Day 6 & 7: First week complete!

Sorry for my lack of posting yesterday; traveling and training don't mix well, especially when you throw blogging in there. I did get my workouts in though!

Saturdays are cross training days, so I'm counting the massive amounts of walking I did as my cross training. Although walking Rodeo Dr. & Hollywood Blvd hardly seems to count as a workout. Very glamorous, no? Also a good exercise in self control... Prada, Gucci, Coach, etc... all those shoes and purses I can never afford to buy.

Chris and I decided that it's easier to get through short runs on our own than long ones, so for the next couple weeks while I'm traveling, we're switching our Sunday and Tuesday distances. Sundays are supposed to be our long runs, which this week would have been 5 miles. But today I did the 3.5 scheduled for Tuesday, and we'll run our 5 Tuesday when I get back. It was a pretty terrible run: 38:35 (ok, so not THAT bad, but I told you, Chris... back to the slowness). I blame jet lag, along with the super-heavy (but delicious!) meal and alcohol last night. The nice part, though, was that the area I'm staying in is FLAT. Bad for working on that hill training, but an excellent change of pace from running the rolling hills in Atlanta.

One week down, 33 more to go...

Day 5: 3 mile run #2

Run complete! Friday morning. I swear. I just had to fly to LA so I didn't have time to write it Friday morning after I finished. My time was excellent: 30:01! (Don't expect me to ever run it that fast again, Chris, I think it was a fluke.) I really wish I was more of a morning person. Morning runs are cooler and quieter and I'm not already tired from a long day of work, all of which I think contributed to my much improved performance from Tuesday. But getting out of bed is just so darn hard. As it starts to get hotter and more humid and our runs start to get longer, though, I might need to make myself a morning person. 8 miles at 5:30 p.m. during the summer in Atlanta might kill me.

Being in LA could be interesting as far as getting in my workouts... I'm just going to have to get creative. Not sure what to do tomorrow (well, later today for you East Coasters) for my cross training...

Day 4: Rest (ha!)

Technically on the official Liz & Chris Marathon Training Schedule, Thursdays are our second short run days, and Fridays are rest days. But I have an issue with Thursdays: Thursday and I just don't get along. Somehow it always ends up I have a ton to do at work and one or multiple social events to attend that evening, so planning a time to run is difficult. Additionally, I am usually exhausted from the rest of my week (and don't have the bonus of that Friday-afternoon-I'm-done-with-work-it's-time-to-party high to get me through), which means my Thursday runs are always terrible... slow, sick, sore. Probably extremely irritating to Chris, who patiently puts up with my pathetic pace and constant whining. So we're kind of flexible with the Thursday/Friday schedule--workouts for these days are often switched. I decided that would be the case for me this week, and took my rest day today. But... that means I ABSOLUTELY MUST run in the morning before leaving for the airport. Seriously. Make me feel really bad and guilty if I don't.

Day 3: Cross Training?

So technically Wednesdays are cross training days, but I tend to be a little liberal with that description. In my mind, "cross training" is whatever I need that day: maybe an extra day of stretching, or lifting weights, or a leisurely walk through the park. If I'm feeling really motivated it might be swimming laps at the pool or a light run.

Today, however, I worked an 11 hour day, and then had a social engagement (trivia at the bar, shh don't tell) this evening, which left little time, or energy, for that matter, for a work out. So I ran stairs during my breaks at work: 5 flights, 4 sets. Add that with my extra yoga yesterday, and I'd call it even. Right? Right. Glad you agree. Besides, it's toning up those hill-tackling muscles.

Long day tomorrow... gotta strategically plan my run around work, more social engagements (so popular, what can I say), and packing.

Day 2: Let the running begin!

I realized today that I left a very important detail out of my introduction: which marathon are we training for? Our plan is to run the Disney World Marathon on January 9, 2011. January 9th is the birthday of one of my very best friends, and she has requested that as her present, I finish the marathon wearing Mickey Mouse ears. I told her I'd see what I could do.

Anyway... first run complete! An easy 3 miler through the park behind the VA. We finished in 30:22, so our average pace was about 10:07 min/mile. Our goal time was 10 min/mile, and we actually ran a good part of our course faster than this, but we lost some time on the hills. If you've ever run in Atlanta, you know that the hills are unavoidable. And exhausting. Not, I imagine, as difficult as running in, say, San Francisco, but challenging nonetheless. Conquering the ubiquitous inclines of the ATL will likely be our weak spot, so I'll have to be sure to plan some hilly workouts. Then hopefully Orlando will be flat and we'll be over-prepared and our time will be totally awesome. (Hey, I can dream.)

