Monday, February 25, 2013

Running lessons: Carpe diem!

It was a full weekend of noodling - about the races I hope to run this year, our upcoming kitchen renovation, our travel plans for March and June and (last but not least) my novel. By Sunday night, my brain was exhausted from all the activity. I didn't make much progress on the novel, but I'm happy to report that kitchen and travel plans seem to be coming together, and I finally sat down and wrote up a marathon training schedule that I hope will prepare me to run the Fredericton Marathon on May 12th.

Marathon Training Schedule  2013
Week #
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
Weekly Total
1.  
Feb 18 - 24

6k easy



8k easy
14k
28k
2.  
Feb 25 - Mar 3

6k tempo

6k
(3 hills)

8k easy
16k
36k
3.  
Mar 4 - 10

6k tempo

6k
(4 hills)

8k easy
18k
38k
4.  
Mar 11 - 17

6k tempo

7k
(5 hills)

20k
8k
easy
41k
5.  
Mar 18 -24

8k tempo

7k
(6 hills)

23k
8k
easy
46k
6.  
Mar 25 - 31

8k tempo

8k
(7 hills)

16k
10k easy
42k
7.  
Apr 1 -7

8k tempo

8k
(8 hills)

26k
10k easy
52k
8.  
Apr 8 - 14

8k tempo

9k
(9 hills)

29k
10k easy
56k
9.
Apr 16 - 21

8k tempo

9k
(10 hills)

32k
10k easy
59k
10.
Apr 23 - 28

8k tempo

8k easy

20k
8k
easy
44k
11.
Apr 29 - May 5

8k tempo

8k easy

16k
8k
easy
40k
12.
May 6 - 12

6k easy

6k easy


42.2 RACE
54.2k
Total distance







500.2 k

I've been talking about running another marathon for awhile but couldn't seem to commit. Then on Friday I realized it was time to "piss or get off the pot", as we say in NS. With just over 11 weeks until race day, I had to make a plan or my 7th marathon wasn't going to happen this year.  

Having run regularly all winter, I'm starting with a good base so am optimistic I have time enough to prepare - maybe even to improve on my personal best time - so long as I stick to the schedule.  I've put a big emphasis on hill training because, as the saying goes, "hill training is speed training in disguise." In addition, it should help me get ready for the second big race I hope to run in May - the Cabot Trail Relay.  

At some level, I think I was trying to talk myself out of another marathon over the past few weeks. After all, with work, renovations, trip planning and other volunteer and family commitments, I've more than enough to keep me busy in the coming months.  But the truth is - whatever common sense tells me - in my heart of hearts I know I want to run another marathon this year. After all, who knows what next year will bring. Carpe diem and all that.    

So, now that it's official, it's time to get busy thinking about how I'm going to juggle all that training with the rest of my life. Although Husband is being as incredibly supportive as always, I'm determined not to leave all the chores to him. In particular, I'd like to get back to doing more cooking. I whipped up an awesome pasta (with fresh scallops, sweet peppers and arugula in a pesto cream sauce) on the weekend and it felt great spending time in the kitchen.  

For the running geeks out there, I only managed to squeeze in three runs over the past week (as shown in Week 1 of the Chart), but they all went well so I feel ready to begin training in earnest. Speaking of which, here's a pic from Saturday. It was a glorious day so I thoroughly enjoyed running an easy 8k along the river.  


Sunday, the weather much less inviting but my 14k LSR still felt great because I ran it with my friend David along one of our favourite routes. As usual, it was great fun chatting with him and the time flew by. Afterwards, I stopped for a short visit with his wife Julite and their little guy, Graham, before heading with half a loaf of cream cheese pound cake tucked under my arm. Delicious! Thanks again, Julite!

In closing, a quote to inspire:

When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.- Nancy Coey

3 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that you've settled on a run and have worked up your schedule, Janice! Sunday was a bitter cold day for running (the wind took our breath away when we turned to come home - running right into it) - good that you had company to make the time go fast.

    You sound like you had a very busy weekend with lots of mental exercise, too.

    Great quote!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Janet. I wish I could tackle Bluenose too but that really would be too much.

      I know what you mean about the wind being cold on Sunday. It as bitter as we headed for out the road towards Bachman's Beach but, fortunately, we had the wind at our back for the return trip.

      Yes, a busy weekend - but a good one. We got a lot of excellent researching and thinking done. Now, it's time to make some decisions. :-)

      Hope your week's going well. TTYS!

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  2. Great! A marathon! Looks like a good schedule, too...

    ReplyDelete