Base 1 Training Starts
Now Playing: Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
Topic: Marathon
In my marathon training, I moved up to Base 1 training today. This was the first week since I started training for the marathon that my "long day" decreased distance rather than increasing. I only had to do 5 miles, rather than last week's 10, which mentally was great! It was an interval workout, though, and for the first time on a distance day I added in "running." I only ran 1 minute out of every five, but those minutes were a breeze and I didn't miss any of them. If I hadn't done all the prep over the last seven weeks, I wouldn't have been able to say that.

People following Jeff Galloway's virtual training program--the free program offered to marathon participants from the USMC Marathon site--started training this past Monday, so I feel like I'm doing pretty well to be where I am right now. This is where things are going to start getting difficult, and I'm glad it's happening now rather than in June. My chances of staying motivated to stick it out are definitely better this way.

I spent quite a bit of time researching shoes before I went to buy a new pair last Monday, and I am a little discouraged because even though the Ariels felt like the exact right thing on paper, they kill me when I move. In the store, and just walking around the house, they feel like a dream. Tons of cushion and room and just absolutely lovely. But I hardly have to walk out the front door before the pain starts. I don't know if they are the right shoe and my feet hurt because they are having to build up strength in places they are weak in order to correct my gait, or if they are the wrong shoe and I should go back to my Addictions, which aren't perfect, but are familiar. I walked only a tenth of a mile in them this morning before going back home and putting on the old broken down Addictions. I hadn't wanted to risk running in old shoes and so had been putting off running until I could get the new ones. But this morning it seemed every bit as likely that I would injure myself running in the new Ariels, and very unlikely that I would even be able to finish the workout. The old shoes did okay for me, and I didn't experience any real pain.

Even though this workout felt pretty easy on my body, it was the first workout that was mentally difficult. I had to do some real talking to myself in the first half hour. It was definitely full daylight by the time I got out of the house this morning--a no-no now that the heat and humidity finally seem to be upon us--and I think I felt embarrassed to be out attempting to run intervals. I'm sure the neighbors already think I'm nuts when I go out walking for hours at a time on Sunday mornings, doing figure-eights that take me past the house twice each circuit. But to add in running, which for me is still little more than a shuffle, and only for a minute at a time, so that anyone who cared to watch would be able to see me start and stop again, just seemed to be the thing that showed exactly how crazy and out of shape I am. I called myself a moron at one point for even thinking I could attempt a marathon, which was finally what caught my attention and clued me in to my negative self-talk. I very patiently explained to myself AGAIN that it is not about how I look, what other people think, or comparing myself to anyone else. My marathon effort is totally personal. It's about me trying to learn to love to run. It's about me getting regular exercise. It's about me losing weight that needs to come off for serious health reasons. It's about me finding discipline. It's about me removing another obstacle between me and Ironman. It's about me carrying through on a commitment to myself. It's about me competing with myself and my history, and no one else.

This helped, and, by minute 55, I was feeling really good. My stride length had increased and so had my effort during the run minutes, most of which fell on uphill sections. Maybe I just need to expect that the good vibes and the good body feelings take twice as long to come when I'm running than when I'm on the bike. Thirty minutes on the nose for biking, 50 - 60 minutes for running. Although, maybe when I get to a point when I'm doing more running than walking, that might change, too.

I definitely miss having a coach and a team to workout with. In Seattle, I swam with a master's swim team on Sunday mornings year-round, and in the summer, I added in tri training with the same coach and many of my fellow swimmers on Saturday mornings. I learned a ton between my first triathlon season and my second as a result of working out with them. I also really miss biking on the Burke Gilman on Wednesday nights with the women I met at Danskin Triathlon Camp. That was glorious! The trail was always busy and the ride was more about distance than speed, but it was so great to be out at my favorite time of day with a supportive, and varied! group of women. It was a social release for me as much as it was anything. I think that for a few weeks longer, anyway, the running is going to be a solo effort. I might join in a run organized by the tri store where I bought my shoes once I feel like I'm able to run more consistently. I've been assured that speed doesn't matter because everyone runs at different speeds, and that it's really about being able to pass friendly faces as you do the circuit. We'll see.

Also, the more fit I get, the more I miss being on the bike. The Stellar is sitting on my indoor trainer in my home office with her handlebars facing out the window and her siren song is increasing in urgency and volume! I haven't had her on pavement since I finished the 2002 Danskin Triathlon. I had to buy new tires the day before, so they've only got about 17 miles on them. I've been too afraid of the crazy drivers here and the total lack of shoulders on the roads to get out. But now that I work in Hillsborough, which alternates between woods and hilly farmland-much like Ceresco in Michigan-I wish every day that I could be out on the bike. Hillsborough has a lot of cyclists and runners, and I am always a little envious when I pass one in my car. I suppose I could get the bike out and ride circuits around the neighborhood, just to get the feel for the bike again. I'm sure the neighbors would LOVE that!