I ran a little over 14 miles last night. My training plan called for 20. However, I decided to flip flop last weekend and next weekend due to the foot injury. That meant I would do 16 last night. However, my foot started to get angry so I stopped at 14. Although I would have loved to have run 16, I'll take 14 at this point. I was actually surprised my foot did that well.

I will add that I am not struggling fitness-wise (yet). I've had to skip runs to rest my foot, but I had several more miles in me in terms of legs and cardio...Basically, everything felt great except for the foot. And even the foot didn't feel horrible. It's been worse, but I didn't want to push my luck.

My saving grace recently (when I've been forced to rest my foot) is the Olympics. I was always really into the Olympics as a kid, and I still love them as an adult. I usually run in the evenings at about 7 pm--depending on how far I need to run. Instead of running, I now sit down for the primetime Olympics show, so that's helped me to not feel the void of my usual evening activity. In that respect, I guess the timing of my injury isn't horrible.

I am not running today but will give it a try again tomorrow. It's day to day with the foot but I am feeling much more positive than I was a few days ago. I read somewhere that if you are returning from injury you should do 75% of your training for a week or so, and I am going to try that to see if I can balance continuing to train with recovery.

So I am still dealing with a sore foot. Long story short, there seems to be a really big knot in my arch. It is swollen, but there isn't anything broken or structurally wrong at this point. I ran this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I took off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Tomorrow I will try my long run. It would be 20 miles, but I am going to switch the next two weekend around and try 16 tomorrow. I'm nervous about it. When I ran Wednesday I only made it about 5.3 miles, but hopefully three consecutive days off has helped the situation.

I'm not going to lie...it's hard to be hurt. When I can't do my runs, I get grumpy. You learn to depend on certain things in your life for stress-relief, coping, combating anxiety, a sense of accomplishment, etc. When those things are taken away, you have to adjust, and I haven't done that well. Of course, to put things in perspective, no one has died here. I just can't run right now. Worst case scenario is that I won't be able to run my marathon. I don't think that's going to happen, but even if it does, I will be just fine. However, if I can't get back into running very soon, I am going to need to turn to biking (if it doesn't hurt--not sure if it will) or swimming to keep my fitness up. This isn't my first running injury and won't be my last.

I generally don't have many regrets in life. It's not that I don't make mistakes because I most certainly do. However, I seem to be programmed to look forward and not back. I don't second guess decisions very often. This can be a good thing, but it also can be a bad thing because I don't learn from mistakes by analyzing my own behavior.

If I make myself look back on this injury, I can see how I could have POSSIBLY prevented it. I chose a VERY hard training plan. It has high mileage. I could have chosen a more moderate training plan. I might not be hurt if I had not chosen to run so many miles as part of my plan. I also could have done things differently the weekend I got hurt. I changed my schedule to take two days off before my long run but then NOT take a day off after. There is a reason you are supposed to take a day off after the long run...so your body can rest and recover. I should have either not run on the day after or done a very short run. Lesson learned. I tend to think more is always better, but it's not.

Tomorrow I will try 16 and see how it goes. I am hoping for the best!

Big ZEROs

My recent mileage looks like this:

last Monday--8.3
Tuesday--0
Wednesday--0
Thursday--8
Friday--0
Saturday--0
Sunday--0
Monday--????

That's a lot of zero mileage days...I've been icing and taping my foot (well, Bill has been taping my foot), and trying to stay off it as much as possible. I don't think it's anything major, but I'm doing what I can to make sure it doesn't turn into anything major. I am going to try to run on it tonight and see how it goes. My training plan calls for 8 tonight--but I won't go that far even it feels great (and I will be surprised if it feels GREAT). I don't want to push my luck. I don't want to reverse whatever healing it has done in the past week or so.

So that's where I'm at. It's a bummer to have an injury after being so committed to my training plan up to this point, but it happens. I also feel like a fat slob because (although I am not running much) my appetite is still in marathon mode.

My saving grace, of course, is that my obsession with the Olympics is keeping me occupied.

Elevation and a bag of frozen corn...

