My To-Do List

Go to the Race Expo - check
Get my number (3735) - check 
Get a bag full of free stuff (the part I'm most excited for?  The free socks.  And the fact that most of the stuff says Pittsburgh Marathon on it.) - check
Buy a sweet head band - check (it's basically florescent zebra print - no one should be surprised)
Sleep as much as possible Friday night since I'll probably be too nervous on Saturday night - check (all the cool kids go to bed at 8:30 on a Friday night)
Eat LOTS OF CARBS!!! - this one is in an ongoing process of being checked off 
Look at the race map and have a mini heart attack - check


Looking at the above list, I feel pretty accomplished.  I do have a lot to do before tomorrow (including but not limited to buying a shirt to wear, figuring out exactly how I'm getting to the race, buying headphones, and hanging out with my parents who are awesome and coming to visit me to watch me race), but most of the hard work is behind me.  Wow.  I can't believe it's been 17 weeks since I started training.


21 hours and 49 minutes to go.

Rock Out

Since the marathon is a little over 4 days away, I figured I should start looking things up (you know, where I have go to start, parking, what I should have received in the mail by now - mildly important things).  As one may guess, I did not find out anything important, but I did get distracted and excited by the "Bands 2011" page.  There are 61 bands and djs that are in some way associated with the marathon.  


http://www.pittsburghmarathon.com/Left_Nav/Neighborhoods__Entertainment/Bands_2011.htm 


Not gonna lie, I'm super stoked.  Lady Ag Ag, Semi-Super Villains, The Damaged Pies - could life get any better?  Okay, you might argue that it could get better if you could listen to these bands (which are sure to be fantastic) without running 26.2 miles.  


According to the website, headphones and music players are discouraged.  I'm seriously considering running without music, since there will be a lot of activity along the way.  I haven't decided yet, but it is tempting to carry as little as possible.


4 days, 4 hours and 58 minutes to go.  It's on.

Spring is Here!

I'm in the tapering off phase, so my long run this week was only 6 miles :)  It was wonderful, not only because I didn't have to run an obscene distance, but I also didn't have to devote half of my day to a long run.  In fact, I kept putting it off and didn't run until this evening (thanks to the big brunch I had sitting in my stomach).  Even though I waited about 6 hours after I ate to run, I could still feel brunch sitting in my stomach for the first 3 miles.


The best part about my run was seeing all the people out in the park.  There were picnics and barbecues, a group of kids playing sand volleyball, lots of other runners and walkers, and a playground full of kids.  There were also a lot of people walking around with (who I assumed to be) their moms.  It made my heart really happy.  I was also a little bit sad that I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with my mom, but I will get to see her next weekend because she will be coming to cheer me on during the marathon.  Love you mom, you're wonderful :) 


This whole marathon thing feels extremely surreal.  At this point, I expected to feel more "ready."  I don't really know what that would feel like.  I definitely feel like I'm as ready as I will be, but I don't feel like a marathoner.  I guess that's similar to when I graduated from college - I thought I would feel like a college graduate, but I still just felt like me.  Getting jobs and living on my own, I thought I would feel like an adult, but again, I still just feel like me.  I guess that's the same with the marathon - I thought I would feel like a runner or something, but I'm still just me.  Hm.


6 days, 5 hours, 25 minutes to go.  (I feel the need to count everything as it gets closer...it's like the 4 year old who makes sure to tell you that she's not just 4, she's 4 and 3 months).

The Countdown Begins

10 more days.


17 weeks of training have come down to this.  If I'm not ready for the marathon, 10 days aren't really going to help.  It's terrifying and liberating all at the same time.


I decided to pretend like I planned this on purpose, and make my 25th year a really big deal.  So far I'm running a marathon and I will be skydiving this summer.  I can check two things off the bucket list that I haven't even created yet...I'm that good.  If anyone has more bucket list suggestions, I'm all ears.  It's definitely fun when things kind of fall into my lap, but I'm not against seeking things out as well.  Although before anyone suggests it, I will not be having a baby in my 25th year.  I do have 10 months left before I turn 26 so it's technically possible, but being that I'm currently single and not planning on hitting up the sperm bank anytime soon, that dream is going to have to wait (sorry for those of you who are waiting to have kids so that our kids can be best friends and/or fall in love...not that I think about things like that, that would be weird).


10 more days.  It's getting real up in here.

Common Sense Life Lesson #452

The better care that you take of yourself, the better you feel.

