Week # 1

Finally, some numbers for you...

Monday, January 26: 7:00 PM - 20 min w/u, Track WO @ Reggie, 20 min c/d
WO w/ JD - 800m, 2.5mr, 800m, 3.5mr, Mile, 3.5mr, 800m, 2.5mr, 800m
2:37, 2:34, 5:10, 2:34, 2:29 (first workout in 2 months)
Tuesday, January 27: 7:00 PM - 3 Miles, 21 min (light stretching) 3 Miles, 23 min
Wednesday, January 28: 9:30 PM - XT (Elliptical), 50 min
Thursday, January 29: 7:00 PM - 21 min w/u (inside), Track WO @ Reggie, 20 min c/d (inside)
WO w/ JD and LK - 300m, 1.5mr, 800m, 2.5mr, 800m, 2.5mr, 400m, 1.5mr, 300m
52.8, 2:24, 2:23, 69.7, 51.2
Drill set (x 2): lunges, high knees, butt-kicks, side to side, karaoke, single leg squats
Friday, January 30: 1:00 PM - 8 Miles, 55 min
Saturday, January 31: 7:30 AM - 22 min w/u, 6 Mile Tempo on Marathon Course, 23 min c/d
w/u M6 to M3, 5:30p to M7 w/ MF and RC, wait 1:40, 6:00 pace to M9 w/CMC, c/d M9 to M6
5:38, 5:29, 5:22, 5:39 (22:10), 1:40 rest, 6:02, 6:01
Sunday, February 1: 0 Miles (Exhausted after long day at work. Watched the Super Bowl, did some light core and stretching and called it a day)

Week Total = 44 Miles, 5 Runs; XT = 50 min

So I'm calling this post "week # 1" because it's the first week of training that I actually felt was worthy of publishing. It is number 1 of X number of weeks until I reach my goal race. Since I don't know how long it will take to get to that level or what race I'll choose when I get there, I don't know if this is #1 of 10, or #1 of 50, or somewhere in between. That number isn't important right now. I'm just going to work as hard as I can to get to that level, do whatever Kevin tells me to do, and do everything I can to stay healthy in the process. I know I have a long way to go, but once things get rolling a little more in the next few weeks, I might have a better idea of what direction I'll be headed at least.

As for the training, it was an okay "first" week. Even though I took an unplanned day off on Sunday, I gained confidence from the workout sessions to start adding more volume and gradually increase the intensity. Up until this week, I've been just running easy recovery runs, throwing in cross training on off days, and doing as much strength and core work as I can in between. The mileage has been really low, but I've put in a lot of hours with the extra stuff. All this "extra" stuff has been a help to get me healthy again and I know I'll need to keep doing it in order to stay healthy.

Since it had been almost 2 months since my last hard workout session and I had no idea what I was capable of, I decided to ease myself into it workouts by choosing the right training partner. On Monday, with Kevin's permission, I gave myself the duties of pacing my teammate, Jenn Donovan in her workout. Jenn was just coming off her US Qualifying 3K performance at the Terrier Invite and had no one to workout with. Since I was looking for a "moderate" workout and she needed a workout buddy, I was happy to step into that role. From the numbers above, you'll see that Jenn is in phenomenal shape, and for me to pace those intervals comfortably was encouraging. I did the same for her workout on Thursday as we were joined by Laura Kennedy as well. Thursday's workout was shorter, but much faster. I was very impressed by how comfortably these ladies were able to run right on my shoulder and I was again encouraged by the fact that my legs could still run that pace with little effort.

Since I had recovered well from both track sessions, I decided to also do a third session on Saturday with a few other NB Boston studs. This time we took to the roads... more specifically, the Boston Marathon course. I met Mario, Ryan, and Christy in Framingham near Mile 6 on the crisp morning as the temperature was in the mid-teens. We warmed up from there to Mile 3, stretched out for a couple minutes, and went right into the projected 5:25-5:30 pace for Mario, Ryan, and myself. My plan was to go 4 Miles with these guys and if I felt really good, maybe 5 or 6. The first mile was a bit slow and felt easy, the second mile was right around goal pace and still felt ok. I jumped into the lead for the 3rd mile to help out as much as I could. I could feel myself starting to labor in that mile, but stayed just under the goal pace. Once Ryan retook the lead at 3 Miles, I started to drop off those guys a little and decided that 4 Miles would be plenty. I completed the 4 Miles in about 22:10 and waited there for Christy to catch up so I could run in the last two miles with her at around 6:00 pace. Mario turned back early, but Ryan Christy, cooled down together back to the cars for 12 Miles of work on my end.

Again, these were all pretty moderate workouts, but it felt really good to be doing something that feels like a workout and actually be training along-side my teammates again... even if those teammates are female. It's a great place to start and I'm excited to see where things go from here.