As of May 5th, my new training began. It seems appropriate that this grueling training for a full Marathon this fall would start on a day known for massive drinking don't you think? Ironically, due to my trip to Las Vegas for a Bachelorette party the weekend prior, I literally could not drink...or run...in fact I came back only half human. So my training was delayed a couple days. Not really the way you want to kick off a new schedule.
The new training would be worse than usual, as promised by my "coach" and Dr. Jack (see blog post "This is Jacked"). You see, I want to get my speed down for this new race. Yes, after running only one other full Marathon in my life, I am already obsessing over the time I made and what I want it to be. What can I say, running actually makes you crazy. So how does one do this? By intense speed workouts and some serious grit. I don't know if I possess enough grit to make this to happen, but here we go.
Once my training did kick into gear, my loving husband donned his coaches hat and took me out on a "short" 4.5 mile run...with strides as the kicker. What are strides you ask? Oh simply a way for running (which is already so much fun) to become a medieval torture device. After warming up for a couple miles, you are subjected to phased sprints. After a rest (oh no you don't get to STOP running, you just slow your running pace), you do it again...and again...and again...until you die. OK so I didn't die, but it was crazy hard. As a side note, I have promised to stop complaining so much ON the runs...I didn't make any promises about the blog.
The next day was the recovery run. Recovery my ass! "Coach" took me out for a 3 mile run that included very steep hill repeats! When I started to whine about the "recovery day" he said 'Hey, it is only 3 miles, this IS recovery', I don't think I like this new training.
On Mother's Day, much to the dismay of my young son, I headed out on a "quick run". "Don't make her run on MOTHER'S DAY!" he wailed. Our son thinks my husband is mean for making me run. I think he is right. I had no idea that "quick" was going to be so literal. As we headed out at a fast clip, I assumed I would hit my normal pace, after all it seems my body only has one speed...slow. But as we hit the 1st mile, my husband sputtered in excitement, cheering and literally jumping into the air. I had just broke a 9 minute mile. Now for a lot of you out there, that isn't that fast, but for me, that was HUGE. It is like someone that has never sang a note in their life, to walk onto American Idol and just win. No, I am not exaggerating. Well, as you can imagine, the excitement of such a huge moment and the pride on my coach's face, spurred me on and I attempted to keep the ridiculous pace. I thought to myself how amazing it was going to be to run 26.2 miles of the Marathon this ferociously. I thought about how after only a couple speed workouts, I was rockin it! Then as I neared the end of the 3 mile run...literally a few yards from my driveway, I uttered the word "ouch" and then spent several minutes dry heaving. Had I had anything in my system, I believe the vomit scene there on the side of the road, would have mimicked the cherry pit scene from "The Witches of Eastwick".
I haven't thrown up due to running since I was in high school at soccer practice. I think I am too old for this.
So today, it snowed, my neck is frozen stiff (probably from the full body retching) and I am terrified to run. Who knew that I could take running to a whole new level of pain? It is very clear that running a few miles fast is very, very different than running long distances at that same pace. It is also very clear that this goal is totally insane. I may need to start "Fueling" in the morning just so I have the courage to face that day's run.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.vivacwinery.com
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