Week 1: Three miles

46:26 minutes, 28.1 laps, 1:1 lap run/walk ratio

I pondered over what to do my first week back after the Long Beach Half Marathon: take the week off? get right back into training? I finally decided to do a 3-mile timing run, to determine my pace and run/walk ratio for the next race. I cut my 3-mile time a good five minutes from the last 3-mile timing run I did, for Honolulu. Go me! But when I look at the chart I got for the last AIDS Marathon I did, I find that I'm actually slower than I was for LA. :( Oh well, I was really pushing myself in LA. And I think the three miles we ran in the park were probably flatter than my laps around the house. (I switched directions after 14 laps, to get the hills going both ways.) And the thing is, just last week I ran a half marathon in which I averaged that same 15:30 minutes per mile for the entire race, which I sure couldn't do in LA. So, never mind, I know I'm doing better than I was back then. Maybe I just had a bad day today.

Anyway, the chart tells me to use a 1:2 run/walk ratio, exactly what I've been using for Long Beach. I might try boosting it up to 2:3 or 1.5:2 for some of my shorter long runs, just to see how it goes.

I've already registered for the Surf City USA Half Marathon. I'm still working out my training schedule, but I think I'm going to try for a long run of 10-12 miles at least once every three weeks until the race.