Flying Pig Marathon training week 1!

Happy first weekend of 2014!  I hope the first few days of the new year have treated you well.  We're anticipating a snowstorm today and through the night which should make things interesting for the drive to work tomorrow.  We were to have our last family Christmas today but decided with the weather we weren't going to chance getting stuck away from home/work/our animals.

Yesterday concluded my official week 1 of marathon training for the Flying Pig!  I chose an 18 week program that kicked off this week just as we were ringing in the new year.  I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program since the back 2/3 of my first marathon training plan was Novice 1.  It was a good plan for me but the mid-week runs got up to 10 miles and my schedule is pretty tight these days with working overtime to pay for the wedding, getting all of my runs in for the week, and life in general.  So I chose the Novice 2 program that uses more distance/endurance runs starting sooner and going further with midweek tempo/pace runs which I plan to alternate with hill training for this race specifically that are shorter. I think it works better with my schedule and having the additional endurance runs will get me through to the finish line a bit easier than the first time around.  The Pig course is hilly and miles 5-8 are completely uphill so I need to be properly prepared for that - the first time when I walked the half marathon it was ugly right about there. I was SO over that hill.  If I'm running up it this time, it should go by a lot faster.

Monday - I was scheduled for 3 miles but I decided to take Penny, my husky with me and we got to 2.53 before she was too much to manage. I would love to get her properly trained to run with me but as a newer runner and having specific distances to cover it's hard.  I'm going to work with her more but for right now it's usually easier to walk her separately from running. So we didn't quite make my 3 miles, but she had fun running with me as we got a nice, light snowfall.  I also went to Zumba class that evening.

Tuesday - New Year's Eve and I had 5 miles on schedule at "pace".  I'd noticed on my shorter runs while I was doing the Run Streak that I had significantly increased my pace from when I started back in March.  My comfortable pace had gotten to about 12 minutes/mile and my marathon goal pace had been to stay as close to 12:30 as possible.  That went out the window on marathon day but I figured I had 18 more weeks to focus specifically on endurance and pace so I'd choose 11:30 as my race day goal pace. I went to the MetroPark near my house and bundled up for my longest run in super cold weather.  I was running and miserable and told myself if I got to 3 miles I could stop and finish the other 2 indoors on the treadmill.  I stopped at 3 miles and my pace had been 10:39!  I was amazed at what this former 14 minute/mile runner had done!  I got to the car to thaw out and finished my last 2 miles at 11:10 pace at my apartment gym.

Wednesday - I worked 12 hours on New Years Day - life of a nurse.

Thursday - I had 3 miles to do and I was working night shift that night.  I pulled off a 5K in 10:37 - my fastest 5K by almost 2 minutes EVER.  I don't know where this is coming from but I like it.  I'm pushing but I don't feel like I'm dying.  It's awesome.  This is the part of running that I love is seeing how much you've improved by your pace and how you feel.

Friday - I went to Zumba after sleeping part of the day after working night shift, no run today.

Saturday - It was COLD with a  -4 degree wind chill.  I don't know about this cold weather running!  Brr!  (We have a front coming in behind the snow that could bring us -40 degree wind chills Monday and Tuesday and I'm shivering just thinking about it.)  I headed up to my apartment gym to bust out 8 miles on the treadmill.  I love being the first one in the gym and the last one to leave, it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I did my 8 miles in 11:30 pace and felt good the whole time with my average heart rate of 165.

Today I'm heading to morning Zumba and we're getting all the Christmas decorations taken down and the house back in order.  I get sad when it's time to put away the tree and lights but since the dog and cat knocked the tree over last night it's time for it to go away.

Week 1 - 18.6 miles ran at 11:11 average pace.  Not too shabby for this girl who hasn't run much since October.

Are you training for a race? What program are you using?  Do you run solo or with a group? Best winter training advice?