I stayed up late last night, drinking wine and eating french fries.  It was a fantastic evening, and I figured that if I didn't feel up to running this morning I could just wait until tomorrow.  I woke up earlier than planned and felt great.  Then I started running.  I don't know whether it was the lack of sleep or the late night food and drink (probably both), but I felt terrible for most of the run.  Today's run rivaled the "all you can eat Indian buffet" day (which, strangely enough, was also a 12 mile run.  Apparently I am not meant to run in 12 mile increments). I continued, partly because I didn't want to have to try again tomorrow, and partly because I decided that it would be a great day to test out my mental strength, since the physical strength thing wasn't working out so well.  I finished (slightly slower than normal, but I'm giving myself huge kudos just for running) and magically felt a million times better.  I'm just happy it's done.


Today's run was 70% mental, 25% the musical stylings of Lenny Kravitz and The Backstreet Boys, and 5% physical (really, just the fact that I was conscious).  I should make that into an inspirational poster.


14 days to go.  Not gonna lie, I may have started hyperventilating when I saw that.

If you reach Chippewa, you've gone too far

Those that know me know that I have a terrible sense of direction.  I also have a terrible sense of time.  Typically, this works out fine for me and I just wander through life, slightly oblivious but happy.  

I planned to run my 20-mile run in Buffalo, since I'm visiting my parents for Easter break.  My dad and I mapped out a route the night before (and he tried to make the route as simple as possible, due to the aforementioned lack of a sense of direction), and I even wrote the route down to carry with me just in case.  I felt pretty confident in myself.  About 3 miles in, my mp3 player died (you would think I would have learned my lesson by now, but yet again I forgot to charge it) so I was stuck listening to the sounds of the traffic and my brain.  After awhile, I got the sinking feeling that I may have missed my turn.  I wasn't sure though, so I just kept running.  I knew the turn was about 40 minutes into the run, but since I didn't have music as a reference point for the passing of time, I had no idea how far I had gone.  So I just kept running.  It eventually dawned on my that I was carrying my cell phone, and therefore had a clock the whole time.  I had been running for over an hour and a half (you know, only 50 minutes past where I was supposed to turn).  Whoops.

As I debated what to do, I decided to turn up Chippewa (for those Pittsburgh people, it's similar to the South Side).  I ran past beer bottles, piles of trash and an old man who started yelling at me.  The entire street smelled like beer and it was actually pretty depressing.  I was able to get myself turned back around and headed toward home.  On the way back I found the park that I had completely missed before (mind you, it's not a small park at all), and started to run around the track at the park.  At that point I needed water, and thought I remembered drinking fountains at the park.  Those that have gone camping with me know that I become slightly hysterical at the thought of being without water.  Food?  Fine, I can live without it.  Water - that's a different story.  When you don't drink water, you die.  So I ran around the park, saw that the bathrooms were closed for the season and started to get freaked out that they might have turned off the drinking fountains (mind you, I was in the middle of the suburbs, I was not going to die of dehydration).  When I finally found the drinking fountain I joyously filled my water bottle and looked at it - the water was nowhere near clear.  I thought about this for a minute, then dumped out the bottle and tried again.  This time it was closer to clear - worked for me.  I decided that if it was going to kill me, it was better than dying by dehydration (did I mention I get slightly dramatic 15 miles into my run?).

The rest of the run was relatively uneventful.  It was strange not actually knowing how far I was going.  I kept trying to calculate how far I had gone based on time, but every time I tried to add the numbers I got a different answer.  So I just headed for home and decided that I would calculate it at home, then run more if necessary.  I put my route into the map - I had run 22.5 miles.  This will be the only time in my life that I can say I accidentally ran 22.5 miles.  

21 days to go.  You know, I'm beginning to think I can actually do this thing.

Here goes

Alright kids, I'm trying to pump myself up to go outside and run 20 miles.  Here are some of the drawbacks...


It's 20 miles...that's a lot.


It is nice and warm inside my parents house (and inside this fuzzy bathrobe), and dang cold outside (my 'welcome to Buffalo' present yesterday was snow).


I'm on vacation mode...so the motivation to do anything is pretty much nonexistent.


The good thing is this is my last long run...you know, before the reeeeallly long run.  I'll let you know if I survive :)  


22 days to go.  

How to Avoid Being Hit On at the Gym

Are you tired off testosterone-fueled men always approaching you at the gym?  Are you tired of men constantly following you around, strategically choosing machines right behind yours, or staring at you every time you walk by when all you want is to get your workout and go home?  Following are some surefire tips to make sure you do not get hit on at the gym.


