Here We Go Again

In addition to this past week being the first week in the busy, holiday month of December, it was also the first week of Boston 2014 training.  I am using the same training plan as I did with the Marine Corps Marathon – a plan created by coach Brad Hudson and published in his book Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon.

While most marathon training plans are around 16 weeks long, Hudson’s plan is 20 weeks.  During MCM training, I was glad the plan was so long because the first month gave me a good fitness base for training.  However, the plan may be too long for Boston given that I just completed a long training streak leading up to the 38^th MCM that was held on October 27^th.  At least – it gives me comfort to think that the plan may be too long given that the first week of training was less than desirable.

For starters, I am still running in the pool rather than on the pavement.  I am doing my best to mimic the workouts in my training schedule while in the water.   For example, instead of six easy miles with two eight-second hill sprints, I aqua jogged for about 55 minutes with two eight-second “sprints” where I tried to turn my legs over as quickly as I could against the resistance of the water.

I had solid runs in the not-so-solid pool on Sunday, Tuesday (Monday was rest day – aka Yoga Day), Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I had planned to do a long, easy aqua jog on Saturday and a short, easy one on Sunday, but a cold that I had been fighting off all week finally took me down Friday night.

When you can’t run and you can’t even swim because you feel like your head is already filled with water, add in a few pieces of cake or a holiday treat, and it doesn’t take long before you feel lazier than your eight-year old golden retriever.

The holidays are always a hard time to stay fit – partly because there are so many yummy temptations out there but also partly because it tends to be a busy time of year and often a workout is the first thing that goes when we don’t have time for everything.  And I know more than anyone that when you don’t get your exercise, it is harder to say “No” to that decadent dessert – We forget so quickly how hard we worked for our current fitness.

I thought 20 weeks may be too long or rather December 1^st may have been too soon to get back in to marathon training, but I also knew that without real running and with all the tasty goodies of the season, I needed a plan to keep me on track and away from the dessert bar. 

Boston Week One Miles: None (A little over 6 hours of pool running)

This Week's Beer Choice - Scratch That - Drink Choice:  Cold Medicine (You know I really feel bad when I don't run and I don't drink beer)