When I started the plan, January was intended to be about regular running, no speed work, no great distances, just getting used to heading out and actually training, rather than running when I felt like it, which had been a feature of my running for the last couple of years. January was a success, with more Kms run than any other month for a long, long time, in fact the first time over 100Km a month since July 2009. The weight too has been dropping off according to plan, and 5 Kgs in the first 5 weeks is a very acceptable level, and with the plan hoping to see a weight of 80Kg by Race Day in 8 weeks, the 1kg per week target seems well within reach.
What of this week. I started with a gym session on Monday, and a 5Km tempo run, as I seek to add one speed session a week in the February plan. This went well, with the run taking a little over 25 minutes. The weather broke a bit this week, with some storms and even floods in parts of the city, but these did not interfere with my running at all, aside from making the runs a little cooler after Tuesdays run, where I set out a little later than planned and felt the heat of the morning as I ran. I then managed three 10Km runs this week, all nice and steady, nothing special to write about, just steady mileage building runs, all of which lead up to this morning, and my longest run so far.
Because of the lack of interesting places to run around here, without travelling a distance for a run, something I will do later in my training, I decided that my 8 miler, would in fact be 14Km, which would consist of my usual 3Km run down to the Parque Dominico, and then I would complete 6 laps of the park, each lap is around 1.35Kms, making 3 laps 4Km. SO, by extending this run to 6 laps, I would be running 8 Kms in the park. Sunday's in this Parque are very interesting, as at one end, there is an open air market, where the main business seems to revolve around the selling of caged birds, budgies, canaries etc, and so there is a lot of activity for early Sunday morning. Obviously, I am not alone in using these green lungs as a training base, and it's always great to see, and acknowledge, other runners as you plod along, with the addition of many fitness walkers who use the circuit of the park for their own exercise.
The weather today was heavy and overcast, warm, around 26 degrees, even at 8am, but with the cloud cover, there was no burning sun to add to the heat exposure, and despite a lot of sweating, the weather didn't affect my running. I deliberately took things easy on the 3 Km run down to the park, and although not running to the watch, I did check the time to ensure I was keeping the pace in check. It was nice and steady to the park in a little under 18 minutes, and I then proceeded to complete each lap in a steady 6:40, relatively even paced for each circuit, before heading back to Avenue Belgrano and the asphalt trek back to base. I completed the run in 1:15:43, a pace of around 5:25 per Km, which is faster than I plan to be running my marathon, and although feeling the extra distance in the legs, overall it was a comfortable run considering how quickly I have managed to get to this point. I can continue my February plan with great expectations of success in maintaining my progress.
I add a little picture of the Parque where I am spending so much of my time at present, and whilst it doesn't do justice to the excellent running route circuit, it at least shows you where I am. The name of the Parque seems to confuse everyone around here - On the map it's called Parque Presidente Sarmiento, everyone refers to it as the Parque Villa Dominico, and this sign says something different - All I know is that it is the best place locally for me to run, and is helping me in my attempts to get Marathon fit by April.
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