Training

I haven't talked about running lately. I'm still running. Here's my training schedule.

I've registered for a 10-miler in April (The Chardonnay run) and my 2nd half marathon in May (the Wine Country Half)...hm...seems to be a wine theme, even though I don't plan on drinking. I LOVE wine, but not after running 10-13 miles.

I'm all geared up with new running shoes, my new Garmin 305 (great for tracking mileage) and a case of Gu (thanks to Monica and Pete). My 8-mile pace has been around 10:15 to 10:20/mile. My best pace at this distance was the 8.3 mile leg I ran in the marathon, at 9:50.

My goal for these two races is to finish one of them on an average 10:00/mile or better. Really, my primary goal is to finish and not be in severe pain, and not to injure myself. It may sound silly, but I am turning 40 this year, and I don't have a runner's build. For me to do that I have to work pretty hard at training, stretching, yoga. I have to be careful about my hips and my hamstrings. Despite running regularly since this time last year, and being at a long run of 8 miles/ week for months, I still have issues with my heart rate. My resting heart rate is the lowest its ever been, at 59 bpm. But when I run, my heart rate gets to be 190+ pretty easily when I aim for 10:00 miles or better.

But if I could do that AND beat 10:00, that would be great. So I am incorporating more pace runs (intervals) and tempo runs (race pace) into my week. I am still sticking to 3 runs/week.