The Journey of a Thousand Miles...

Well, it's almost time. On Monday, I begin my 18 weeks of training in preparation for the NYC Marathon! It's really strange to think that this experience will begin with me stepping out my front door for a normal run before work and will end when I (knock on wood) cross the finish line in Central Park. But I'm in for a lot of work between now and November. I promise that I won't bore everyone with the minutia of training on this blog, but just this once maybe I can give you an idea of what's in store for me.

At the moment, I'm incredibly antsy because I've been trying to take it easy for a few weeks and rest my body. I do not handle rest very well, so Monday can't get here soon enough. I know that things are about to get hectic and that I should enjoy the reprieve while it lasts, but taking days off is not really my strong suit. 

A typical training week will consist of a couple of shorter runs at a fast pace to build up my speed, a couple of long runs, a really short and easy recovery run and a day of lifting weights. My mileage will gradually increase until early October. At its peak, my heaviest training week will consist of around 57 miles which includes a long run of 22 miles. That will be the week when I hate running with a passion and question my own sanity.

Physically I'm in store for a body that is beaten up and sore by September. The key is to recognize what is just normal fatigue and soreness and what is the onset of an injury. Hopefully I can avoid any injury and be smart enough to rest when my body demands it. So much of avoiding an injury boils down to luck though. Fingers crossed.

The mental grind is almost as bad as the physical strain, if not worse. Running becomes your life, and no matter how much a person loves to run, the training becomes time-consuming and monotonous. You have to wake up at 5am, fall asleep before most young children's bedtime and basically put an end to your social life. Thankfully, I have very little social life to speak of.

That should give you an idea of what's in store for me in my training. Sounds fun, right? Actually despite the pain and fatigue, I'm really looking forward to the process and working towards what I hope will be a dream day on November 4. And although it sounds really cheesy, having the support of so many people coupled with the fact that I'm running for something so much more important than myself really will give me extra motivation and push me during the dog days. 

In the future, I plan on writing about the reason that I'm doing all of this (my mother), some of the people that have made my NYC experience possible, the greatness of training in a place like Boise and a few other wacky topics that may or may not fall flat. Thanks for giving this entry a read. Nuthin but luv.