Step One:  Choosing your wardrobe
  It might be tempting to choose cute workout clothes, especially because there is such a great selection out there.  But if you want to avoid becoming eye candy to all those sweaty guys, look no further than your own wardrobe.  You know those old t-shirts that are covered in stains from cleaning, painting, gardening or whatever other activities you wouldn't wear nice clothes for?  Those sweat pants that are a few sizes too big, the ones that you would never wear out of the house because they make you look 3 sizes larger than you are but are oh-so comfortable?  Now is your chance to wear them in public.


Step Two: Making your entrance count
  I tend to go to the gym straight from work, so I'm often wearing non-gym clothes when I walk in.  I don't know why, but apparently there is something about a girl in jeans that makes every man stare at me when I walk by (it doesn't help that I have to walk by the free weights to get to the bathroom).  There are two ways to handle this.  You can pick and choose based on mood, or if your personality is more comfortable with one method then feel free to stay in your comfort zone.  The first option is to avoid eye contact at all costs.  This is more difficult than it sounds, because there are often men everywhere.  You can try to look down, but you also have to be aware of where you're going so you don't walk into one of them (which can often be misconstrued as flirting).  The second option is to stare them down.  You have to be very careful with this one, as intense eye contact is often perceived as a show of interest.  You might have practice in a mirror to get down the look - it's one part anger, one part indifference, one part coldness.  Like I said, this might take practice.


Step Three: Working out
  While working out, there are ways to make yourself very unapproachable.  First of all, don't worry about sweating, in fact, sweat as much as possible.  If over half of your shirt is dry, you're doing something wrong.  Wheezing, coughing and clearing your throat is definitely encouraged.  Don't be gross or rude to those around you, just do it enough that no one would want to be any closer to you than they have to.  When it comes to listening to music, do it as expressively as possible.  Lip syncing is encouraged, as well as the occasional air guitar (if you can do it without falling off your machine - you wouldn't want to be mistaken for a damsel in distress).


  Now if after all your efforts a man still approaches you...I got nothing.  




32 days to go.  Wait...what?

Life is Good

Fun Fact: I should be doing my taxes right now.  Instead I made granola and now I'm blogging :)


Last week finished out strong - I ran my 10 mile run in Buffalo, so it was kind of a run down memory lane.  I ran past my old high school, the mall, the nursing home I used to work at, and other stores and restaurants that gave me nostalgia.  When I ran past Ted's Hot Dogs, I craved loganberry so badly that I could taste it (for those of you who don't know what loganberry is, it is a drink made of basically pure sugar...it's fantastic...in small doses, unless you're 11 - then you can drink an entire 2-liter in one sitting).


This week has been kind of crazy.  I'm going to visit a friend this weekend, and didn't want to have to figure out routes and take time away from hanging out to run.  So...I decided to fit 7 days of marathon training into 4 days...and I did it!!  I ran 5 miles on Monday and Tuesday, 10 miles on Wednesday (I switched my 18 mile run to next weekend because I do not have time to run 18 miles in the middle of the week), and ran 6 miles tonight.  Surprisingly, I feel really good.  A big part of that, I'm sure, is that work was really calm this week.  And tomorrow we're going to Chuck E. Cheese, so I will definitely get in my cross training :)


Alright...on to responsible things (does reading other peoples' blogs count as responsible?)


37 days to go.  I gotta start posting more.  These days seem to be dropping waaaay too fast.

This is what happens when my mp3 player runs out of batteries...

At the beginning of mile 16 today, my body and I started to have a conversation.


My body:  You're mean.


Me:  What?


My body:  You're mean.  16 miles, really?  When is that ever a good idea?


Me:  I...


My body:  Especially with our body type.  Our short legs, they're not made for this.  Long legged people, sure, they take 3 steps and they've already covered at least 10 miles.  But not us.  Is that it, are you trying to punish me for not being long and lean?  I thought we've come to terms with this.  Yes, it's annoying that short jeans are a little too short for us and regular length jeans drag on the floor, but remember, we can wear heels and still be shorter than most men.


Me:  True...


