’36”, higher than it should have been, so I really need to work on slowing down when I do easy runs outside.

Tuesday, March 14: Easy treadmill run with some walking breaks. 45 minutes at 16’51” pace.

Wednesday, March 15: Tempo treadmill run. Ran 2 miles at tempo speed (4.5 or 13’15”) with a walk break in between.

Friday, March 17: 45 minute 60/30 interval run, mostly easy. 3.26 miles, 13’48” avg pace.

On my off days, I did strength training/stretching videos and walked on the treadmill.


Writing update: Finished Chapter 1.

I am going to mix around my schedule this week, where I write for an hour in the morning after my son goes to school. I’ll do workouts and treadmill runs at night after he goes to sleep, and maybe skip around to 1 long run on Friday mornings. I’m always so burned out after bedtime that it’s hard for me to find mental energy to write. But physical activity will hopefully help me de-stress and won’t require me to think. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[nancipants]

I received a royalty check today, so I bought myself expensive workout clothes.

 

[nancipants]

My first week of my new schedule went well. I'm still working on building up my aerobic endurance by running slower for more sustained periods of time.

But I've been getting in my head about my pace. I'm slow and it's hard not to compare myself to people who can do a 5 mile easy run in 45 minutes when it would take me 1:15. I keep thinking, how am I going to train for a half-marathon when I only have an hour per day to train (except for long runs) and I am slooooow? But I need to ignore that for now and focus on the gains I've made. I'm now able to "easily" run 30 minutes with no walking breaks. Since I race using intervals, that should translate to an overall higher pace (I hope).

Monday, March 20: Easy treadmill run. 40 minutes.

Wednesday, March 22: Treadmill run at 4-6 mph with some walking breaks. 41 minutes.

Friday, March 24: Outdoor run.
- 1 mile straight
- walk break
- 1 mile 60:30
- 1 mile+ 30:30

Sunday, March 26: Easy outdoor run. 31 minutes.

I also did workout videos on off days, went to Epcot on Saturday, and swam on Sunday.

In other news, I am officially signed up to run the Princess Half for the Scott Carter Foundation. I'm running with a (much faster) friend of mine, so at least I'll have company and encouragement to keep moving! (She doesn't care how fast we go. Plus, she's from Wisconsin so the Florida heat will be rough for her.)





Writing wise, I finished Chapters 2-3! It's nice to be entrenched in a story again.

At this writing pace (haha), I'm on track to finish this book by the end of June.

 

[Naomeri]

I trained for my first half with my weekday runs at 30-45 minutes, and a few 1 hour runs sprinkled in. My paces were usually around 14m/mile. You’ve got this!

 

[DopeyBadger]

keep thinking, how am I going to train for a half-marathon when I only have an hour per day to train (except for long runs) and I am slooooow?

Because time and effort matter more than distance. You and I can both do a 60 min easy run. I will cover more distance. But in a vacuum ignoring the cumulative effect of training and solely looking at this single workout, we will reap the same benefits. If you train for 6 hrs per week and I train for 6 hrs per week (and we use a similar distribution of efforts) then we will be similarly trained relative to our own fitness level for a set distance race. So despite being slower and doing less mileage in a similar training run, I believe that doesn’t prohibit you from being equally prepared. It comes down to how the body perceives aerobic endurance training and how time/effort are more relevant than the distances they create. If that makes sense. It’s like how when I cap training runs at 150 min whether you’re a 3hr marathoner or a 7hr marathoner and yet both can be prepared for the race. Even if the 7hr marathon runner may only do 11 miles max in their longest run. Physically they are prepared if they’re able to complete the total training plan.

 

[nancipants]

Because time and effort matter more than distance. You and I can both do a 60 min easy run. I will cover more distance. But in a vacuum ignoring the cumulative effect of training and solely looking at this single workout, we will reap the same benefits. If you train for 6 hrs per week and I train for 6 hrs per week (and we use a similar distribution of efforts) then we will be similarly trained relative to our own fitness level for a set distance race. So despite being slower and doing less mileage in a similar training run, I believe that doesn’t prohibit you from being equally prepared. It comes down to how the body perceives aerobic endurance training and how time/effort are more relevant than the distances they create. If that makes sense. It’s like how when I cap training runs at 150 min whether you’re a 3hr marathoner or a 7hr marathoner and yet both can be prepared for the race. Even if the 7hr marathon runner may only do 11 miles max in their longest run. Physically they are prepared if they’re able to complete the total training plan.

Thank you. This makes so much sense! I need to keep reminding my brain of this.

 

[nancipants]

We interrupt this programming to show off my new gear from Crowned Athletics. I was worried the shorts wouldn’t fit, but I love them so much!!!

 

[GollyGadget]

Those are beauties!

 

[LSUlakes]

I received a royalty check today, so I bought myself expensive workout clothes.

I got a job bonus check the other day and most of it went to pay off my knee surgery but the little bit left over went towards new shoes, two pairs of running shorts, and a pair of socks, plus a free t-shirt with the store logo you get every time you buy a new pair of shoes lol. I went over budget oops. Its been a long time since I got shorts and was kinda shocked how expensive they are now.
Good luck as you continue to train towards your goals! YOU GOT THIS!!

 

[nancipants]

I exercised every day last week! Proud of myself!

