Saturday, January 19, 2008

feeling good about my longest run so far

Today I ran the longest distance I ever have without walking: 7.1 miles in 62 minutes. And I even felt like I could have kept going when I was done. Woohoo!

Considering I had a rough time finishing a 10K back on Thanksgiving in 65 minutes and walked quite a bit during that race, I'm feeling quite good about myself today.

And on top of all that, my goal I set via NikePlus and my Nike+ iPod Sport Kit to run 40 miles in the first four weeks of 2008 is about to be achieved a week ahead of time. With today's run, I'm at 37.9 miles and will easily eclipse my goal with Monday's 3-mile run.

As I've been counting down the days to starting my triathlon training in earnest (on Monday!), I've been reading as much literature as possible on training for the running and the swimming legs of the race.

Books read so far and the standout items I've learned from each:

  • Frank Shorter's Running for Peak Performance - A lot of great pictures in this book with good reminders on stretching, technique and what to do when the inevitable injury arises. Easily devoured in a single sitting.
  • Jeff Galloway's Galloway's Book on Running - I've learned about the appropriate way to add mileage and train for longer distances from Galloway. Packed with a lot more text than Shorter's book.
  • John Mora's Triathlon 101: Essentials for Multisport Success - This is where I think I've gotten the best preview of what happens when I slip in the water to start swim training. Also a great section on how to fuel your workouts, pre- and post-.


I stopped at the library today to pick up a couple more books: Eric Harr's Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week and Dr. Phillip Whitten's Complete Book of Swimming which should make for good reading as I count down the hours to Monday's run and inaugural triathlon training plan workout (I'm following Joe Friel's Your First Triathlon training plan). See the Google calendar link at the top of the right column on this blog to see what I'm doing when.

Oh, and the scale topped out at 192 this morning.

Feels like everything's falling into place (except I really need to get in the pool tomorrow!)

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