Here is a photo of my foot (insert sad face here). Bill has it taped up to keep the swelling down and I am icing it with a bag of frozen sweet corn (which Karl has repeatedly tried to eat). I ran 7.5 miles last night and it went okay. It did hurt, but it was tolerable. Today, I am back to icing and keeping it elevated as much as possible. It hurts a little bit to walk around on it. If I have it up with ice on it, I can get up and walked around for about 5 minutes before I start to feel it. I am pretty sure it's just a strain of the arch of the foot. It will heel. It's just going to take time, and obviously I worry about losing my fitness as it heels, but I will take it day by day. I know I am not running today and I won't run tomorrow. We'll see how it feels by Sunday.

I am wondering if I can bike. I have a great spinning bike, but I'm not sure if pedaling with irritate my foot or not. It's a lower impact activity, but I am thinking it might still put too much pressure on the arch. Only one way to find out...As for cross-training, I know I can't walk and I have trouble finding a place to lap swim. If I have to be off more than a few days, my best bet might be the spinning bike if it doesn't aggravate the injury.

I'm bummed about this, but it's not like I have some sort of serious, life-threatening condition. 

The good news is that I have a diversion---the Olympics start tonight! I have always loved the Olympics and I've been looking forward to them since...the last Olympics.

R-I-C-E

RICE.

Rest, ice, compression, elevation.


That's where I am today. I ran 16 miles Sunday (great run!), and went out for 9 miles on Monday. Monday's run took a turn for the worse after about 7 miles, when I started feeling a pain in my left arch. I ended up running about 8.3. I took yesterday off (as planned), but decided not to run today either. I hope to run tomorrow night. I have 9 miles on my training schedule, but I'll take 5-6 if that's what my foot can handle.



I don't think it's plantar fasciatis. I would guess it's a strained arch, but I don't really know. Today I've been keeping the foot elevated as much as possible and icing it off and on. I've also got it taped (compression), and that seems to have helped. We will see how it feels tomorrow.


It is exactly two months until my marathon! I really don't need an injury at this point. I think one of the biggest challenges of running is figuring out when to back off and when to run through pain. It's risky to run through pain--obviously you could hurt yourself and be out much longer. However, it's also risky to skip days on your training plan. You want to be ready for the race. So, it's a balancing act. And it's one that I have historically not been good at.


I've typically made the mistake of pushing through when I shouldn't, so this time I will play it more conservatively. And hope for the best.

Hello Mister Blister

My apologies for the photos of my toe. I got a weird blister. It's been threatening for a while, but at mile 14 of my 18 mile run on Saturday, it started being really annoying--the pain went from 0 to ouch on the pain scale in one step. But a funny thing happened about 20 minutes later--I couldn't feel it at all. It just numbed out. I got through the run. It's sort of a blood blister now, and I've been taping the toe before running, which seems to help a lot. I don't think it's gonna heal anytime soon, so I have to cope with it. No big deal.

I have 68 days until race day! I know I can run 18 miles successfully, and I've got over two months to be assured I can make it to 26.2. The heat, once again, is making my runs difficult. I did chose a marathon that requires me to train most intensely during the hottest months, so it's to be expected. It has been an unusually hot summer around here though. It's good for me though, right?

I have a nine mile tempo run tomorrow. It's a one mile warm-up and a one mile cool-down with a really quick (for me) pace in the middle. I may have to adjust the pace depending on the heat.

I am also going to post some other random summer photos today, just for fun.

The Ice Bath

72 days until the marathon....and still healthy...although I have been feeling a bit more "worn" the past week or so. Last night I did seven miles. The half of the run was sort of a dud. I even considered cutting it short. However, I felt better once I got to five miles or so, and picked up the pace quite a bit at the end. That's a good lesson. You can feel terrible two miles into a run but great after five miles. This is a really important point because if you know this it is much easier to push through. However, I think there are days when you should cut a run short--because your body is telling you that you need another recovery day. The trick is deciding when to push through. I'm still working on that.

I did an ice bath this morning. My legs were not necessarily sore, but they felt dead. If you've ever taken an ice bath, you know that they are not pleasant. Although I want to think they are "refreshing," I have to admit that the best part of the ice bath is the part where I get out of the tub and put my clothes on.

Because I am an empiricist at heart (and teach research methodology), I am continually seeking research evidence to support what I do. Unfortunately, the research evidence doesn't whole-heartedly support ice baths. There is no sound evidence that they speed healing, although the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Some research suggests that the ice bath has the same effect as taking an anti-flammatory--so why go through the ice bath? Other research says that the ice bath may decrease soreness but really doesn't DO anything in terms of promoting healing. Some people think the ice bath is effective because of the placebo effect. (If you aren't familiar with the placebo effect, google it). Nonetheless, it can't hurt.

