0-3 miles in 30 days

Since I last wrote five days ago, I have completed three more runs and each run was 3.2 miles long. Today marks the beginning of my second month of training and I might add it is also a short month. As I look back on January, I am content with the progress that I have made thus far. I am certainly not going to win any races, but I did meet my first goal, which was simply: to run.

I am most surprised in the improvement that I have made in both my time and distance. I now consistently run 3 miles and I have been able to improve my pace over the past 10 days to 39mins from my original time of 42mins. I question at times (all the time) just how I am going to be able to increase my distance from 3 miles to 26.2. It is during these times that I remember that just 30 days ago I could not run even 1 mile. As of today I have a 13 minute mile and though my pace will not be entered into any record books (well, maybe my marathon log) it is a personal accomplishment.

As I begin my second month of training, I am aware that I will need to add miles and improve my pace. My current route around my neighborhood has become comfortable (as comfortable as one can be while running) perhaps I should describe it as familiar. In addition, there is another very important characteristic of my route: I NEVER pass by my house. For a non-runner like me, this is a key component because I have to keep going in order to get back home and end the pain. I gleaned this tip from my non-runner’s guide to running a marathon and it is really a beauty of a trick.

In the coming days, I will need to add distance to my route in order to meet the demands of my training schedule. Actually, I need to add more time and thus distance. I started out with 30-minute sessions followed by 40-45 minutes over the past two weeks. It is now time to push to 50-60 minutes training sessions. For now, my focus is on endurance and time rather than a particular distance. However, I would like to improve my pace as well and I am told by “runners” that this happens naturally, as one builds their endurance. I just have to make sure that the route will not require me to pass my home or I might just be tempted to end the training session early.

Let me be honest dear friends this training is getting increasingly more difficult. I knew that would be the case, but my body is beginning to have aches in places that I never knew could ache. I have certainly awakened muscles that have been leading a life of leisure prior to the running of the past month. I have only completed one month of training and right now October seems very very far away.

Okay, so let us look at my accomplishments (I did actually have some) from January (month one of training) and my future challenges/goals for February.

Accomplishments

• started training
• 0-3 miles in 30 days
• 13 minute mile
• 4 training sessions per week
• I have not given up...yet :-)

Challenges

• Need to add about 10-15 minutes to training sessions
• Need to add distance to my route without having the route pass my house
• Running for 50-60minutes (is that even possible?)
• 5 sessions per week
• Not giving up :-)

Quote for Week 5:

The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
-anonymous