Week One Training (14mi week)

Day One:
3.3 miles in 28:45.04. Avgerage approx: 8.42 per mile
Route: Ran from Adams street (our apt.), down Long street, followed Alden Rd to Bridge Street, took that to Route 6, and finished back up Adams Street.  (2:30pm on Monday 4/25/11)
***This was a difficult run mentally.  Ran in my champion kicks and felt that they were too heavy for anything longer than a couple of miles.  It was a warmer, overcast day.  I needed to sweat a lot more than I was able. 
FOCUS on increasing water intake to help promote sweating. 

Day Two:
2.05 miles untimed
Route: Adams Street toward Acushnet to Main Street, Main Street toward Fairhaven to Howland Road, Howland back to Adams. (3:45pm on Tuesday 4/26/11)
***Today was an "off day".  Not running for a time.  Ran with Tom (he's training for the Providence 1/2 marathon we're both running August 7th).  Weather was perfect. Approx. 60 degrees, overcast and breezy.  This route was a bit more hilly.  We held a quick pace.  The route ends with an intense incline. I tried to power up it, had to gear down toward the upper half of the hill.  Felt great when we finished. Easy recovery.
FOCUS on stretching every morning and night.


Day Three:
1.5 miles Timer malfunction, approx. 12:30, average 8:10/mile
Route: Adams to Rt. 6, Bridge Street to Walmart (3:00pm on Wednesday 4/27/11)
***Today I ran with Tom.  We ran to Walmart and walked back.  The run felt great. Had a feel good pace that felt maintainable.  Strides were comfortable.  Ran in the Nike Crosstrainers, much better than the Champions.  When attempting to stop the stopwatch, the wrong button was pressed and the watch cleared.
FOCUS lengthening the time of stretching pre and post running.  GET WARM, GET LOOSE.

Day Four:
Thursday, 4/28/11  Rainy off day (which included a chocolate ice cream sundae)

Day Five:
3.3 miles in 27:47.77. Avgerage approx: 8:25 per mile
Route: (same as Monday) Ran from Adams street (our apt.), down Long street, followed Alden Rd to Bridge Street, took that to Route 6, and finished back up Adams Street.  (5:10am on Friday 4/29/11)
***Today I ran solo before work.  The temperature was PERFECT for running and my body felt good.  It was extremely foggy, which caused me to cross the road and avoid the road in different places.  Half way through I hit the wall, but pushed passed it.   Once I finished it felt great. Increased my pace from Monday by about 22 sec per mi. I did realize this morning that running back to our apartment is uphill from EVERY direction.  AWESOME! 
FOCUS continued on stride length and stretching both BEFORE and AFTER my run.

Day Six:
Saturday 4/30/11, Off day. Co-ed softball game and bowling  :)

Day Seven:
3.23 miles in 28:50 average: 8:54 min/mile
Route: Adams to Howland, Alden to Bridge Street. End at the top of Bridge and New Boston. (9:10am Sunday, 5/1/11)
***This morning Tom and I ran this route together.  The weather was AWESOME!  Very sunny with a nice breeze.  Physically this run felt good, but I realize that mentally I am slowing myself down.  When I hit the 2 1/2 mile mark and I start to breath heavy, I get stuck on the thought of  "If I'm feeling like this now, there's no way I'll ever be able to finish the marathon."  I have to remember this is only week one of a 2 YEAR training process.  Just a little over a month ago I finish a 1/2 marathon with no problem.  I have to stop thinking so far down the road while I'm training and this about the short term goals.  First goal, comfortably run 10k (a little over 6 miles) by June 1st.  We have two races in June, Ruckus (3 mile obstacle race) and the Father's Day 10k.  That is what I'm training for right now, that is my focus.  Get my body to be able to comfortable run 6.5 miles about 3 times a week by the 1st of next month.
FOCUS on staying positive and on track mentally.

WEEK ONE COMPLETE!