As a post-qualifying exam present to myself, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 405 (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142&pID=11039). Passing one's graduate school qualifying exam is a major accomplishment, preceded by 4 months of constant stress and studying, so upon finishing, it is mandatory that one showers oneself with presents, preferably expensive ones. I got to use it for the first time today, and let me tell you, this baby is worth it (plus they are having a $50 rebate right now, and I had money left over from my other present to myself, so I feel extra justified in my purchase). I'm slightly technologically challenged, so I haven't quite figured out all the bells and whistles yet, but it can keep track of distance, pace, speed, grade of the hills you're running, etc etc etc. Plus it's got this "Virtual Partner" feature: you enter in the pace you want to maintain, and then you compete with your virtual partner to stay on or ahead of pace (and you feel sad when you're little virtual partner beats you... motivation to run faster next time!). And since it's from Garmin, naturally it has a GPS, so you can connect it with your computer and upload routes you've planned, as well as download your workout data to your computer to keep track of your training history. Short story long, highly recommend it.

I cheated a little and also went to yoga today (like I said: junkie). There's an Ashtanga class at my studio on Tuesday nights. If you want a really good, full body workout, Ashtanga is for you. It's a very athletic style of yoga based on Vinyasa, so it's essentially a flowing series of poses that involve some serious strengthening and stretching. To give you an idea of the intensity, I can't really lift my arms right now, but my legs were so well-stretched that I felt great during and after my run--no hip, knee, or calf pain. It moves quickly and you sweat (a lot), so if you're worried that yoga won't provide a sufficient workout or you're not into the whole deep meditation aspect, you should definitely consider an Ashtanga class. Anyway, due to my double workout, Chris told me he was going to have to take me to an AA meeting: Athletes Anonymous. Whatever. It just means I earned this piece of strawberry pie.

As Chris so eloquently stated, "the road to 26.2 miles begins with a single 3 mile run." And indeed, it has.

Day 1: Prepare for 34 intense weeks

Ok, so, I know this has been done thousands of times before. But I read somewhere that if you keep a public blog/journal/calendar of your workouts, you won't want to skip, because you don't want people to think you're lazy (one could, of course, just lie... but we're going to assume I have better values than that).

So, here's the premise: My friend Chris and I are training for a marathon. Our very first one. My job is to keep track of our progress. You're job (if there are any Yous out there) is to hold us accountable. No skipping those workouts! (I'll try to keep it interesting so you're not completely bored.)

Let's begin by getting a few questions out of the way. The first question I always get asked is, "Why?" And the answer is... I have no idea. Why would I want to run 26.2 miles all at once? I sound crazy in my own head, but once I get one of these ideas, I have to follow it through. I'm pretty stubborn (ask anyone who knows me), and I don't like being told I can't do things. So perhaps part of it is that I was never meant to be a runner. I've got short little legs and was born with some sort of hip dysplasia, so I had surgery when I was young and walked late, and now I have slightly lopsided hips, which means lots of soreness and this awesome popping sound every now and then. So ok, I concede that I will never be a fast runner, but that doesn't mean I can't run, and it certainly doesn't mean I can finish a whole marathon. So that's my goal. The rest of my rationale for torturing myself is that I feel it's just something I should do before I die. Some ridiculously small percentage of the population ever finishes a marathon, so obviously I have to be a part of that.

Ok, question two: 34 weeks? Isn't that a long time? Well... yes. But, you know, training for a marathon isn't something that happens overnight. And since Chris and I tend to be busy and get hurt a lot (ok, really I get hurt a lot... but he's not injury free!), we wanted to leave plenty of time in case of injuries, and have time to run a few races during training, because that's the whole point, right? So, lucky you, you get to enjoy 34 blogtastic training weeks. (Hey, it's good procrastination, and we all need that now and then.)

Which bring us to our final question: When do we begin?

Today. Mondays are "stretch and strengthen" days. So today that means stretch out and prepare my whining body for this 34 week running extravaganza. For me, that's yoga. I got this coupon for a $40 month-long gym membership at Urban Body Studios here in Atlanta. Their classes are amazing; I've learned a lot about yoga, and even though I'm only halfway through my month, I already feel more flexible and can see my posture improving. The studio has great ratings, so if you're in the area, you should check it out: http://urbanbodystudios.com/ubs/ I'm actually becoming kind of a yoga junkie... there's just something about the smell and feel of the mat after a long, stressful day, and getting all the kinks worked out really seems to re-energize me (so I can do things like go back into work at 8:30 p.m. after already putting in a full day).

So, to conclude this epic introductory masterpiece, day 1 set a positive attitude for the long road ahead. Tomorrow is our first run. Our first of many, many runs to come.