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Marathon Training Week 1: No Stones In My Way

by Megan

My first week of marathon training is complete! I thought it would be fun to do a post each week, giving an update on how training is going. To see all of my posts, visit my Marathon Training Plan for Beginners page!

marathon-training-week-1

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When I posted my training schedule for marathon beginners, I mentioned that I’m following the plan set forth in the book The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer. I thought each week in my posts, I’d summarize the chapter for each week of training, as well as sharing how I’m doing with my own training.

The book devotes one chapter to each week of running training, and each chapter is in three parts. The first part gives advice on mental preparation and techniques, the second focuses on physical preparation, and the third section gives first-hand accounts from the participants of the class who ran the marathon.

Marathon Training Tips: Week One

Mental preparation:

A positive attitude goes a long way! Our brain doesn’t do a great job of distinguishing between reality and perceived reality, so the more we picture ourselves having an awesome run, and the more we mentally think, “This is fun,” the better run and the more fun we’ll actually have.

Physical preparation:

  • This schedule of 16 weeks of training, with four runs per week has been proven to be an effective method of training for the marathon, as long as you get in the training mileage.
  • The most important run of the week is the long run, which increases in mileage each week.
  • There are three rest days each week, and ideally you should have rest days on the days before and after the long run. My long runs are on Saturdays, so I try not to run on Fridays and Sundays. That means I do short runs on Monday and Thursdays, and I can do my medium run on Tuesday or Wednesday, the other day being the final rest day.
  • Get fitted for the right shoes! Everyone’s feet are different, and the kind of shoes that work for one person might not work for another, so it’s worth it to get a professional opinion. I’m ready for a new pair!

This week I did a great job with my short and medium runs. I did my 3 mile, 4 mile, and another 3 mile run. The 4 mile run was the longest I had gone in a very long time. Then Saturday came.

Saturday morning I went out for a drive, with the intentions of mapping out some routes for my upcoming runs. I have great routes for 3 and 4 miles which I’ll be running a lot, and I know where I’ll be running for 6 and 8 miles. On my drive I found a good route for my 5 miler, which I planned to run later that day, and which I’ll be running twice a week in the last half of training, when 5 miles becomes my “short” run!

As I was driving, I started to get a pain in my back, on the right side. I drove home, and Daniel left to get some work done up at the school. The pain started getting worse, and it wrapped around to my front right side as well. I tried a hot bath and a cold ice pack, but nothing relieved the pain. I finally called Daniel and told him I had to go to the emergency room.

I’ve never had a kidney stone before, but I was pretty sure that’s what this was. The pain was right in that area, and I ruled out appendicitis, since it didn’t hurt worse when touched. When I got to the emergency room, they had the same thought.

I was in excruciating pain for a good two hours before I finally got some relief. It seemed to take them forever to get the medicine to me, and when they finally administered some morphine, it didn’t work! That’s how bad the pain was, I guess! They ended up getting me some even stronger medicine, and even that took quite a while to ease the pain. I was still hurting bad when they took me in for a CAT scan, but by the time I got back to my room, the pain was gone, and I dozed on and off. They confirmed that it was a kidney stone, but they said it was small and would pass without much issue. The pain was just from it traveling along its path!

So after about 5 hours in the hospital, I was able to go home, and I’ve felt just fine ever since. Still, I wasn’t sure how a 5 mile run would go over the very next day, but Sunday afternoon I got into my running clothes and headed out on the route I had mapped out, and I did it!

So week one of marathon training is done, and tomorrow it’s on to week two! The short and medium runs are the same (3, 4, and 3), with a long run of 6 miles. I’m excited to continue and push myself to reach these goals. Running is addicting- the more I run, the more I want to run!

Wish me luck on week 2!

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11 comments

Gretchen October 20, 2014 - 7:10am

Whoa! Stop the press! I just found this and I want to do it too!! I’ve got to back up and read and read. I can follow one week behind you. I need and want to do this training so badly.

Reply
Kate October 20, 2014 - 8:03pm

Great job Megan! You are going to rock that Marathon!

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