Marathon Training Week 1 -- RunThere Blog

I’ve decided to keep a running blog but we’ll see if this works to repost from run tracking blog at RunThere.com to my main blog here. I guess not only am I experimenting with my body’s resilience but also with this technology.

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Treadmill Run: Sat 8/29

This hurt. I realized that I had only completed 4.5 miles of my required 6 miles for the day. waiting 6 hours was not a good idea. I hurt hurt hurt later. It took a good 3 hours after this run for the legs to stop barking… but I got it done.

2 miles  18:15 min.

9:07 min/mile / 6.58 mph avg

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See what I’ve logged so far: Damien Fuentes’s Fitness Blog — RunThere

Now, is the end of my first formal week of training.

I had started my running this month with warm up runs around August 5th. After a weekend of relaxation in Seattle, I came back to a renewed focus for both work and exercise.  I then let two weeks pass by as I convinced myself I was training. In fact, what I had been doing was mentally preparing myself for the grueling punishment and pain that I will be inflicting on my body over the next 18 weeks.

I miss the running I once did when I was younger.  I was 12.  I was 14.  I was 18.  I was 28.  I could run swiftly.  I could run 5-6 miles without any thought or pre-conditioning; and without any hesitation.  I was a lean 135-140 lbs.  I was potent. I was cavalier with my expectations.

I have been slapped rudely by my 178 lbs.  My knees and calves are not responding as vibrantly as they once had.

But, like iron on stone, I will be pounding out a new me. I am looking forward to returning my reflection of my frame on the morning puddles to something that was once lithe and nimble.  It will probably be a smudged and obscured reflection but at least it will be moving towards a healthier me.

Looking forward to watching and cataloging the changes… Today was the end of the first week of training and it feels good to have one week under my feet.  This starts the transition from stagnation to acceleration. Hal Higdon’s Marathon Training Guide aka the Chicago Marathon Training method, is my guide for this effort. I nicely laid out schedule with tips on how best to understand what this should yield.

I had started this effort in February.  I was moving along pretty well until mid-April when I pulled a muscle in my lower-right back.  Follow that with a sore ankle (unknown why) just prior to my Yosemite Backpacking trip (see my earlier blog posts).  I decided to give my entire body the month of July off from exercise.

This is my renewed effort to train for a marathon. Originally, I had planned for a June 2009 marathon. Now, I’m targeting December 13, 2009, Honolulu Marathon.

[Via http://damienfuentes.wordpress.com]