Day 106.

Today is the first day of a somewhat new routine for me, now that the kids are out of school.  I woke up at around 6:00 and did 20 minutes of Pilates before heading out for my run.  My goal was to get going before any of the kids were awake, but two of the four were up and watching TV when I left for my run.  As usual, I walked for about 1/4 mile before starting to run, then I did 3 miles.  The air was cold, but the sun was out and I felt happy to be out there.  When I got home, I did workout 3 from the 30 Day Shred.

Day 105.

Rest day.

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."

~Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ

For more ideas on how to get motivated, check out this great article:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,ssssss6-238-267--11733-1-1X2X3-4,00.html

Day 104.

My desktop computer has a screen saver on it from Runner's World Magazine which has pictures of runners and inspirational quotes.  One of the quotes says: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only soft people."  I'm guessing that whomever said that must be from Idaho.  This morning my training schedule said to walk for 1 hour.  I put my little guy in his stroller and off we went.  It was about 35 degrees, windy, dark clouds looming and a few sprinkles coming down.  The whole time I was walking the dark clouds threatened to burst out in rainfall at any moment, but lucky for us it held off and I was able to get in my entire walk, and we ended up going for almost 4.5 miles.  Is it really the end of May?  Still waiting for the warmer weather to come and stay.  :(  When I returned home, I also did workout 2 of the Yoga Meltdown DVD.

Day 103.

This morning I did a little cross-training.  I started with 30 minutes of a belly dancing workout, then I did workout 2 from the 30 Day Shred DVD.

Day 102.

I warmed up this morning with 10 minutes of Pilates before walking to the park to do my 3 mile run.  The first mile I felt lethargic, but once I made my mind conquer my body, I picked up the pace for the second mile.  I also did an exaggeration of my movements, i.e. high knees, longer stride, farther reach with my arms.  I don't know if there is a name for it, but that's what I did to work on my form and increasing my speed.  It seems to have worked a bit because I felt my energy level increase, and by mile 3 when I returned to my normal running form, I could tell I was going a little faster.  When I downloaded my workout info from my Garmin, it showed a little over 1 mph difference between my slower pace and the 2nd mile pace.  After my run I also did workout 1 of the Yoga Meltdown.

Dear blog readers:

I have noticed that I've been getting hits on here from all over the place, and I'm curious as to who is reading and following along with me on my mission to run a marathon.  If you'd like, leave a comment on this post telling me who you are, where you're reading from, if you're a runner or not, and why you like my blog.  Also, if any of you have blogs, I would love to know the url's so I can see what everyone else is up to! Keeping this blog has been such a great outlet for me and a fun way for me to track my training.  I would love to get some feedback.  Thanks, all! :)

Day 101.

Another 3 mile run today.  I had my little guy in his stroller, and after walking to the park to warm up, I ran the three miles in a ridiculously slow time!  I'm not sure why, I felt okay throughout my run.  The first mile is always the hardest, and slowest, for me.  Once I'm in a groove I feel like I can go for a long time.  I enjoy the longer runs (over 5 miles) more than these shorter ones.  I probably should have done some intervals or something with my run today.  Since tomorrow is another 3 miler, and Friday is a "rest" day, I think I will do speed work tomorrow.  When I came home I also did workout 1 from the 30 Day Shred.

Day 100.

Wow...100 days!!  Another 3 mile run today.  It was chilly (35 degrees) but sunny, so I went on the road to do my run this morning.  I warmed up with 20 minutes of Pilates, then walked 1/4 mile before starting my run.  I felt good, but towards the end of my run my knee and the top of my foot started to hurt.  I'm icing my knee right now, and I've been taking Chondroitin Glucosamine supplements for a couple of months, along with my multi-vitamin.  I'm hoping it's just soreness and not the beginning of an injury or anything like that.  I also did the 30 minute Yoga Meltdown DVD.

Day 99.

All of my runs are scheduled to be 3 milers this week.  I woke up this morning to pouring rain again, and since Chris is at work and I would have needed to bring my 4 year old in the jogging stroller on my run with me, I decided to go ahead and use the treadmill.  I haven't used the treadmill to do a run for quite a while, and I'm still surprised at how much harder it feels than running outside.  I can't figure out what it is, but I feel like I have to work a lot harder, and I definitely sweat a lot more, going the same distance as I do when I run outside.  If I didn't have my Garmin to give me definitive proof of my speed and distance while on an outdoor run, and then I ran on the treadmill, I would swear I don't go as fast or as far as I do when I'm outside, because to finish my goal distance on the treadmill, I have to set the speed slower than what my average pace has been on other runs.

Anyway, before I did my 3 miles, I did 15 minutes of Pilates, then I walked on the treadmill  for 10 minutes before increasing the speed and doing the 3 miles, then I slowed to a walk again for another 5 minutes.  Then I did workout 3 of the 30 Day Shred DVD.

Day 98.

Rest Day.

Last night my husband and I watched "The Spirit of the Marathon", a documentary that follows six people from all different walks of life who train for and run the 2005 Chicago Marathon.  It was an excellent movie, though my husband and I are both huge fans of any decent documentary.  It was very insightful and helped me to realize that most of what I've been going through so far is pretty universal.  Distance runners, at any stage of experience, from the beginner to the elite, are part of a unique culture.  I'm fascinated, actually, and watching this movie motivated me to work even harder.  I'm determined to NOT be the one at the end of the 26.2 miles that is crying from exhaustion...I may be crying from an emotional release, but it will be because of the realization of all the hard work I put into my training.

Anyway, I'd encourage all of my readers to check out this movie: www.marathonmovie.com/