Week 1 Key Run #1

Yay! Today marks the first day of the first week of my 18-week marathon training program! Fingers crossed, I will remain injury-free and be able to run my first marathon as planned - nearly one year after the one to which I originally aspired.

For Key Run Workout #1 this week, I ran:

• 10 minute warm-up
• 6 x (1 minute fast then 3 min easy)
• 10 minute cool-down

Key Run #1 is based on a pace faster than your current 10k pace. As I have not run a 10k recently, I used my recent half marathon time to predict a 10k time and then adjust for the Key Runs. My pace for the fast part is supposed to be approximately 8:22/mile. I realized that keeping track of pace and time at the same time using my Nike Plus is rather challenging, so I just used it first to try to figure out my pace and then maintain that pace through all the fast sections. However the Nike Plus is also not quite good enough at showing me how well I did.

I've never been a fast runner or good at shorter distances, so for me and 8:22 pace is nearly as fast as I can run anyway. It was challenging and definitely resulted in a bit of wheezing. I really need to get myself to a doctor to get my asthma better under control.

I did enjoy the run though as it broke up the monotony of my usual runs. The distance was pretty typical for me, but it seemed to go by much faster with all the mini blocks of time and paces throughout.

I'm still looking forward to this training plan, although I might join a running group again for some harder track workouts and new long run locations, so I might rely on a modified FIRST training plan instead. Either way, I'm hoping to Run Less, Run Faster.

Overall:

• 4.5 miles
• Average pace 10'09" (including several lovely traffic light stops)