As of Sunday I've officially hit the one month mark with my training for my second Cherry Blossom Ten Miler! I am SO excited for this race, and knowing that we're almost at the one month mark until the race I am so ready. For me, I love a race distance that is 10k+ since it gives you a chance to hit a good stride, enjoy your surroundings and really have a sense of accomplishment afterwards. (Granted, a 5k is no small feat, but once you see what the training program entails...you'll see why a 5k is no big deal.)
I've been following the free virtual training plan that is sent out everyday via email by official coaches for the race. They had three options--beginner, intermediate and advanced. I chose the intermediate plan since before training I had been running at least a 5k 3 days a week with a long run on the weekends. The plan is definitely difficult, but doable. (I guess the better word would be "challenging"?) Now that I'm in the thick of training, it has you running at least a 5k 4 days a week and a steadily increasing long run on weekends. Fortunately it also gives you a range of distances (like on most days you have to run 3-5 miles 3 days a week, speed work is 4-6 miles 1 day a week, then you get your long run) so if you're having a good day you can run a little further. The plan has two rest days worked in--Mondays and Fridays. Which means on Tuesdays in addition to my usual boot camp class, I also have to run 3 miles. (To be honest, I'm starting to think it helps with the post-workout soreness!)
For the most part following the plan has been easy. With every email there are little tips (but at this point they're starting to repeat themselves) and in one they said if you have to skip an easy run day it's no big deal. It's definitely nice knowing that, because there has been one day that was rather packed with doctors visits and errands so I didn't have time to run and no other time I could squeeze it in. And this week, my speed workout has been sidetracked slightly due to a cold that finally made its way to me. (Last week my husband was fighting it.) Fortunately though since it's all in my head (no cough, just a runny nose) I should be able to run, but take it easy. Now if only my body would let me stay awake long enough to run! (I took two naps yesterday, which is basically unheard of for me. I wasn't a fan of sleeping that much, but my cats sure were happy for the snuggle time!)
At this point, I'm hoping to be able to come in at under my previous finishing time of 2:01:13. According to several pace calculators based on my average pace during training runs, I should be able to easily beat it! My pace the first time I ran the race was 12:07, and my long runs (the longest being 7.2 miles at this point) have been close to a full minute under that with the most recent 7 mile run being an average pace of 11:05. I'm hoping to have a finishing time of close to 1:50:00, which means my race pace will have to be close to 11:00 for the whole race. I'm feeling fairly confident that I'll be able to keep that up, but only time will tell! Fortunately I at least have one race (a 5k) a couple of weeks before the Cherry Blossom to help with my pre-race jitters. (A smaller race before the big one always seems to help me feel better about the larger distance races.)
38 days till the Cherry Blossom!
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