After I registered for the Philadelphia marathon, I spent some time looking for a training plan (honestly, I may have started looking for the training plan before registering. Really, though, the order in which these things happened is inconsequential) and, in a fit of delusional perception of my current fitness level, chose to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate I training plan. The plan is well-balanced with two twenty-mile runs toward the end of the program, five runs a week, and a fair amount of weekly miles (starting at around 24 for the first week). The problem is that I tend to go into denial about certain things and I like to believe that I can do things that I am not entirely prepared for. Such as (just in case you are not following me here) this training plan. I think the problem is that I chose something thinking that maybe if I shut my eyes real tight and forgot about reality, I could pretend that maybe I hadn't lost an enormous amount of fitness in the past few months. What can I say? It's hard to go from easily running 8-10 mile training runs to being exhausted by four or five. So I guess I kind of thought that if I chose a training plan that was appropriate for me about six months ago that I would be magically transformed back into that six-month-ago version of Emilie.
As the time to start the training program drew nearer and nearer, I kept looking at it and going over what it was asking me to do. I made a lot of progress endurance-wise in the past few weeks but the first long run distance of this Hal Higdon plan is 8 miles, which I have serious doubts that I can do at this point. The long run was supposed to take place this past weekend, but for screwy and frustrating reasons, it didn't happen. I don't know if I'm capable of running 8 miles, and this week I am supposed to run 9.
So I thought maybe I should shop around a little bit and consider a different program. Last year, I trained with one that I found in an issue of Runner's World magazine. This program is good, obviously--it got my through my first marathon and I enjoyed it the whole time. I never felt overwhelmed by it, but I always felt challenged. So I thought maybe I should go back to that program. But for some reason I am resistant to it. I wanted to try something different, but maybe I sort of shot myself in the foot by slacking off so much for such a long time. I don't even know exactly why I want a different plan. I've looked at Hal Higdon's novice training plans, but they don't really appeal to me and I can't even explain why. I feel sort of silly about this whole thing, because clearly I have this penchant for the Runner's World plan but I'm still second-guessing everything.
Does anyone else do this or am I just super neurotic (I mean, obviously don't answer that question by saying, 'You're neurotic!')? How do you choose a training plan? I'm interested in hearing about other people's experiences.
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Fighting with the Wii Fit
This week I am spending some time visiting my friend Mike in Philadelphia. A while ago (at the time of its release, actually), Mike ordered a Wii Fit and he just received it this past weekend. So yesterday we eagerly set it up and played with it for a while. Even though I have been pretty awful at everything that has to do with the Wii since I first laid eyes on it (honestly, no one is worse than me at Wii sports. I am also a pro and Mario Kart and cannot win a single race in the Wii version of that game to save my life), I thought that I would probably have a good chance of doing well with a fitness game. WRONG!
The first thing you do when you set up the Wii Fit is have it take your weight and height in order for it to calculate your BMI. Mine is, apparently, just at the cusp of overweight (it is worth stating, I think, that the weight that the Wii Fit gave me was roughly five pounds heavier than I actually weigh) with a BMI of 24.somethingabovefifty. The Wii Fit then tells me I should aim for a healthier BMI of 22 and has me calculate how much weight I have to lose in order to do so--18 pounds! I never even thought I had 18 pounds to lose. That would require me losing muscle mass, I'm pretty sure, and I'm not really in the mood to do that. We are not off to a great start.
The next thing you do is a balance test to figure out your Wii Fit Age. Mine is 39. Yeah, that's right, to the Wii Fit, I am 13 years older than I really am. This result is based on my performance on a balance game. So even though I can make it through 90 minutes of yoga classes (which involve a huge amount of balance) and do balancing poses like tree, eagle, crow, side plank, and warrior 3, I'm 50% older, fit-wise, than I should be. According to a video game.
Needless to say, I was not all that happy. I mean, I know it is just a game, it's not to be taken seriously, but it sort of felt like a real blow. I will see if the Wii Fit and I can make peace with each other. I did have a proud moment when I beat (well, by beat, I mean I got a perfect score) on one of the 'harder' yoga poses, that you have to unlock in order to do. I am, apparently, simultaneously a yoga master (according to the Wii Fit, mind you!) and 39 years old. These are things I never knew about myself.
In other news, I recently registered for another marathon which means there are now two on the horizon (Philadelphia in November and the National Marathon in March '09), and I updated my blog so that I now have links to the blogs of my fellow Virtual Run Club members. I also want to welcome SueWho to the foodie blogosphere and I encourage everyone to welcome her and read her healthy eating ideas! This is the woman who has helped me along the path to healthy eating throughout my life; she is a great cook and comes up with great ways to work healthy food into everyday eating!
I was also tagged by Rachel, and I promise I will follow up on that soon :)
The first thing you do when you set up the Wii Fit is have it take your weight and height in order for it to calculate your BMI. Mine is, apparently, just at the cusp of overweight (it is worth stating, I think, that the weight that the Wii Fit gave me was roughly five pounds heavier than I actually weigh) with a BMI of 24.somethingabovefifty. The Wii Fit then tells me I should aim for a healthier BMI of 22 and has me calculate how much weight I have to lose in order to do so--18 pounds! I never even thought I had 18 pounds to lose. That would require me losing muscle mass, I'm pretty sure, and I'm not really in the mood to do that. We are not off to a great start.
