As I reviewed my new training plan I was a mix of excitement for a new challenge and a side bit of fear that I may injure myself in this process. First off it wasn't the overall training load per week that kind of freaked me out, nor was it the interesting mix of hill repeats, speedwork, tempo run and long runs that had me worried; no it was the shear number of days this program called for. 13. 13 Straight days of running. I've never had such a streak and here I sit reviewing a plan that promises to make me achieve my new PB goal of under 2:10 in a half marathon in ten weeks if I can only commit to the work.
The first week went by surprising well. I was happy to mix things up in my routine coming off of marathon training so the new workouts were a treat in variety and shorter time out on the roads. My long run of 13 miles left me a bit stiff, but that wore off after the next day's recovery run. My cross training virtual buddy, Tony Horton and P90X, was shelved as my exercise time was first and foremost going to my new training plan. I still try to work it in, at least twice a week, but by the 9th day doing an extra workout seemed almost sadistic.
I was seriously feeling the burn of this new plan after 8 days straight. Each night I went to bed wondering if I would wake up with incredibly cramped calves or a sudden pain in my foot. No such luck. I reflected on how just a year ago increasing my running days to 4 a week seemed crazy and somehow that gave me more motivation to keep going.
After 10 days I am still going with the plan not only because I want that new PB in the half marathon, but because I don't want to beat myself up if I gave up after completing 10 days of running. I plodded along. Yesterday I ran my final aerobic run. I think it was a wee bit shy of aerobic in effort, but hey I got out there and did it, my 13th day.
Today is a blessed rest day. What did I do? I went to a race...but as a spectator with my 4 year old little girl to cheer on my husband running a 5k in support of Prostate Cancer research :-)
These past 13 days have been a challenge, but that's what I signed up for. If I don't push myself how can I grow into a faster runner? Tomorrow I have another 40-50 minute aerobic run and I'm actually looking forward to starting off a new streak, another 13 days straight. I'm curious to see if these next 13 days will be more difficult or a little bit easier on my body than the last. Time will tell.
