Marathon 7 week 1 training recap

My official training cycle for my 7th marathon kicked off this week. Not that all the training I've been doing for the last couple months wasn't so building up to this. The mileage was fine. I was a little over 17 miles for the week. This is much better than my kick off week last year so I will take this as a good first step. My weekday runs were decent enough. I cut my Thursday run short because I got out a little late and, knowing a 10 miler was my plan for Saturday, I didn't want to ramp up the mileage too fast. The 10 miler was miserable. I paced myself alright for the first half of the run. I've been doing kind of a run the first half of my long run distance and then walk / run as needed after that for the last couple of months. I figure staying on my feet and walking with an elevated heart rate beats limiting myself to what I can run with no breaks. I pushed this strategy to its bounds during my 10 miler. I pretty much walked the last 2.5 miles or so. I walk a ton during the marathon so I figure there is nothing saying I can't walk during the training too. I definitely need to carry water with me when I'm running for more than an hour or so. I also need to actually eat before heading out. One Pop-Tara isn't going to get the job done. I stopped at my gym and bought a Gatorade around mile 9. I needed something extra in my system to get me home. I tried running a bit after that but it was rough. Better to take it easy. This is only week 1 of the cycle. 

I did my non-running training as well. I rowed 5000 m Monday night. That was more challenging than it should have been. I went to the gym to lift twice (slow service at dinner Friday night kept me from meeting my 3 session goal) and did 15 minutes on the stairs today. I need to work the ab work back in. All in due time. 

This is a good start. Over 15 miles a week (it took me until late October to get over that mark last year) is the minimum I should be doing at this stage. Week 2 will be a bit of a departure from the normal workout schedule as I will be traveling towards the end of the week, but I built those plans into my workout schedule. I will get in 3 runs. The timing will just be a bit different. 

I can't run right now, but I can still prepare for the marathon

I wasn't exactly tearing up the streets with all my running miles prior to my injury, but getting out there three days a week is a constant cadence in my life. I'm continually surprised when I realize how central training for the WDW Marathon has become to my fitness life. I really shouldn't be. I've pretty much always had a race that defined my running effort. It was the Monument Avenue 10K up until the race stopped during Covid. It never resumed for me. It was some stupid virtual thing in 2021 (after all the monuments had been ripped out) and I moved away later that year. So my focus shifted to the WDW Marathon. I'm still marathon focused, but I added the half marathon to my weekend this year. I was planning on using this time post Springtime Surprise 10 Miler to start building up some distance in preparation for the many miles I need to run to have a solid Marathon weekend, but I'm limping around with plantar fasciitis or some other foot/heel ailment. I haven't run in almost 2 weeks. My foot definitely feels better, but I know I will just reaggravate the injury if I try to run. So I'm being patient and letting things heal up. I'm hoping that I can get back out there next weekend. I will be at WDW with my wife. Maybe I can try a short run on Sunday just to see how things feel. 

In lieu of being able to run, I should really be focusing on other things that I can do to get better prepared for the marathon. Resume ab work (I say that like I didn't stop doing ab work regularly back in 2020 and haven't even done my 5 days of 50 butterfly kicks in almost 3 years). That's just lazy. It takes a minute or two to do that work. Pick a time and just do it! I'm putting on weight, just like I do whenever I get injured and stop running regularly. Dropping 15 or 20 pounds would make a huge difference during my Goofy Challenge. Stop eating dessert. Stop snacking. Take a few easy steps to make your life and health a little better for crying out loud! Get back to the gym. I've realized I just really don't like lifting at the Y. I'm hoping to sign up for the new Crunch tomorrow (I'm off for Good Friday). All of these things will be good building blocks towards marathon success. 

The biggest obstacle to a sustained focus on my physical fitness has been my mental energy. I'm so defeated and drained by the end of the week, it's a struggle for me to really engage with my workouts. It's been a just doing it to get it done kind of thing since I moved to Florida. There has been a big change at my workplace that I'm hoping will reduce the amount of mental and emotional energy I dedicate to my job. This could be a huge development for my physical training. I'm so accustomed to dealing with the mental stress that I hadn't realized what it would feel like to have it go away. I'm starting to see that option, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I can regain a sense of calm and order that was so central to my ability to stay disciplined and focused on my workouts 5 or 6 years ago. I very much want to get back to that space. This change in work (same job, just a change in my organization leadership) could be huge to restoring a key aspect of my life.