Training Starts... NOW

Having a goal and a time line is an interesting thing for a procrastinator. I've always been a huge procrastinator and in the past it has helped me to sit down and draw up a complete and detailed - and I mean detailed, as in penciling in time to shower and eat - schedule of events. Usually this happened during college finals when I suddenly realized I had 7 finals to cram for and about 25 homework assignments to make up in about 2 weeks' time (see? procrastination at its best).

This 11k is turning out to be not all too different. I'm very proud of the 5k I've so far been able to run, though on a treadmill, but I'm not even half way there. Five weeks would seem like enough time for homework and cramming, but that's just brain-work; this is brain-work, leg-work, lung-work... exhaustion. To be honest, I'm kind of, sort of, maybe, just a little bit nervous. Especially since this week has not been a very successful and progressive training week. But I have a schedule and a new place to run.

My husband, Nate, wrote me a training regimen. It's going to be a b*tch! I'm going to be running 4 times a week, mixing speed-work, pacing and endurance. I only have 5 weeks, but the week before the race you're apparently supposed to rest up a bit - run, but nothing too strenuousness - so it's really only 4 weeks to be able to run 11k. Every week I have to go up at least a kilometer and a half or so to make it to 11 in 4 weeks. All I can say is it's good to have a strong runner who loves me to back me up and send me through boot-camp, otherwise I would surely fail. Plus, we just figured out how to get access to the local university's track, so we'll be able to do outdoor runs while gauging exact distance.

It's going to be a loooooooooooong 4 weeks!

Nate in the Jerusalem Marathon March 2012