Marathon journal - week 5: Riverside alumna Hayley Lyons

My First Marathon

Week 5

Intro:  I start my first big girl job this week, which means, as far as running and training go, I’ll be getting up before the sun to get my workouts in.  Luckily, I started training my body for this almost a year ago, when I started forcing myself to wake up before 6 or 7 a.m.  

Monday:  3 miles, weights, abs.

The first day of work arrived this morning.  So many feelings this morning!  Would I love it?  Would my coworkers be nice?  I didn’t want to ask too many questions, but I also didn’t want to be totally confused.  What would happen if I got there, and they realized I’m not qualified for the position?

Ahh!!!  Mostly, I was excited…and prepared.  I mean, I’ve had my outfit picked out for a week.  Waking up was relatively easy this morning, considering I barely slept because of nerves.  I went for a three miler, came home for a cup of coffee and a shower, and headed to work.  I mentioned last week how crazy the traffic was when I was running, but, whoa, it’s even crazier driving.  Apparently people in the city have never heard of blinkers!

Over all, the first day went better than I could have ever anticipated.  I spent the entire day writing and controlling the company’s social media accounts—my forte!  This is a running journal, and not a personal one, though, so I’ll skip to the end of the day.

I arrived home from work, where my boyfriend met me to go to my apartment’s gym.  For months he’s been saying that he would start working out when I moved up here.  Well, I’m here!  We lifted weights, worked out on a few resistance machines, and did so many different ab exercises that I can already feel the sore muscles forming.

All in all, it was a great day, with two very great workout sessions.

Tuesday:  6 miles.

I could smell rain in the air when I stepped out the door this morning.  The wind was building, but I kept my fingers crossed that it would hold off until the end of my run.  The terms “rain” and “hold off” do not belong in the same sentence, though.  I was about two miles away from home when the torrential downpour hit.  I didn’t even consider cutting my run short because I knew that I would want to do nothing after work but relax on the couch.  And, besides, running in rain (rain, not storms) can be really fun.  So I trudged through the mileage, my pace increasing fairly drastically around mile three from adrenaline.  

When I finished, my shoes felt like twenty-pound weights, and I was drenched.  On the bright side, my previously dirty shoes are looking pretty clean now!  

Wednesday:   3 miles.

I took today’s run at an easier pace for recovery,

Thursday:  Off.

Friday:  6 miles.

I’m really proud of my run today.  I really stepped out of my pace comfort zone, and I ran the six miles three minutes faster than I usually do. Before my workout, I mapped a new route on mapmyrun.com.  It’s been a lifesaver for me in the new city!

Saturday:  13 miles.

This was the longest training run so far.  I took advantage of the distance by exploring as many areas of the new city as I could. I ended my run by running through a neighborhood full of colonial-style neighborhood.  As the first official day of fall, the weather was perfect.  All of the beauty of the day resulted in matching my second fastest half-marathon time, outside of a race!

I brought trail mix and non-diluted Gatorade with me.  Both seemed to work, but I think I want to try goo next week.  It takes some definite skill to reach into my FuelBelt, grab a pinch of trail mix, and chew…all while running, and I’m not sure I have that skill!  Regardless, I was again impressed with how much in-run fueling helps.

Sunday:  Off.

Total:  31 miles.

Conclusion:  I was so worried about running before work, but I really had nothing to worry about!  The 5 a.m. wake-up went fine, especially when I reminded myself how nice it would be to come home from work and not have to worry about running.  I also love how focused and awake morning workouts make me for the rest of the day.  The deeper I get into training, the more I look forward to what the next week will bring!