Thou Shall Not Train on Thursdays

What a past four days!!!

My fundraising campaign got going as I sent out my first wave of emails late Sunday night before crashing. By the time I woke up Monday morning at 5:00am I already had my first sponsor (Thanks, Brian and Mel. You guys are awesome!). Also got my first follower for this blog (yo, Matty!) Gotta love my West Coast peeps (did I just say that?)As if I needed much motivation to hit the track for my first run of the program, seeing those early connections got me awfully psyched.

I tried out my first Gu gel pack Monday morning. I never tried one before in training or during a race (more on this in later posts)... this wasn't necessary for my Monday distance, but I wanted to give it a shot. Not terrible, but not bad. With my new Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoes laced up, I hammered out 3 easy miles on the short track at Bally's. 15 laps around the cardio equipment using the middle lane = 1 mile. So I did 45 laps. I know, sounds nuts. But for shorter runs, I really don't mind it. Plus it allows me to really get a feel for how I'm pacing. The most I've ever run on that track was 8 miles (ugh! yes, 120 laps). Rather than run in the rain, I opted for the short track. And for me, I've learned I like running like a hamster around a short track rather than like one on a treadmill in front of the TV.

Following my 3 miles I also got in a decent strength workout. Lori put together a workout for me a while ago to integrate with my training. It kicks ass. And my ass too. Most importantly it takes into account my need for an efficient and effective strength program so I can make sure I get into work on time. Post workout, I weighed in for the first time in a while: 173 lbs. That's my baseline for this marathon program. I know keeping a good weight will be tough. I don't want to dip below 165, and ideally I'd like to hang around 170. Easier said than done in the St. Louis summer.

Monday morning the sponsorships kept rolling in, and before I knew it I was already at more than 20% of my $1,000 goal. My friends and family are so generous, so kind, so supportive! It's not that I didn't necessarily expect it, but it's always humbling to see people get behind a great cause like the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I even got my first sponsorship from an individual I didn't contact directly myself - simply awesome!

5:00am Tuesday morning rolled in. Ugh, already not liking that alarm clock. But I got my tail to the gym. This time 75 laps around the track (5 miles). I felt pretty good, but already started to get a blister on my foot. This is something I often struggle with. I obviously quickly learned not to ever wear cotton socks on a run. I'm blaming the new shoes, and hopefully after a week or so, this will be a non-issue. Even though I was inside, it was warm and humid as hell in that gym. I joked with the maintenance guy as he was working on the thermostat: "You turning the heat up?" It must have been hot, my post-workout weigh-in had me at 171... already down 2 pounds from just 24 hours ago. Better push the fluids.

5:00am Wednesday morning. Damn alarm clock! But got up again, and out the door. This was my first time running three consecutive days since probably my days playing football at Washington University in St. Louis. So it's been a good 12 years. Another 3 easy miles. This time I hit the strength training hard. 45 tough minutes and some exercises I wasn't used to. I even worked my legs (which as my bird legs attest, I rarely do). I'm paying for it all today... still it felt great! Ended up going for a post-dinner walk with Lori and the kids. Man, were my legs feeling it, especially on the uphills pushing that stroller. Probably wasn't the smartest of moves, but Thursday (today) was coming up and...

well, Thursday is a day of rest (applause!!!). Thou shall not train on Thursday's.

Hal Higdon's Intermediate training program calls for five days of running a week and a sixth day cross training. That means there is one day to rest, and he demands it from those using his program. One might even say it's a commandment you do not break. Thursday, which really represents Friday on the training program, is intended to be a recovery day so that you can push hard the next two workouts (a hard run and a long run back-to-back).

So that's where I'm at right now. Those are the details to my first few days of this craziness. I doubt I'll keep up with all this detail as I'm being stupid and staying up almost til midnight writing right now and I have a 5-mile run at marathon pace waiting for me with the 5:00am alarm clock buzzer.

Goodnight and Godspeed!