“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you”.
(Fred Devito)
The Walk into the Future blog continues to move towards my first full marathon in December. I provided a Week #5 training update and promised a follow-up in Week #10. Well, I’m still training, and the 2022 Palm Beaches Garden of Life Marathon is fast approaching. I don’t say that with an ominous tone, but a matter-of-fact opportunity is coming up. It’s exciting and a bit scary at the same time.
The 18-week training journey I’m on has passed the halfway point. There are days when my legs feel the full impact of the training journey and others when my legs are completely fresh and ready to run. I am still learning how to balance the training and recovery phases to improve this process.
My training plan is designed to build up the mileage base to keep my mind and body adjusting to the opportunity to run and complete a 26.2-mile race. The body remains willing but there are days when I struggle to mentally prepare for my runs. I’m balancing full-time work, consulting, writing and an active Walk into the Future. Not complaining but there are days when I want to hit the snooze button and not get up on a Tuesday for a 5 am run. Tough life, I know. LOL.
Here’s an update of my actual training miles for this portion of the training plan:
- Week #6: 30.95 miles
- Week #7: 36.16 miles
- Week #8: 33.47 miles
- Week #9: 33.16 miles
- Week #10: 33.19 miles
I’m logging the miles and look forward to seeing how this process helps me toe the line and complete the 26.2-mile journey. I run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and tackle my long run on Saturdays. I started incorporating 5k races on Saturdays to jump-start my long runs with some speed work on the front end. I seem to do better when I have a race or other folks around me so will continue to leverage races within my long runs.
My next race is the 2022 Game-On! Run Hutchinson Island Half Marathon in Fort Pierce. Happy to have a hometown race but this limits my ability to be a running tourist. A fun fact for this race is the course is run on Seaway and Ocean drives in Fort Pierce—most of my training runs occur on Seaway and Ocean drives in Fort Pierce. Interested to see how the course is supported by locals on the island—hoping to have a few folks out cheering us on like the larger races I write about—we will see.
I have leveraged my exercise bike when needed to get some training miles in when it rains or I’m short on time. I will eliminate this from my training program moving forward since I’m not sure these miles are helping my body prepare for what is coming in December. It feels good knowing I’m putting in miles but not seeing a direct translation when I’m out doing road work. Today was a 17-mile training run and I got in 14 which is not bad but not the targeted mileage. Will have to add another run tomorrow to get the remaining 3 miles in to complete the week. Yes, runners are a different breed but it’s easier to put miles in now than get to December and not be able to perform or finish.
I am building up to my Week #15 20-mile-long run which will be the longest of this training program. The mileage starts to trend down after Week #15 to reset the legs and ensure they are fresh for race day.
I’m still enjoying the process and look forward to seeing how the rest of the training program transforms my mind and body.
The opportunity is real and I’m ready to Walk into the Future with a huge running finish! 😊
What are you training for?
“There are no shortcuts in marathoning, so anyone who is a marathoner has worked hard”.
(Jeffrey Horowitz)
Walk Into the Future 