(Source: Etsy.com although it’s no longer available. Womp womp.)
I love the beginning of a new training cycle.
Similar to the first day of school, a new training cycle is filled with opportunity. There are goals on the line and the hope of success at the finish. There’s also room for mistakes, meaning plenty of opportunities to learn. Sometimes you don’t feel completely prepared at the start but to me that’s the beauty of training for a marathon. You can plan for everything but then the unexpected can happen.
Yesterday marked day one of training for the 2014 Chicago Marathon. While I feel prepared in the logistical sense – I have a training plan and goals – I’m not sure my fitness is where it should be at the start of marathon training. After my failure of a spring goal race in April, I took it easy (maybe a little too easy) and I think I got a little out of shape. I spent the winter and spring training for a just-out-of-reach half marathon time goal. While I felt overly prepared going into that training cycle, I lost sight of the smaller things like taking easy runs easy, not pushing the pace too much in workouts, remembering to stretch, and more. Forgetting those things during training turned my just-out-of-reach goal into a completely out of reach goal.
That’s not going to happen for Chicago. In Chicago, I know I’m going to reach my goal. I’m going to train hard but not overtrain. I’m going to stretch and listen to my body and not push myself when it’s telling me to take it easy. I’m going to challenge myself in workouts. Wake up early for long midweek mileage. Eat right. Get enough sleep. At least that’s the plan for now.
More than all of these plans and goals I want to have fun with this training cycle. Training through the summer can be miserable, hard and really test the dedication of even the most determined runner. But with my last training cycle I pushed myself too hard and began resenting (even hating, sometimes) running. I don’t want that this time around.
I love the beginning of a new training cycle because of the opportunity but also the unknown. Good luck to everyone training for Chicago!
Fit Girl. Happy Girl. 
Great mindset to enter training with. It’s summer time so lots of fun is had but as long as I go into my long runs well-rested and ready I think it’ll be a great training cycle! I’ll be blogging about my training all summer too!
I totally agree! Good rest is key and the good thing about summer training is your forced to get your run done early, so then you have the rest of the day to enjoy :)
Love the start of training time! Can’t wait to officially start my training on Monday. Good luck!
Good luck to you too! :)
The beginning of a new cycle is always great, isn’t it? Can’t wait to follow along and spectate Chicago in 16 weeks!
Eeek! Thanks Jenny! We’ll definitely have to make plans to meet up when I’m in Chicago. I’ll be there Oct. 10-13.
Most definitely!
Wow! A marathon! that sounds amazing! Indeed, a new workout routine is really exciting. I hope you will continue holding such motivation throughout the whole Summer. May I ask you sth? Which kind of pre-workout and post-wokout do you recommend for runners? I am more into HIIT and Freeletics workouts, and as a beginner in the running world I am quite lost as regards as to its specific nutrition. Thank u!
I love this! Happy training!
Thank you :)