The Marathon Diaries: Making Progress

I had a good training week.

Tuesday, I did an interval hill workout on the treadmill -- 45 minutes climbing up and down interspersed with speed work. Much to my chagrin, these workouts don't seem to get easier.

I am more beaten up and worn out from this workout than from a run twice as long. But the combination of this indoor drill and Sid and Asteria’s advice on shortening my stride and pushing through the hill has made a difference for me on the road.

I can get up hills more easily and faster; pushing through the top and letting gravity take me down on the other side. The sweating and clutching on the treadmill is paying off.

Thursday,
Sid and I met. After running from the gym to the park, I did the drills, ran a warm up loop of the reservoir and did speed work.

The drill I call the "camel walk" helps warm up your calves by gently alternating digging your heels into the ground. Without a coach, I seem to be doing the merenge or cha-cha with unneeded hip action.

My favorite, the bounding, which I call the Super Mario Brothers exercise, is much better. Bounding back and forth on alternating legs and then running has helped me the most with opening my stride.

The butt kick exercise is better too though not exactly what Sid showed me.

The long run excited me the most though I committed months ago to teach a Zumba class on Saturday morning.

Sid said that's great that you're teaching, "But you still gotta get your 16-mile run in, girl." Ugh!

Saturday

To get the miles in and teach the class I got up at 5:30 a.m.

In the (dark) park, I thought, "this sucks." During marathon training, I have a lot of "this sucks" moments but, thankfully, I have more “awesome” moments.

I was OK when I started.

I ran for about 10 minutes when I heard Sid's voice: "The drills are very important. You've got to do the drills."

So I stopped and did them – not perfectly. And that made a difference.

My run was much easier after that. My stride, was consistently the longest it's ever been -- I picked up my feet.

I felt good after running for two hours and 15 minutes and managed to teach my hour-long class with energy.

That was a lot. But I did it, feeling good the next day. I took off the next day and did some bath therapy.

I’m glad that my training is coming together.

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Jennifer Turner is a veteran television executive in New York City. A certified group fitness instructor and self-proclaimed "fitness activator," she believes that everyone has ability, with the right tools, social support, and inspiration to be able to connect to fitness in an emotional way. Her mission is to activate that ability and to inspire communities across the country. Jennifer blogs at madcoolfitness.com.

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