My body:  So what is it?  What have I done to warrant such punishment?  I've held my tongue for a long time now.  First, you start running more often.  That was great, when we were running 3 or 4 miles at a time.  Then you start throwing in these 10, 12, 14 mile runs.  Maybe it's just a phase, I told myself.  So I sent you signals, just to be safe.  Exhaustion, tired knees, sore back, more exhaustion.  I figured you'd catch on, realize that I wasn't super excited about your decisions.  Even when we were at work, I held my tongue.  But seriously, 90 lb. children should NOT get piggy back rides!  Then, you decide to give a child a piggy back ride UP THE STAIRS??!?!?  But even that I could handle.  It's for the children, it's for a good cause.  I get it.  But this...16 miles...this doesn't make sense.


Me:  I...


My body:  I...I...what?  I...love to cause us pain?  I...enjoy running distances that would make a whole lot more sense to be traveled in a car?  I...am doing this because I enjoy it?  I know that's not true, I am part of you.  You think it's just as ridiculous as I do.  But I get it...you made a commitment.  You're this far in, can't give up now.  We can be stubborn like that.  But seriously, next time you decide to get out of your comfort zone or try something new and difficult, it's the brain's turn.  After this marathon, I'm taking a vacation.






49 days to go.

Recap

Since it's been a while since I've posted, here's a quick recap:


     Week 7: Another "oops" week.  I can't remember at this point, but I think I only ran 4.5 miles all week.  My excuse - it was the week of my birthday so it didn't count :)
     Week 8: I got back on the wagon, just in time for a 14 mile run.  This time I didn't make the mistake of eating Indian food before my run, and it went a lot better than I expected it to.  Although it has just started to hit me that I will actually be running 26.2 miles.  At what point does that sound like a good idea?  I'm guessing never.  Best part: the African American man who told me "Don't lose too much, now, don't lose too much."
     Week 9: I met my running goals, had an easy weekend run of 8 miles (love the cut-back weeks) and felt like I was running my short runs faster than I had been before.  Also, the weather was fantastic.  When I was running in the park, I saw parents playing football and baseball with their children, people out with their dogs, children playing on the playground, people feeding the ducks, and -my personal favorite- a grown man being dragged down the street by 2 leaping, smiling great danes.
     
     And that brings us to this week.  So far, not so hot.  I ran on Monday.  On Tuesday, I was exhausted from work, so I opted to nap instead of run.  On Wednesday, I realized that I had to make a choice between running and grocery shopping.  Since I had eaten the same soup for 4 days straight I decided to go to the grocery store (and it was the last day mangoes were on sale!).  So tonight I was busy until around 9:00, but I knew I needed to run if I'm going to get my runs in this week (and this weekend's run is 16 miles so I don't want to get too lazy).  And that is why I am awake at 10:46, blogging instead of sleeping.  My body is like a hyperactive child, yelling "this is fun, let's run around some more!  Sleep is for losers!" while my mind is saying "go to sleeeeeeeep.  We have to work in the morning."


So now I will go and attempt to listen to my mind.  Or just lay in my bed while my body and mind duke it out for a while.


51 days to go.  No way.  That's not possible.

Oops

So...I messed up a bit this week.  


Here's the deal.  I was sick all week, and since I work with children and have this weird thing where I hate taking sick days unless I absolutely have to, I spent all of my free time taking cold medicine and sleeping.  Marathon training became temporarily nonexistent.  The good news is that by the end of the week I felt much better (thanks for asking), and ready to pick up where I left off...which brings us to tonight.


I planned on running my 12 mile run yesterday, but was quickly talked out of it when I got a better offer.  I then briefly considered running this morning before church, but it was far too early.  So I made plans to run with friends after church...well, after church and after (dun dun dun) the Indian Buffet.  Oops.  Though the run took place a full 5 hours after our feast, the food was not to be forgotten.  The good part was that I ran with two awesome people (yay Rachel and Mike) and the conversation throughout the run made me forget that I was in the midst of running 12 miles.  The bad part was the haunting presence of the Indian Buffet.  Oh yeah, and the fact that my body now hates me for doing zero physical activity all week and then running 12 miles.


From now on, we will be going out to eat after our runs.  Life lesson learned.


76 days to go.

5 Weeks Down

I ran 10 miles yesterday!


That brings this week's grand total up to 24 miles.  In an entire week, I have still not quite reached the distance that I will be running in a day.  It's a bit intimidating, but there is still a lot of time to work up to 26.2 miles.  Another thing that's intimidating?  I will be running for longer than it takes me to drive from Pittsburgh to Buffalo. Yep.


83 days to go.

