Princess Half-Marathon Training Week One

Week 1, Run 1

I was so pumped all weekend, knowing I would officially kick off half-marathon training this week. I love having a plan to follow, knowing exactly what I need to do to reach my goal. That is exactly how I felt about Couch to 5k training when I first did it. I was so dedicated to that plan, and it got me where I needed to be. Being plan oriented is just a part of my personality. 

Wednesday night, I was determined to get my run done first thing in the morning, although it is so hard for me to get up early to work-out. But when my alarm went off that morning, I decided I'd much rather have the satisfaction of being done with my work-out by 6:45 than I would get from sleeping till 6:45. So I dragged my butt out of bed and put on my running gear.

When I stepped outside, it was soo cold and soo foggy. This is not unusual being that I live in the Tennessee Valley, one of the foggiest places around. I knew I would warm up once I got the blood pumping, and the temperature would feel better. I did a short warm-up and took off running. I went around my block 4 times (it is a half-mile loop). I ended up going 2.2 miles in a half hour (Tuesday and Thursdays are just half hour runs). My first mile was 13:25, and my second mile was 14:25. I am still working on maintaining a consistent pace. I'm thinking of doing at least one treadmill run a week to help with consistency.

I was pretty proud and happy to get that first run under my belt, and not to mention to be done working out so early. 

Week 1, Run 2

I knew Thursday would be the real test run (ha pardon the pun) as to whether or not I could do this morning early run on the regular. Thursday is by far my longest day. And let's face it, by Wednesday night I'm gearing up for the weekend. But I did manage to get myself out of bed Thursday morning, and I'm super proud of myself. I know I can make these morning runs a habit now.

My run was pretty similar to the Tuesday run, in terms of splits and pace! The only difference was that instead of listening to podcasts, I crafted a Disney music playlist the night before. Every time a new song came on I would be like, "That's my Favorite!" And then I realized oh they are all my favorites because I picked them!

One funny thing that happen that morning, is while it was still dark, I was running, and went to step on a leaf. That leaf was a frog that dive bombed me! Scared me to death. Close encounters of the wildlife kind! 

Week 1, Run 3

I decided to do my last training run on the treadmill, for the whole consistency of pace thing. I had two miles on the schedule. It is kind of funny, because during training, Saturdays are long run days. But the first long run is just two miles. I typically run a little over 2 miles on my half hour outings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So this will be the only "long" run that isn't longer than my Tuesday/Thursday runs.

I started my run on 4.3 mph on the treadmill. Can I just say that I forgot how much harder the treadmill still feels for me compared to running outside? It was a struggle the whole time, I even had to bump it down to 4.1 a couple of times. But if anything the treadmill helps me learn how to keep on going even when it feels sucky. I am somewhat faster outside.

I'm so happy to have week one of training complete. Just 21 weeks to go!

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