Quick Update...

These weeks are going by MUCH faster then I anticipated! The marathon is just over 2 months away - it's about time to start the 15-20 mile runs!

Last week my long run of 12 miles was quite successful - I ran my 12 in around the time I ran my 10 2 weeks prior (shows how much I was dragging that week). This week I will be pushing my long run of 14 miles to Friday morning (tomorrow) . This way I can enjoy a relaxing weekend down the Cape with the girls without having to worry about throwing a 14 mile run in there. The bonus to doing it Friday is that I will be able to run 11 of it with Dee! It's been awhile since we've ran together...and it is much needed! I can't wait.

On another note - poor Sean has a case of IT Band syndrome and has been out of commission for 2 weeks now :( I'm hoping we caught it soon enough so he can gradually get back into the swing of things. Keeping my fingers crossed that its nothing more serious!

My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy -- John Bryant

Too busy to run? Not so much - but I'm definitely becoming quite exhausted.

I need to find a balance between work, life, weddings, friends and training for a marathon. The goal of this blog was to keep track of my thoughts and feelings throughout training - but I seem to only have time to update it during my 9-5! (That's fine right?)

Other then being completely drained, I have managed to keep up with the schedule! A few weeks ago, I ran the worst 10 miles of my life. No joke..It was absolutely miserable. Sean came up with a complicated route throughout Central Park - We left together, and I'm pretty sure he's just being nice when he tells me he finished just "15 minutes before me."

The minute I started running I knew it was going to be a bad one, not the best way to approach 10 miles on a hot summer morning. Sean was out of sight within 10 minutes of us reaching the park - and at that moment, I shut down. My legs hurt, my head hurt, my stomach hurt (I did not eat the proper food prior to this attempt). It was excruciating. Me being overly...confident, decided that because it was only 10 miles, there was no need for water. I had to stop and walk 5 times - I don't even stop 5 times during a full marathon!

Needless to say, almost an hour and a half later I was finally done - and in a tremendous amount of pain. I did not have an ounce of sweat on me because I was so dehydrated, completely covered in salt! You'd think I just went on a 20 mile run or something - It took me about 6 hours to recover from that one.

No good - I spent the next week trying to build my confidence back up, and did a decent 12 mile run in Easton the following weekend.

The thing is, we have all these great events going on in our lives for the next few months, we are constantly having to adjust the schedule. I think 3 of my longest runs will end up being at 5 am on a Friday morning because I won't have time to work it into a weekend. Not a major problem, I'm just hoping that the lack of doing long runs with Sean, and our hectic schedules don't completely hinder how we do on race day.

Guess only time will tell - Just gotta keep on running :)

1 Long run down - 15 to go!

Training officially started (for real this time) Saturday! I went for my first long run of 12.9 miles through the quiet streets of Easton. I must say, it was SUCH a nice change from running around the streets of NYC. I think I needed that couple of hours of peace and quiet to clear my head.

How did I feel? A bit...tired, and out of shape. I blame it on my worn out shoes and lack of sleep for the past two weeks. I'm hoping as time goes on and we continue to build up, it'll get easier. I still was able to finish 12.9 in around 1:40-1:45 - Not too bad! I just need to speed it up a bit and I can qualify for NYC!

This training schedule will be more difficult to manage between all the traveling Sean and I have to do in the next few months - weddings & showers are consuming my weekends especially - We will be doing quite a few of our longer runs on our own...which will be tough. Running with Sean is really the only reason I was able to increase my speed/endurance and qualify for Boston. I'm going to have to work hard on pushing myself with out him.

I'm really looking forward training again though! The marathon is going to be fantastic - and we are treating ourselves to a week in Disney following the race (literally we will be on a plane 4 hours after we finish) - A little extra motivation to get to the finish line :)