Valentines' Day

I went to the gym today, assuming that everyone else would be out with their lovers celebrating Valentines' Day. There are apparently a lot more singles at my gym than I thought because the gym was PACKED.  I creepily hovered by the treadmills for a few minutes, trying to see who had the least amount of time left but then decided that I didn't have enough time and did some cross training instead.  I don't know if it was because today was Valentines' Day (or as some call it, Singles Awareness Day), but I got stared at excessively at the gym today.  It probably had something to do with the fact that I was trying to be super hard core on the elliptical, since I couldn't get on a treadmill or maybe it was because I've decided I work out harder when I make really intense faces at the wall.  Either way, there was excessive staring and all I wanted to do was say to the men "can't you see I'm disgusting?  I am dripping with sweat, bright red, and panting.  This is not cute.  Go away."  Instead, I continued to stare at the wall while making intense faces and pretending they weren't there.  Happy Valentines' Day.


89 days to go.

So there's this hill...

Why did I choose to run a marathon in a city of hills?  Next time (ha), I'm going somewhere flat.


There's one hill in particular that makes me cringe.  I'm pretty sure I run up the hill slower than a typical person would walk. As I run up the hill, I feel like I'm going in slow motion, with some kind of force pushing me backwards.  Though I'm pretty sure I'm going the slowest pace possible, I still end up winded when I reach the top.  Every time I "run" up this hill, I tell myself that someday I will be in good enough shape that I will be able to sprint up the hill.  For the record, I have absolutely no desire to sprint up that hill (or any hill for that matter).  I have no desire to spend any more time on that hill than necessary, yet for some reason my brain always thinks that sprinting up that hill will be one of the great successes of my life.  My body disagrees and I'm pretty sure my body is going to win this one.


While I was running yesterday, I passes a relatively distinguished looking older man who was washing his Mercedes in the middle of the park using milk jugs full of water and a rag.  I spent a good mile speculating about him.  There was not a source of running water nearby (hence the milk jugs) and it's the middle of winter.  I decided that he is obsessed with washing his car and his wife limited the amount of times per week he is allowed to wash it, so he decided to sneak around behind her back and wash his car in strange places like the middle of the park.


When I run outside, I spend a good deal of my time people watching and then making up stories about them.  There was an old couple parked on the side of the road, with their car facing an ugly fence and I decided that they were having a romantic Valentines' weekend drive, and they decided to park there to talk about the "good old days" before the ugly fence was built and ruined the aesthetics of the neighborhood.  


Week 4: 21.5 miles (success!)


90 days to go.

Quick Recap:


   Week 2: 20 miles (total)


   Week 3: 17.5 miles (out of 21.5 miles.  Surprisingly, when I increased my amount of physical activity exponentially, I got tired a lot easier.  Huh.  I was driving home from work on Friday, fighting to stay awake, when my friend called and said she was in town.  I couldn't go for a 4 mile run when my friend was in town...what kind of a friend would I have been?).  I've missed one run in 3 weeks - I can definitely live with that.  I ran my 8 mile run outside on Saturday, which was definitely a change since I had been running on the treadmill so much lately.  The freezing rain halfway through was a bit of a surprise and resulted in black ice for about a mile, which made me feel like I was running an obstacle course.


Last week I got new shoes :)  I decided (and by decided, I mean my wiser friends told me) that training for a marathon in old shoes is probably not the best idea.  So, thanks to an awesome Groupon, I got a new pair of shoes for a pretty decent price.  And it will still probably be the most I will ever pay for shoes.


http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/08/09/new-balance-759-shoe-giveaway/




3 weeks in, still going strong.  I've come so far in terms of my treadmill fears - today I only thought about falling off and dying twice during my run.  I've also stopping looking at the clock every 30 seconds (which, by the way, makes the run feel like it takes forever).  And...today I unclipped the emergency stop clip BEFORE I walked away from the treadmill.  Life is good.




96 days to go.  Whoa kids, we've hit double digits.

Rest

I think my body is starting to catch on to what is happening.  The first week I felt great and I'm sure my body thought it was one of my sporadic episodes of healthy eating, less caffeine and exercise (they usually occur about once a month for 2 or 3 days).  Not this time body.  We have a long way to go.


Fortunately, I'm going away this weekend so I'm going to have a couple of mandatory rest days.  Today was supposed to be cross training but I've decided chasing children around definitely adds up to at least 30 minutes :)


106 days to go.  

