I did it now, not only have I not posted a blog here in almost two years, I agreed to run a race for the first time since I was 18 - that's 18 years. Some people raise a child from birth to college in that amount of time!
Oddly enough, it hasn't been all that tough getting back into it. I enjoy running once I get going, the tough part for me some days is making myself get away from the desk and start. I also used to consider myself a distance runner because I ran cross country and the distance events in track, but technically my longest races were around a 5K, with the shorter trail runs around 2.1 and of course the 1600.
I'm training for the SoCal Ragnar relay in April and I chose my leg this morning, and NONE of my legs are shorter than a 5K lol. I think I'll be okay and I'm pretty excited, but I have no true indication how things will go because I've never run a race like this before. In reality it's going to be almost like running a 5K and two 10Ks, each one separated by maybe 5-6 hours. I've never run a half marathon, never run a marathon, and the last 12K I ran was - like I said, 18 years ago.
I'm going to include some of my training runs here so I have something to look back on - when I first decided I was in and signed up a month ago, I think I was running around 2 miles a workout, 2-4 days a week. I mostly ran on the treadmill at the gym and I was running around 12 min miles. I also do some lifting and core but not a ton... probably less than an hour total a week. I've since decided I like running outside better and I mapped a route/loop near my house that's about 2.25 miles. I've been timing my runs and plugging them into cool running's pace calc, and outside I run anywhere between 9:32 mile avg down to an 8:53 mile avg. I'm planning to map a longer route so I can just run one long one instead of having to do my 2.25 mile loop three times. Today's run was 9:23, yesterday I skipped, Thursday's was 9:20, Wednesday was 8:58, Tuesday was 8:53, Monday was 9:18. I haven't figured out why they are all so different, Tuesday's was my longest run, almost 7 miles. Monday was 4.5, all the rest was 2.25 except for Thurs, I ran a total of 5 but split into two workouts. I think I need to go find a training program for 10Ks or half marathons to see how they break up the mileage and add it in week by week.
Zesty.
6 years ago
Thanks for following, good luck on training for the relay! It is hard to get back into it, I took a break for about 6 years after running in high school and college, but it is a lot of fun after the initial period of getting back into shape =)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post about your marathon experience, I think it'll be awhile before I try one of THOSE, but I am definitely going to start racing regularly again. Nothing like the euphoria of adrenaline!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the race recap! That was probably my most emotional and fulfilling race because it was my first marathon, and my body and mind were stretched to the limit. I'm curious how it does when I do #2. Racing is indeed addictive, I just love the feeling at the finish line after a race! Good luck with races!
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