My second week of FIRST started today with 4x800 meter intervals at a 6:54 pace. Last week I was not able to keep up with the 3x1600m 7:09 intervals, and was determined to get closer this week. My 800 meter time was supposed to be 3:27, and I logged 4 intervals at 3:30, 3:28, 3:30 and 3:29. Sweet! Maybe I can do this interval stuff after all. I think what really helped me is that I walked the 2 minute rest interval. Last week I jogged, and I just wasn’t able to regroup fast enough.
I am pretty beat though. I crossed trained pretty hard yesterday. (So there Lia =) )Right now I’d say cross training is harder on me than an 8 mile easy run. I am just so much more used to running. That will change I think, but right now the cross training isn’t a breeze.
The one thing I failed to notice about FIRST is that there are no easy weeks. Ever. My previous schedule built up for 3 weeks and then had an easy week. Not with FIRST. My long runs are 13, 15, 20, 18, 20, 13, 18, 20, 15, 20, 10 and then marathon. Yikes. No resting there. I will be camping on 3 or 4 of those long runs too, which will be interesting. The pacing varies on the long runs, but they will still not be a problem. The hardest is a 13 miler at PMP (Projected Marathon Pace) on 9/16 which will be just 5 seconds per mile faster than the half marathon I raced a few weeks ago.
I am really curious to see if this FIRST thing will work for me. Even if it does, with such a new runner like me it will be hard to know whether it was the training program… or me just becoming a better runner, which I may have on any program.
4 comments:
I feel your pain (sort of LOL) I'm also using FIRST (for HM training) BUT I'm using a 5Kpace that is slower then what I can run. It's my first HM, so I didn't want to take all the fun out of it LOL. I'm looking forward to seeing how you, a person who uses the plan the "right" way progresses :-)
You did GREAT, especially considering how intense the plan is :-)
I actually like your long-run-schedule. That's what I am thinking of doing over the summer, again and again, to simply inure the body to the effort.
Came across your blog on someone else's blog. I'm running my first marathon in November, so I like reading other running blogs. I'll add you to my "blogs I read" list. I look forward to reading more, and catching up on your old blogs.
Your Blog got a reference on Cool Running. I've got to say reading your stuff makes me tired. I don't know about FIRST, but I use Daniels (similar to Pfitz), and it's important that your paces reflect your current condition, not where you expect to be, and that your paces (and rest periods) vary depending on the type of workout you're doing.
In case, good luck with this.
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