Marathon Training Week One Recap

Well, I made it through week one of marathon training!  Woo hoo!!  My new coach has me training by time on the road and heart rate.  Luckily, I had my old Garmin heart rate monitor and just ordered a new strap which made it to my house by Tuesday.  I also have my TomTom Cardio watch, which I thought wasn't very accurate because it always says my heart rate is so high.  Turns out, it may not have been so inaccurate after all.

Monday morning, I woke up at 5 AM to run on my treadmill.  My coach emailed me how to do some warm up lunges before running.  I read my devotion and got started at around 5:30.  I set my timer and did my warm up lunges then walked on my treadmill for a few minutes before beginning my 45 minute heart rate run.  I was supposed to keep my heart rate under 150 and that was a struggle.  I wore my TomTom and it said my HR was already at 160.  I was only running at 5.8 mph on the treadmill which is supposed to be around 10:30 pace.  I was a little irritated with my watch reading so I pretty much ran how I felt.  My average HR ended up being 157 which was too high.

 I was in a hurry and had to get all three children up and ready for school.  I took my son to preschool, came home to shower, and head up to the elementary school to watch my middle child's Christmas program  The program started at 9 and I managed to slide into my seat at 9:02.  I was just in time!  Whew!  It was a super busy day!

Tuesday was a little more relaxed and not so rushed.  My schedule called for 20 minute core and lower body workout plus 30 minutes of cycling.  My son is home on Tuesdays so I did my 20 minute workout downstairs in our play room.  Squats, lunges, side lunges, sit ups, side leg kickouts, plus much more all on my Bosu ball.  I focused a lot on my hips because they are pretty weak.  I make up my own workouts.  Sometimes I follow a workout on Pinterest, but I mostly just make it up and repeat each circuit 3 times.  

Ouch.  My legs were pretty shaky when I finished then my son and I headed up to the lake where my husband was working so I could ride my bike.  The weather was so beautiful that day and I really enjoyed riding my bike.  My husband and I bought bikes last year, but we haven't been riding them much at all.  I forgot how much I enjoyed it!  I thought it would be so hard bike riding at the lake because of all the hills, but it wasn't as bad as running.  I rode 5.3 miles in 30 minutes and my legs felt like jello when I finished.  I did great work on Tuesday and enjoyed the change in my routine.

Wednesday was another early morning. I had to get up and make bacon for Cayne's preschool class Christmas party.  The class was planning on eating breakfast then opening their presents.  While I made the bacon, I drank my morning coffee.  

My husband got Cayne ready for school so I could go ahead and get my run in before heading to his Christmas party.  The schedule for this day called for a 5 minute warm up and 4 mile MAF test.  MAF stands for Maximum Aerobic Function.  

I was supposed to keep my HR under 150 again and it was a struggle.  I used my new Garmin HR strap plus my TomTom watch to see if they matched.  They were actually pretty close to reading the same heart rate. It was very frustrating and I had to walk a lot to get my HR back down.  My coach said if my HR got up to 152 to start walking until it dropped to low 140's.  My splits were 11:09, 11:45, 12:12, and 12:08.  It seemed the longer I ran, the higher my HR.  I told  myself if every run is like this, this is going to be a long 4 months of training. At least I felt good after my run and came home to get ready for Cayne's Christmas party.  We had another full and busy day!

Thursday was my rest and recovery day or yoga!  I was so happy to make it to this day of the week.  I was tired from the busyness of the week and training.  My legs were super sore from Tuesdays cycling and lower body workout.  I had read a couple of posts from my IG friends about Jasoyoga.  I decided to get their subscription and try out a couple videos.  I did a couple of their hip reset videos and let me tell you, it was just what my sore hips needed!!  The stretches felt amazing!!  I am going to enjoy these videos on Thursdays!

Fridays are my long run days and I had an hour and 30 minute long run on schedule with the usual 5 minute warm up.  I did my lunges and other dynamic movements before heading out early for my long run. All three kiddos spent the night at my mother-in-laws so I headed out around 7 or so.  It was COLD outside!  I had on two shirts to start.  I decided not to drink or eat anything before my run and it took me several miles to get my heart rate up to 140.  Since I thought I would be running slowly, I did not prepare for this long run like I usually do.  I didn't drink or eat enough the day before and my body could tell.  I felt like I was dragging, but I still managed a good solid pace during the entire run.  It was definitely a pretty tough run, but I made it and I was very happy with my pace and distance.  I made it 8.63 miles in an hour and 30 minutes with my heart rate finally at an average of 138.  I am guessing coffee is what is causing my HR to go up so fast.

Saturday was my short run day with a 10 minute warm up and 30 minute run on schedule.  I tried to rest this morning since we have to be at church early Sunday morning for the children's Christmas program.  I drove up to the lake for a change of scenery and it was still cold at 9:15!  I did have coffee so my HR jumped up to 140 in no time.  I had trouble keeping my HR under 150 and since I was climbing hills my HR got up in the 170's.  Oops.  I have to press buttons to see my HR screen and I really just wanted to run today.  My average HR was about 151 this morning.  So coffee AND hill climbing makes my heart rate go way up.  Now I know for sure! I came home and did a quick 20 minute core and upper body workout which was also on schedule. 

All in all, I had a great first week of training.  Heart rate training is new to me and I had to figure some things out.  I am very excited about training with a new coach and look forward to getting my new schedule tomorrow!  I am getting very close to finished with Christmas shopping too and that makes me very happy!  I'm looking forward to spending the week with my family.  Have a blessed week friends!!