Life & moving & marathon training- oh my!
I have been a neglectful blogger since we moved, and even in the weeks leading up to it! Life has gotten busier and is full of new and great things. Marcus's job transfer ended up being a quicker turnaround than we thought, so we moved on pretty short notice, and we're now pretty settled. We looooove our new city and are pumped to finally have a gym membership again! The weight room is extensive, and I've already tried out a new group fitness class that I love (& desperately need).
I entered the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon about a month ago and got in, so as of yesterday, I'm officially in marathon training! Eeeeek! This will be marathon number 3 for me, and I'm super excited! I'm tackling a 26 week training plan so that I can be sure to build a super solid base and to not have to ramp up my mileage quickly. I'm slightly apprehensive because that's a full 6 months of being in training, so I need to be very honest with myself about how I handle the mental components of training. I tend to get to start lines feeling pretty burnt out, but I think I'm going to enjoy this plan. Usually I write my own plans, but I'm using the Nike Run Club app coach feature to guide me along this time. It'll tell me what pace to run and adjusts as the plan goes on based on how I'm feeling about those paces. I'm thinking this will allow me to better pace and coach myself in the future.
I'm writing down my goals for this training cycle because not only do I have time goals in mind, but I also want to make sure I'm thinking of every facet of training, not just running pace. Only focusing on pace is one way I get crazy burn out.
Physical goals:
-Cross the finish line in under 4 hours (9:09 average pace per mile)
-Get to the start line healthy & injury-free
-Take at least 1 ice bath per month of training
-Do yoga &/or at least 10 minutes of intensive stretching a minimum of twice a week
-Be consistent with strength training/cross training throughout training cycle
-Solid nutrition & minimal food rewarding
Mental goals:
-Get to the start line feeling rested & ready, not over-trained
-Explore discomfort throughout training and learn better coping strategies
-Go from "I have to..." mindset to "I get to..." when it comes to training
-Try to appreciate the benefits of running and that I'm able to do it
Allow me to elaborate on a couple of these!
Physical goals are easy because you either accomplish them or not. They're pretty black & white, and I like that. I want to achieve a sub-4 for a few reasons, one being it's just impressive to say you've managed a sub-4 if you ask me. I can nail sub-2 half marathons, so I know I can physically get to sub-4 shape. In my first marathon, all I cared about was surviving, and survive I did. It was so tough and I had no idea what to expect, and I think my official time was something like 4:44. There was a good deal of walking in the second half of the race. In my second marathon, I found out I was pregnant the day after my 20 mile training run, which I ran on pace for a sub-4! I tapered haaaaaard for the next 3 weeks because I was seriously exhausted, but I still managed to run it in 4:09 at 7 weeks pregnant. I completed the first half in under 2 hours, but I started to lose momentum after 15 miles or so and really started to panic at mile 17. I texted my mom (who was running the half at the time) and told her I was scared, so the next 9 miles were rough mentally with a lot of walking! I felt pretty miserable by the finish and couldn't even enjoy the donuts that were waiting for me :) This is one of the reasons I want to focus on getting to the start line in a good mental state. I know that will go a long way to carrying me through the race.
When I say I want to "explore discomfort," that one is pretty personal. We live in a society of comfort. We eat comfort food, we sit on comfy furniture, we thrive in comfortable shoes, we exist (me) in comfortable clothes. I think we run from discomfort in every way possible, and that's in our nature. But running is often uncomfortable. The discomfort can be fleeting, but it can also make you feel pretty terrible while you're in it. If you aren't mentally equipped with how to deal with discomfort, it may sideline you completely or erode your confidence in your running. For that reason, I need to explore discomfort in multiple ways as training goes on to work on my resilience for discomfort. Enter: ice baths, tough tempo runs, and possibly even some intermittent fasting. I at least have to resist rewarding each run with some form of food treat! And resist I will. My recovery felt 10x better while I was on Whole30, so I plan to tailor my nutrition to something Whole30-esque.
I plan to recap training week by week, so I'll keep y'all updated on how I'm doing with these goals and if I come up with any more. Anyone else got training plans or goals in mind?!