Monday, March 27: Walked for 40 minutes on the treadmill.

Tuesday, March 28: Ran a 5k on the treadmill! My heartrate was in zone 2 for 75 percent of the workout, so I could have been slower, but I'm proud I was able to run that long without stopping.

Wednesday, March 29: 20 minutes on the treadmill. I did an interval workout from Nike Run Club and it was fun! Will definitely try more of those. Despite going fast for some of the intervals, my heart rate was in zone 2 for 80 percent of the workout. I also did a 10 minute stretching video.

Thursday: 10 minute core video.

Friday: Ran 45 minutes outside. I definitely need to get a better read on my paces outside. I did 30:30 intervals and my heartrate was too high to start, but I slowed down and it was in zone 2 for the remainder of the workout. I decided to shut off the distance and pace announcements on the NRC app because it makes me get in my head.

Saturday: Swam for 30 minutes. Walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes.

Sunday: Ran for 35 minutes. Did another guided run on the treadmill from NRC but wasn't as much of a fan. But I did stay in zone 2 for 92 percent of the workout! It was super slow but I didn't care because I felt great when I was done. Then I spent 1.5 hours in our pool.


For this week, I'm going to try to do 30 minute easy runs 2 days a week, an interval workout, and a "long" run (45 minutes to an hour) using run/walk.



I finished Chapter 4 this week! Slightly behind schedule, but my son has been sick, so I'm not getting my usual morning writing time. Hopefully I can make up some time this week or next.

 

[NYC_MW]

I exercised every day last week! Proud of myself!

If it's not weird coming from a complete stranger, proud of you too!

 

[nancipants]

Nothing much to report from last week. Stuck to my schedule as I could, still trying to build up my fitness.

Monday, April 3: 30 minute outdoor run since the kid went to bed early! Still working on keeping my pace slow outside (14'44").
Wednesday, April 5: Did one of the NRC guided runs (80s) on the treadmill. I really enjoy these! It's fun to go fast and then slow.
Thursday, April 6: 45 minute treadmill run, very easy pace. Had to switch days since I couldn't do a long run Friday morning, and it was already dark by the time I started running, so treadmill it was.
Sunday, April 9: 30 minute outdoor run. The weather cooled off a bit so it was nice to be outside in the morning. Again, pace was too high for an easy run (14'13") but I felt good despite what the heart rate monitor said.

I also did workout videos on Friday and Saturday. I really enjoy these, so I should try to incorporate them more. Too bad I don't have more time in the day.

I signed up for the Marathon Weekend 10k! I'm excited to do another 10k and am planning on having it be a practice race for the Princess Half.



In writing news, I'm currently procrastinating on Chapter 8. Writing in the mornings has been great for my productivity, but I really need to force myself to write Friday nights and on the weekends when my toddler is doing something else. I keep thinking "I should run instead of write" but then I remind myself no, this is your writing stage!

 

[nancipants]

I'm procrastinating, so I figured I'd update my journal.

I got a Garmin Forerunner 45s for an early Mother's Day present and I LOVE it. I've only had it for a week and it's already been so useful. I love being able to create workouts in the app as well as on the watch. Also, after posting in the Running Thread last week, I realized that my Fitbit had been measuring my heartbeat zones way too low. I set my Garmin to use the percent of HRR instead of the default heart rate zones, and Zone 2 is now a much higher range, and way more appropriate to how I feel while running. I was really getting in my head about why my heart rate zone was always so high even when I didn't feel like I was exerting myself. So I feel much better now!

Monday, April 10 - Nike Run Club guided run, Half and Half, on the treadmill. It was really fun. 6 minute warm up and cool down, and then 20 minutes of alternating easy/hard running for 60 seconds each. I really enjoy these interval runs and want to do more of them.

Thursday, April 13 - skipped a few days running due to other plans. Did a 30 minute outdoor run that night to test out my new watch!

Friday, April 14 - first long run with my watch! Went for an hour. It was really hot and this sparked my post in the Running Thread about my heart rate. Come to find out, my average for the run (126) was perfectly fine, even low! Which makes sense considering my effort.

No run on Sunday, walked 12k steps at Hollywood Studios instead.

Monday, April 17 - ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill while watching the elite groups start the Boston Marathon.

Tuesday, April 18 - decided to go for a run in the morning because the T+D was as close to 100 as it'll get for a long time and I didn't want to waste the weather. This was the first run using the updated heart rate zones and the recorded zones felt way more in line with my effort. I decided to do two hill sprints at the bottom of my neighborhood (yes, I live in Florida and have a hill in my neighborhood!), and wow, that was a lot! I was huffing and puffing in the second interval. The easy running after that did not feel as easy. But, I kept going and treated it as good practice for when I'm running while exhausted.

I'm really excited to keep using my new watch and try out all the features and use the data to help me improve.

I also signed up for a 5k at the Margaritaville resort at the end of September! It will be hot, but the resort is only 15 minutes from my house and I want to do another 5k that is not as crowded as Disney and is also timed. My goal is to finish under 40 minutes. I might try the Nike Run Club 5k training plan to see how I like it.



As for writing goes, I'm having another existential crisis about my future as a writer. I also had no idea how I wanted to plot out the next chapter, which is an action sequence. So I ultimately decided to move on and come back later to fix it. I'm more motivated to write now, so that was definitely the right course of action.