Pre-Race Strides

On Saturday morning I kicked off my Philadelphia Marathon training by running a half marathon. Pretty exciting.

Signing up probably wasn’t the best decision I have ever made, since I am a little untrained and haven’t run over 10 miles since Grandma’s Marathon last June. But it’s ok. I survived (clearly otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this).

This was my 4^th half marathon and unfortunately I didn’t set a new PR (Personal Record). At mile 10 there was a chance that if I just pushed it those last 3.1 miles I could have done it, but I didn’t. My racing mentality just wasn’t there that morning. Oh well. #betterlucknexttime

Overall though, I’m still happy that I did it. It was a nice long run and a good course. It will be a great baseline to see how I improve over the next few weeks with some actual training.

Now that I am officially in marathon training, it’s time for me to really get down to business. The next 16 weeks will be work, but fun work and exciting work. My goal for this marathon is to finish below 3:45, which would be a 4 minute improvement over my last time. I can do it! I hope.

Are any of you signed up for a race? 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon??

If so, it’ll be good to add some strides into your training and pre-race routine.

The thing that I love about doing strides is that they make me feel so good! First of all, they only last 30 seconds. Second, they really do help loosen up my legs. The goal is to stay relaxed during these bursts and just let your legs go. It almost feels like you’re flying and it’s pretty cool. When I do these I try to imagine myself in a race and it’s the last 30 seconds before crossing the finish line.

Try them out a day or two before your next race!

What? You aren’t signed up for a race? That’s ok! You can still incorporate these to the end of a normal easy run. It’s a good introduction to speed work. And then go sign up for a race.