Conquering Fears

Last week: 19 miles...success :)


I've reached my goals so far this week too, and I'm in the process of conquering one of my big fears: treadmills.  Most people I talk to dislike treadmills because the run is boring.  Running for any length of time staring at the same spot on the wall can understandably make anyone crazy.  Personally, I think treadmills are terrifying.  I trace it back to childhood, when my friend won a treadmill from a cereal box (lucky!) and I decided to try to run on the treadmill as fast as it could go.  I quickly wiped out, skinned my knees and (this is no surprise for those who knew me as a child) cried.  I have had an irrationally strong fear of them ever since.


Yesterday it was cold and dark and I had to run 4 miles so I decided it was time to face my fear.  Not gonna lie, it was one of the worst 4 miles of my life, but I finished it and kept my pace.  I definitely wasn't bored because as soon as I was in a groove I remembered that I was on a treadmill and fear crept in.  I'm sure I looked awesome, as I was fighting hyperventilation and continuously knocked my mp3 player on the ground and had to fumble to get it back (fortunately it was still attached to my headphones, which was great except for the time when I managed to get the cords tangled in cords on the treadmill).  Also, when a woman got on the elliptical beside me, my only thought was "I wonder if she can sense my fear."  Paranoia is apparently a side effect of treadmills :)  But I did it.


I ran 5 miles on a treadmill today and it was already so much better.  The only moment to note was that I tried to walk away with the 'emergency stop' clip still attached to my shirt.  After I freed myself from the machine, a beautiful man runner and I locked eyes and he smiled.  So he either thought I was beautiful or just saw me get literally jerked back when I attempted to walk away from the treadmill.  I'm going with the latter.




108 days to go.

Feeling Good

Things I love:
Running with a friend (yay Brynna)
The feeling of completing runs 3 days in a row (6 miles yesterday!)
A hot bath after a cold run

Things I do not love:
Cold
Running up a hill that has absolutely no traction because of the snow

Since yesterday was my long run, I was given the choice of resting or light cross-training today.  This morning I briefly debated between going to the store to buy a yoga video and making brownies.  Wonder what I chose? (hint: my lunch consisted entirely of baked chocolate-y goodness)  I did end up walking for about an hour (still love that walking counts as cross-training...score) and I've been fueling myself with brownies all day so I'm feeling pretty much awesome :)

A reminder of why I'm still single ;)

4 miles today.  According to my schedule, today was 4 miles of "easy to moderate" running.  I wasn't aware of any other options.


I've found that while I run, my mind tends to wander.  I have music, but today my mind was occupied daydreaming about meeting a beautiful man runner (who, obviously, runs at the same pace I do and is mesmerized by my wind chapped face and non-color coordinated running gear) and we would decide to train together and fall deeply in love.  Then my dreams were shattered.  This next part is an overshare, sorry.  In the middle of my run, I was practicing what my dad refers to as a "snot rocket." (plug one nostril and blow forcefully out the other, it's pretty disgusting but helpful when you don't have any tissues and you're in the middle of the woods...not recommended indoors or when any people are around)  When I was done I looked up and saw the only other person crazy enough to run outside today running straight towards me.  And of course, he was a beautiful man runner.


On a happier note, it was absolutely beautiful out today. The snow was falling lightly enough to be beautiful but not annoying to run through.  I've had a lot of "I feel like I'm in a Christmas card" moments lately, and there's something to be said about enjoying winter by being outside instead of watching it all out the window.  I remember feeling that way when I was younger but I think I forgot when I started pretending to be an adult.  Though there is also that "but it's cold" argument that I completely understand.


114 days to go.

Day 3 (well, technically, Day 1)

The Pittsburgh Marathon is 17 weeks away.  According to the training schedule I'm using, the beginner runner should "have been running 3-4 times per week (3-5 miles per run) for several months."  huh.  What about the people who run on average about once per week?  I think I would be listed as the "you probably shouldn't be running a marathon" runner.


This blog is kind of a way to keep me accountable and on track.  Also, I really hope some fun stories come out of it :)  And in the end, I will have the ultimate prize: the ability to put a 26.2 bumper sticker on my car.


Today it began.  I was supposed to start on Monday but I'm pretty sure there's a rule against starting marathon training on a holiday.  For yesterday, I'm counting a game of piggy back tag as my cross-training (imagine playing tag with a 50 lb backpack on, except that the backpack is an 8-year old boy).  If walking can be counted as cross-training, I'm definitely counting piggy back tag.  Today I ran 5 miles in the park.  At first I thought it was going to be miserable, but it was actually a good run and there were a few other runners out so we were able to share smiles and sympathetic glances.  


One day down, 115 to go.

http://www.pittsburghmarathon.com/