This week may have started with a bang, or rather a fall (see last post), but in the end all went smoothly with really no other drama to report.  When it comes to marathon running, no drama is a very, very good thing… though it doesn’t necessarily lead to exciting training recaps.  Regardless, here is last week in review:

Monday:

• 5k trail running in the shade with the boys, then 2k more, ending up in the lifeguard office at a pool to get my bloody (literally) knee cleaned up.

Tuesday:

• 10k run around my block – yes, my rural block, with 500m tacked on, gives me a 10k route.  I went early, but with a heat advisory it was still stupid hot, especially on the long sections of road with no shade.  I didn’t fall though!
• 5.5k orienteering in the evening.  Even at 6:00 p.m. the humidex was 39C.  I did the course with Luke and was more than happy to to remind him to go slowly in the heat. When he was slow, I got to be slow too!  This was like a very easy going fartlek session (with a lot of sweat!).

Wednesday: off – spent the morning at the beach with the boys

Thursday:

• 17k LSR.  I usually drive into Kanata for my long runs, I find I need to be somewhere where I will see other people, find shady routes and where there are bathrooms that don’t involve avoiding poison ivy.  Unfortunately the moment I pulled into the parking lot of the rec centre a torrential rain began and showed no sign of ending soon.  So instead I headed indoors, ran 10k on the dreadmill, then headed outside into what was now blazing sun, with a heat advisory yet again.  I didn’t hate the treadmill as much as I thought I would, though I have to ask why would a treadmill be made without a fan???  I was trying to figure out how I was getting the control board wet and realized it was from the sweat  flinging off my arms.  Lovely.  I have never split a run before between treadmill and pavement.  Can’t say I’m a fan.  The moment I started running on pavement my legs felt tired and wobbly.  It took about 2k to even find a comfortable rhythm, but after that it was a good run.

Friday:  off

Saturday:

• 6 slow hilly kms
• 2 sets of core exercises on the dock

Sunday:

• I was already at my weekly mileage but couldn’t resist a short 3k run to test out my new shoes.  They must have made me feel fast because even on the sandy and hilly road I managed to run progressively faster, finishing my last km at a 5:29 pace.
• 2 sets of core exercises.
• I also was fed up with looking at the lake and not being on it, so I decided to climb into the kayak and see if I could manage paddling with the cast.  It wasn’t easy, and given the fact I was pretty sore afterwards it may not have been the best activity, but I did manage to do a slow 2kms.

Total: 48.5 km of running, 2 km of kayaking and some core exercises.

Thoughts:

I have kept the majority of my runs at a comfortable pace.  There was a time when I would be panicking about this “easy” pace, but at the moment I think it has been the best way to start marathon training.  I feel like I have a solid base; I only had one run where I felt tired, the rest all felt good.  I am looking forward to each run and mentally I feel like I am doing half of the mileage I am actually completing.  I am also doing most of my runs in areas with hills, and many of them on sandy/dirt/gravel roads.  Because of this, I find when I do make it to pavement my legs want to go faster without any extra effort from me.  As of this week, I will start adding strides and try to pick one run where I will pick up the pace a bit.

Marathon day is 3 months from yesterday, still time to slowly add some speed, but I want to do it in a smart and safe way.