Detroit Marathon | Kinetic Fix

Photo courtesy of Serena Richardson

Buongiorno. That’s “good morning” in Italian 🙂

Training for the Detroit Marathon has officially gone international! But fortunately this week was a low-key one in between lots of traveling, “touristing,” eating and relaxing.

Usually, vacations are a time when I back off from any kind of strict running schedule, but this time Hubby and I are embracing it as a way to get in some early morning sight-seeing before we start our days.

And since one of my favorite ways to see new cities is by foot, we’ve been trying to make an adventure of every run — from the mountainous isle of Ischia to the rolling vineyards of Sicily to the coastal village of Positano.

I’ve also been documenting our exploration, so stay tuned for a full post with pictures when I’m back!

Fino a quando ci incontreremo di nuovo! “Until we meet again”…next week!

And cue the weekly shoe selfies again!

Welcome to week one of my training for the Detroit Marathon. As you know, I’m gearing up for race day on October 19 with a new plan: the Hansons Marathon Method.

It’s a so-called “renegade” approach to marathoning, in that the long training runs peak at 16 miles (as opposed to the usual 20-22 milers). Needless to say, as someone who struggles to stay injury-free while pounding the pavement, it piqued my interest.

This first week was a cake-walk compared to what’s coming down the pipeline — six days of running per week, yikes — so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

Another component of the program that will come into play later in training? Pacing.

When I run, I’m usually great at maintaining whatever pace feels good on that particular day…but the tricky part here is that now I’ll need to hit a specific one for each workout.

I’m aiming for a 3:50 marathon, so the book recommends the following paces as guidelines for my runs.

Another wrench that I’m throwing into this training cycle is a bunch of travel and a move with Hubby during the first few weeks (not that I’m complaining…).

The upside is that I can run pretty much anywhere, although the challenge will be maintaining the schedule despite jet lag, time zone changes and what I anticipate will be many wine- and carb-fueled meals in Italy (yeah, yeah, I don’t expect any sympathy).

But there’s nothing like a little constant when your life is in upheaval, so I’m hoping my running will be a source of solace rather than stress…but we shall see, won’t we?

So far, so good…stay tuned for week two, which is the first full week of the program!