FCHM Training: Week 1

It's started.

Twelve weeks until Fox Cities Half Marathon, my goal race for the fall. I thought I'd do a short weekly recap in the weeks leading up to the race, just to give an idea of what's on the training plan, what I end up doing and how I'm feeling.

So here's what the training plan called for this week:

Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - speed work at the track, 4 miles total with 6x200, 1x400
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday -  4-5 miles
Sunday - rest

Here's what I ended up doing:

Monday - I ended up deciding to skip this run. After a morning appointment with my doctor, I learned I was going to be sent to physical therapy for my cranky knee, which was most likely an IT band issue. The knee was acting up throughout the day, so I thought I'd take an unplanned rest day, in hopes of resting it up before my first attempt at speed work the next day.

Tuesday - Speed work. Read about it here. It actually ended up being 4.85 miles.

Wednesday - Planned rest day.

Thursday - It was warm out. Like mid-90s and humid. Not wanting to die, I headed for the treadmill and pounded out my 3 miles. Not super fast, but felt pretty decent. Followed it up with a half-mile cool down walk.

Friday - I rested.


Saturday - First long run with the new group. And I admit, I'm not sure what to think. Seems like 75 percent of the runners plug into headphones. Normally I wouldn't think twice about plugging in to some tunes during a long run. But I guess my mentality over the last year has shifted when it comes to long runs with groups. There are people. You can talk. You don't need headphones. So I've gotten in the habit of NOT bringing my iPod. I may have to rethink that strategy. See I'm in this no-man's land when it comes to my pace. Not super fast, but not the group of run/walkers. So I find myself alone. And this weekend when I did find myself by other runners? They were plugged in. So it was a little lonely. And not to mention hard. It was hot. Humid. There was no shade on the trail I was running on. Ugh. Hard. The first three miles went ok, the final three? I threw in some more walk breaks than I normally would have, to deal with the heat, but also because the IT band was getting a bit cranky. But I finished. 6 miles in 1:11. Eh. I'll take it.

Sunday - Swam some laps at the YMCA. Finished about 900 yards, mostly easy freestyle. Threw in a few 25 yard freestyle sprints, a bit of backstroke and even an attempt at the breast stroke. That one had to be amusing to watch. After the pool I headed out on my bike for 16 semi-hilly miles. Probably not the smartest idea since the IT band was starting to get angry the final 5 miles. Oops. Guess who's got a date with the ice and foam roller?

So for the week I had 13.85 miles running, 900 yards swimming and 16 miles on the bike. Not bad for week one. Twelve weeks to go.