Days 1 and 2 of Training

Day 1 - 5/19/10

Well, yesterday I "officially" started my training for the half-marathon coming up on October 2. That sounds like a long ways a way when I say it, but when I realize I will have to run/walk 13 miles at that point, all at one time and in less than 4 hours, well.....it seems like it is right around the corner!

Last night the boys headed to the ballfield for game night while I was home doing whatever it is I always do when I am home. After a few minutes I realized the field was 1.8 miles away so I might as well start somewhere and head to the field. So, I laced up my tennies and headed out at 8:06 p.m. I was thinking I would walk for just a few minutes and then perhaps run for 30 seconds/walk for 30 seconds, run for 3o seconds/walk for 30 seconds, etc., etc., until I reached my destination. Well, needless to say that did not happen.

I walked for 2 minutes, ran for 30 seconds, walked for 2 minutes, ran for 30 seconds and then I had to look at the back of my legs because I literally thought my calves were on fire! Luckily, I did not see any flames. Whew! I actually reached my destination in 32 minutes (my goal was 30 minutes since the ultimate goal is to eventually be able to run 4 miles in an hour). Out of that 32 minutes, I ran a total of about 4 minutes. So..... I felt that was decent for my first attempt at running since 9th grade PE class and I still lived to tell about it with my calves in tact.

Day 2 - 5/20/10

Today after work I met a friend of mine for dinner. These plans were made months ago, long before I knew I would be training for a marathon on a daily basis (LOL - I still laugh at the thought of me doing this)....anyhoo, I went to dinner and enjoyed myself catching up with my friend. Didn't get home until about 9:00 and was tired. However, being the trooper I am (after all, this is only day 2 of training - I can't already be quitting - right?) I laced up my tennies and off I went. I only ended up doing 1.2 miles tonight, however I did that in 21 minutes and ran 3 1/2 minutes total....so I am thinking that is a slight improvement to last night......... and my calves only burned about half the time of last night too! Woo Hoo.