“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” ~ John Bingham
Today marked the start of training for my first full marathon! I kicked it off right with an hour of Bodypump. Tomorrow, I have a speed workout bright and early (so that I can try to beat the heat). My speed workouts always intimidate me. I see the aggressive times I’m supposed to clock, and I hyperventilate inside, thinking, “There’s no way I can do that.” And then, I get out on that track, take off, and push myself to the absolute limit. At the final turn around, I always feel like there’s nothing left in me, but I push harder just to shut myself up. I cross the finish line of the last lap, pause the timer, and wait just a little while before looking at my watch, to catch my breath and gather my wits. And then I see that I did it. I got the time I was supposed to! I don’t know how, but I did it. Then, after practically no time at all (darnit!), I see my rest interval is over, and I do it all over again, which is the craziest part! Once is enough, but three, six, or even ten repeats is just plain crazy! Ha! So tomorrow, I’ll see if I can clock my three 1,600s in under 8:19, after a two-mile warm-up, and finishing with a one-mile cool-down.
Tempo runs are my favorite. They are short, medium-fast runs that I usually add hills to just to make it fun and interesting. I like hill training because it makes the other runs feel easier, and it makes race day easier too! I especially like to throw the hills in during the last couple miles, when my body is starting to get tired, just to make myself push harder and hopefully make myself stronger.
I’m really going to have fun with my cross training days this time, too. I will be rotating between Bodypump and Bodyattack, and getting in some additional strength training out on the gym floor throughout the week as well. The goal of the cross training will be to increase my strength and bone density, and in turn, reduce my chance of injury.
The long runs in this 16-week training program are totally FREAKING. ME. OUT. My “shortest” long run is 13 miles, and it’s this Sunday. In my half training, 12 miles was my longest run…now, it’s my SHORTEST! The funny thing is, when I decided to run a half marathon, the long runs didn’t freak me out. I never once hesitated or thought, “Gee, I wonder if I can run 13.1 miles.” But with a full, I’m wondering if I’ll even make it through the training runs!
My goal finishing time is 4:19. From this day forward, I’m going to be working my a@# off to EARN that time! Ready or not, Nike Women’s Marathon, here I come…
Love it! Training for my first as well and boy o boy it is daunting! We are still only at 9 miles. I just blogged about how the words “3 weeks down, 19 to go” scares the bajeeebus out of me! November seems so far until you say its only 19 weeks!
Oh I agree with you about the countdown! Sixteen weeks to go is just too soon!
Best of luck to you in your training! Run happy. 
congrats on your first day of marathon training! no worries lady – i bet the long runs become your favorite! i’ll look through some of my posts tonight and send you some long run tips! miss ya!
Thanks, Angela! Miss you too, girlie! I look forward to any tips. Mainly, I’m worried I’ll get bored and that that’ll affect my pacing and then it’ll get to my head, where I’ll have to mentally force myself to stick with it, ha!
Debra: Just to say, you have a lot of work coming back, but Im sure you can do it well…keep on running my friend !
“You don´t have to go fast, You just have to go” !!!
Abrazo
Emilio FM
Thanks, Emilio! I like that quote.
As long as I finish, that’s good enough for me…for the FIRST marathon, that is!
WOW! That is awesome! You really inspire me Debra! I have a question about your speed work out. How far do you run and for how long? What is the set up for the speed work? When I do speed work I only do 20 minutes (2 miles) and I run in intervals. So if I am running for 20 minutes, the first 2 minutes are easy then I push my self harder and harder each minute from 3-6 then I go back down for a minute and do it all over again (about 4 times) untill the 20 minutes is over with no rest. The last minutes I push myself as hard as I can and then some. But I am looking for another way to do speed work so I was wondering how you do yours? Thanks!
I use a plan from the book Run Less, Run Faster. Each speed workout is different, but they range from running 400m to 2000m. They’re track repeats that, along with the warm-up and cool-down, usually add up to 5 – 6 mi total. I have a goal time for each distance, and either a timed rest interval or a 400m walk/jog between each repeat. Because each track workout is so different, every week, I am pushing my body in new ways, as I never get used to it. It also keeps it “fun” and interesting, HA! I highly recommend the book. I tested it out in my Bolder to Boulder 10k and it worked great, so I decided to stick with it for my marathon.
Yeah! Love posts about pushing the limits! As painful as they sometimes are, speed work makes me thankful for what my body can do. You never know until you push it. Good luck on your training! I know you’ll hit your goal time!!!
Thank you, Christie! xoxo