Week 5

After finishing the second run of week five in our training program, I decided that I really wanted to document this journey...what I like to call the Road to 26.2. 

Let's back up a little bit...

Nathan and I have been talking for a while about wanting to do a marathon together. This past fall, we "bit the bullet," so to speak, and registered for a marathon (yep, all 26.2 miles of it) in Fort Collins, CO. 

To train we are using the Furman First Marathon Program. Our typical week is Monday: Track run (various sprint workouts), Wednesday: Mid-Distance Run (Between 5-10 miles), Friday: An hour of the P90X Yoga workout (we added this ourselves), and Saturday: Long-Distance Run (8-20 miles).  

A few quick thoughts on the training so far...

• Mental/Physical Hurdle #1: It was our second week of training and instead of running in the morning that day (due to a major torrential downpour), we postponed it to the evening after work. Well, that evening we traded lots of rain for freezing temperatures and 20 mph winds. I can say that those were the most miserable seven miles of my life. Mentally: the loop we were running in my mind was longer than it was in actuality; so having to also tack on extra distance at the end was not so great for that whole mental component of running. Physical: Due to the freezing temps and sitting at a desk all day, my knees were definitely feeling every step I took. Thanks to my amazing husband and his encouragement, I made it through. 
• Physical Hurdle #2: The night before we set out to run our long distance run for week 4 (11 miles) my knees started really hurting. Throughout the whole training program I have tried to be very proactive in taking care of my body in order to prevent injuries down the road. Well, thanks to knowledge of my husband being a former college athlete and coach, he told me exactly what would be best. Saturday morning I warmed up my muscles in a tub of very very warm water and I must say that it made all the difference. I was able to run those 11 miles with confidence and just kept "pushing that bolder" as Nathan says. The run was followed by an ice bath (did not like this AT ALL) but it has really helped. 
• I am so thankful for the training program we are using. Three days of running every week, plus an hour of yoga, has been very manageable for our working schedules. 

After our 12 mile run on Saturday, we will officially be a third of the way done. 

73 days 'til the Marathon...