Well, today I helped host a 5k and decided to go out and run it! There has been no training whatsoever for quite some time now, maybe a few months. Typically I swim Mondays and Wednesdays for an hour and lift heavy here and there. I have been doing probably about an hour run once a week or two, but at an easy pace. I have been essentially so busy with school, extracurricular activities, work, and applying to physical therapy school. An easy pace versus today's 5K, lets just say lactic acid hit me quick! :) My unofficial time was about 21:10, which I was honestly fine with considering my lack of training toward 5K's, the extremely windy weather, and lack of runners in the front running sub-20's. OKAY, really I am just out of shape! So, today was a great day for me to motivate myself into starting my marathon training program. I have already paid for my (3rd year in a row) Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon registration. If you have never ran a marathon or a race, FYI it's cheaper if you do so in advance, plus it is a little extra boost of motivation knowing you have a race coming up.
I have ran the PIG three years running now. My first time was my first marathon--essentially I blacked out the last 7 miles, crossed the line and collapsed. Lost my chip so I never had an official time and I didn't look at the clock as I passed out. Friends say it was about 4:20. I learned that I had not performed enough hill runs as the Flying Pig is pretty hilly. During my second marathon, I trained much harder for it. I had planned on qualifying for Boston on it and called it my redemption race. Even if I didn't qualify, but I crossed the line with more awareness than the first---perfect! I decided at the last minute to run with the pace group (7:15)---great group of guys. I was keeping up and thought the pace felt great. Mile 17 approached and I got caught on the inside of the pack around a curb, next thing I knew, I had caught my ankle on the curb/drain and twisted it. I brushed it off and maintained pace. We were so far ahead of running the 3:10:59 that tripping over a curb---not a big deal! :) Unfortunately, a few miles later, my entire right leg cramped up. It was injury related, not lack of nutrition. I assume it was from the sprain, the few leaps I had getting caught up on it, stopping to look at it and continuing that caused the cramping. An object that stays in motion remains in motion. I shouldn't have stopped. But, I continued on, unfortunately my ankle was swollen and discolored pretty bad so I decided to cheer other runners on and ran with a few to help keep them motivated. My time was about 3:40. I did manage to knock 40 minutes off, Thank You!
The third marathon?!? Well, it seems my training paid off as I managed to maintain a 7:15 pace and felt great---thanks, ankle! Unfortunately, the Boston Athletic Association has decided to change the qualification standards for my age group to a 3:05---no 59 second window! So, that's what I will do! B.Q. or Die, right? So, I will up my mileage and intensity a tad! I have also taken up swimming and biking so I am planning to add some hours throughout the week in these areas! I would love to one day speak with someone about setting up a personal training program (nutrition and training based) for myself. Typically, the training program I use is the Runner'sWorld SmartCoach app for my phone.
Does anyone use any types of vitamins, supplements, and so forth? I read some marathoners pick up Whey Protein and Endurance products
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