Week 1: Completed.

I really do plan on updating this blog more frequently but with the holiday, work and selling my computer (on the hub's lap top right now), this week was a slow blogging week. I did run all of my miles - 18. I ran three on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was a rest day (and Thanksgiving) so I did that (and a lot of eating!). Friday (cardio day) I played a game of Powder Puff with some good friends. So fun! I was surprised, however, how sore I was. I had no idea that football uses completely different muscles than regular running.

Although my muscles ached, I still got up for the long run. It was a little tiring because my legs were already tired, but since it was completely different muscles, I did okay. My running partner was taking our family pictures that afternoon, so we spent one mile running around Wellesley campus looking for good spots. So fun! We ended up with an 11 minute/mile average, which sounds about right for a slow run.

Looking forward to this week, although I have a sick daughter, which always makes my running schedule a little tougher. I can't swap kids when she's sick, so I have to get up before 6 to run before my husband leaves for work. This is also tough since she doesn't sleep very well when she's sick. We'll see how it goes.

Week 1: And so it begins...

How do people take such cute pictures of themselves before a run? I took 10 different pictures and this was the best. The rest were terrible. This one...not great, but it will work.

This morning I went on my first run of my marathon training. I am doing Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training. I am not a novice runner (in my 11th year of running at some level), but I am a novice marathoner. I do not have a time goal. I am not trying to set any records. Just trying to finish. So slow and steady is going to be my motto this time around. If I don't, I know I'll burn out. I know myself. I know that if I don't fight the urge, I will push myself too hard and end up with nothing but regrets.

I got up at 5:45 am to meet a friend at 6 for a quick 3-mile run. This is my running partner. We normally just do our long runs together. And long runs are all about talking, right? So I am used to talking to my friend while we run. Can't do that when I'm running a 9-minute mile. I felt like I was dying about halfway through - which is frustrating because I ran a 5K on Friday in a sub-9- mile - and then I realized that it's because I was talking. So I zipped it pretty much for the last mile. I responded to a few questions, but really kept the talking to a minimum, which helped.

We finished 3.03 in 27:45 - 9:09 mile. Not too bad for the first of many, many runs on this journey. 3 miles down, 469 to go. Eeek.