Remember weeks ago when I mentioned I’ll soon be starting to train for the Boston Marathon? Yea, I haven’t started yet. I’m following an 18 week program (18 weeks from today) so it’s alright, but I meant to start prepping for the prepping before today. I wanted to get in the habit of running outside so it wouldn’t be so bad when it started to freeze outside. Oops.
But week after week I just didn’t want to run. I’d look at the temp and think, “well tomorrow’s going to be 40…so I should probably wait to run until then.” Then of course, tomorrow would come and I’d have another excuse. Now I actually have to start!
Don’t get me wrong, I am SO excited to be running in this marathon. This is a huge deal to me and something that I’ve always wanted to do so I’m psyched!! It’s just the starting process that I’m dreading. In my opinion, the actual race is never the hard part…the training is. Especially when it’s snowing. (Speaking of, have you guys seen these chain things you can attach to your shoes for winter running? I saw them at Costco..pretty cool…maybe I’ll buy me a pair).
Anyway, I’m following a Hal Higdon program (who else?) and it’s fairly simple and straightforward. This week, I only have to run 3 miles 3 times and then a 6 mile long run on Saturday. So, really it’s not too bad except for the fact that I haven’t ran 6 miles probably in at least 6 months. But that’s what training is for right?
Since it is the dead of winter, I’m going to try and plan my running strategically around the weather. Luckily, I live in Colorado where even in the winter, the sun shines most days. But I’m going to try to stick to running on days when it’s definitely sunny and a little warmer, and complete the runs in the middle of the day. I think that should be okay. The one thing I have to watch (and you too if you run outside in winter) is ice. I ran a couple days ago, just a short 30 minutes, and ran into several patches of ice. Maybe I need those running chains after-all?
Wish me luck on day 1! Only 18 weeks to go….
Do you workout/run outside during the winter? When I used to belong to a gym, winter was definitely the time I tried classes. It kept me interested in working out, was fun, and definitely warmer!
During the week I workout inside cause I go to the gym so flipping early. But if the weather is nice and a decent temp I will try to get long runs done outside and take my dog for walks around a lake close by. Congrats on the Boston marathon that’s awesome!
Woo hoo!! SO excited for you to run Boston! I swear the Hal plans are the best!
Good luck!! Go, Amy, go!!!!
Good luck getting into the swing of things with training! It’s always great to utilize the blog and twitter for some motivation/inspiration, and I’m sure you’ll get into the swing of things. 🙂 I’ve been running outside in Dallas, but nothing colder than about 32* so far…
ahhh the big d!! i trained for eugene last yr when i was in dallas and it was actually pretty pleasant. white rock lake makes things easy!
Woohoo!! You can totally do this!! Once you start running outside in the cooler weather, you’ll adjust quickly. I found that to be the case yesterday when I faced the cold (vs. wimping out on the treadmill)and was excited to realize it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was anticipating. I’m so excited to follow your Boston Marathon journey, woohoo!
thanks girl!! i agree..once i start going and get warm..its actually kinda nice. its just still so intimidating when i look at the temps and its like, 20 haha…that just sounds sooo cold!
So far, I always take my workouts inside in the winter. I have never really tried cold weather running but I might have to sometime! 🙂 Good luck lady!