Seattle RnR Marathon Training Week #1

I know I know, I taunted you yesterday with my weekend trip to Vegas.  I'll be back tomorrow with weekend shenanigan recaps.  But right now I want to talk about something more important!

I might have mentioned before that my main A race of this year is the Seattle Rock n Roll MARATHON.  That's right ladies and gents, you did not see the word "half" in there.  While I'm the queen of half marathons, my marathon skills are far from stellar. 

I've completed two marathons to date, and so far I am on track to pump out a marathon once every two years.  In 2008 I finished the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in 4:45.  I signed up for the inaugural Seattle Rock n Roll (full) Marathon in 2009, but stress-fractured my ankle during training and that race was my very first DNS (did not start, for those of you lucky enough not to know).  In 2010 I trained for and ran the Portland Marathon with a big goal of sub-4-ing and despite the miserable rain I finished in 3:55.  In 2011 I struggled with mini-injuries the whole year, spent the whole summer in Singapore, and just did not feel like training for or running a marathon. 

But I'm back!  I didn't think I was going to train for another marathon in 2012 either!  I kind of felt like I was done with fulls, and was going to stick with getting faster at halfs, since I seem to be better at those.  But on October 17 I got an email from Seattle Rock n Roll with a 2-day discount, and I forwarded it to Lisa in case she was interested (I wasn't interested!).  In about 5 minutes flat, she had signed up and convinced me to sign up as well.  She is very persuasive.  Or I am very easily persuaded.  Probably a combination of both.

Anyway, so I will proceed to blame Lisa for any and all pain I suffer while training for this marathon!  And here it is, my training calendar!  EEEK!

I like Excel spreadsheets.  A lot, okay?  Not weird at all.

So what's my goal for this marathon? 

Well, my #1 big huge goal is to just get to the starting line healthy.  I want to run and finish this marathon and not have a DNS or a DNF.  Given my injury track record, this is a huge goal in and of itself.  That's why I'm sticking to a modified version of Run Less Run Faster's plan - including only running 3 days a week. 

My #2 big huge goal is to obviously PR (as we all know, PR-ing is the best) and ambitiously to beat 3:45.  McMillan Pace Calculator says I can potentially run a 3:45 based on my Lincoln City Half Marathon time of 1:46.

So let's see how I did in my very first week (of 14 weeks!) of "official" training:

Monday - 15 minutes on the elliptical while I waited for a spot in a pool lane to open up
                 52 laps (2,600 yards) of swimming (a new distance record) in 55 minutes
                 800, 600, 400, 200, 200 yards free with 100 yards of kicking between each set

Tuesday - Track Tuesday with 6 x 400's, a total of 6 miles in 54:40 (AP: 9:06)

Wednesday - I've been kind of dragging lately with my legs feeling dead and my hamstrings super tight.  Jordanne recommended a complete rest day, and since I haven't taken one of those in a while, it did seem like a good idea.  She's so smart!  So I worked on my Nuun Hood to Coast application instead!  :-)

Thursday - I was supposed to go running but Jordanne and Lisa both bailed and I suddenly became incredibly unmotivated. 


Friday - 14 miles in the SUN!  2:04:56 (AP: 8:55)


Saturday - 30 minutes on the elliptical at the hotel gym


Sunday - 6 very dehydrated miles in 54:00 (AP: 9:00)


So that's a rap!  26 miles run this week, pretty good if you ask me.  Kind of lacking on the cross-training front, with little swimming, no spinning, and no yoga.  That's a big fat cross-training fail.  Oh well!  Better luck next week!

Who's running Seattle Rock n Roll?  Come run it with me if you aren't already signed up!  What's your 'A' race this year?