Week 1: Getting started

Heading out for my long run

Kilometres this week: 29 kms
Other training - 1 hour yoga
Funds raised so far: $250

I'm rather arbitrarily referring to this as my first week of training for San Francisco. It isn't really - in the sense that I've known since January that I wanted to run the Nike Women's Marathon as a TNT participant and have been training regularly towards that goal.  But, for reporting purposes, I have to start counting somewhere.  So, let's call this Week 1.

It wasn't a big week in terms of mileage because I've begun tapering for a marathon I plan to run next month, and my husband was in town to celebrate our wedding anniversary. My total of just 29 kms was a big decrease from 70 kms I ran the week before. However, today's long run was not without its challenges.  Last weekend, when I ran 36kms, it was in cool and rainy 10 degree conditions. Today, I managed only half that distance when temperatures soared to 28 degrees (plus humidity). Neither my body nor my psyche were ready for such a sudden change in weather conditions. When I started to feel dizzy from the heat and dehydration, discretion seemed the better part of valour, and I turned towards home.  I'll try to squeeze in an extra 10km run tomorrow night to make up for the shorter distance today.

Training plans

A quick post about my training plans.  In theory, it shouldn't be too difficult to prepare for San Francisco. I've been running very regularly the last two years, and have lost 20 pounds since I begain training for Chicago. This year, I've already run a 30km road race (the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton) and am trained up to run the Johnny Miles Marathon in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia next month. (Last week - the peak of my training - I ran more than 70kms, including a long run of 36kms.) In short, I'm fitter and faster than I've been in a long time.

But here's the problem. When I trained for Chicago, I had one major asset I won't have this time around - my husband, Luke, who ensured I was fed, watered, encouraged and supported through 5 long months of training.  Of course, he'll be encouraging and supporting me, but mostly from afar because we're living and working in separate cities at the moment - which means I'll be responsible for feeding and watering myself.  I'm not sure how I'm going to find time to do that properly on top of working full-time, training and fundraising - but I'll have to figure it out if I want to arrive in San Francisco in good shape.

Incidentally, I don't have a time goal for SF at this point - though being the (recovering) type A personality I am, I'll likely come up with one. For the Chicago Marathon, I trained harder than I ever had with the goal of running under 4:30. In the end,  I only managed a disappointing 4:47 as a result of running too fast in the first 5 kms and experiencing some severe knee pain during the second half of the race (likely the result of going out too fast).

My goal for Johnny Miles is the same 4:30 - which, based on my 30km time in March (3:07:45), should be possible - but much will depend on the day. For the next month, I plan to focus on resting and sleeping lots, eating well, and training a little more gently to let my body heal fully so that I'm as strong as I can be on race day. If I finally succeed in running 42.2 kms in less than 4:30, perhaps I'll feel confident about setting the same goal for SF - though that would be ambitious given that it's a much more challenging course. 

At any rate, first things first. Johnny Miles next month, and then a heart to heart with my TNT coaches (who are fabulous, BTW!). I'll keep you posted.

Here I go again

It's official. I've registered to run the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon as a member of Team in Training Flex - a national team made up of partipants from across the country. I'm excited and a little nervous.  On the one hand, this is my second TNT event and my sixth marathon (assuming I successfully run my fifth next month), so I'm confident I can handle both the training and the fundraising. On the other, there's a little voice in my head musing about the challenges of fundraising for a second event (when friends and family were so generous the last time), and training when my life is so busy and my body is a couple of years older.

Fortunately, I had the pleasure of watching and cheering for a few dozen TNT participants who ran the Bluenose Marathon and Half Marathon yesterday. The looks on their faces as they passed - the pride, determination and, a few cases, tears - strengthened my commitment to going on this journey again. Also of great help were the notes of encouragement and support I received from Kirsi and Jon's family this week. They will be in my thoughts daily in the weeks and months ahead.

I hope you'll check back here often to see how my training and fundraising are going, and share my blog with your family and friends too.