First Week of Training

Today I completed my first official training run. It was also my first run for a couple of weeks and I have had niggling knee pain for the last couple of days so I wasn't expecting much. I ended up having a pretty nice run, and a much faster pace than normal - yay!!! I ended up running 4.38 miles in 37 mins, or a 9:34 min/mile pace.

I always take my iPhone when I run and it tracks my time and pace against a GPS map using iMapMyRun. I have to admit it's not 100% accurate, and sometimes I look down and apparently I've run right through buildings, but for the most part it is good enough to give me an estimate of how far, and how fast I am running. I'll provide more of an review of it, and any other apps I use later. I used to have a Nike Plus device which I loved because it provided a great visualization of your pace across the whole run. I forgot about it, until I discovered that the iPhone 4 has the app built in, and all you need is a sensor. I rummaged under the bed and found my old running shoes which had my old sensor in there. I could not find any pouch to attach it to my shoe, so I just kind of tucked it into my shoe laces. BAD IDEA!!! It lasted a whole 1 minute and 7 seconds. Oh well.

This week commences my first week of proper training. I am following the Hal Higdon Novice Training Plan, as recommended by Dory. I only have 6 weeks, so I'm having to dive right in. Here's how my plan looks this week:

Monday: Core Fusion and Core Fusion Yoga
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednesday: 2 mile run and Core Fusion
Thursday: 4 mile run and yoga
Friday: REST DAY!!!!
Saturday: 6 mile run (eeek!!) and yoga
Sunday: Core Fusion and yoga

I really, really hope I can stick to this. I'm planning on doing my runs first thing in the morning before I go to work, as I find it hard to run after work - I just get so tired then. My other big concern is that I absolutely love, love, going to Core and yoga, and I need to be careful I don't over do it, or I'll just end up fatigued. I spend every Saturday morning in Central Park walking my dog Moose, so I'm planning on doing my long run on the actual race course to get me used to it. I'm dreading those hills!!!

More to come through the week as I attempt to stick to my training plan.