I’m halfway through my lower mileage of resting and recovering period. What does that mean?
I’ve scrapped a lot of easy miles and am just doing important miles. IE: I’m running less easy and even less junk miles. I won’t lie that mentally I wonder if I’m ready for a marathon…but then I realized “derp the marathon is in October and it’s April”, nothing I do really matters right now…except staying injury free. The marathon is in 23 weeks and I plan to start beginning to train at 20 weeks out.
A question I get rather frequently is if I struggle with trusting myself, trusting my training and believing in myself. I have always been “labeled” as a very care free runner. I am very care free and I’m not afraid to take multiple rest days. That has all come from injuries and realizing I would rather take a day off versus 2 months.
That being said I do struggle. I do often question myself. The days I take a rest day, I wonder if I really need one. I think part of running is truly believing in yourself. Another piece is still realizing that each race and run is not going to make or break you.
I say this as I’m running the NJ half marathon today (or ran since it started at 6:45). I know I’m not ready to outdo my PR from earlier in the month. I do know that I still did PR at Atlantic City. If I ran a 1:30 today, my PR still stands…this race does not make or break me. Bombing this race (or any other race) does not take away from my PR’s or when I begin training for my full marathon.
Training this week:
| Monday: | OFF (fly home) | |
| Tuesday: | 13 miles easy untimed | P90X ab ripper and arm workout |
| Wednesday: | OFF | |
| Thursday: | 12 miles tempo | Nike Core crunch |
| Friday: | OFF | Nike Core crunch |
| Saturday: | Shakeout Easy run with Laura and Heather | |
| Sunday: | NJ Half Marathon |
As you can see, something I have been doing is a bit more strength work. I have made it a goal to be relatively conistent with more strength and core work. I think it shows a little bit because I’ve been running as strong as last year on less miles. Despite not making it a regular habit to post about, I do strive to do 15 minute core sessions (whether it’s P90X or Nike Training Club) 3-4 times a week.
So yeah that is all I have for training updates this week.
Questions for you:
How early out do you begin training for a marathon (or any race)?
Do you struggle with trusting yourself?