October 2012 Marathon: XVII Castilla-La Mancha

This was from last year's race.

Yes, I did it again! I signed up for my 2nd marathon that will take place on October 28th in Ciudad Real, a province of Castilla-La Mancha.

I AM SO EXCITED!

Oh, and yes, I do have a more ambitious goal this time: 

to finish in 3 hours and 30 minutes.

 After running the Seville marathon, my plan was to take a break from training to recover and then set my sights on another marathon in the fall. I didn't want to rush back into training too quickly because I do not want to get injured again.

So I've been on my conditioning program for almost 3 months now. Then I start training July 1st. The conditioning program was a way for me to keep running without the pressure and strain of training. 

I did, however, want something a bit more structured than just running when I feel like it. Especially since I don't want these 3 months to be lost time.

I fully expect to be ready for training in July. Actually, I know I'm still in shape. Plus, my joints and muscles have had ample resting time.

This marathon only cost me 25€ (or $31), which is a ridiculous bargain! The route consists of two laps and that's probably the only thing I'm not that thrilled about. 

Laps tend to get boring because you have to look at the same scenery etc. Although I pretty much do laps in training so maybe it won't be so bad. Either way I'm ready for another race and can't wait to get started!

More updates to come such as my new training schedule and some tips and tricks I've learned about training through the brutal summer months.

June Goals

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There aren't any strict running goals for June. As I've mentioned previously, my training doesn't start until July 1st. June will pretty much just mark the winding down of my conditioning program and a renewed focus on training.

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Stay Motivated

For this month I hope to stay charged and ready for what lies ahead. The last week of June I feel like I should cut back on my running distance, although I haven't definitively decided yet. Any running program starts off slow and then gradually increases.

So when I start training I'll go from 3 months of pretty adequate intensity to suddenly starting from zero and then climbing back up. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that. Of course I don't want to lose fitness but I don't want to push myself too much either.

What I'll probably do is just incorporate an extra day of weight training into my routine to maintain the intensity. Then juggle things as needed once training starts to increase in mileage.

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Rest Better

Another thing I've been thinking about for June is to switch one of my long runs from the weekend to the week. Once Saturday hits I'm so exhausted from running and working that the thought of waking up early yet again doesn't appeal to me.

Instead of missing a day of running, or being inadequately rested for the following week, I think running on Friday will be perfect. All my days will stay the same except I will do a low-intensity run on Monday (switched from Friday) and my Saturday long run on Friday.

That way I will have one day of the week where I can sleep or simply not have to think about running or work!

What are your goals for the month ahead?

"Tómalo Con Calma"

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 Exactly, so why does every training day have to be the hardest training day? Well, it doesn't, and most importantly, it shouldn't because your body won't be able to fully recuperate.

 

I've written a few articles on this topic (such as Beginner Runners Part 2 -- Start off Slow, and, I am not invincible) and I keep coming back to it because:

1. It is so important and
2. I forget every now and then

The days that I take it slow are just as important, perhaps even more important, than the days I have to kick my own butt. 

In theory, about 70% of the miles (or kilometers) I run each week should be at a comfortable pace. 

This will help me to run faster on the days I need to and I will get more out of my training, according to my beloved Runners World magazine.

Currently, I only have 1 fast run per week, 2 slow runs, and 2 long runs at a steady pace, which I tend to run slower than my race pace. (Check out my conditioning program for more details.)

However, I have it in my mind that every time I run it has to hurt and I have to exert the maximum amount of effort possible. If I don't than I feel like I failed or that I didn't get the most out of my run.

It's crazy because I genuinely appreciate the days that I can take it a bit easier. In fact, I notice the difference in how my feet and legs feel when I do. 

They don't feel as tight, don't ache as much, and I have a lot more energy to do other things like spend time with my husband, go out, and go to work.

To help me slow down I've been running with one of the women I work with who runs at a much slower pace than I do. I run at her pace so we can chat while running and I don't even think about how "slow" I'm running. 

When I can't run with her I have to really focus on my speed. I pretty much know how long it should take me to run my current route when I'm running at a normal pace. So I concentrate on running slower than usual by looking at my watch and seeing how long it takes me.

I'm doing well, I think. It helps when I can read things that tell me that taking it slow will help, not hinder, my training.

So just some further reinforcement once training starts again this summer. My goals this time are to learn from past mistakes and not make them again!

How do you take it slow when your body needs a break?

New Weights Routine

This time around I'm trying to mix things up so I don't get bored. I was talking to my sister the other day and she told me about these two women on youtube.

Here's the first channel.

 Here's the second channel.

Once you get past the big boobs, short shorts, and porn like camera shots....these workouts BURN! 

I tried them on Tuesday of this week and the bottom half of my body is sore. Actually so are my shoulders and back so I will definitely stick with this routine for awhile. When I get bored I'll switch to something else. 

I'm also enjoying this butt routine and this arm routine. I've been doing them since I started my conditioning program in March. For now I will interchange them and then when my body needs something else I'll add it. 

I will probably change my weight routine again in July during my training.

Hill Training

I definitely don't have any of these closeby. 

Yea, this is more like it.

Today is the day I start my hill training. As I said in my last post about my conditioning program, one run a week I do a faster run. 

Currently I've been doing fartlek (4 minutes at a fast pace with 1 minute recovery is one set) but I'm getting bored. One of my running goals is to incorporate hills into my training. While I'm not training yet, I feel like now is a good time to get a taste of some hill training.

I went over to the handy Runner's World once again because it's so convenient! I took a look at 2 programs, (Program 1 and Program 2), but think I'm going to combine them to create a workout that fits with my goals, my time restraints, and the area where I live.

The terrain where I live is super flat. So I have to search out my hills. Tonight after work I'm going to jog to a park that has some man-made hills to start my training. I am going to start off with 15 minutes and then increase 6 or 7 minutes each week.

My workout is as follows:

1. Run up the hill for 60-90 seconds at a fast pace (5K pace) or until I get to the top
2. Jog down slowly
3. Then repeat until I clock 15 minutes

Pretty simple right? In the summer when I have more time to venture out further to find hills I will try some of the other hill training exercises. For now, I'm content.

Conditioning Program

Here it is finally, my current running schedule:

Initially I set out looking for something that would keep me in shape until I started training again. I, roughly, know when I want to run another race (in the fall...more on that later) so I just needed to coordinate it with training.

This program lasts about three months and has me running five days a week.

I like it because one of my goals this time around was to increase my running frequency. There's an option of cross-training one out of the five days and I use it as I need it. I don't want to do too much and injure myself before I even start training! So I'm very mindful of how my feet and legs feel.

Another reason why I like this program is because it's not focused on distance. It's focused on endurance, which is measured in minutes. I run for a set time period and don't concern myself with miles (or km where I am!) at this point.

Each week I increase my time by roughly six or seven minutes (an increase of about 10%). I do two, shorter, less intense runs during the week along with one day of fast running. The fast run can include tempo runs, fartlek, hill repeats etc. So far I've only done fartlek but I plan to start hill training this week. I also continue to weight train three times a week.

Right now I run: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday but once the school year ends I'll run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday because I prefer to have a rest day before the long runs on the weekend.

I've been on this program since March and I feel good. I plan to start training in July so I'll let you know if this kept me in shape. So far so good.