I completed the second day of my six month marathon training program last night. A 2-3 mile run RPE-L. I only have one issue - it's tough to determine my own low, medium and high rates of perceived excursions. I set the treadmill at 6.5 miles an hour, and felt that I was getting nothing out of it, so for mile number 3 I upped it to 6.6 mph. (This means my pace per mile ranged from 9:13 to 9:05). This should be slow for me, considering a few years back my 5k pace ranged from 6:30 to 6:40 minutes per mile. I know I am nowhere near that 5k pace right now, so it's tough to determine where I stand for a true 5k race pace. I also need to take into account my natural ability along with 15 years of experience as a runner. I am sure things will fall into place, but I want to make sure I don't do too much and burn out before May 26th.
A tough thing for me to do psychologically is not pay attention to the people on the treadmills around me. I'll look at the person next to me and think to myself, "I can do that too..." but it's tough for me to bear in mind that they might just be doing a plain old workout or have different goals in mind. I'm not going for speed, but for eventual distance. I need to keep that in mind, or my training will become disastrous.
I'm actually hoping for some warmer days. I misplaced my sweat absorbing athletic gloves. My fingers and toes turn blue in the cold (a definite issue for me this time of year in Buffalo). It's called Raynaud's Syndrome. It's not terribly debilitating for me, but an issue nevertheless. There's the more critical issue of my IPGs and running on potentially icy surfaces - which my neurosurgeon warned against. If I slip, fall and break one of my generators, I'm screwed. I would need to go into surgery for IPG replacement. Still, training in my neighborhood is so much better than on a treadmill. It would be just me and my Garmin - no one else psyching me out and making me feel that I need to run faster.
In other news, I officially bowed out of coaching Girls on the Run for the spring season. I will miss it tremendously. Unfortunately, with the way my dystonia is progressing, I am afraid that if I do not train for and run a marathon now, I never will. I need to complete just one marathon in my life; just one. I had so many goals in life that simply were destroyed when I got sick - completing a marathon is one I refuse to give up on.
I do not have the time or energy to both coach and train. I have learned to accept that I cannot take on the same level/amount of responsibilities that healthier people can, and I also will never have the energy I used to have. These are the cards I have been dealt, and I need to use them wisely.
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