Sunrise Run

This morning I woke up around 5, and after realizing I wouldn't fall back asleep, I headed out for a 30-minute run on the roads near my house. It was cold out (probably high 20's), but I was able to see the sun rise and get in a good workout during a time when I would otherwise be sleeping, so that was great.
Yesterday I got the marathon books I ordered (Galloway's and Higdon's), along with the Volumetrics book by Dr. Barbara Rolls. She's an expert on eating behaviors - a friend of mine from graduate school worked with her as a post-doc - and this book is based on her research that suggests that we naturally tend to eat the same volume of foods every day, rather than the same number of calories. So if we can pick foods with high volume and low calories, we will feel satisfied on fewer calories. It's a very interesting read so far, and it helps me to know that it's all based on sound scientific research. Hopefully it will be relatively easy to implement her ideas...of course, Galloway recommends against dieting while training for a marathon, but I guess a lot depends on how you define "dieting." ;-)

Ready for a Rest Day

I've now completed Week 1 of my marathon training program. I had planned to do my long run today, with a rest day yesterday, but when I saw the forecast, I changed my plans. Yesterday was beautifully sunny, and today was cloudy with drizzle and wet snow. I had a very inspiring run yesterday, and even though it was very hilly it didn't feel bad at all, especially with the short walking breaks.
We spent a LOT of time outside with the kids this weekend, which was wonderful. They have been exploring the woods on our property, making makeshift forts in fallen-over tree trunks, etc. We are very lucky to live in a situation where we are out in the country (we own 6-1/2 acres that are surrounded on 3 sides by undeveloped land), but also in a small development with other houses, so our kids have friends to play with just by walking out the front door. It's really a nice combination of rural and suburban-type lifestyles. And I have great rural roads to run on, although they are ALL hilly!
I am really liking this schedule so far, but was definitely ready for a rest today after 6 consecutive days of working out (walk, run, walk, run, Lifecycle, run).
One of these days I need to start scoping out fall marathons...

Signs of Spring

Went outside for my second run of the week this morning. It was close to 40 degrees, and the air actually felt like SPRING, even though there is still snow on the ground. Saw several deer, who seem to hide in the winters around here and come out in the spring. The only real problem was that the roads are still covered with dust and sand from the sand trucks, and I got a mouthful of the dust whenever a car went by - luckily this only happened 5 times during my 30-minute run.
I've been alternating 3 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking, and it's working great. As Galloway's approach promises, I'm actually ending up with about the same overall pace that I would by running continuously, since I have more energy for the running parts. I suspect I'll get to the point where I'll do my shorter weekday runs continuously (without walking breaks), but for now I'm taking the conservative approach.
Kids are home tomorrow, so I might have to wait until Saturday to get my third walk of the week in, followed by a "long run" (only 3 miles, since this is the first week) on Sunday.

Starting a Schedule "Just in Case"

Well, I started doing Galloway's "Beginner" 27-week marathon training program this week. For those of you not familiar with it, the basic principles include taking walking breaks during your runs (especially the weekly long run) and increasing your long run by a mile each week, while holding the other runs at about the same level. It's tailored to people who can't take a ton of time to do more traditional marathon training, and the walk breaks are supposed to help prevent injury. I'm still waiting to get his book I ordered to get more detail about the program (I just got the basic program off his web page), but the first week fit in well anyway with the amount of training I've been doing, so I figured it couldn't hurt to do it.
Assuming it still seems sound after I read more about it, this might actually be do-able for me. It means there would only be one day a week - probably Sunday - when I'd have to spend a significant amount of time running as I get closer to a fall marathon date. And it has me exercising 6 days a week (running on 3 days, walking or cross-training on the others), but only for 30 minutes on 5 of the days, and I think that frequency is best for health benefits anyway.
So, at this point, I'm excited. I can adjust the frequency of the walking breaks if the long runs seem to get too long too fast. Now to pick a fall marathon...

Crazy Contemplations

Another day, another kid home sick from school...When is spring going to get here?!
Anyway, after saying I wasn't even going to start a 5K race training program yet, I'm now giving some thought to trying one of Galloway's 27-week marathon training programs to train for a fall marathon this year. I need to look it over some more (I've ordered both Galloway's and Higdon's marathon training books), but the starting point seems quite do-able given where I am now, so it's just a question of whether it ramps up too quickly and I would get injured. But Galloway seems pretty good about rest and injury - including walking breaks, etc. And sometimes I think that if I wait for the PERFECT time to train for a marathon, it will never happen. I've been spending so much time on supporting the rest of my family lately (crazy schedule for husband's medic class and other activities = lots of single-parent time for me with the kids) that I feel like I would really like something to focus on for myself.
I've done a half-marathon before, and finished strong (although slow). And maybe I need this kick in the pants to drop the weight and really get a regular running program established. I haven't made a final decision yet (I'm very analytical), but the thought is there and I'm doing the research...
Any advice welcome!

Forced Rest Week

After finishing my 9-week running program on Saturday, with a 30-minute treadmill run, I haven't run a step since. I came down with a cold/flu-type virus on Sunday and have had almost no energy since then. This morning I woke up with pinkeye, which I was just waiting for after my daughter got diagnosed with it on Monday. So, I'm letting my body rest, and getting mentally psyched up to start a new 4 day/week running schedule this coming week. The timing is good because the college where I teach will be on spring break, so I'll have more flexibility than usual to get my runs in.
It would also help for motivation to get rid of the January-type weather we've been having! It's discouraging to look at the 7-day forecast and see snowflake symbols on EVERY SINGLE day coming up.
I've definitely been grumpy this week, and while it could be explained by being sick, being up with my sick daughter several times each night, the weather, etc., I think I'm also missing the mood lift I get from running. So I'm looking forward to a strong and steady return next week. And hopefully I'll also have time to blog and read blogs, both of which I've been too exhausted to do this week!

Lots O' Snow

We got about 8" of snow last night, followed by another several inches today. The kids had a snow day, having had one day of school yesterday after being off all last week! I actually enjoyed having them home again, and spent about 2 hours outside in the snow with them this afternoon.
After looking at a few 5K race training programs, I've decided I want to hold off and build more of a foundation before starting on one of them - even though I could probably run a 5K even now, I'll enjoy it more with more training and maybe being a few pounds lighter ;-). In the past I've had times when I've ramped up my mileage too quickly, then ended up burning out before the race. So I'm going to spend a month or two just gradually increasing my mileage (~10%/week) and increasing my runs to 4 days/week instead of 3. So, after finishing 3 days of 30-minute runs this week, I'll run 4 days next week, with runs of 20, 30, 10, and 40 minutes. Then 22, 33, 11, and 44 the next week. And so on. This type of program has worked well for me in the past; it's basically based on Galloway's ideas. Those really short runs are hard to psych up for, but I can round them out to 30 minutes with walking, and they're basically placeholders to make me get used to finding time 4 days a week to run.
Off to watch the weather channel, to see if the kids are going to be home again tomorrow...if so, I'll have to be creative in figuring out how to get my run in!