Saturday marked the beginning of my marathon training. 10 sweaty miles along my favorite trail. We were about 100 people strong and it was pretty cool to see all of us up and at ’em at 6:30 in the morning. Looking to our coaches for guidance, advice and encouragement and looking to each other to share in the excitement, insanity and passion for running. Ready to dream big and strive for our goals.
Saturday’s run was sort of up to us distance-wise. They suggested doing 6-10 miles and since Jodi and I did 10 last weekend we did 10 again this weekend. The weather was pleasant with some humidity but overcast skies and a nice breeze tempered the thick air just enough to keep us comfortable. We averaged a 9:30 pace which was probably faster than we should have run but I’m not going to worry about it. It felt good. The only issue I had was with my stomach. I ate my dinner too late the night before and felt like there was a rock in my stomach the whole way. I will have to be better about that next time. Ahh the joys of ironing out kinks like that!
We haven’t gotten our full training plan yet but should expect it today. I love looking at mapping out training plans so I am really anxious to get my hands on it. I do know that we’re going to have speed work sessions at the local high school track on Thursday nights at 6:30 and that starts this week. I think Wednesdays would have been better since we are running long on Saturdays but the track is being used on Wednesdays so we have to adapt and roll with it. As a result it looks like a rest day will be in order for me on Fridays this season most likely.
I haven’t had a chance to really get to know my coaches too well yet, but there will be plenty of time for that over the next 4 months! I’m super-excited about the head coach though. Her name is Caitlyn and we know each other from our RRCA certification class last year! I’m so inspired by what she has done with her coaching certification and feel I have so much to learn from her both as a runner and as a coach. I can’t wait to get to know her better and to learn from her.
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| Coach Caitlyn & Me |
From the looks of it so far, this training group is going to be stellar and SO worth it. =PR= is a great running store and fosters a wonderful community of people who love to run. Thursday night at the store was lots of fun. We enjoyed chatting with fellow runners and of course took advantage of our discount and bought some gear and apparel. That could get dangerous for this shopper…
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| shopping at =PR= |
Anyway, now I’m off to take my son to his first day of camp and then head to the gym with my other two monkeys for some strength training and a short 3 mile treadmill run on this rainy morning. Hello, Monday!
