week 7, day 2

I had a good run today.  I had to bundle up again.  I am getting really sick of the cold.  I am so ready for Spring weather.  When I checked the weather last night it had said it would be 19 degrees but feel like 13 so I added an extra layer on top.  Thankfully I was warm and comfortable the whole time.   Except for my butt - it's always the coldest part of my body!  I find this weird because it seems to me like you use your butt just as much as your legs for running.  I don't get it.  By mile 5 the face mask started to bother me.  It had gotten so wet from my heavy breathing.  While I love that the face mask ensures I have warm air to breathe, it def makes it harder to breathe.  At least it wasn't wet and cold - it stayed warm as long as I was breathing under it.  I guess it just comes down to what I'd rather have a) warm air that is hard to breathe or b) cold air that is hard to breathe.  I think I'll take a.  So I ran 7 miles in 65 minutes.  I ran the first 5 miles at a nice steady pace (10:11 miles), but then I just wanted to get home so I sped up the last 2 miles.  When I got home Brent informed me that the feels like temperature (according to his iPhone) was 1 degree!  Yes, 1 degree.  How crazy!  I can't believe I ran in such bitter cold.  I never checked the weather again this morning before my run so I am taking his word for it.  Let's hope this is the coldest run I will have the rest of training!  Then I can say if I can run in what feels like 1 degree then I can run in virtually anything.  Come on warm weather!

129/463 miles complete!

week 7, day 1

I can't believe I'm already one third of the way finished with training.  So begins week 7.  Today was the most interesting run to date.  It snowed about 4 inches last night, no one had shoveled their sidewalks and the roads were not much better.  The temperature was reading 21 degrees.  I don't think I've ever run when it was that cold.  Lucky for me, Leaha braved the conditions.  I have to give her a lot of credit here.  If I was not training for a race there is no way I would have run today.  I would have done a video in my nice, warm house (you know, since we don't have a gym anymore).  Thanks, Leaha!  Thankfully, I dressed warm enough and felt good the entire run.  I had on 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, 1 fleece, 1 pair of gloves, 1 face mask and 1 head band.  The face mask definitely helped!  We ran 4 miles today for a total of 41:18 (10:17 miles).  Most of the time we had to run in slush to avoid getting run over (since we couldn't run on the sidewalk).  There was so much of it, it felt like running in wet sand.  It was a bit more challenging, but a nice change of terrain.  It felt good on my knees.  Let's hope the snow is gone by tomorrow.  I have 7 miles to run.


122/463 miles complete!

week 6, day 4

Technically this could be titled week 6, day 5 since I ran on Friday morning, but I was too lazy to post. LOL  Anyway, Friday was a nice easy run with Leaha.  We ran 3 miles in 28 minutes.  I can't wait to have warm weather like that all the time.  For now I'll just be grateful for snow/ice-free days.  At least 40 degrees feels pretty mild once I get warmed up.  I was supposed to run yesterday, but the wind was ridiculous.  The news said that at one point Kennett Square was experiencing 60mph winds.  Crazy!  Glad I decided not to run in that weather!  I ran today.  The weather was almost perfect.  It was in the mid forties and sunny.  Some spots were pretty windy though.  I ran 3 miles then stopped at Bekie's house to pick her up.  She joined me for the rest of the run (6 miles).  I started out feeling pretty winded so I was definitely looking forward to Bekie's company today (thank you, Bekie!!).  We took it easy.  I have been pleased with my ability to continue to slow my runs down.  The first couple miles I was averaging 10:30 miles.  By the end of the run I averaged 10:00 miles.  Overall it was a decent run.  This week my mileage increases to 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 7 on Wednesdays.  We'll see how that feels.  Oh yeah, I did Cardio X and Ab Ripper X for cross training yesterday.  I was pretty sore when I woke up today (mainly my butt and upper abs).  After my run, I continued to grow increasingly sore.  I have to admit it actually felt good.  It's been really hard for me not to do any type of weight/resistance training.  Since the program I'm following doesn't recommend it, I'm afraid of over training.  After all, this is my first marathon.  I've decided that I'll incorporate weight training when (IF) I train for my second! :)

115/460 (+3 = 118/463)

week 6, day 3

Not much to report today.  I had a nice easy run of 3 miles.  I ran my normal "wickersham" route as I like to call it.  It took me about 27 minutes.  The temperature was even milder today, however it was much darker.  There was a full moon, but it was too cloudy.  I decided to add an extra run tomorrow morning since it's going to be so nice.  Can't wait for Friday! :)

106/460 miles complete!

week 6, day 2

Well since my gym closed randomly without warning yesterday, I was forced to run outside in the dark today.  Thank goodness Leaha was willing to run with me again.  It's scary running in the dark by yourself.  We were glad the sun started coming up 20 minutes into our run.  I just wish it would continue to come out that early, but we all know daylight savings time is going into effect soon.  I really wish we would stop changing our clocks - it's so annoying.  Anyway on to running...today's 6 mile run went well.  We had a nice, steady pace going and ended averaging a 9:57 per mile.  The dark and cold def added a new challenge, but watching the sun come up and feeling the temperature increase made it worth it.  Until I find another gym, I'll be running outside...here's hoping for no more snow and warmer weather!  On a more positive note, skipping the treadmill should help me to be better prepared for my marathon.

103/460 miles complete!

week 6, day 1

Today's run was amazing!  As soon as my feet hit the treadmill I felt great!  My strides were awesomely long today and my breathing was easy the entire time.  I began running at 6.6 mph and finished the first mile in 9:10.  So I increased my mph to 7.4 and finished mile 2 in 17:30.  For the last mile I increased my mph to 8.3.  Then the next thing you knew it was 9 mph and I finished with 10 mph for a total of 3 miles in 24:00.  That is almost as fast as my 5k race pr.  What a great run!

97/460 miles complete (almost 100 miles!)

week 5, day 4

Ok so I think I'm finally getting the hang of this long distance running thing!  Today's 12 mile run was great.  Leaha ran with me again, but this time she ran 6 miles.  I was so proud of her!  It's so funny how much better a run is when you have someone with you.  I had a little less than 2 miles left to run when we parted.  I definitely overestimated the route I had hoped would get me 2 more miles, but it was kind of fun to venture out onto some new turf.  I finished in 1:56:49.  That's a 9:43 minute mile.  I still need to slow down!  Ugh, it's so hard for me to do!

94/460 (20%) miles complete!