My Training Plan Hits Its First Snag
Get this: I sneezed a week ago and threw my back out. For real! Who gets a sports injury from sneezing? Oh, oh, am I pushing my luck attempting a first marathon at the ‘50 something’ stage of life?
I like to believe it’s never too late to try almost anything. So, I’m going to give it the old ‘college try’ and crossing my fingers that these back spasms will stop real soon. The silver lining: at least nothing leaked – another unfortunate thing that can happen after a big ‘achoo’ (ladies with kids, you know what I’m talking about – right?) Oh the joys of getting older!
Run, Raise Money, Write & Share Recipes
Although I’m obviously out of commission this week, ‘officially’ I’m on week 7 of an 18-week training schedule to prepare myself for the Chicago Marathon on October 13th. The goal is to be running 42 kilometers (26.2 miles) around the Windy City on what I hope will be a mild Sunday morning this fall. To mark the occasion of the biggest physical fitness challenge of my life, I’m doing a few things: I’m raising money for ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, a charity near and dear to my heart. (you can donate here) I’m also writing about this roller coaster journey and sharing some nourishing recipes for athletic performance here on my website. (Read Part 1 and Part 2). If you want to get straight to the food, skip to the bottom of this post. There’s a link to an easy protein packed snack that I often eat before and especially after a run. Now, more about my training strategy going into my first EVER marathon.
Phase One: Start Slow & Build on a Solid Foundation
Although I’m about a third of the way through my marathon training, the reality is I started slowly months ago so I would have a pretty solid foundation. I basically trained all winter for the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon (21.1 kms) which took place at the end of May. It was my 4th half marathon since I started running a few years ago and a kick off to the more intense Chicago training plan. Phase one complete! I’m feeling pretty solid at doing half the distance of a marathon. Now for the other half!
Phase Two: My ‘Ideal World’ Training Schedule
Hustle 6 days a week. Take Sundays off. (Notice how I start with the day I don’t train?) The rest of the days – kick butt. Run 4 times a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Make one a long-distance run and one a technical run (hills, tempo or speed). The remaining two are easy shorter 8 – 10k distances. But it’s not all running. I try to do some form of cross training, weights or yoga classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. Now for an admission…
I’m human.
And I’m a flawed human.
This strategy is the ‘ideal world’ strategy. I confess that I don’t live in the ideal world most of the time.
Next time I’ll tell you about how I get motivated to train so often. Meantime, click on this energy bites recipe which is especially good as a post workout recovery snack. Why? It’s packed with protein from hemp, nuts, chia and flax seeds which is key for repair and recovery. The hugely popular ‘Deliciously Ella’ created this recipe which I love when I want something sweet but nutrient-dense.
Not sure if Jimmy Buffett is (or ever was) a runner, but I think he has some good advice to leave you with.
Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see