MUCH better weather for today's run. We had sun, we had sprinkles, we had wind. Lather, rinse, repeat. Today's run was 35 minutes. I ran the first four laps at about a ten minute mile pace, which explains why I then couldn't breathe very well for the rest of the time. That, and the fact that I tried going without using my inhaler beforehand. I keep forgetting that I'm still getting over a sinus infection. In the fourth lap, it felt like a small animal was sitting on my ribcage. From now on, inhale before I go!
The rain yesterday gave me an excuse to go shopping. I headed out to the sales at Road Runner Sports to look for some socks, a new fuel belt, and a water resistant layer. Nothing much was on sale there that I could see, but I did get a belt and a jacket, plus an amphipod pouch so I can carry things like ID when I run. And maybe even my inhaler.
I made a trip to Whole Foods yesterday to track down some Ultima replenishment drink. I first had this back at the end of July at a race aid station. I thought it was just water, but at the first sip knew it was something else. It was light and lemony and not overly sugary (in fact, I later found out it is sugar free) like a lot of sports drinks. After a few sips of this, I felt as though I was just starting the race -- and this was a day where it was 85 degrees and about 90% humidity at 8:00 a.m. It's really damn expensive, but thankfully you don't need a lot. If sports drinks like gatorade or powerade are too much for you -- I like them after a race but not during -- check out Ultima.
I recently found out that there are two non-marathon runner's guides out there right now. I started on this round of training with The Non Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On With Your Training by Dawn Dais. It is from the viewpoint of a non-runner, someone who just went "hey, why not?" and then proceeded to try to find an answer to that question for the next four months. Her humor in telling her story is great. It doesn't end with a wonderful marathon race for her. It ends with a brutal, barely finished it marathon race. Much like I picture how mine will be.
The second book is The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by David Whitsett, et al. It is much more training oriented, but also focuses on the mental aspects of training. It is also a four month program. One of the authors was one of the class participants and, like me, she's quite a few pounds overweight and pretty much not a runner.
If I had started with the second book first, I wouldn't be doing this. I looked at the schedule, which is all in daily mileage goals, and was instantly put off by it. I couldn't explain why. By contrast, the Dais book schedule has daily minute goals for the first few weeks before switching to mileage. For some reason, my brain thinks that one is perfectly doable. I plan to keep following the Dais plan, but keep reading the Whitsett book to back everything up as it is more nuts and bolts, particularly on the mental aspect.
This also works better for me because I know I won't be doing a marathon at the end of four months. In my job, June and December are the busiest times of the year. I fully expect to end up doing very little training in the month of December, what with my job, the holidays, and weather (now watch, it will be the nicest December ever!). There also isn't a good marathon in my area in that time frame. My plan instead is to do a half marathon in January or February, and then do the marathon in March, April, or May. Right now, schedules for 2010 are a bit thin so I can't narrow it down any more than that.
Tomorrow is a rest day. Yay! Now I'll have all clean workout gear for Tuesday.
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
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