Begin at the beginning.

A new blog! I was trying to keep a record of my training on "My Fitness Pal" but found it annoying, they don't have certain things (like Kettle bell) that I do frequently even listed, and I found it unwieldy to make or keep notes/records etc. I decided that a plain old blog will be the best way to go for me, as I am already familiar with the format.

I decided in November, as I crossed the finish line of my second half marathon, that I was going to do a full. My first 1/2 (September 2011) I ran solo, and pushed myself hard (I am ashamed to admit that though my career was in finance, I miscalculated what an 8:30 pace would put me at, set my goal for 1:45 in error, and then felt as though I had to achieve it. I finished at an 8:07 pace. Bad math, for the lose). I was thrilled to finish in 1:46, but I knew that I had pushed myself about as hard as I could go at that time. I had not left anything out there. I had little left in me at the finish. My second 1/2, in November, I ran with two friends in sunny Arizona. Instead of trying to set a PR, I was trying to pace them to help them achieve their PR goal of 2:00. I was astounded at the difference in how I felt at the finish, I wasn't even winded at that pace ~ and I knew then and there that if I set my pace right, and committed to training, I could run a marathon, and run a sub 4 hour marathon at that. So, that is my goal. I have my sights set on NYC in early November. I have entered the lottery, but at this point pretty much plan to run it for charity whether I get in on my own or not. Tiffany signed up as well and we plan to do lots of our training together. I'd like to keep notes on my training, my diet, and my "plan" (first I suppose I have to come up with a plan, eh?) here in this blog. I think that it will help me track my progress, celebrate small victories, and keep notes on what makes me feel good, and what doesn't.

I got some new kicks this weekend. Switched up from the Brooks shoe back to a Nike (seen above). They are about half the price of the Brooks so I figured I'd give it a shot. I was a little sad unstrapping my road ID from my old shoes ~ those shoes got me through my first 2 half marathons and felt like old friends. I'm keeping them around for cross training.

Today was one of those days where I feared I would slack off. I just wasn't feeling it after a long weekend and Nate is out of town until Saturday night. I got on the treadmill hoping to run 3. Then 5. Then 7. I ended my run at 9, feeling like I could have run forever. It is so weird when those days come ~ things just line up just right and your body tells you to go go go. I started at a 6.3 on the Woodway (which I am in love with). By 2 miles I had hit my stride and went up to pace at 6.5. From there I ran till about 4.5, then bumped up to 7 at the .65 mark, 7.5 at .80 and 8 till the mile completion. I did that right through the finish, going back to 6.5 after hitting the mile. I'm really confused about the calibration of the Woodway, I feel like the speed is really different from the other treadmills......like, pace on the others is 6.8 vs 6.5 on these. I keep meaning to ask someone about it and forgetting. I walked 1/2 mile to cool down, then got on the stairs for 15 minutes on fat burning level 11. Mondays are always my just cardio days, and today was stellar. I feel great after a long jacuzzi, I have some homemade chicken soup on the stove, and am looking forward to baking some zucchini bread with the kids once they wake up. Tonight is book club, so it will be a bit of a late night. I have HIIT the next three days, and will try to get in about 3-5 on two of those three days, with a long run Friday afternoon. Last week I hit 25 miles, and would love to keep that up fairly consistently. Have to get on my spring race schedule ~ doing Broad St and the Down and Dirty mud run for sure, will probably do the midsummer night series with Jeannie and Jenny again, and have to fill in some long runs from there. It looks like Marathon training will begin in July. I get emotional every time I think about it. What a journey Jake's crazy birth has taken me on! I never ever would have guessed that I would enjoy running like I do ~ but the marathon that was his birth gave me the courage and motivation to see what exactly else my body could do. In the meantime, I fell in love with this wacky sport. I feel so grateful to have a cooperative body, a supportive family, friends to run with, and mostly the amazing facility that is our gym right around the corner. So.....here we go!