In The Beginning

Life is short...running makes it seem longer. - Baron Hansen

This week marks the beginning of my training for the More Magazine Women's Half Marathon, which will take place on 3 April 2011 (http://www.nyrr.org/races/2011/more/index.asp). Having been mostly out of the running world for the better part of a year, this might be a lofty (and potentially stupid) goal, but after months of bemoaning the sorry state of my workout routine, I decided that I need to get my butt in gear and a goal (a $75 goal) is a good motivator. I had intended to start training last month, working up so that I wouldn't be starting the official "Training Plan" with nothing under my belt, but between my illnesses, the baby's illnesses and some pretty miserable winter weather, my goal got pushed a little bit, so, sadly, it is only now that I'm really starting to get my run on. I've decided to follow the Nike 1/2 Marathon Training Plan and though I am super excited about it, I have to admit that my heart does a little panic-stricken squeeze whenever I see how fast those mileage numbers are going to start increasing.

Week One:

This week marked the official beginning of my training regimen with a Tuesday start.

Tuesday - Ran 4 Miles and did the Coach Jay "Back Routine" post-run. My times weren't great (approx. 9.5mins/mile), but that isn't exactly a shocker. The more important factor is that I was able to complete the 4 miles and my knee was only a tiny bit sore afterward.

Wednesday - Cross Training Day. I did 30 minutes in the pool - mostly freestyle with some board work. I was pretty pleased with myself for being able to go 30 minutes non-stop after not having swam in at least 6+ months. There is hope after all!

Thursday - Ran 3 miles followed by the Coach Jay "Myrtl Routine". Trying to do the Myrtl with a 9 month old clinging to your leg...little bit of a challenge. A) It's about 19lbs of added weight when you're doing leg lifts and B) It's a major obstacle when you're trying to do lateral kicks. That little noggin is not exactly tough enough to withstand a sharp kick to the head, so...the routine gets slowed down a little and instead of going swing, swing, swing, rest, it turns into swing, swing, move baby, block baby, swing, swing, pick up baby, move baby...If I was really tough, I would just hold her through the entire routine like a little medicine ball, but this is only Week One people...I am not there yet.

Friday - Kayla slept through the night (she's been going through a rough streak lately - teething??) so I woke nice and refreshed. Chris wound up being able to work from home, so I could actually wait to go running until 930am when the sun was up and the temperature had risen a couple of degrees. Today I ran 4 miles, part of that being up a snow covered hill over a highway. Ah, Jersey running...I then followed the run up with the Coach Jay Back Routine again. I took another look at the instructional video this time and realized that I had totally confused two of the moves last time and had, in essence, made up my own special little exercises. Oops. Did them all correctly today (mea culpa, Coach Jay). Most importantly, no knee soreness today! There is hope! Oh and I managed a pace of 9.06min/mile despite having to stop at a few lights, wait at a few crosswalks and run up a hill of snow (Have I mentioned that I had to run up a hill of snow?).

Saturday is supposed to be a cross training day and if I get through that, I will have officially succeeded in completing week one of my training. It may not seem like much, but 11 miles and 5 days of working out in one week is feeling pretty damned impressive to me right now and really, isn't this all about me?