Marathon Training Week One: Let the Fun Begin

The humidity finally dropped on the East Coast mid-week, and I couldn’t have asked for it to come at a better time… the start of marathon training. Not that it hasn’t been hot, but it does seem manageable, or is it the new drive I am feeling now that I’m “in training.”

I am using the mileage guide from Hal Higdon’s Novice 2, so the plan for the week was 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles and then a long run of 8 miles. My schedule, and the weather, worked with my plan of running Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat. I hope it will continue that way through training, but I understand I won’t always be that lucky. As I noted in my post on Wednesday, I also have my yoga and I’m adding a planning to consistently add a fitness class to my mix.

My first long run was on Saturday. I had signed up for the NYRR long training run, even though I didn’t have a lot of miles I needed I do like the run, it’s a good challenge with the hills, there is something about running with a group of people – and it’s great to have the water stations. My plan called for 8 miles, which I was planning on doing – 8 miles ended by Tavern on the Green so I’d be on the West side and have an easy time crossing the river, but then I realized that I wanted to go to Union Square before I went back home, so it would be better to be back on the East side (the run starts on the East side of Central Park), so I ran an extra mile to get to 9, on the East side. The morning, while a little warm, was really lovely. I apparently wasn’t the only one who thought it was a little warm. On the route, there were misting stations set up, and at one an older, big, beautiful golden retriever was sitting and enjoying the cool water run off.

Even with a loss of time to fighting my iPhone and headphones to get my music playing after stopping to take a photo, I was pretty happy with my time. My whole body (mind included) has gone into training mode and I push myself a little more than when I’m not “in training.”

So not that I have a specific time goal in mind for Philly, but I have a rough thought of when I want to finish by, and see myself having a strong start. I’m excited to see how Week 2 will go.

Here’s a look at my Week 1 training runs. I take a photo a day in each run so please follow along my progress on Instagram @tamturse. You can also find me on Facebook at Tam Turse Yoga.