First week of new training schedule
Last week concluded my first week of marathon training for Dublin. This time my training plan is based on a schedule that I downloaded from the official Dublin Marathon website (www.dublinmarathon.ie). This first week was just a warm-up, with five 3-mile runs on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
The first day of training on Monday was tough, tough, tough. This was more down to the fact that I hadn’t prepared properly by going to bed late the previous night, getting up early that morning and skimping on my warm-up because I was running behind. Bad idea. Following my usual route, once I left Northstead Manor Gardens at Burniston Road, my legs weren’t playing ball. They felt about as flexible as iron and as heavy as lead. So I gave up around that point and walked home. When you’re in that situation, there’s no point punishing yourself by continuing running. It’s better to save your energy for the next session.
My next run on Wednesday was much better, probably because this time I didn’t skimp on warm-up exercises or have a late night beforehand. I’m not going to say it was easy, but it was easier to get into a rhythm which carried me through.
On Thursday it got even better and I felt that Thursday’s run was just a little bit easier. So it looks like that base training has done me the power of good.