Week One: NYC Marathon Training

My first week of training did not go as planned. I have worked really hard getting to this point and being very mindful of my achilles injury. As mentioned in my last post, I ended up with a calf strain during a training run which required several days off from running. But, I felt that I had taken enough time off to begin my first week of training for the NYC Marathon.

Day one was a rest day, but I did attempt to run three miles on day 2 of my training plan. I did okay but felt my calf tightening up as I was climbing (very slowly) up a hill. I ended up having to stop and walk the rest of the way home.

 

On day 3, I was in flight to NC so it was the perfect time to take another rest day. Once I got settled at my Mother’s home in NC, I once again attempted to run. My calf had been feeling fine while walking, and I had brought my mini foam roller to help with the tightness.

 

I had similar weather to Alaska as far as cloudiness goes but definitely much warmer and humid! I can’t imagine how runners workout in this kind of weather on a regular basis. It was warm in Alaska, but we don’t have the humidity to contend with. Anyway, I was only able to run a very slow 2 miles. Now, I am starting to get very worried because I only have 18 weeks and I can barely run 2 miles.

The following day, we had a long drive to my sister Teena’s home in Yorktown, Va so I took that as yet another day to recover. Once in Va, I got ready to run the next morning knowing that I may just have to walk instead. Walking doesn’t seem to bother my calf and at least I am getting some exercise which was a good thing, because I was not able to run that day after all. So my husband and I walked the battle fields of Yorktown.

 

By this time, I had decided that there was no point in pushing myself to run with my calf feeling tight and sore. So, I decided to take the rest of the week off from running and enjoy my trip.

The following day, we decided to go to Colonial Williamsburg and had a blast! I love the history of this area as well as Yorktown and really enjoyed my trip with my husband, Scott and my grandson, Tylor.

 

We had a real treat on our last day in Yorktown. Right before we were going to leave, the George P. Coleman Memorial swing bridge opened up to allow this ship to pass through. It was pretty awesome!

It was sad to leave my Sister’s, but I had a great time seeing everybody. I was a little bummed because her husband, Jose, and my brother Terry and his two sons, Robert and John, are all runners and I didn’t get a chance to run with them 🙁 but I really enjoyed seeing them all.

We spent a day on the road back to NC where we had another couple of days with my Mother before heading back to Alaska. I will take another couple of days off and see how things go after that. I am starting to feel a little stressed about not being able to run, but I think there is still time to train for this marathon.