SRM WEEK 1: Get It Started

So. Vacation is over and I am back to properly training. I am registered for Santa Rosa & got my training schedule on Monday. I've been secretly dreading that day a little because the words "marathon training" conjure images of 16-18-20-22 mile long runs & 10+ mile track workouts & two-hour pace runs, whereas the words "recent stress fracture" bring to mind run-walk intervals and half-hour-at-most easy runs on soft surfaces and/or in funny shorts.

It's helpful to be reminded by my PT, who I still check in with occasionally, that "You didn't have a 'recent' stress fracture, you had a stress fracture five months ago, which, as of *three* months ago, was 100% healed." Even so, I was relieved to hear that Coach Tom had looked over the first incarnation of my plan & decided it ramped up too aggressively for his taste considering my not-recent injury & rather anemic base, & made a few tweaks in order to be extra sure that I don't re-aggravate it as I start doing harder workouts again for the first time in many many months.

In general, my weeks are structured like this:

MONDAYS:
• a.m. strength work/stretch/roll
• afternoon optional yoga or bike
• p.m. karate

TUESDAYS:

• a.m. easy bike
• p.m. speed work/light strength

WEDNESDAYS:

• a.m. strength work/stretch/roll
• lunch time optional yoga
• afternoon short easy run
• p.m. karate

THURSDAYS:

• a.m. easy bike
• p.m. medium easy run/light strength

FRIDAYS:

• a.m. strength work/stretch/roll
• p.m. tempo/threshold run

SATURDAYS:

• medium easy run
• optional cross-training (swim or light strength, most likely)

SUNDAYS:

• long run
• optional light strength

And big-picture, the mileage looks like this:

WEEK 1: 16 miles, all easy

WEEK 2: 21 miles, all easy

WEEK 3: 26 miles (16 easy, 4 speed, 6 long)

WEEK 4: 31 miles (14 easy, 5 speed, 5 threshold, 7 long)

WEEK 5: 38 miles (17 easy, 6 speed, 6 threshold, 9 long)



WEEK 6: 45 miles (21 easy, 7 speed, 7 tempo, 10 long)

WEEK 7: 49 miles (23 easy, 6 speed, 8 threshold, 12 long)

WEEK 8: 55 miles (24 easy, 10 speed, 9 tempo, 12 long)

WEEK 9: 49 miles (20 easy, 7 speed, 8 threshold, 14 long)

WEEK 10: 58 miles (24 easy, 10 speed, 8 tempo, 16 long)



WEEK 11: 55 miles (24 easy, 7 speed, 8 threshold, 16 warm-up/SF Half/cool-down)

WEEK 12: 49 miles (20 easy, 11 speed, 18 long)

WEEK 13: 58 miles (23 easy, 8 speed, 7 threshold, 20 long)

WEEK 14: 49 miles (23 easy, 6 speed, 8 threshold, 12 long)

WEEK 15: 47 miles (13 easy, 6 speed, 28 warm-up/SRM)

Looking over it feels really weird. Like, "Did I *seriously* used to do this? *Can* I still do this?"

Pink says:

I did. And I can. Time to get the party started.

* * * WEEK 1 * * *
(14 to go)

The story of Week 1 is jumping back into training & doing maybe just a tad too much too soon. To wit:

Grand Total: 15 miles, all easy

Plus:

* 10 miles bike
* 2 hours strength/stretch/roll

Monday: Be sick / recover from jet lag :-/ At least there was no running scheduled.

Tuesday: 3 easy

Tuesday afternoon I was feeling well enough to attempt running, & when I got back to SF the weather was so lovely that I couldn't wait to get my running shoes on. Of course once I started running it dawned on me that the reason it was so nice out was because it was like 85°, which once you've been running for more than thirty seconds quickly goes from feeling lovely to feeling like the taint of hell itself. It was only three miles, but even while trying to take it super easy, I frequently found myself needing to take breaks to walk / catch my breath / not faint at the traffic light. When I got home I turned the shower all the way to cold & just stood there in it for like five minutes.

Wednesday: a.m. strength work + 2 run / p.m. karate

I woke up a bit sore from my Tuesday run, & ideally I would have preferred to wait a full 24 hours before running again, even for only two miles. But I knew I wouldn't have time for it between work & karate, so instead I just did my strength work & the run back-to-back, sore legs & all. And let me tell you, if you ever want to make a super short run feel a LOT harder than it should, do it after your first strength workout in 3.5 weeks. Oof. Probably the hardest standalone two miles I've run since I freaking raced that distance in high school.

Thursday: a.m. 10 bike / p.m. 2 easy rest

I was so sore when I woke up Thursday morning that I could barely walk (plus my stomach was still not feeling 100%). I felt better by the time I got on the bike, but after 8.5 miles I felt so bad that I decided to call it good at 10 miles instead of the usual ~13.5 (or whatever 45:00 gets me to).

For the rest of the afternoon I kind of half-pretended there was some way I was going to run even two miles when I got home.

This was pretty much my plan.

I mean yes, technically, if a pack of hungry wolves had been chasing me, I probably could have run two miles. Assuming they were very slow wolves. But it seemed much, MUCH smarter not to run sore & instead give my newly-back-intro-training muscles some extra time to heal.

Friday: a.m. strength work stretch & roll / p.m. 2 easy 3 easy

I did go to the gym Friday morning, but knowing full well I was too sore for doing any real strength work to be a good idea. Instead I spent 40 minutes stretching & rolling All The Things & 5 minutes doing clam shells (which did not hurt).

By the time I got home I was still sore but feeling much better overall, so I ran a lovely three miles in beautiful weather & it felt marvelous.

Saturday 3 easy + stretch/roll

Three easy miles in new shoes & a HELLACIOUS wind.

Fill in the blank! Brooks ____________.

Today was also the day I learned that RunKeeper sucks, which was necessary since I apparently failed at plugging my Garmin all the way in the day before. I may not be in the best shape of my life currently but if I'm running a 13:30 mile it's probably because one of my legs is broken.

Sunday: 4 easy + stretch/roll.

I was still sore in the calves & glutes when I woke up Sunday morning, though not as sore as the past few days. Even so I decided to put the run off a few hours & see if my muscles felt any better. They did, but for some reason (probably because I haven't run this far in a month) I was still completely convinced that this run would be just horrible. (The crazy wind we've had here lately didn't help.)

SUPER excited to run 4 sore, windy miles. Not really.

Ultimately, though, it ended up being one of the easier runs I've had this week, and once I started running I didn't even feel sore anymore.

This week was a tough one. Partly because it was my first back after a break, and partly because I can't even remember the last time I ran five times in one week regardless of the distance. Hopefully next week will be a bit easier, & I'll be up to adding more cross-training as well.