When I was little, I loved playing a certain Sega Lion King video game that my cousin had. Every time I visited, I wanted to play it.
We’d pop the game into the console and wait for the magical intro moment when Timon would announce, “It starts.” (Yeah, it was one of his lines from the actual movie, and taken out of context, it worked quite well for a video game intro.)
“It starts.” It was an announcement that sounded equally ominous and exciting.
Today I began training for my first marathon (the Pittsburgh Marathon, which is May 3). “It starts,” as it turns out, is a perfect fit when it comes to beginning my 18-week training: Preparing for a 26.2-mile race is an equally dreaded and exciting undertaking.
I’m not entirely sure what to expect over the next 18 weeks. I do have some general ideas, though: I know my days will include lots and lots of miles, and I know that I will look forward to rest days. I’m fully aware that there will be numerous times that I’ll kick myself for ever signing up and putting myself through this, yet I also know that there will be plenty of times that I’ll think how great running is and how much I love it.
Today was Day 1 of training (out of approximately 126…because that doesn’t sound daunting at all). My training plan called for a rest day, but who starts out training with a rest day? Not I.
So this evening I laced up my sneakers, prayed, and headed out with Mom to knock out a few miles at our own paces. This week’s three short runs are 3 miles each, so today I went 3.2 miles at a decent rate. I didn’t push myself too much, but I didn’t let myself relax too much, either. It’s going to be interesting to see if and how I can maintain that balance over the next 18 weeks in order to prevent burnout while still getting the most out of my training.
All in all, I enjoyed my first-ever marathon training run. The temperature was perfect, the company was nice (Mom and I passed each other a few times), and the pace and distance were very manageable. It was a great way to launch my training.
Day 1 down, approximately 126 more to go! (Yes, this is only the first page – out of two – of my training log.)
And so, folks, Training Run #1 is down. Only 70 more to go before May 3 rolls around and I take on the Pittsburgh Marathon!
Let’s do this!
Operation Life 