I’m just getting started on the training that will help me shave an hour off my marathon average. This is the first time I’ve ever trained to achieve a particular time target. As promised here’s what I did this week to move me forward toward the goal:

Sunday: 3 easy miles

Monday: Speed work. After a warm up, I joined The Fit School women for 25 minutes of running at my one-mile pace (8:50 at the moment) on the straight portions of the track while jogging slowly the corners. Then a cool down, drills, and stretching.

Tuesday: No running.

Wednesday: Pace work. After a warm up, I ran three miles at my 10K pace (9:30 per mile) with a two minute recovery between each mile. My first mile was 9:24; the second one was 9:31; the third mile was 9:36. I’ll do the same thing next Wednesday and try to hit 9:30 for each mile. Then I’ll take only a one-minute recovery time between each mile the following week.

Thursday: No running.

Friday (today): 5 easy miles on the Northshore Trail with Julie and my dog, Fuji (who had a run-in with a possum–ick!).

Saturday (tomorrow): Long run. I’ll do an 8-mile run as my distance builder (I took December off of training altogether, so I’m starting with low mileage).

I also try to do the “3-minute core” workout each day (though I’ll admit to slacking off this week). This consists of one minute of the plank, one minute of crunches, and one minute of pushups.

My first race goal: I’d like to do a 10K in under one hour. I’m shooting for doing that in the Smelt Run in La Conner on February 23. What’s your first race goal this year?

 

 

 

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