Week 4...hmmm what is there to say except that I'll admit it was a pretty easy week since I only ran two of my usually three running days...
***Sigh*** so my "excuse" this week to miss the Thursday practice was work, ack which shouldn't be yet since I just started this new job lol. In my defense, I'm not a huge fan of public speaking and I was scheduled to give a 1-hr lecture the next day so I felt the need to stay home and practice some more.
That said, the long run this week was made enjoyable by the presence of my awesome friend Sunny who was visiting from Seattle. Awesome because she ran with me! I did, in fairness, offer the option of sleeping in versus joining me on a long run at the insane hour of 6am on a Saturday while on her vacation... Some background info on Sunny is that we do have a history of 1/2 marathon runs together and training runs in Hawaii (totally forgot about those:D) so it wasn't left field for me to ask her to join a 7 - 8 mile run hehe. Mentally she was up for it, per her....who was I to deny myself a running partner?? :D
Pros of a running buddy --> Motivation to go/meet up for the long/run and a partner to share the pain! lol
Cons --> They know your running history and can/may 'out' you to your new running coach - what happened to me haha...
Basically our running group is divided into two levels - Level 1 - fast group :) per Coach John (beginning runners, marathon/race newbies) and Level 2 - the faster group (i.e. more experienced/regular runners, have done 1/2s or full marathons).
I had assigned myself to Level 1 because of the following self-justifying reasons:
- I haven't really run regularly (i.e. at least three times weekly) since the Chicago marathon in October 2012. I did, however, mentally start to get back into running March 2013 - as I publically committed to on the social media venue of Facebook.
- I've never done an official training - regulated - disciplined schedule for a marathon until with this Sierra Running Co. group so I really didn't know what level I was with my history of binge running.
The result of Sunny proclaiming my accomplishments at my completion of five marathons under my belt to my Coach is that I was totally called OUT and that I should be probably following the level 2 training schedule.
OMG - no!!!! Ok, after several deep breaths and some mild elevation in heart rate due to pure panic...this was actually a good turn of events as it lead to a conversation with my coach on how he defined the inclusion differences between Level 1's and Level 2's.
Level 1: May include those who have never run ever before (i.e. 1 mile distance is still huge). Marathon virgins :)
Level 2: Veteran marathoners. Regular runners
In our current 2013 2 Cities marathon training group, there are no true running beginners which is what most likely confused me at the start of training. Everyone can run at least 3 -4 miles already, time-independent. And the Level 2 are really faster (long distance pace ~ 8-10 min/mile) versus our Level 1 (pace 10-14 min/mile). And that Level 2 pace for me is pretty intimidating because my current & historical marathon pace is 11-12min/mile.
So what am I for this group? 1.5 hee hee --> my pace is Level 1 but I should start doing the training distances of Level 2 as a more experienced runner.
Therefore...
Goals to improve for next week:
- Trying out some foam roller exercises even though I heard it hurts???
- Including a little pre-stretching before runs now since just hitting the pavement right after parking my car is not feeling exciting (i.e. muscles feel tight the whole 4-5miles during short runs and long runs:( )
- Joining the Level 2s on short runs (Tues) and adding some distance on Saturday.
Question for the week --> Have you tried the foam roller and do you like it? Any tips on the best way/time to use it?
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Run stats:
| WEEK 4 | Mileage | Duration (hr:min:sec) | Pace (min/mile) | |
| Mon | 05-Aug | rest | n/a | n/a |
| Tues | 06-Aug | 5.50 | 1:11:31 | 13:00 |
| Wed | 07-Aug | rest | n/a | n/a |
| Thurs | 08-Aug | missed | n/a | n/a |
| Sat | 10-Aug | 6.89* | 1:48:19 | 15:43 |
| Total weekly mileage | 12.39 miles | * actually 7.2 miles - forgot to start my timer:p | ||