Karl (our Mastiff) really enjoys my ice baths. He likes to bob for ice cubes, as a kid would bob for apples on Halloween.

Wednesdays suck

Wednesdays are speedwork day and therefore suck. Yesterday I was supposed to run a total of seven miles with three 1600 meter spurts of 8:42 each. I gotta say, 8:42 is a pretty fast mile for me when it's in the middle of a seven miler. I couldn't hold out at that pace, but my miles were all around 9:00 miles. I think the first one was actually about 8:45.

Anyway, I got it done, with the help of Bill who came along despite having three beers at happy hour (at Old Chicago) right before the run. I was impressed. I could never have a beer and go running.

My hardest days are undoubtedly Wednesday (speedwork) and Saturday (long run). Other than that, this marathon training thing ain't so hard. On Mondays and Thursdays I have runs of about 6-10 miles at an easy pace, and I don't mind those at all. I get the days before and after my long run off as rest days, and I also get the day before the speedwork as a rest day. If it weren't for the hard days (Wednesday and Saturday), this would be easy.

Tonight I've got a seven mile run. I plan to leave at about 7 pm. I'm not really dreading it or looking forward to it. It's on my schedule and I'll get it done. I have decided I really do prefer evening runs to morning runs. I used to think it was always best to get your run out of the way in the morning so that nothing could get in the way. I don't subscribe to that mentality anymore. It's nice to run and not have to think about what I have to do the rest of the day.

I've read some stuff recently on what people call a "runner's high." The concept is somewhat controversial. Some say it is induced by endorphins, whereas others don't think that's possible for various neurological reasons I don't fully understand. Here is my experience....Sometimes I feel great even when I shouldn't--like I could run further and everything is effortless. However, I certainly have not had a runner's high carry me through a long (over 14 mile) run. I can get that feeling running a half marathon, but anything more than that--it's about gutting it out and surviving.

I ran 16 miles a couple of Saturdays ago. I finished thinking I felt surprisingly good, all things (including a heat index over 100 degrees) considered. I was tired and ready to be done. I was proud that I did 16 miles. I can't say a runner's high carried me through that long run. There was nothing magical, mystical, or spiritual about it. It was a long run and I just kept going, even when it sucked. Sometimes that's what running is about. It's not always about the joy of running. Sometimes it's about putting one foot in front of the other when that joy is gone for the day.

I do know, however, that I feel better after running than I do after sitting on the couch watching TV. And I got nothing against watching TV. I do my fair share of that as well.

A note on my training plan: My plan gives me a choice of how hard I want to train. I can pick 1) easy, 2) moderate, 3) hard, or 4) very hard. I picked "very hard." This is why I have speedwork and why it is at such a challenging pace for me. It is also why my plan has me running a 20 miler more than two months before the race. I've talked to many others who have done marathons and only completed one 20 miler before the race. My plan has me doing at least three 20 milers. Again, this is because I chose "very hard."

I don't regret creating that training plan, but when I did chose "very hard" back in May I wasn't thinking about how I would be doing my big time training in July and August--in over 100 degree heat index weather. Back to the lesson about the heat I learned Saturday---DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF HOT WEATHER!

How Elaine Got Her Groove Back

After yesterday's hot mess of a run/walk, I wasn't sure what to do today. I could have taken a rest day because yesterday took a lot out of me--and the day after a long run is a rest day on my plan. I thought about giving 18 miles another go this morning. Bill suggested doing seven miles to make up the seven I was short yesterday (I did a total of 11 miles with the walking). I went for that plan.

Bill and I ran seven miles tonight. It cooled off some today. Finally. But anything under 90 degrees seems cool right now. Anyway, the run felt great tonight, and I really wasn't sure it would because I still felt a bit dehydrated and (for the first time in this process) I'm sore. Also, I haven't been smart about my eating. However, the run was easy and enjoyable. I felt great. It was one of those runs where you think you could run forever. What a change from the last 4-5 days.

Seven miles, at this point, is a pretty short run for me. And I know that running 7.5 miles, walking four, and then running another seven the next day is not the same as running 18 consecutive miles. However, mentally, the seven miles I ran tonight is important because I did do 18 miles this weekend. It was not how I envisioned it, and I don't have the sense of accomplishment of doing an 18 mile long run, but that's okay. Things don't always go as planned. I ran 16 last Saturday. I know I can run 18, even though it didn't happen this time.

