Marathon training

I am just about 6 weeks into training for the marathon, and so far, things are going well. There will never be a picture of me running/just back from running on this site, as I am a hot, sweaty mess after running, and Lucy can’t take pictures. These last 6 weeks have been very interesting, and I’ve learned a lot about myself.

1. I’m not good at motivating myself to run when walking is an option. It happens that it is exactly one mile from my house, down to the lake, up a block, and back to my house. I had intended to just run this loop as many times as I was meant to run for that day, stopping when I passed my house for water breaks. Yeah, that didn’t work. When I first started training and 3 miles was a long way, I would run, and then I would walk, and then I would run, and then I would walk, until I’d made two miles, then I’d stop. So now, I pick a direction and I run away from my house half the total distance I’m meant to go, and then I turn around and run home. This way, I’m so excited about getting home, I keep running so I can get there faster, and stopping before finishing my distance isn’t an option.

2. It is way better to run with friends. Especially friends who have already completed a marathon and so know what they are doing. Or at least what they are in for.

3. Starburst candy is so far the bet sugar source for me during a long run.

4. You can put almost anything between your skin and the strap of a sports bra and not feel the weight of it at all. One of my running buddies showed me the trick, and I ran 6 miles with a cliff bar stuck there and completely forgot it was there.

Since it is full on summer here, I’ve started running at 530 in the morning so I can beat the heat, and get to work by 8. Some (all) mornings it is hard to get up this early, but I know once I do, this will greet me:

And that gets me up most mornings.

Though honestly some mornings this is too cute to resist and I stay in bed to pet her more.

-CMT