I’ve been slacking on running/blog updates lately.

Here’s my recap of the first and second week of marathon training for the Detroit Free Press Marathon:

Week 1:

Week 2:

(Click the above spreadsheet image to see it larger.)

Combining week 1 & 2:

• runs:  7
• miles this week: 21.4
• miles total: 30.4
• GPP workouts: 2
• Yoga workouts: 0 (starting this week!) 
• tears: 0 (so far)

Training feels like it is going pretty well, surprisingly. I’m hesitant to talk too much about it because I don’t want to jinx myself, but…  I’m feeling good. <—That’s all I’ll say for now.

I think the biggest key for me in this training cycle is going to be finding the right mix of running/rest and easy/hard runs. I have a tendency to want to go balls to the walls on every run, but that doesn’t work for my body. I’ve been making sure to pull back a little on “EZ” runs and just enjoy being out and moving.

This morning I woke up early to run with some friends at Izu English Running Club. This running club meets once a month and enjoys an easy 5 or 10K loop with breakfast afterwards. It was nice to slow down and run with some others—admittedly I am not very good at running in crowds, which is why official races always leave me feeling anxious. I figured today was a good trial for running with more than 1 or 2 other friends.

I think there are some “trial” races around Ann Arbor before my marathon, so I am going to look into those. It seems they would be good to practice pacing for race day.

Post-running club this AM I took this year’s first ice bath. Not the most pleasant experience, but it really does help with flushing out your muscles and speeding the healing process. I was feeling a little sore from yesterday’s long run, coupled with this AM’s EZ run, so I thought an ice bath was a smart move.

This week will make my fourth week of training (I started with Week 0), so I am going to do a step-back week to try and prevent injury.

My training approach

With my first marathon I found a training plan and did my best to stick with it 100%. I missed a few runs here and there, but, for the most part, if my plan said XX miles on Saturday, I ran XX miles on Saturday. This time around I have a general plan, but I am being much more flexible with myself and letting my body be the guide.

I have an idea of what key runs I need to get in before race day to make sure my body is prepared to tackle 26.2 miles, but nothing is in “permanent marker.” I’m finding this way of training to be less stressful and more enjoyable—if my body isn’t up for 6 miles next week I will cut back. If it’s feeling good and up for more than 6 miles, I’ll do a bit more.