Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Today and Yesterday

So I got an email from one of the coaches for the Fleet Feet marathon Training program when I got home from our family vacation.

Hi Everyone

Welcome to the Fleet Feet Fall 08 Marathon
Training Team. Next Tuesday we will have our inaugural meeting and run. The
16-week journey that we are about to start will require a lot of effort and
commitment. If it didn't, then everyone would be able to run a marathon!
Consistency and sticking to the plan are what will carry you through the program
and all the way to Folsom Dam on December 7th.

Over the course of
the program we will see how your bodies adapt to the stresses we are going to
place on them. Ideally, you will run 6 days a week but for some 5 maybe enough.
If you are currently running less than 5 days a week, this week would be a good
time to bump it up to 5 days. One of those 5 days should be a longer run, say 6
or 7 miles, and the others can be 4 or 5 miles. The weather is still warm so
staying hydrated is very important. Dehydration is cumulative so if you are
running 5 or 6 days per week you face the risk of starting a run still
dehydrated from the day before. That will not help you achieve your goals! I
suggest keeping the water bottle handy at all times.

We will go
into more details of the program itself when we meet on Tuesday. However, in
general, Tuesday will be our speed workout day, Sunday will be our long run day,
and Monday will be a rest day. The other days will be recovery runs or
cross-training days. On certain weekends during the program there will be
options, e.g., in week 10 you can go run the Wine Country half marathon (with
our Half Marathon Training Team) or stay here and do a 15 mile easy run. We will
talk about those options nearer the time.

For now, if you have any
questions in the next week, please email or call me. Paul Smith will be the
assistant coach for the program; you can also email him at ...

Alan



So I was like HOLY $hit! I'm not running nearly as much as I should. So I said, "sure I'll run with the girls 6 @6 group again", so much funner in a group. We left from 5 mile rec area and ran the backside of the creek for more shade since it was 98*F and 60% humidity. There were 7 of us and we took out time today so nobody got hurt of overheated. Usually we do 6 miles but we turned around at the 2.25 mile mark to make it 4.5 because it just wouldn't cool down. Most of our miles ran in the low 11's to upper 10 minute times I was OK with that.

I have found that it takes me a good 2-3 miles to really get my body out of that anaerobic state and into the aerobic state no matter how warm it is, where I feel good when I run and I'm able to run faster, easier and with more confidence. Those first few miles are really, "I just want to quit" miles. I hate that. Now that I know that it takes a while to really warm up I prepare accordingly. I ran two miles before my 10K so I wouldn't be starting out in the 11+ to12 minute range on my miles and those first two or three miles were still hard for me. I need to do strides, they let my body know what it feels like to really run, then my brain says "OH YEA! That's what those legs are supposed to do." Those things and I need to ice more. I stretch pretty well for a runner (notorious I think for finishing a run and heading to the car or the shower or for food instead of stretching).


Today. I took the boys to school, Hollywood is in 3rd Grade and has a very sweet teacher. Blondy is in 1st grade, his teacher is very sweet too. I lucked out, let me tell you. They have great friends, great teachers, a great school and they are both there at school with their friends, their teachers... ALL DAY. 6 hours to myself. Of course Hollywood (he's my dramatic kid) forgot his lunch just inside the door at home so I got a late start at my run. I got down to the park and took the trail all the way down to Valambrosia hoping to make it to 5 mile and back about a 6.5 mile out and back. Apparently they were working on the road and I couldn't get across to I did the 5.5 mile loop instead. I didn't time myself because it was already nearly 100*F and I thought I would be obsessed with running faster but on inspection of my watch I found that my 4-5 mile pace was about 9:47 not too bad. I headed around the "Damn Bridge" and ran into Tracey's sista, Sarah, with her boys. I hung out and stretched for a few minutes then went down to get in the water and "ice" my legs since I didn't have any ice at home. We have a "pool" the city made from the creek that runs through the middle of town. Its been cemented in, a damb built and we even have lifeguards posted during hte summer for swimmers. Sarah's son Jack came down to put his feet in and Luke (the baby) wanted to play in the water too. He kicked and plashed as I held him and had a grand old time. We all headed home and I felt really good about my run today. Tomorrow I start earlier to get home at a decent time. Hubby is home... the kids are gone ALL DAY... ;-)

No comments: