Marathon Training Begins

It has been hard for me to keep up on this. Life just keeps getting busier...but better  :-) I have one of the most supportive husbands a runner could ask for. He is there to help, support and keep me in line. He really cares about how I train and wants me to do my best. My family especially my mother is right there too. Encouraging me and being my cheerleader. This is the first time I have truly trained since college. And it feels good to have a plan. But man.... I don't know how I did it for 4 years straight!!!! But this is how it has gone so far...

December 17
Was going to do this on the track right after school but it was cooler than I packed for. I went home and got ready and marked off a loop on a nearby trail. It was all grass/trails. I told myself that my times may be slightly slower due to this and the wind. My workout was 3x 1 mile at 6:12. Well I ended up going 6:18 on each one with 1 minute rest. They felt really good and relaxed. I just couldn't switch into a faster gear. I wasn't happy with my times but was happy for how I felt. It's the first workout in a 16 week period...I should be happy. Did 2 miles as a warm up and cooled down three and a half miles. The test today was mentally. Usually if I feel crumby or can't hit my times I push it off to another day. However, my schedule doesn't allow that so I stuck to my guns and kept pushing.

December 18
Slightly sore, not too bad. Gorgeous day!!! I ended up going for 8.5 mile recovery run...yep not smart but the weather was so amazing!! I am starting to get sick. Coughing, sore throat and can't breath. I also need to hydrate better.

December 19
Feeling icky, as in sick. So it was apparent that today needed to be my day off. Rest and planned
activities for my kiddos at school. Getting so excited for Christmas!

December 20

Workout #2... Got out of school late plus extreme winds I decided to hit the treadmill.todays workout was 2 miles gradually increasing pace 2 miles at 6:40 pace 2 miles down. I played around with the incline on the treadmill to make it like outdoor running. This was terrible. I was about to go I sane on the dreadmill. I am still feeling sick and felt lightheaded. Oh well, I go through this. Spent the rest often evening baking 50 sugar cookies and other treats!! Baked for two hours...yes my kiddos are spoiled!!!!

December 21

Had a blast with my kiddos today!! Cookie decorating, hot cocoa, sweet treats, lunch in the room, and amovie!! :-) Today is a cross training day. Hit the stairmill for an hour at the gym. Saw some of my old clients and had people to talk to the whole time which was nice. Then saw Liz and we had a nice chat while walking uphill on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I definitely loosened up the legs. The. Met my aunt and mom for a pedicure!!! Great ending to my week!

December 22

Shopping day... Also had a head cold hit me last night... Hard core...blah... However, I have to do my shopping I am way behind. I shopped with my mom from 11-4 then went out again on my own and then met Liz for dinner at Zoup! I was craving hot soup because it was cold and I wasn't feeling well. I came home and  decided to get on the bike. I knew tomorrow has to be my first long run some went easy for an hour on my trainer! I think it was really good for my legs and loosened up my sinuses a bit. Wrapped presents the rest of the night.

December 23

Woke up and had a good breakfast and ended up falling back asleep after with my hubby! I woke up around 10 and set out for my long run. I am nervous because I am suppose to go 13 miles and have only gone 12 in my life. I still am not feeling 100%. I am also thinking in my head will my body break, will I be able to finish, should I really be training for a marathon right now?! Yes, I was psyching myself out of this run before even starting. I decided to run for time... I plugged in my gps on my phone and tracked my distance but didn't listen or check it. I knew I was going to run 1 hour and 43 minutes and that's all I looked at. I overdressed....it was warm and an awesome day to run. I stayed mostly on grass and trails had some roads. The first time I looked at my watch I had been running 50 minutes! Wahoo!! I thought it ad only been 30 minutes. I was enjoying g the run, feeling great, and thinking about how much I have to be blessed for. How blessed I am to able to run....how much I am going to be missing 2 important family members this Christmas... By the next time I looked at my watch it was time to be heading back to the house. I started to get a little tight in my hip but a stretch was the quick fix. Note to self....more stretching and foam rolling. I felt amazing when I finished. I checked my gps...14.1 miles....whoa!!!! I was running a 7:21 pace average. Oops....I guess I was thinking too much but the pace was natural. I know I will need to slow down a little next week when it gets longer. I felt accomplished and proud of myself and now I know I can make it through this training! Now it's time to finish shopping and bake some cookies for Christmas with the Baumgarts. It was a blast!!! My new family is great! Good laughs with the game catch phrase:-) and yummy choco balls from lics!!!:-) I wish my husband was feeling better :-(

December 24

CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!
I love love love Christmas time. My husband and I slept in had a nice breakfast and just layed around this am. Then we decided we needed to do a little workout before all the food we were going to have. He lifted while I rode on the cross trainer. I rode for 90 minutes making sure to I corporate hills and sprints! Then we headed to Haubstadt. Christmas on my dads side. Good to my Grammie!:-) then stayed all night at moms for our early morning rise! We watched the family stone had some sweet treats and fell asleep by 11 oops :-)

December 25

CHRISTMAS DAY
John woke us up a little later than usual...5 am it's typically 4 am:-) he made cinnamon rolls, bacon, and the all of our sweet treats. Then my favorite part....presents!! Wow... My momma knows how to shop for me she picked me out some cute outfits I think she picks better than I do! She also got me two DVDs about the ironman...wow!! This is my ultimate goal!! Marathon is a stepping stone to this goal! It's a tradition that once everyone has opened we start a movie. We started a movie and oooops Andrew and I were out. When I woke up I had to I media rely get ready for my workout. If we get this blizzard, I won't be able to hit the track. So I hit the track in Haubstadt....the wind was picking up but didn't let that go to my head. I had 6x800 @ 2:58 pace with 2 min recovery. The recovery time was more than I am use to so that is good! But then again I haven't gone fast in so long! Well....I nailed it!! A few were a little fast but it was all right at 2:58 and had 2 min jog recovery! Yay!! I did it! Time to enjoy the rest of the day at my aunts!! Great times, food and fun! More catch phrase! Then it was time for Andrew and it's Christmas for each other. He is so amazing....I can't express how much I love him and how much of a blessing he is to me.

Family is what's important in life!

Wednesday was Data Wise a downtown. It was a lot of information to take in but it was nice to take a step back from the constantly hectic classroom. After the meeting, I came home and ran the trails. It felt awesome I got in 9 miles! Spent the rest of the. Ight with my amazing husband:-)

Thursday...had a pretty good day with my kiddos. There is some work going on the school roof so that made for lots of distractions. I came home and it was almost dark so I rode on my trainer for 1 hour and 35 minutes. Watched 3 episodes of Reba again. I love that show!!

Friday...whoa...what a Friday...first thing in the morning I was booted out of my room bc it was a safety hazard. My students surprisingly transitioned very well and I had to teach in the library. However, I am stoked that my kiddos finally picked up on multiplication. This was the thirs strategy I taught and it clicked!! Best feeling of being a teacher is when students ask if they can do more!! The rest of the day went pretty well! I came home and I was BEAT....I ended up falling asleep on the couch!! Ooooops....no working out just rest. Spent the evening with my hubby.

Saturday...race at thunderbolt golf course. Legs felt icky on the warm up. Did about 2 miles. The race was a bit short but finished at 18:10. I felt awesome!! I think I would have ran right at 19:00. I was just happy how relaxed this felt. It was all grass and had some hills so,I believe I could go sub 19 on the road right now easily. Just needed to get a little speed on my legs. My moms ca,e to support me since my hubby had to work. I am so blessed to have so much support in my life. I went on 4 mile cool down after the race.

Also, keep her friend Jean Dollison in your prayers, she was in that awful crash on Lloyd Friday.

The rest of my saturday consisted of a nap, cleaning, laundry, and 4 hours of lesson planning!

Sunday...
2012 cookie bake!!!

Lesson planned for a few more hours this am. Went for a 9.5 mile trail run and I got lost ahhhh!! Felt really good. However, my Achilles is very sore so I'm going to rest it a bit this week.

Ate waywayway too much at the cookie bake but I had a blast with my family. Everything we've been through it feels good to laugh and joke together :)

Have a great week everyone...remember don't take one moment for granit and try not to stress over little things...it's nothing in the scheme of things.