This weekend was the first time I have not completed a training run as planned. As I've mentioned, I love the Runner's World SmartCoach app, and I trust it because it's based on solid training principles. I follow it closely and have now doubt I will complete a marathon if I do as it tells me. But what to do if I can't do what it tells me? Do I try to make up the mileage the next day? Scrap that day and move on? Obviously, you need to get your runs in, but what if you think doing the run puts you at risk of illness or injury?

As my runs get longer and longer, I wonder if this will happen again. I guess this is why some people (even slow, amateur people like myself) hire a coach. The training plan is awesome, but what if you wake up and know you are dehydrated (like I did yesterday)? Do you still try the run? The training plan doesn't know if you're sore, tired, sick, dehydrated, etc. It also doesn't know if it's over 100 degrees for five consecutive days. You have to make a decision, and sometimes the decision will be right and sometimes it won't.

Saturday morning, I had doubts about doing the 18 miler. I thought about waiting until today. However, my training plan said 18 miles on Saturday, so I set out to do it. In retrospect, I should have waited and tried it Sunday. Here's an example of when you should listen to your body (and the weather) over your training plan. Lesson learned. It's not being a wimp. It's being smart.

Another lesson learned this weekend: The heat impacts you more than you think it does. It can make you sick, dizzy, confused, etc. When I was running yesterday, I knew I wasn't having a good day, and I kept thinking about how I could head to one of my friends' houses if I couldn't make it home. I had all of these contingency plans--I could walk to Pat and Bob's, or maybe walk to Jessica's...Thinking about it later, these plans made NO SENSE because I had apparently lost the ability to effectively evaluate distances. In other words, I was confused. Not in a dangerous way, but I wasn't on top of my game when it came to cognition--because of the heat. The most interesting thing about this is that I didn't realize I was not thinking clearly at the time. It's only thinking back that I realize it. 

In summary--

Lesson 1: Listen to your body (and the weather).
Lesson 2: The heat impacts you more than you think it does.

This week I will get back to the speedwork (on Wednesday). I skipped the quick pace this past week due to the heat, and the week before was a recover week so it wasn't on the schedule. I really do hate speedwork. However, I value it because it makes me appreciate the slower pace I have on other days.

I've also decided that I like running in the evening rather than morning on hot days. This is mostly because it gets cooler, rather than warmer, as I go along. It's tough mentally on hot days when you get out and run in the morning, knowing that it's only going to get hotter as you get more tired. I also do better with hydration when I run in the evening. I can drink fluids all day in preparation. When I run in the morning, I struggle to get enough fluids down after waking up. There's a major problem with my logic though, and that's that races happen in the morning.

In other news....

Congratulations to my father in law, who completed a sprint triathlon this morning!

Epic F-A-I-L

Today's run was a massive FAIL. I was supposed to run 18 miles. In the end, I ran 7.5 miles and walked 4 more.

When I woke up this morning, the writing was on the wall. I knew I was at least slightly dehydrated (slight headache, dark urine), and I knew it was another hot one. I debated whether I should wait until tomorrow, but decided to be a trooper.

I am trying not to overanalyze what happened. Basically, it was just too hot. My legs and lungs didn't fail me. It's just not reasonable to try and run 18 miles when you start at 7 a.m. and the heat index is already in the 90's. And that's the thing about morning runs. As you get more tired, it only gets hotter.

This week I have probably been experiencing minor symptoms of heat exhaustion from running. Even if I run in the morning or late evening, the heat index is in the 90's or low 100's. I've been tired all the time, and I've also had some headaches and body aches that aren't typical for me. I think today it all caught up to me.

Today, in the battle between mediocre runner and heat....heat won.

HOT HOT HOT

On Tuesday, they put us under a heat advisory...until Saturday. I don't ever remember a heat advisory lasting that long. So, yeah, it's hot. Yesterday morning Bill and I ran 8 miles. We started before 7 a.m. Still...the heat got to us. We finished our 8 miles, but then I proceeded to take two naps throughout the day. Each nap was at least an hour and a half! That's a lot of napping, even for me. But it was the 4th of July, so I didn't have anywhere to be until we went over to our friends' house last night.

