Marathon #3: Week 1 of Training Begins...

Okay, yes, I've realized how terrible I am at updating this blog.  But, I have a new plan, that I think will 1) make this blog more interesting for you 2) hold me accountable, and 3) motivate me to keep this updated.  I've decided the main reason I've had trouble updating this is becoming I haven't written it with a purpose.  So from now on, this blog will be focused around one of my favorite things: running.  Laugh if you will, but don't worry, I'll try to make it interesting and fun for anyone who reads, whether you are a long distance crazy runner, a beginning runner, or someone who doesn't run at all. 

I'm going to attempt to blog about my training for my upcoming marathon, the Colorado Marathon that takes place in May in Fort Collins, Colorado, training beginning tomorrow.  Over this next year my goal is to run the Colorado Marathon in May and break 4 hours, and then attempt to run a faster time at the Chicago Marathon in October, which I am running with my sister and dad.  I will try to make this fun-- tell stories and post pictures of cool trail runs and different places, fun tidbits of info on running/good recipes/good workouts/good advice, and just keep you updated on my life.  This keeps me accountable for my races, and hopefully will be more enjoyable for you to read.  I'm open to any other suggestions or ideas, but this is the one thing I think I can write about regularly and for fun.  And so it begins...

Tomorrow my mileage will start to increase-- my plan is an 8 mile run on the Highline Canal, which is about a 61 mile long trail in South Denver (conveniently right outside of my church... making it great for an after-church run)... so I will probably be doing a few more long runs there as well.  Oh, and if you ever go for a run and want to know how far you went, another great resource is: MapMyRun.com.  You just type in your address that you started at, click the route that you ran, and it will tell you your total distance/calories burned/pace, etc.  

My friend Ben made it a New Year's Resolution to finish a marathon, and so he is also registered for the May race-- I look forward to having a friend to keep me motivated during training.  Speaking of which, if you're interested in training for a race... 5k/10k/half/full marathon, there is a great site to find some good training plans: www.halhigdon.com

 He seriously has a plan for everyone and it's awesome!  I was also just reading this article that is great for someone who wants to do some base building before jumping into any training: Build Your Base in 2 Weeks

My plan for Week 1:

Sunday (instead of a Saturday long run): 8-9 mi

Monday: 4 mi

Tuesday: Off/Cross-Training

Wednesday: 7 mi

Thursday: 4 mi

Friday: 4 mi

Saturday: 10 mi

Okay, so I'm seriously going to try and make this as interesting and fun as possible... I've gotten feedback from a few friends who said they'd like it if I did a blog like this-- if you're bored with it or have suggestions, let me know.  Happy reading! :)