The next thing you do is a balance test to figure out your Wii Fit Age. Mine is 39. Yeah, that's right, to the Wii Fit, I am 13 years older than I really am. This result is based on my performance on a balance game. So even though I can make it through 90 minutes of yoga classes (which involve a huge amount of balance) and do balancing poses like tree, eagle, crow, side plank, and warrior 3, I'm 50% older, fit-wise, than I should be. According to a video game.
Needless to say, I was not all that happy. I mean, I know it is just a game, it's not to be taken seriously, but it sort of felt like a real blow. I will see if the Wii Fit and I can make peace with each other. I did have a proud moment when I beat (well, by beat, I mean I got a perfect score) on one of the 'harder' yoga poses, that you have to unlock in order to do. I am, apparently, simultaneously a yoga master (according to the Wii Fit, mind you!) and 39 years old. These are things I never knew about myself.
In other news, I recently registered for another marathon which means there are now two on the horizon (Philadelphia in November and the National Marathon in March '09), and I updated my blog so that I now have links to the blogs of my fellow Virtual Run Club members. I also want to welcome SueWho to the foodie blogosphere and I encourage everyone to welcome her and read her healthy eating ideas! This is the woman who has helped me along the path to healthy eating throughout my life; she is a great cook and comes up with great ways to work healthy food into everyday eating!
I was also tagged by Rachel, and I promise I will follow up on that soon :)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
What's Next?
You can't go through one marathon (or, in my case, 1/2 marathon) training season without giving any thought to what comes next! I had been split...Marine Corps Marathon? Or the Philadelphia Marathon (which, because it was my first marathon, will always have a special place in my heart)? I was having a hard time deciding, until this morning, when I went to the Marine Corps Marathon website in order to register. And what did I find there, you ask?
SOLD OUT!
I kind of expected it, to be honest. I guess it will have to wait for another year. As for me, I guess this means I'll be running Philly :)
SOLD OUT!
I kind of expected it, to be honest. I guess it will have to wait for another year. As for me, I guess this means I'll be running Philly :)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Blergh
Yuck.
I have a marathon/half-marathon to run in less than a week (Sunday, to be exact) and I don't have the mental strength to make it through 3 miles anymore. My lack of appetite and inability to sleep when I am exhausted are probably also not helping at this point.
So tonight's crappy workout was 3 terrible miles at the indoor track at the school gym followed by a piddling 15 minutes of the Minna Lessig workout. I can't remember the last time I ran more than once a week, and I also can't remember the last time a run hasn't ended in a feeling of complete defeat accompanied by a generous amount of tears.
A word to the wise: don't sign up to run a second marathon after you have just finished running your first unless you have seen the future and you are sure it is something you must, absolutely must, do. If this is not the case, do yourself a favor and take a break. Otherwise, you risk dealing with what I am dealing with right now, which is to say a complete lack of enjoyment from running (something that you once loved more than life itself) and a profound sense of burnout and failure.
I have a marathon/half-marathon to run in less than a week (Sunday, to be exact) and I don't have the mental strength to make it through 3 miles anymore. My lack of appetite and inability to sleep when I am exhausted are probably also not helping at this point.
So tonight's crappy workout was 3 terrible miles at the indoor track at the school gym followed by a piddling 15 minutes of the Minna Lessig workout. I can't remember the last time I ran more than once a week, and I also can't remember the last time a run hasn't ended in a feeling of complete defeat accompanied by a generous amount of tears.
A word to the wise: don't sign up to run a second marathon after you have just finished running your first unless you have seen the future and you are sure it is something you must, absolutely must, do. If this is not the case, do yourself a favor and take a break. Otherwise, you risk dealing with what I am dealing with right now, which is to say a complete lack of enjoyment from running (something that you once loved more than life itself) and a profound sense of burnout and failure.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
New feature from Nike+
Generally, I love Nike+ or whatever you want to call it. Now, there is one exception--I hate the Nike+ armband for reasons I have already stated and that I won't bother to go into again. Although, jeez, I really hate that thing. I mean, what a let down. But I digress.
Today, as I was logging my run (or sort of having my run logged for me automatically because that is what awesomeness does), I noticed that Nike+ has a new feature--training plans! You can choose from a walking-to-running plan, a 5k training plan, a 10k training plan, a half-marathon training plan, a marathon training plan, and a customized plan for an event of your choice. Each distance has different levels of intensity, from beginner to advanced, and each level of intensity comes with a pretty detailed description of the sort of person who would benefit from the plan, why you may or may not want to choose it, and what sort of goal you might accomplish if you choose it. Needless to say, I will definitely be trying one of these out for my next marathon. Or half-marathon. Or even 10k, if I decide I want to run it in a specific time or something. I am sort of inordinately excited about this whole thing.
AND I did 7 full push-ups this evening. So that adds to the excitement!
Today, as I was logging my run (or sort of having my run logged for me automatically because that is what awesomeness does), I noticed that Nike+ has a new feature--training plans! You can choose from a walking-to-running plan, a 5k training plan, a 10k training plan, a half-marathon training plan, a marathon training plan, and a customized plan for an event of your choice. Each distance has different levels of intensity, from beginner to advanced, and each level of intensity comes with a pretty detailed description of the sort of person who would benefit from the plan, why you may or may not want to choose it, and what sort of goal you might accomplish if you choose it. Needless to say, I will definitely be trying one of these out for my next marathon. Or half-marathon. Or even 10k, if I decide I want to run it in a specific time or something. I am sort of inordinately excited about this whole thing.
AND I did 7 full push-ups this evening. So that adds to the excitement!
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