This week has been relatively quiet after all of the excitement of last week. The weather has turned bitterly cold, the kind that chills you right down to the bone. My electric blanket has been a welcome comfort each night.
A funny thing happened when I returned to my running schedule for the week. After completely shocking myself with the times I posted last Saturday, I realized I had absolutely no idea how I ran that fast; therefore, I had no idea how to continue training to keep my times down.
I had no training plan and no time goals for this race. In hindsight, my "training" had been rather unorganized, which is somewhat of a shock given my type-A approach to life. Although I tried to run 3 to 4 days a week, I did not always accomplish this. During the week, I mostly ran low mileage on a treadmill; sometimes running at a decent pace, sometimes struggling to finish two miles at an 8:45 pace. I usually managed to get in one long run on the weekends, although my times were usually a mystery, given my talent for unknowingly pushing the wrong buttons on my watch.
In fact, the only real consistency was incorporating strength training once a week. I also really started listening to my body, where in the past I would usually just ignore it. I thought that's what good runners did. But, maybe there was some benefit in adjusting my mileage and speed when my body was sore or not running at all when my body was exhausted and needed rest.
I tried to take these lessons and incorporate them into my running goals for the first part of the year. As I would like to start running and racing longer distances, I am looking to run a half-marathon in April. I would need to start training in mid-February and I could incorporate a 15K race in March. My worry, of course, is that my schedule will become hectic in March and I have not quite figured out how my running will fit into everything.
For the time being, I have registered for the Gridiron 4M Classic on Super Bowl Sunday. I am hoping to keep or improve on my times from last Saturday. Since I would not need to start training for the half-marathon for another month, I plan on researching training plans and continuing to increase my mileage during my long runs on the weekends.
I think each race provides a little insight into what works, and doesn't work, for us as runners. Just like in life, this insight never seems to completely prepare us for the next time we run, let alone race. It's just important to keep going.
A funny thing happened when I returned to my running schedule for the week. After completely shocking myself with the times I posted last Saturday, I realized I had absolutely no idea how I ran that fast; therefore, I had no idea how to continue training to keep my times down.
I had no training plan and no time goals for this race. In hindsight, my "training" had been rather unorganized, which is somewhat of a shock given my type-A approach to life. Although I tried to run 3 to 4 days a week, I did not always accomplish this. During the week, I mostly ran low mileage on a treadmill; sometimes running at a decent pace, sometimes struggling to finish two miles at an 8:45 pace. I usually managed to get in one long run on the weekends, although my times were usually a mystery, given my talent for unknowingly pushing the wrong buttons on my watch.
In fact, the only real consistency was incorporating strength training once a week. I also really started listening to my body, where in the past I would usually just ignore it. I thought that's what good runners did. But, maybe there was some benefit in adjusting my mileage and speed when my body was sore or not running at all when my body was exhausted and needed rest.
I tried to take these lessons and incorporate them into my running goals for the first part of the year. As I would like to start running and racing longer distances, I am looking to run a half-marathon in April. I would need to start training in mid-February and I could incorporate a 15K race in March. My worry, of course, is that my schedule will become hectic in March and I have not quite figured out how my running will fit into everything.
For the time being, I have registered for the Gridiron 4M Classic on Super Bowl Sunday. I am hoping to keep or improve on my times from last Saturday. Since I would not need to start training for the half-marathon for another month, I plan on researching training plans and continuing to increase my mileage during my long runs on the weekends.
I think each race provides a little insight into what works, and doesn't work, for us as runners. Just like in life, this insight never seems to completely prepare us for the next time we run, let alone race. It's just important to keep going.
It's cold here too! In fact school is closed tomorrow since temperatures are "dangerously low". I can assure you that when Dad and I were kids no one cared about us waiting out in the cold! :)
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