Week 1

Week 1 wasn't too bad. It really is week 0 - my training plan (well, okay, Hal Higdon's training plan) is 18 weeks and the marathon is in 19 weeks, but I wanted to give myself a week of slack in case I get hurt or have to travel.

Tuesday and Thursday were slow runs but Wednesday was tempo day - 9:30 min/mile for three miles. It felt good to get out there three days in a row.

Saturday was the first "long run" of the program. Six miles.

Frankly, I was not impressed going in. Six miles? Feh. I can reel off six miles like nothing!

Turns out, not so much. Wow, was that unpleasant. I struggled through the second half of the run, trying in vain to keep my heart rate in the 75-85% range. I can make some excuses - it was hot, the smog was awful, etc - but frankly I am not in as good a shape as I thought I was. I guess that's probably better to figure that out early.

The one fun fact from Saturday? It's the one and only day that I will run further than the riders in the Tour de France rode. The prologue was a mere 7.1 km / 4.4 mi. Take that, pro cyclists!

Unfortunately, the fourth of July weekend really messed with my patented "eat less exercise more" weight loss plan and I did not lose any weight. Click here to see my current training chart.