Training for the Amsterdam Marathon || week 1

I did it. I went for it. I bought it. I made the commitment...Running my first marathon in my home town Amsterdam. In 41 weeks from today I will run 42K. Kind of overwhelming? Maybe, but I like a challenge.

As I am just about comfortable around 60 minutes of running at a pace of about 6:10-6:30 per kilometre, there is still quite some work to do and so I set out to write a training plan.

I got a lot of use out of the Run2Day website, a friend's training schedule for her first marathon (shout out to Nydia of wordstorunby), plus some overall googling.

The first halve of my training I will be running 3 times a week ( a short run, an interval training for speed, and an indurance run for distance) all based on time in stead of kilometers. When starting to build up stamina and working towards a longer distance run this is often advised as you do not get to focussed on distance, but rather learn to listen to your body. 

The next halve of my training will be all about the kilometers (I mean, I do need to get over that 42K mark, right?) and will bring my running up to 4 days a week.

And this week was my first week. I kind of got off to a medium start. Monday I ran for 30 minutes, walked for 5, and ran again for 20. Which was great. But then I did not go on my interval run of 6x 3 minutes on Thursday (o, dear). Work had been busy and I just wanted to relax and sleep...But I also did go out on a lovely sunny Saturday. I took the metro to pick up the Bae from work and while he biked next to me I ran home in 70 minutes. We took a lovely route, following the Amstel river.

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Next week I'll give you guys a new update on my training, week 2 of 41! I have to run for 35 minutes on Monday, with some 1 minute speed ups, do a 5 times 4 minute interval on Wednesday and run another 70 minutes on Saturday. I'll go back to incorporating yoga into my routine on Tuesdays and I need to find a way to add in some weight training as well, not sure how yet.

Plus I am also getting an aerial yoga workout for my monthly sporty tryouts! Excitement all around!

monthly tryout - electric February

Okay, so how does this sound: you pull yourself into tight black undergarments, get hosed down with warm water, strapped into some body armour with cables, get hooked into a machine and then get electric pulses run through your 8 main muscles...great right?

Actually it's pretty cool. It's called electric muscle stimulation and according to wiki it: "has received increasing attention in the last few years because of its potential to serve as a strength training tool for healthy subjects and athletes, a rehabilitation and preventive tool for partially or totally immobilized patients, a testing tool for evaluating the neural and/or muscular function in vivo, and a post-exercise recovery tool for athletes". 

The method is also used in physical therapy to loosen muscles that are too tight. The supposedly great thing about it is that the electric stimulation can reach deep into your muscles and give you a hefty work out in a short period of time, while not overstimulating your joints, so no injuries.

Whether or not it does what it does, the work out is pretty fun to do and a lot harder than it looks. After being hooked up we did a 20 minute workout, where we had to squat a few times, do a few lunges and arm movements and ending with a minute long planking session. Not the end of the world. Still, the next couple of days I was totally unable to walk down any type of stairs...it was a real work out in that sense.

So how does it feel? It differs per person. For me it felt a little bit like when your muscles have gone to sleep and then you have to move around again to wake them up. For my other halve it felt like he was sitting in a massage chair, and for my other friend it just tickled, resulting in some good yet strange laughs.

Would I do it again? I don't know yet. It is definitely a work out, it feels safe to do (although you do need to sign a waver, so no complete trust from my side), it does not take long and when you check out the web you mostly only find positive stories. Plus Usein Bolt does it too! But it is also kind of expensive, depending on where you go anywhere between 20-50 euros per session. Perhaps I'll make it a once in a while work out?

In Amsterdam you can get yourself a free (yes! free!) try out at the Body Tec Lounge.