January was a great month of training for me. As I enter February, I am feeling more confident with my training and for my marathon.
My primary goals for December and January were building base and mileage. I built some strong mileage and maintained staying healthy and injury free (knock on wood). I’m building up mileage for the Phoenix marathon at the end of the month.
Total miles: 265 miles:
Range of Paces: 6:09-10:15-untimed
Shortest run: 1.23 mile warm up
Longest run: 21.17 mile long run
Races:
December 31st: Beat the Ball 5k (19:50) This seems like forever ago!
January 1st: Hair of the Dog 5k (19:59)
January 10th: Icicle 10 miler (1:07.35 6:40 pace)
Favorite race: It was definitely the Icicle 10 miler. I felt so strong and I feel like I could have finished a half marathon at that pace. It was a challenging course and it was motivating to see my hard work paying off. In fact the Icicle ten miler was my favorite race since May. It gave me a lot of motivation for where my fitness level is.
Favorite training run: My 21 miler last week. It was my first test of long run speed and I finished feeling satisfied. I ran the first half easy and the second ranging from a 7:30-7:45 pace.
Overall thoughts:
From a whole picture this month could not have gone any better. Each month brings small challenges but I had no major issues. I increased mileage and felt strong throughout the month. It’s nice to start my 2015 injury free and strong.
Injury wise: To answer questions about my metatarsal, I haven’t felt pain or any issue since beginning to ramp up mileage again. My recovery process last fall was a lot slower then I would have liked but it allowed me to be healthy now. I haven’t been having aches and pains with my foot at all (knock on wood).
Next month goals:
February will be different for training. I will spend the first two weeks training and the second two weeks tapering for the Phoenix Marathon (Reasons I chose Phoenix). I’m becoming more excited to race and to be strong.
To be honest, last fall I did not have the same excitement for the Wineglass marathon. For the Phoenix marathon, I’m excited to race. I don’t have a time goal but I do want to finish my marathon injury free and strong. Judging from my training, I stand a chance of running a similar time to my marathon PR (3:17).
I’ve only run one marathon and I already realized its a tricky race to train for and run. Anything can happen during the race but as long as I finish injury free, I’ll be happy.
Questions for you:
How as your first month of 2015?
What is the next race on your schedule?