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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Marathon Training Week 1

Today began my marathon training.  Let me just say that I know I'm going to love this!  Here's just a little recap.

Doing anything for the very first time can be scary.  It was scary when I started college.  It was scary when I changed career paths and started dog training.  It was scary when I married Hans.  Going to marathon training for the first time when all I've run is a 10k ranks right up there.  I didn't know what to expect.  Would I be out of place?  Would people hear that I'd just run my first 10k and look at me like I shouldn't be there?  So, I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and saw people from all walks of life.  I saw super-fit, elite runners as I expected to, but I also saw people who did not obviously run a marathon every month.  That made me feel much more comfortable.

As I walked into the stadium where we were having our first meeting I made a decision.  One of the reasons I signed up for this team was so that I could meet other runners like me, and I wasn't going to put that to wasted.  My plan was to greet as many people as I could and to find someone to chat with.  Everyone was so warm and welcoming that this was not an issue.  In no time at all I was chatting with a group of ladies about our previous running experiences and why we signed up for the full marathon versus the half (they had already run a half), and I was relaxed.

After a brief informational meeting it was time to run.  I wasn't too concerned about the distance since it was only 4 miles, and I normally do at least 6 on Saturdays, but I was worried about being last in my group or doing something really stupid.  Well, those fears were put to rest by two things.  First, a girl passing me almost ran into a poll.  With so many people, it was sometimes difficult to see what you were coming up on.  I guess she got distracted and she almost face planted.  Before you judge me, I did NOT laugh at her.  Rather, it sparked a great talking point.  The pole girl ended up running on ahead, but another girl next to me continued to chat.  For this run, at least, I had a running buddy (of the human variety).

As we chatted an ran the four miles passed quite quickly, and before I knew it we were back where we started.  My running buddy and I exchanged emails and phone numbers, and then I returned home.  I'm looking ahead at the training schedule, and I am stoked!  I'm realizing that my birthday is only a month before the marathon, and our run that day is 12 miles.  The following week we're running 20 miles!!!  I am so looking forward to everything, and I can't wait to provide y'all with more updates as we go along.


2 comments:

  1. Woohoo! Excited to see how your training goes!

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  2. Great, I like to read about people that start training for Marathons! I've been doing a few myself.

    I use the website www.fromthecouchto5k.com for great information.

    happy Running, Carrol

    ReplyDelete