Saturday, June 19, 2010

Goose's first week of training

Well, I finished my first week of training for the 10 mile run.

Monday: 3 mile run, ab crunches and pushups
Tuesday: Shred dvd
Wednesday: 4 mile run, ab crunches and pushups
Thursday: 3 mile run, ab crunches and pushups
Friday: Shred dvd
Saturday: 6 mile run
Sunday: I am taking off!

I did today's 6 mile run at 8am this morning hoping to beat the heat and humidity, but no such luck down here in the south. And unfortunately the route I chose to run had no shade, so I may have to rethink that for next Saturday's long run.

The six miles was hard. I haven't run six in awhile and I couldn't do it. After 4 miles I had to alternate a couple minutes of walking here and there with the running in order to finish the last 2 miles. And all I could think about those last two miles was water. I have learned from my marathon friend, K, that I need a fuel belt for my longer runs. Small bottles of water fit into a belt that you strap to your waist. We'll see if I can work that in to the tight budget on the next payday.

It took me an hour to do the six miles. It was boring. I need a new headset for my ipod so I haven't been bringing it, but I think it is going to be a necessity for the long run Saturdays. I dread having to do 7 miles next Saturday already.

My marathon friend, K, wrote me up a 6 week training plan that I am going to follow exactly. So next week, I have to run a 4, 2, 4, 7. And I like to do the shred a couple times on the off days to keep up the strength training.

I am not sure I have the mental stamina to be a long distance runner in the long run. I'm really okay with a 3-5 mile run and being able to incorporate other things like swimming, biking or shred. So this 10 miler might be my distance One-Hit Wonder and I'll stick to 10K's or less after this, and maybe do a couple more sprint triathlons.

H has two more sprint tri's she wants us to sign up for. I am contemplating. My body feels beat up after 8 months of constant work. I am thin, fit, strong, toned, but sometimes I wonder if all this effort is worth it! Why does it take so much more work to stay looking good when you get older? Such a bummer.

I did finally drag my stubborn butt to the doctor a couple days ago, when after 2 1/2 weeks of being sick it still felt like I was swallowing glass. No strep, just a long and annoying virus. She did give me amoxicillian, but recommended I try Mucenix D first for a couple days to see if it loosens up the yuck and dries me up. That seems to be working well and so I have not taken the antibiotic. I also bought a women's multi-vitamin which I think I have needed for awhile and will probably help my energy level a lot. Trying to drink tons of water and stay hydrated and work out early in this heat and humidity.

Eating has been fine. I try not to think about it much. Some days are bad, but I think most days are good so it evens out. Running really keeps the weight off and you can still eat a good amount and splurge. I was down another pound today after this week of running 17 miles, and I am not even trying to lose now.

Well, that is all for now...I will let you know next week how my second week and the 7 mile run goes.

Goose Out

1 comment:

  1. Even here - way up north - you have to get your morning run in before 8 AM to avoid the heat and humidity in the summer. I know it's a lot hotter and more humid in Georgia and maybe there is truely no beating the heat and humidity but 8 AM is definately not gonna cut it.

    Good for you for hanging in there - you'll be glad you did. I still talk about my half-marathon as if I ran it last week (gotta get all the mileage out of it I can - pun intended!)

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