Looking ahead- 29 weeks of training- who's with me!

Today is Monday,  March 26th

Been a little bit silent these last few days.

Posts have been swirling around in my mind...just couldn't get them down

I find that along with racing highs I also get post race lows.

Nothing scare worthy- just a bit of the post race blues

I wanted to rant about the hard parts of my Moab half

But a week, and a few runs later, and I'm over it.

But I would be remiss if I didn't show you the BEST of my running photos from that race.

Random gal in the blue is what I envisioned I looked like....

I'm in the green.

Bwahahaha!

What I think I look like when I run

What I really look like when I run~

Gotta work on my Bangle!

(for those of you reading this on my blogger site---you have to click on Bangle and read his Boston Qualify post about the LA marathon--He's the master at making it look good! Even made it into a promo video click on the video link and see him at about 2:45)

 

Looking at my race finish photo-

I have one regret:

That I wasn't proud of myself

What a cool shot that would have been,

If I'd have just pumped my arms in victory, smiled, and been proud of my finish.

I had no idea anyone was behind me...

Lesson learned.

Hope if you're a newbie, you can take that bit of advice and run with it.

On the running front.

Sunday marked the official beginning of my TCM marathon training.

I have 29 weeks till the big day

It scares me.

But, at the same time, I am so unbelievably excited.

I'm using Brad Hudson again.

It's a 20 week beginner plan.

To stretch it, I'm repeating weeks 1-4 to work on my pace while mileage is lower

Then repeat weeks 11-15 to gain confidence on miles 14-18

Tempted to repeat later weeks with the 18-22 mileage....but not sure if that's a good idea...

I'll be asking advice from all my marathon buddies when it gets closer.

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Sunday, March 25th first training run

Alarm woke me at 4:30

Needed to get a run in before my usual Berg Park walk with Friends.

Today my sis-in-law, Jen -aka RunninMommaOf 2-was joining me

It makes it so much easier to get up, when you know a friend is joining you!

We were meeting at my house, so I chose my easy Sunday loop.

Mostly downhill, with a nice finish up Pinion Hills.

An almost 5 mile loop of chatting about:

Her upcoming tri (I'm so proud of her!)

Running

Schedules- her honey, like mine- has a lot of work travel this spring-

And random funny stuff -there's something about a good run that makes you smile

She has an easy pace at least a minute or more faster than mine, which is good, as I'm working to build in speed. I really hope to incorporate a few more group runs into my training this time around to push me. The run felt great, and our pace was right on par with my goals.

I'm using Mcmillian Pace Calculator to shoot for a sub 5 marathon.

Moab Half chip time was 2:49 and change. 

I know I left some time on the road in that one.

So I think this is a good challenge for me.

After our run, we set off for Berg Park to meet up with my Sunday walk group.

It was fun to have Jen join us today.

The weather was gorgeous.

Everyone was in good spirits, till I mentioned taking a photo of us-haha

Shoes seemed the logical choice.

Sunday am shoe power!

This time around, I want to work on being more transparent with myself, and this blog about time.

I've switched endomondo to post to Face Book distance, as well as pace- which, up to now I've been hush-hush about.

Why?

Because I want to be proud of where I'm at right now.

I want to stop thinking about tomorrow and how cool it would be to run a 7 minute mile.

But, enjoy the journey to it.

If I never tell anyone, my average is 12-13 minute miles...

No one will be there to cheer when I shave it down to 10-

No one will know how hard it was for me to get there.

So there you have it.

And if you have even a fleeting thought to try running.

Now's the time to start.

Anybody can

Anybody.