The spring edition of Race Pace Training Diaries follows Jackie, a Race Pace Runner, on her journey of acheiving a big half marathon PR this spring. Learn more about Jackie and her goals here.
I can’t believe how quickly these first six weeks of training have flown by! I’m very happy to be halfway there, and I’ve been thinking about how different I feel today than when I first started training at the beginning of February.
Recovering Faster
For the first three weeks, it seemed like I was sore all the time. I was adjusting to running and cross-training five days a week rather than my usual two or three days, and, well, it hurt. A lot. Let’s just say I was not exactly pleasant to be around, and my husband will definitely agree with that. (Sorry, Joe!) But I’ve noticed that now I’m able to recover much faster, and even if my legs ache after a run, they’re usually fine the next morning. I was so surprised that even after my most recent 8-mile long run, my legs felt okay the next day, and they felt even better after slogging through a short recovery run.
Having More Confidence
Feeling stronger has definitely boosted my confidence levels in recent weeks. I like seeing my muscle development from all the strength work I’m doing, and repeating certain exercises like planks and lunges helps me see how much I’ve improved so far. Plus, having the race day in sight motivates me through workouts when I’m feeling tired or lazy. I get pretty anxious about long runs and speed workouts, and often have trouble sleeping the night before, but then I get through them just fine and wonder why I was so worried in the first place! I know all the hard work I’m putting in now will help me through 13.1 on April 27.
Fueling All. The. Time.
I’ve always had a fast metabolism and a big appetite, but I had forgotten just how much I need to eat when I’m running all the time. I pack my lunch every day, and it’s been a bit of trial and error to figure out how many healthy snacks I need to bring to avoid an afternoon vending machine run. Fueling has become a big part of my weekly training, and whether I run in the morning or afternoon I have to plan and pack accordingly. I also started bringing shot blocks on my longer runs, and that seems to work well, but I find them a little hard to eat and I have to chew them like crazy so I don’t choke! Still, I like the smaller portions better than the goos, so I’ll stick with them.
Overall, there have been ups and downs for these first six weeks, but I feel like I’m finally getting into a good running and training groove. 6 weeks to go!
Glad to hear that your training has been going well! Haha one of the perks of training is eating more 😉 I swear, I get hungry like every two hours during the peak of my training!
Ah yes the wonders of a constant hunger when training 🙂 Glad to hear training is going well!
I cut my shot blocks in half and put them in a snack size Baggie for my long runs. Cuts down on my fear of choking, easier to chew, and the Baggie seems to not make the zip pouch of my water bottle holder as sticky as the shot block wrapper. 🙂
That’s exactly what I did this past week for my 10-miler, and it worked really well! I also saw something on Runner’s World that suggested pinning one side of the baggie to the inside of your waistband, and I want to give that a try next time. 🙂
Go Jackie! I can empathize with the never ending hunger when training. Have to remind myself that food is fuel. I hope you are fueling with good, whole, nutritious foods and not cake and ice cream 😉 if only our bodies were fueled by ice cream 🙂
Great job! I, too, like blocks and chews the best. However I hate hate hate sticky hands and carrying around baggies. I usually end up gagging down goos. I hope you find a good solution. If you take up distance cycling, honey stinger waffles are quite tasty. 😉
Thanks for all the encouraging comments! I’m glad to see I’m not alone in my training-induced constant hunger!