Total Miles: 461
Miles Completed: 75
Miles Missed: 26
Miles Remaining: 360
No, I haven't given up. I have, however, been quite sick for the last week. I'm finally feeling human again and I intend to get right back at it. I missed an entire week of running... but nothing I can do about that now except move forward.
My good friend Zach is currently running the New York marathon (his first marathon ever) and I'm going to use that as a little more motivation for me to kick some ass this week.
I saw the movie the Equalizer last weekend and the above quote was mentioned. I've heard it before, of course, but for some reason it stuck with me this time. I did a search to see if I could find the source and a lot of references to Alcoholics Anonymous came up, which I found funny for some reason.
Quick training recap
Week 1: All runs completed, including my first long run while on vacation. That one was a tough one, because it was 85 degrees, sunny, and no shade. But I did it.
Week 2: An astute observer would notice that my mileage above is not quite where it should be. This week was not the greatest. I missed my Tuesday run, did my Wednesday run, and then did my Thursday run on Friday. I did complete my long run, though. 7 miles - the first half was HORRIBLE. The second half was probably the best run I've had in a long time. Strange.
Week 3: Going well so far. My long run is all that is left, and it is only 5 miles this week.
The reason that quote stuck with me is that I've been beating myself up about week 2. However, when I really look at it, I only missed 3 miles. And I did the most important run - the long run. AND I came back this week and did all my runs even while having to drive extra far to and from work (I'm working at a new client).
Plus, I'll likely make up those 3 miles in the next few weeks somewhere - just fit it in to my training schedule. Some of you might be thinking that I might be cheating a little bit, but guess what? YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!
Miles Completed: 9
Miles Remaining: 452
Ahoy there. So, the first three days of training are done. How do I feel? Let's take an inventory:
Physical: Not too bad. Not really sore, no warning signs like a pain in my knee, or foot, or anything like that. Fairly tired, but work has been a killer lately and I got up early on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to go running so I guess that is to be expected. Overall, I'll say I feel pretty good.
Mental: It has been great to get up in the morning and go for runs. I feel energized after I'm done (duh). Of course, actually rolling out of bed is difficult but once I'm up it isn't a problem. I've definitely noticed my mood has been better at work as well, which is a nice bonus.
So - why the hell am I doing this, anyways? Well, I've realized over the last year or so that I really need to have a big goal out there to motivate me to get in shape and lead a healthier lifestyle. Generally, for me, "losing weight" or "getting in shape" isn't going to cut it. Even when I started gaining a bunch of weight and all my clothes stopped fitting it wasn't enough of a motivation.
So, that's part of it. However, I'm also well aware that running a marathon simply to get in shape isn't going to provide me enough willpower to get through those long runs. There needs to be more.
And now for something completely different.
In the past, I have said I would never run a marathon. I mean, 5+ hours of running? Are you on crack? That sounds HORRIBLE.
I'm going to take this on BECAUSE I said that in the past. What the hell do I know, anyways? I'm sure at one point I said the same thing about a 5K. You know what? I ran three of those, three days in a row this week. AND I DIDN'T DIE. I think, one day soon, I'll look back on this marathon and say the same thing. Well, maybe not about doing three of them in three days. Because that's just crazy talk.
At this point, the only thing I can figure out is that I must have a hormone imbalance or something. I mean, I've run a bunch of 5k's, 10k's, and two half marathons... but my last half marathon was in November of 2012. I've gained a ton of weight since then and I'm not exactly in the best shape of my life.
So... I created this blog so you can all share in my pain. Or joy. I'm expecting mostly pain though. Oh, the title of the blog is in reference to the fact that I just added up the miles I'll be running in the next 18 weeks (including the marathon). 461. Ugh.
I'll put some more up later this week about why I'm really doing this (it isn't as dire as I make it out to be above), but for now, I'll leave you with this:
