Marathon Training Tuesday - Week 1

Last week officially kicked off Marathon Training 2014, and I'm extremely happy to say that everything seems to be going well so far! I'm by no means in the shape I was at the beginning of last year's training, back when I was running 3x a week and had been on a few 75+ minute runs prior. Nevertheless, I'm feeling comfortable on my feet.

Last week's workouts included...

Monday: One hour SEAL Team PT workout
Tuesday: One hour run (5.5 miles) + Physical Therapy consultation in the afternoon
Wednesday: 45 minute cross-training workout on elliptical + PT stretches
Thursday: One hour SEAL Team PT workout
Friday: OFF/DC sightseeing
Saturday: One hour run (6.6 miles)
Sunday: OFF

TOTAL MILEAGE = 12.1 (plus give-or-take 4, since SEAL Team workouts typically average 2 miles a workout)

Last Tuesday morning was a rude awakening to what life will be like for the next three months: Waking up way too early. For the next few weeks, it'll mostly be no earlier than 5:00AM but AHHHH it hurts when you're not used to it! Last week's Tuesday run started at Belle Isle and was lots of humid trails. I kept my first few minutes slow to warm up and then picked it up slightly to a pace around 9:20 minute miles. There weren't any major aches or pains in my foot or legs, so it was easy to enjoy our first official training run.

I met with my new physical therapist and intern that afternoon. This round will definitely be including less strengthening and way more stretching. As you can probably imagine, it's not particularly comfortable...but I'm told it'll be worth it! Also I've been pleasantly surprised by the PT student intern that's working on me; he's been awesomely thorough.

I opted for SEAL Team instead of a run on Thursday, then Friday was a fun OFF day that included some time in DC with my sister. We slept in and had a late breakfast at Commissary before walking around the city (I had blueberry pancakes, which get an A+ in my book for flavor and texture!!!). Oh, and there was iced coffee because it's my o-b-s-e-s-s-i-o-n.

This weekend I was at a bachelorette party, so it was a miracle that I found the time and sobriety to get in an hour run. I set my alarm early for Saturday morning and got in a smooth 6.6 miles before anyone else had woken up. We were in Rehoboth, DE so I was able to find and run along their little boardwalk for part of it. It was perfectly overcast and breezy...it was also nice to know I was proactively burning all some of the calories I'd be consuming later.

This week includes two visits to the physical therapist, one down and one tomorrow. I'm looking forward to running with the training group this Saturday, since I missed it last weekend...it also means going out for BREAKFAST afterwards! My favorite! My goal right now is to post these updates on Monday, but it's no secret I didn't make it this week. Now you'll have to wait and hear about this morning's run next week ;)