A few firsts....

We had our first group run on Saturday morning -- 3 miles. I did it! My furthest distance ever. I do realize that on most Saturdays, I'll be saying the same thing.... but I like the idea of always going further than I have before, so I will probably keep saying it.

Anyway, the 3 miles went really well. I ran with Danielle, Jen, and a few others doing 4 minute running/1 minute walking intervals. We had a nice slow pace so we were able to chat. Loved that! It made the miles go by a lot quicker. I'm looking forward to the group runs in the future and hoping I won't have to miss any after the two consecutive weekends in September that I'll be out of town.


On Sunday I went to Pacers (a local running store) and bought a new pair of shoes and a watch. And a few more energy items-- now I have 2 types of gel, beans, and gummies. Once we start running long enough that I need them, I'll have to figure out which I like. Everyone I talk to seems to have a different favorite!


This morning I had a new workout, the "hill run". (That'll be my run every Monday from now on.) I had to run up a hill for 2 minutes, then walk down, and repeat 6 times. It was tough and I got a little discouraged, but the hills will probably get easier in a couple weeks. I'm excited for my endurance to build up so the short daily runs are a little less painful!


3 down, 10.1 to go...

Hi, IXI!

First of all, a big welcome to any of my IXI coworkers who are visiting my blog today. My office was kind enough to allow me to take over this month's Jeans for Charity Friday with fundraising for LLS and my Team in Training run! I appreciate everyone's support!!

Yesterday morning I ran 2.8 miles, so I feel like I'm all set to do 3 with the TNT group tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to our first group run -- everyone says it's much easier in a group (even at 8 AM), and I'll get to see my friends who are training for TNT races too! I also need a good stretching routine, and I'm sure they'll focus on that before we run tomorrow.

Early Mornings

I ran a little over 2 miles yesterday evening and again this morning, and felt surprisingly good today considering the short time between those runs. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoy getting up early to exercise. Especially on a comfortable morning like today -- it's so nice to be up and about before all the streets fill up with traffic!

My friend Danielle, who got me involved with Team in Training, told me that something really exciting for her was being able to say "today I ran X miles and that's a new record for me". I'm not quite there yet (my personal distance record to date is about 2.5 miles in college), but am hoping to beat that on Thursday!!

Wednesdays are our cross-training day, so I'm planning on a bike ride tomorrow morning. Thursday I will try for my record-setting ~3 mile run, and Friday is OFF(!!!!) before our 3-mile group run on Saturday.

2 down, 11 to go

Whew. Completed a 2-mile run this morning, before the temperatures rose above 80. But the humidity was rough. I forced myself to keep moving for the full 2 miles, switching from a jog to a power walk when I needed to catch my breath. My route took me around Pentagon Row, which I thought would be fun, but it made me want to stop and shop or eat (I didn't!!). Maybe tomorrow I'll stick to the more residential areas and avoid the temptation!




In the spirit of my mom's collection of "first day of school" pictures, here is a "first day of running" picture (from before I left my apartment)...



This weekend's group run is 3 miles so my goal during the week will be to go from 2 up to 3 miles without stopping.

Kickoff!

This morning was the Team in Training kickoff breakfast meeting, and the official start to my half marathon training! I got to meet Allison, my mentor, and the others in our group. One of the other girls in the group has no running experience, like me, so it's good to know that I'm definitely not alone.

Three of my friends from the WDC Delta Gamma alumnae group are doing Team in Training as well! Danielle did TNT last year and got us all involved, so we have her to thank for the inspriration. She's running the Disney half marathon again. Katie is running at Disney too, and Jen will be doing the Philly half marathon with me.

Because the Philly event is in late November and the other two races this season are in January, the Philly group will be pushing ourselves a little harder. I'm definitely nervous looking at the mileage numbers on my schedule (in 4 weeks there's a 7 mile run!), but am trying to keep in mind that once I start running more frequently, my endurance will build.

My training calendar starts tomorrow with a 2 mile easy ("at a pace where you can have a conversation") run. Nothing about 2 miles is easy for me, so we'll see how that goes!!