1/07/2007 Marathon Training Day 1 - Long Run!

So it begins....a little over 4 months of training that will lead up to my first marathon. It seems a little daunting when I look at the schedule over the next 4 months. I'm going to keep the schedule up in the sidebar, and try to update it as I go along to show the progress of what I've done versus the training schedule I set up. I snagged the schedule from the Flying Pig website and made a few adjustments to it, to add in some cycling, strength training, and the other races that I will be competing in over the course of training. Since this is my first, I'll be using this schedule as a tool and a guide that I will probably making changes too and tweaking along the way. This will be a good tool and learning experience for future marathons. When I look at the schedule it looks like a ridiculous amount of work, but I'm hoping to find a good balance between cycling, running, and cross training that will keep me from injuring myself or over training on the runs.

The first day of training was a long run. It called for a 7 mile run, but I underestimated my route and ended up running a little over 8 miles. So does that mean I run another 8 next week or should I bump it up? Maybe I'll go 8.5 next week and make the first 3 weeks a little more gradual and then really start to ramp up after that. Sounds good to me.

Avg HR: 162
Peak HR: 174
Min HR: 138
Total Cal: 1057
Time: 1:06.13

It was about 38 degrees F when I went out the door and overcast. It was really nice weather for running. I wore my long running pants, long sleeve Pearl Izumi under shirt, and my cycling thin jacket. I could've done without the jacket, but it's bright orange, so I like to wear it while running on the roads, and it gives the added bonus of some protection if it did start raining. I wouldn't want to soak Dwight (my shuffle) in the rain. That would royally suck. I got lucky anyway and the rain held out.

The first step has officially been taken.