Welcome to week 6 of our training season. What an awesome meeting Monday night at OK Runner. There was a great turnout with lots of familiar faces and it was so nice to meet some new ones too! In fact, we had nine people join runHers at the meeting!
This week those training for the half marathon will be running 7 miles and the long run for those doing the full will be 10-11 miles. The Frigid Five is taking place this Saturday morning at Mitch Park. Please feel free to work the race into part of your training this weekend. For those not taking part, we will meet at Louie’s on the Lake at 7 am Saturday morning.
Letter from runHers member, Christina Eckert
This is usually the time when mileage starts to increase for those training for both the full and half marathon and it can seem a little overwhelming. Remember, your training plan is just that… a suggested plan. ”A training plan assumes you’re 100 percent, 100 percent of the time,” says running expert and coach Greg McMillan. “Impossible.” Work, family, stress, nutrition, and sleep all affect how you feel on a run. Whether you follow your own daily plan or a race-specific program, whenever stress increases, reduce your normal weekly volume by 10 percent. McMillan says this will give you more “life room” without compromising your training… either taking the miles off a single run or across the week. Don’t be afraid to switch your runs up either. If your child’s soccer game gets rescheduled for an early Saturday morning… run on Sunday… or even Monday. If your plan calls for a rest day, but work was stressful and you NEED a run… run… but rest the next day. I also find it helps to keep a training log. Tom Holland, a sports coach and author says, “The more notes you take the better. The training log is the single most important tool for the self-coached runner.” Besides the obvious of how far you ran, your route, and the time… write down things that influence your run… like the weather, how much you slept, what you ate. Holland says this helps you identify what works for you and what doesn’t. Here’s a look at what I write down after every run (yes I have a bit of OCD! 
(Running/workout Log
Route : 8 Miles Louies to Nichols hills
Interval or race times : 8 miles 1:16:51 (9:36 pace overall, 7:55 best)
Temp : 30
Time of day : 7 am
Morning weight : 120.3 (Yes i’ve gained 6 pounds since San Antonio… i’m trying to get rid of it!!!!) 719 calories burned
Mood : uninspired before
Aches or pains : AWFUL run… ankle sore… stomach queasy… YUCK!
Food before : waffle, PB, banana, diet coke
Partners : kami and tori
Goals :
Ideas/brainstorming :
Notes : Really struggled today… think i started out too fast for me and then really had trouble at the end. glad I had girls to run with or I would have quit long before! Better run next time!)
Be sure during the next few weeks of training to listen to your body. It’s not unusual as the mileage increases to feel a little tired. But if you feel tired and irritable… if running becomes a chore rather than enjoyment… or if your legs feel unusually stiff or sore… its always better to err on the side of caution… and REST! Try not to run back to back days. Especially during this time your body needs rest. And lastly, remember to stay positive. When you have a good day, its no accident. You can’t fake that. Those are the days that represent your true capacity as a runner. On the other hand, bad days are flukes. We all have them (you saw my log from Saturday!) They mean almost nothing so let them go. Reward yourself mentally for the good days. Don’t obsess about the bad.
One final word from the The Runner’s Book of Daily Inspiration … “The main goal of running is not to finish first, or run faster than you ever have before, or beat your competitors, although any one of these can be, at times, a very worthy goal. The main goal of running is to enjoy yourself. Whenever you run, keep that in mind. Everything starts with fun, a sense of play. Lacking that, all is lost. Though runners often work desperately hard at it, most love what they do and get an elemental charge from it. To borrow a line, at the heart of every runner is a little boy or girl. Inevitably some days seem more like work than pleasure. When this occurs, ask yourself, Are you focusing too much on duty and routine, times and mileage? Every day is a good day when you run. Remember that and you’ll be fine.”
Enjoy this training season and remember runHers is for life.
Christina Eckert
