I used to run in Middle school and High school as a sprinter. The longest distance I ever ran was 400m; and, that was under duress! So how did I end up training for a marathon?
In the Summer of 2007, I decided to start running again. I really had not run at all since High school, which was a few years ago. I started back using the Couch to 5K program (C25K). I enjoyed the program; completed it, and ran my 1st 5K in December 2007. That was the LONGEST distance I had ever run in my entire life. It was exhausting and fun. And, I knew I wanted to run more.
I ran the Gate River Run (15K) in March 2008. I walked much of it. My only true training in running had been back in HS as a sprinter. That training amounted to: “run fast”. So, that’s all I knew. I could not run more than 3 miles without walking and I could not figure out why. So, I turned to a good friend and marathon runner (and now a RRCA certified coach) for help. His first advice, “slow down, way down”. That, to me, made no sense at all. I wanted to improve my terribly slow time on my 1st 5K, after all. And, I now wanted to run a ½ marathon in October 2008. Would I even be able to finish it if I slowed down?
“Run slower to run faster,” he said. That was the nuttiest thing I had ever heard. I ignored it and ran all my training runs at my race pace. The result? I was exhausted after every run. I could not run more than 3 miles without stopping and walking, and I was beginning to get injured. I finally decided to listen, and try it his way.
The first time I really slowed down to a calculated long-distance pace for me (which was so slow that I knew walking would be faster), I was able to run 6 miles without stopping! I was in shock. I wasn’t overly tired, and the run was enjoyable. This same friend put together a training schedule for me to follow to be able to run the ½ marathon. I had a million non-stop questions such as: what is a stride? what is a tempo run? what is training pace?
At this point, he kindly suggested I join a running club or group. I resisted at first, feeling I was in NO WAY good enough for that. Those running groups were all elite runners, right? Wrong. They were all people like me who wanted to improve their running times or endurance, and wanted the social connection of running with like-minded friends.
Before I knew it, I had become part of a marathon training program.
In the Summer of 2007, I decided to start running again. I really had not run at all since High school, which was a few years ago. I started back using the Couch to 5K program (C25K). I enjoyed the program; completed it, and ran my 1st 5K in December 2007. That was the LONGEST distance I had ever run in my entire life. It was exhausting and fun. And, I knew I wanted to run more.
I ran the Gate River Run (15K) in March 2008. I walked much of it. My only true training in running had been back in HS as a sprinter. That training amounted to: “run fast”. So, that’s all I knew. I could not run more than 3 miles without walking and I could not figure out why. So, I turned to a good friend and marathon runner (and now a RRCA certified coach) for help. His first advice, “slow down, way down”. That, to me, made no sense at all. I wanted to improve my terribly slow time on my 1st 5K, after all. And, I now wanted to run a ½ marathon in October 2008. Would I even be able to finish it if I slowed down?
“Run slower to run faster,” he said. That was the nuttiest thing I had ever heard. I ignored it and ran all my training runs at my race pace. The result? I was exhausted after every run. I could not run more than 3 miles without stopping and walking, and I was beginning to get injured. I finally decided to listen, and try it his way.
The first time I really slowed down to a calculated long-distance pace for me (which was so slow that I knew walking would be faster), I was able to run 6 miles without stopping! I was in shock. I wasn’t overly tired, and the run was enjoyable. This same friend put together a training schedule for me to follow to be able to run the ½ marathon. I had a million non-stop questions such as: what is a stride? what is a tempo run? what is training pace?
At this point, he kindly suggested I join a running club or group. I resisted at first, feeling I was in NO WAY good enough for that. Those running groups were all elite runners, right? Wrong. They were all people like me who wanted to improve their running times or endurance, and wanted the social connection of running with like-minded friends.
Before I knew it, I had become part of a marathon training program.
Coach Chris gets us started on those early Saturday mornings.