I have a new strategy today. I am running tonight. I think it will be warmer than it was had I gone this morning, but a run can't wipe me out for the whole day if I do it at night, right? And tonight is only 6 miles--which is the shortest run I've done in a while. I'll get through it, but I am anxious for this weekend when it cools off a bit.

I always have the option of a treadmill, but to me running more than 20-30 minutes on the treadmill is difficult. I just can't stay focused and the boredom is too much for me to handle (even if I am watching TV). There was a time I could run 6-9 miles on the treadmill, but for some reason I just can't do it anymore. So I chose the heat over the treadmill.

Yesterday Bill and I were out running and saw a guy running wearing shorts and a big bulky hooded sweatshirt. At this point, I was ready to hurl because of the heat. We talked about how he was attempting suicide by hooded sweatshirt. It was ridiculous.

Heat Wave

So it's been hot in Iowa, and this trend will continue. By hot, I mean about 100 degrees--and humid. This morning I (along with my wonderfully supportive husband Bill--thank you Bill!) started running at 6:45 a.m. I can't say we avoided the heat because it was pretty hot and humid, but I'm glad we didn't go any later. I guess this is to be expected when you are in the midst of marathon training in Iowa in July, so I won't complain. I just have to be smart about the heat. I've got some tricks that work for me (carrying a frozen washcloth, changing into a dry shirt every few miles--I went through three shirts Saturday morning!), and I gotta do all the obvious stuff (extra fluids, extra rest, run slower, run early/late, etc.).

Today's run was 7 miles. This is a distance that is pretty comfortable for me at this point. I don't want to use the word "easy," but it seems pretty short to me. It's all a matter of perspective. But considering the heat, the run went well.

At the end of today's run, Bill and I were crossing Highway 63 by our house. I thought Bill was going to run across the road and I started to go. Then I realized he was stopping and I stopped. Somehow, I managed to twist my ankle. I walked it off a little bit and then it was fine. This afternoon I took a nap. As soon as I got up, I realized there was an issue with my ankle. It's not horrible, but it is stiff and just a little achy. I had forgotten about twisting it this morning, but then I remembered what had happened. I am not too worried about it. It doesn't appear to be significantly swollen and it's not bruised. I think it will be fine but I am going to probably do the smart thing and put some ice on it.

Another thing...I can't stop eating. My appetite is absolutely out of control. I know that I am doing a lot of physical activity, so I should be eating more. But not this much! I just can't stop eating. I'm trying to eat decent stuff (fruit, whole grains, etc.), but the quantity is ridiculous. I actually woke up at 1:50 during the night last night and had to get something to eat. I ended up having some chocolate milk. I think I might have had something else as well, but I honestly don't remember what it was! I'm like a human garbage disposal.

I also want to applaud my wonderful Smart Coach app from Runner's World. So far, I am loving the training plan it created for me based on the personalized info I plugged in. Gotta love technology. I like the Smart Coach app because it allows you to choose how hard you want to work (easy vs. hard vs. very hard). You also put in your current mileage because increasing mileage too quickly is probably (I think) the way most runners get injured. I do recommend Smart Coach from Runner's World whether you're using it online or on a phone. And, of course, it's free.

The plan has me doing speedwork one day a week (Wednesdays). To be honest, I dread speedwork. I am made completely of slow twitch muscle fiber. Speedwork is challenging for me. And it's not really even that speedy. Yet, I like that I have to do it if only because it makes me feel like I am running the other days at such a relaxed pace. I have to thank Bill for pacing me during speed workouts. And keeping me motivated.

Smart Coach also has me running 18 miles next weekend. I did 16 Saturday, so I'm sure I can manage it, but last weekend I just felt like I would never be done. Bill had a good suggestion. He suggested I download an audiobook on my iPod. I usually don't do well focusing on audiobooks, but I may just give it a shot. I can't do fiction (if you know me, you probably would have guessed this) but maybe I can find a non-fiction book I can get into.

My longest run

Yesterday I ran 16 miles. Previously, the longest run I had done was 14 or 15 miles (a couple summers ago), so I was wondering how 16 would go.

It really went quite well. The hardest part was the boredom and monotony. It's about two hours and 40 minutes of running. It's hard to occupy your mind that long. I was tired at the end (of course), but not completely exhausted. I even had enough energy to pick up the pace in the last four miles--mostly because I was anxious to get done.

