Wednesday, July 1, 2009

I Guess I Have Started My Marathon Training

Luckily, Week 1 of the marathon training plan that I have chosen (for the time being) is very much like my normal running base when I'm not training for anything. It will be a 19 mile week - four runs ranging from 3 to 8 miles. No problema.

I avoided the entire "pace run" thing for now and just ran my 5 miler yesterday as an easy run. A few comments: (a) I ran the 5.5 miles at a 10:36/mile pace - which very well could be my marathon pace (a 4:38 marathon?...perhaps that's a bit too optimistic to shave 20 minutes off my time) and (b) my Heart Rate started to climb again after mile 2.

I'm a bit concerned about this whole Heart Rate issue. I'm hoping that it will improve as my running becomes part of the routine again and I get more sleep. I'll give it another 3 or 4 weeks and see what happens. I will especially take it easy on this weekend's 8 mile long run - I'll try to slow down as much as possible to keep the HR down...even if it means having a really slow pace or walking. I still feel that the best way to build up aerobic fitness is to train in the 65%-75% HR range, but I'm finishing my runs in the mid to high 80%s...

1 comment:

Zia said...

Hi mike, I'm obviously no expert having only 1 26.2 under my belt but I would really encourage you to think about adding a 22 miler to your plan. As you know I did one and I never "hit the wall" in my race - actually I ran my race with a negative split and the second half had the biggest hills. I really credit that to the extra training miles.

Just something to consider. Good luck with your trng, I think this is a beautiful tribute to your grandmother.