Today is my official start date for marathon training. 18 weeks of running, running and more running here I come! I am starting my day without coffee and without a bagel – ughh – I feel like I can’t wake up. Instead I've got a tea with a little honey and half a peanut butter sandwich. I know that my morning coffee has too much sugar and too much cream in it so for now – out it goes. That's the thing about training it isn't simply about running it's about fully embracing being healthy through eating clean, training consistently and getting enough rest. If you don’t eat to fuel your body then your body will turn against you – it is pretty straightforward. For me this is a delicate balance that I currently don’t have, but that is about to change. Right now 18 weeks seems like a long way from here, but I know that once it gets going it's pretty much on the whole time. My first half marathon of 2012 will be in March so that isn’t so far off.
I have been sticking to running|cross-training 4 days a week for the last few months (in my seemingly short “off season” I have kept my base at 20 miles a week). I have worked to add mileage to my base runs during the week as well getting comfortable with running 7-9 miles during my weekend long runs. My strategy was that if I could bring my mileage up even a little bit then that would make the first month of long runs more enjoyable and I would feel less overwhelmed (and tired) especially with the cold temperatures. This upcoming four weeks of long runs are 8 miles, 8 miles 10 miles and back down to 8 miles.
I ran 8 miles yesterday morning (for fun – yes you read that right). It was really cold. I woke up early and looked at the temperature. It was 10 degrees, so I stayed in bed a little longer. I waited until it got up to 20 degrees to go out. It was a rough first few miles. I wore my trail sneakers because the ground and sidewalks were still covered with snow. One section of my run blew because the sidewalk wasn’t cleared and there wasn’t a shoulder so I had to run on the shitty snowy sidewalk. I kept telling myself that it was like running on the beach (except colder and with more layers on); I am feeling that extra workout today. During the run I felt a little slow, but I think that I am still getting acclimated to the temperature because miles 6-8 were much easier and more enjoyable then the beginning ones. When I left my house I told myself I would be happy with a run anywhere from 6-8 miles long, but once I was out I decided that I really wanted to get 8 in. It is funny how when you are out you readjust your goals to align with what you actually want, not with what you think you can do. Maybe that’s a sign of a good run? - this is one that I am still figuring out. I am excited to see where the next 18 weeks takes me.
“Though we longed not to be lonely, we also feared the pain it would take us to be brought out of our lonely states. And after that fear, could we be guaranteed that we would never be returned to a state of loneliness again? We could not.” ― Edward Carey
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