I came home and took an ice bath. I don't know if it was the ice bath or what, but my legs feel good today. They aren't sore or stiff at all. I fully expected to be hurting today, but I'm not. I feel "normal." This shows me that I am right on with my training. My training plan told me to run 16 miles yesterday, and my body is telling me today that it was ready for 16 miles.

I started running about 8:30 yesterday morning. Considering the high yesterday was close to 100 degrees, this was a huge mistake. I didn't get done until after 11. I got through it, but the run might have been easier had I started earlier. I have no excuse other than liking sleep for why I started so late. But that's got to change on long run days. And it looks like the heat will continue--and I have 7 miles tomorrow.

100 days

I got some bad news on Wednesday night. I found out that my stepmother has lung cancer and my grandma has liver cancer. They were diagnosed on the same day. Obviously, not great stuff to hear.

Yesterday I was feeling sort of blah and realized I was using this news as an excuse to not do the 7-mile run on my training plan. I could have run yesterday morning before going to campus, but I didn't. I could have run when I got home, but didn't. Last night at about 6:00 I was sitting on the coach, eating watermelon, and trying to talk myself into going for my run.

I thought about my grandma and how she coped with life's problems. Sort of the WWGD (what would Grandma do) question...I can't say that my grandma would have run seven miles, but she would have kept moving. Whether it was mowing the grass or fixing something around the house, she just got the job done. My job yesterday was to run seven miles, so I ran my seven miles. I got the job done.

The funny thing was that as I was sitting on the couch deciding whether to run, I ate a lot of watermelon. To be specific, I ate half a watermelon. After running about half a mile, I realized I had eaten WAY too much watermelon. My stomach started cramping and I actually had to double over a couple of times! It was my own dumb fault, so I vowed to run through it, and I am glad that I did. The stomach pain went away after about four miles.

I have been doing an excellent job sticking to my training plan. I feel like I'm sort of in a groove, so let's hope that lasts! Today marks 100 days until the Fox Cities Marathon!

A dozen miles

We got 12 miles done this morning. It's a hot one (although breezy), so I'm glad we got an early start (7 a.m.). I felt great throughout the run and after--no aches and pains and lots of energy. I felt like I had another 5-6 miles in me today. Maybe this marathon thing really is do-able.

As for this week, I've got some 6 and 7 mile runs--and then next weekend Jessica and I will do 9 on either Saturday or Sunday to taper for the half-marathon the weekend after.

On rest days, I need to find a way to cross-train. I don't want to bike because biking is scary for me. I am clumsy on the bike and fall a lot. I am honestly afraid of hurting myself. I could do the spin bike inside but that's boring. I could swim but it's a hassle to find a pool open when I want to swim. I may buy a pool pass for a pool close to our house. The only issue is that lap swim is only from 12:15 to 1 on weekdays. I can't always make that time, but sometimes I can. I really would like to find a way to get outside on non-running days this summer!

Have a great week!

Sub-par is only good in golf

I had a sub-par run tonight. It started out great. In fact, I felt great for about 2 1/2 miles. Then things went downhill quickly. Obviously, I survived--but in retrospect, I am wondering if I didn't drink and eat enough today to get through. Or maybe I did drink and eat enough but just not the right things at the right time. It's okay though. There will be better days. I'm not too worried about it.

It's crazy how things work. I felt worse after 4 1/2 miles today than I did after running 11 miles a couple of weekends ago. Some days you feel like you can run forever. Some days you wonder if you are going to be able to make it home. So tonight I came home, had a good dinner, and tried to get hydrated. I probably should have done an ice bath, but I didn't.

We will be running 12 miles on Sunday. It is supposed to get up to 90 degrees, so we plan to go early. We are doing a half marathon on June 24 (also a Sunday) which starts at 7 a.m., so this is about as close to a test run as we can get.

Tempo Run

Today I did a six mile tempo run. Why? Because my iPhone Smart Coach told me to. I've decided that the best strategy for me in training for this marathon might be to take it day by day and do the run it tells me to without looking ahead too much. I am thinking that this may keep me from being intimidated by the four months of training ahead of me.

After my run today, I took a look at my phone to see what was in store for tomorrow. It's another six mile run but at an easy pace.

A tempo run is a run that is faster in the middle but slow at the start and end. Bill ran with me, so I was more accountable to keep the quicker pace in the four miles in the middle. By the end of the fast part, I was ready to slow down! I don't do a lot of running where I really push the pace. I need to get used to that.