Building a Base

For the week leading up to the official start of the marathon training, I wasn't exactly sure what to do. I knew I couldn't just not run, but I knew I couldn't kill myself either. I have a tendency to try and do too much at once, so I was trying to stay away from burning out, but I was also really excited and nervous to start marathon training, so I wanted to be sure I was ready.

I knew my training would start with 3 times a week, every other day- starting with 3 miles each day. So I decided to mirror that, running on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, changing the mileage each time. My other goal was for each mile to be faster than the previous one, which is something new for me. It was definitely challenging! Each of my runs were on the treadmill.

Monday, July 1

I tried my best to do negative splits, but the chip in my shoes had died a while ago, so I had to hold my phone in my hand while I ran so it would track. Even though I never went slower on the treadmill, if my hand suddenly stopped going back and forth (to check my phone for my pace, etc.), then it would think that I had stopped overall. This was extremely frustrating!

Wednesday, July 3

This was a hard day. As you can see, I ran at almost 11pm, so I was already tired. I also started out way too fast for what I was used to. And again, I ran into the same problem of holding my phone in my hand. My plan was to run 4 miles, but I decided not to push it.

Friday, July 5

Finally, negative splits! I was really really happy to see these results, especially since I felt like I was really killing myself on the treadmill. I was in a hurry, so I knew I didn't have any time to waste. It's such a good feeling seeing all that green!

After these three runs, I felt ready to tackle my marathon training head-on!

Do you have any tips for building an adequate base after not running for a while?