training update, misc ramblings

Yikes... it's a hot one out there.  Thankfully the humidity was only about 55%, but whew.  Sweat and more sweat.  I think I'm finally getting used to the heat again though.  I've run the past 4 runs with little to no nausea, so this is progress.   I think Galloway said it takes 14 days to get used to heat, so that seems about right.

I've completed my first part of week 2 of marathon training, which meant 3 days of back to back runs!  I ended up tentatively going with the Higdon Intermediate I plan, with plans to back off to Novice 2 if this doesn't go well.  People (both on here and in "real life") seemed divided about which plan I should choose, but I decided I want to try for the challenging one and see how it makes me feel.  After two years of every-other-day running, I'm ready for a new style of training.  Anyway I can't say I did a full week on this plan yet (yeah, so it's kind of lame I'm even posting about it now ...)  but I DID do runs on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  The usual weekly pattern for me is going to be 3 days running, one day rest, 2 days running, one day cross training, repeat.  (And before my training was more like run, rest, run, rest, rest, run--with some cross training mixed in on rest days).  Yeah, that was a lot of rest before, but whenever I tried days of back to back runs I'd start getting overly fatigued.  I think I can do it now, though--or at least I'm going to give it a try.  

I ended up picking up Higdon's book while I was in Louisville, so I've been reading that a little.  And one thing he says in there is that taking 2 rest days back to back counts as de-training (he says 1 day off can always count as rest, even if you've missed a  scheduled run--but that you should never miss TWO days and have two days off back to back).  If what he says is true, this means I've been constantly de-training myself each week on Thursday and Friday for 2 years.  Maybe I'd be making more progress if I wasn't doing that... so we shall see.  I know that realistically this summer I may not adhere to his training plan with godlike diligence since I have life to interfere, but the one goal I am going to really strive for is not taking 2 back to back rest days.  (So I can move runs around if I need to, to an extent, but not really miss them). 

So: Monday I did 3, yesterday I did 5, and today I did 3.  Tomorrow is rest (maybe swimming in the morning), and then Friday I do 5, and Saturday I do 8.  The Friday/Saturday combo is going to be where I really see how this goes, because I'm not at all used to doing a long run on the back of Friday run.

In Vibram news, I did a mile in them yesterday and 1.5 miles in them today.  I've been putting on the Vibrams for the first part of scheduled runs, then quickly changing into shoes and finishing the run.  I was going to do Vibram runs in addition to the regular training plan, but I'm quickly progressing in them it seems... and I'm hoping that soon I will be up to 3 miles and can skip the shoe-changing.

I have some leg soreness that's likely due to the Vibrams (calf soreness for sure is the Vibrams... not sure about the quads and hips, but it seems like it's from the Vibrams too).  This is all just average muscle soreness though--no weird joint anything.  I do have a blister under my big toe on my right foot, though--it seems there's a hot spot in the Vibram somehow, and I'm hoping I'll get used to it.  And this morning the ball of my right foot felt a little bruised, but it went away as the day went on.  

Putting on running shoes today after 1.5 was really sucky... nothing like hastily trying to pull socks onto sweaty feet before your heart rate drops too much, and then it felt like I was running clumsily with bricks on my feet.  It's such a notable difference from Vibram running.

So basically getting used to the Vibrams has gone a little something like this:

Friday: 1 mile run

Saturday: several miles walking (this was so much worse than the running... ugh, my feet were so sore)

Sunday: grocery store walking (was sore)

Monday:  no Vibrams

Tuesday: 1 mile run

Wednesday: 1.5 mile run

Friday I'm going to try for 2 miles in them if I can.

I know you're supposed to take it slow blah blah and most of what I've read has suggested taking it MUCH slower than I have been (like they say it might take you a month and a half to get up to 2 miles, even).  But as long as I feel ok, I'm going to keep on.

So that's all that's been going on in the training world.  Oh, and I got one of these:  

...because I didn't want to have to keep taking my 4-bottle fuelbelt out for runs less than 8 miles, and it's too hot for me to have no water for runs as long as 5 miles (I'm a water-wuss).  It was great yesterday, except I did get some arm/shoulder soreness from having this weight in my little t-rex arms for 5 miles.