The most I have ever run continuously is 6 miles on the treadmill....Two weeks ago, a fellow trainer I worked with talked me into training for a marathon with her, one of her clients and another gym member. I wasn't very reluctant at saying yes because I've always thought about doing one. Why not start now! My race date is May 16, 2010 in Green Bay, WI. The race is the CellCom Marathon and one of the best organized races in the Midwest. It starts near Lambeau Field and runs the streets of west Green Bay, along the Fox River Trail, through more Green Bay neighborhoods and in the last miles takes us through Lambeau Field to the finish line.
So Liz, Rachel and I started our first distance outdoor run today, 7 miles. It was about 35 degrees with a western wind of about 10-15 miles per hour. We left the gym, turned the corner to head west and hit the wall of wind. It was cold, I wasn't prepared to run outside but thought it would be nice to get some fresh air for a change.
During the week I run inside when its cold, snowy, rainy, etc. The weekday runs now have only been 3 miles, easily done on the treadmill in less than 30 mins. Today's run was adventurous running on snow and ice covered sidewalks and against the wind at times. When we got back, I was feeling pretty good. My breathing was keeping up with me, however the pavement was starting to irritate my right foot, up through the knee and into my hip flexor, probably from running on the uneven surfaces mostly on the left side of the road. It is best to run in the middle of the street on the crown of the surface, but for safety reasons we kept it on the left side. At the gym, Liz showed me a neat website where you can track your mileage and see how far you went, or before hand map out your route for the proper distance. Come to find out we actually ran 8 miles today! What's an extra mile right, I have about 18 to go!
This week I have training runs on Tues, Wed, and Thurs, running 3,4,3, and then only a 5 mile run on the weekend. If you are a runner or are interested in getting started here are some great websites to help you get there. Also, the official site for the race I will be running in May.
http://www.runnersworld.com/
http://www.marathonguide.com/
http://www.mapmyrun.com/
http://www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com/
