First Run Since Mid-July

With 2 weeks rest from walking the marathon in Hamilton, and with the custom orthodics ordered, I got back into running this morning. I have not run since mid-July -- only days before I was supposed to run the Nissan 10-miler at the Distillery District here in Toronto. I was so looking forward to finishing that race with the wonderful finisher's medal with a "10" on it: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/nissan/to10AWARDS.htm#finishers

I set my Garmin for 2:1 intervals (repeat = 5). After walking the dog, then power walking for 20 minutes, and stretching, running 2 minutes straight was not difficult and it brought back pleasant memories of 10:1 intervals before I got injured, when I covered a distance of 15K (soooo close to the half marathon distance!). I had to wear ear muffs since it was quite cold outside this morning. Wore a tech shirt and my Running Room jacket -- didn't overdress! I covered a distance of 1.75K in 15 minutes. So far, so good... :-) Today's the Santa Claus parade so I got to see lots of people lined up on the streets waiting for the parade to begin. I'm hoping for a winter of very little snow so I can run.

I dropped by the local Running Room store and bought another pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS7. The price has been marked down to $114.99. I had a 20% off coupon by using my VISA and also had $20 (2 x $10) coupons from the Running Room. Paid $84.87 for the pair of shoes! I've learned my lesson of buying a second pair of the same shoes that works well (before it gets removed from stock). My Brooks Trance 5, which got me through my first marathon as a walker, have been retired from racing (I bought a pair of Trance 6 and then are not the same (!)). The Trance 6 sits in my car trunk and they just don't feel right. As an aside, with 2 Running Room coupons, that means I spend a thousand dollars this past year at the store -- ouch...

I have promised myself (let's see how long I can keep my word) to run slowly. I have also promised myself that I will increase the distance slowly per week. I have signed up for the Resolution 5K Run on December 30th and have 6 weeks to train for that race. I have opted to make my debut to run the half marathon in Mississauga on Mother's Day, giving me 6 months to train for it. The Chilly half marathon in early March only gives me 4 months and I remember how much "fun" being injured was. If all goes well, I hope to run a second half marathon, where else? At the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront in late September. No marathon next year as I need to train slowly to avoid injury. I can eye the Mississauga Marathon in May 2009 for my debut as a runner. If injury resurfaces (even with the orthodics), I may return to training as a walker -- maybe find an ultramarathon walk. Just a thought...I should not think of that unless I must cross that bridge.

There was discussion the past few days of a Running Room instructor who has promised his Learn to Run students that they can run a marathon in a year (by following the training programme of the Running Room). Although this is possible, others have stated that one should take 2 years before running a marathon to build up endurance and train one's body for the rigours of the 42.2K. This reminds me so much of the saying, "Respect the distance." The posting on www.runningroom.com/discussion has since been removed - that's unfortunate since there was good advice provided.

Well...my training as a runner has begun! I will be posting regularly on my blog to update my journey towards the half marathon run in May 2008!