Week 8...96 days to go

Saturday Morgan and I ran 14 miles...my longest run ever! I felt great...tired, of course, but great considering. We braved the rolling hills of Route 36 in Clarion County for 2 hours and 18 minutes. It wasn't too cold during the first half, but on the way back we were running into the wind. We only made it about 3.5 miles before we had to stop and pee in a ditch that was hidden from the road! We sucked on cream savers, drank about every half hour, and stopped to split a granola bar half way. We caught up on each other's lives, played the "what- if" game, and sometimes just ran in silence for a few minutes. This is our friendship...we run together. I am #26 on her speed-dial to represent the 26.2 miles of the marathon. It is an intimacy that I don't really have with anyone else in my life, and one that others don't seem to understand. I cherish it. I look forward to having her by my side on May 3rd.

So, I'm in week six now...and feeling much more confident, clocking a total of 143 miles so far. The idea of running for long periods of time is not such a foreign idea. I have done my second 12 mile run and it felt a whole lot easier than the first. It helped to run with my Ipod, especially because for 10 of those 12 miles I was literally running around a mile-long circle due to the 10 inches of snow we got the day before making it impossible to run on the roads. Praise God for music. I even get to buy some new music with my Itunes gift card (an early birthday gift from Josh).
I have officially registered for the race. I began to panic while reading an article in Runner's World magazine that began by saying something about "that perfect race you have been training for filling up." Luckily, it wasn't full and I got in. I've heard lots of buzz about the Pittsburgh Marathon and know a few people who are running the marathon relay and the half-marathon that same day. It's all very exciting. Check out the website www.pittsburghmarathon.com. Maybe you'll get inspired to run!
38 days of training down...108 more to go. Oh, and only 73 days to go 'til the Cook Forest 1/2 Marathon.

117 days to go

I got some cool running gear over Christmas-socks to prevent blisters, a running belt, a foam roller, a new sports bra, etc. I wish I could share some pictures, but my camera is unfortunately not working. I was also able to exchange my running shoes via mail to get a smaller pair. The owner of Up-N-Running is awesome. I highly recommend the store.
I got to run in all kinds of places over the holidays. I did 10 miles at Boyce Park in Pittsburgh. I even got to run around the Creation Museum in Kentucky when we were visiting Jess and Cyd. It was very cool to run in some new areas.
Yesterday I put in 12 miles. After my run in Boyce Park I learned that when running over an hour I need to eat something after about 45 minutes. I totally ran out of energy during that run. I didn't run out of energy yesterday, but it was pretty painful. My knees are very sore, even today too, but it feels better to get up and move around. When I stopped at home yesterday after 6 miles to eat a gronola bar, Josh told me to stay focused. It's amazing how much someone's words can encourage you. I repeated that phrase the rest of my six miles when I wanted to quit.
There are definitely times when I doubt whether I can finish this training. But, I am just taking it one run at a time, while remembering this is only 4 months of my life. I am already into my 5th week of training. That's crazy. My goal now is to get some music on my Ipod!

I'm now into week three of training, and have been refreshed by getting to run with my training partner, Morgan, over the weekend. It is amazing how fast 7 miles can go by when you have someone running alongside you. We both agree we need to make the effort to get together when we can.
Yesterday it was a whopping 12 degrees outside. For about a minute I seriously considered not running. But, I only had 3 miles, so I sucked it up. It wouldn't have been bad if I could've breathed! Afterward, when I took a deep breath I sounded like my dog's squeaky toy. I hold on to moments like those so that when I face challenges in the future I can say to myself, "If I did that, I can do this too."

Count down

Four and a half months to go 'til Pittsburgh!

The beginning

About a month ago I decided to run a marathon-something I sometimes thought about, but never really believed I would do. I searched for close races and found the Pittsburgh marathon in May 2009. I recruited a friend to run it with me, printed off a map of the course and was so excited that night I could barely sleep. I bought a new pair of shoes and spent the next few weeks working up to 30 miles a week so that I could begin my training plan. I am now in my second week of training. I have completed my first long run of 10 miles. I am not nearly as excited as I was at first! It is hard to get out and run everyday by myself (my running partner lives about 50 minutes away). I am managing bad knees and have run for weeks with some nasty blisters (though, I have found some ways to manage them). I keep inspired by visualizing crossing the finish line with my friend and by keeping up on reading about others' stories of training and running tips. I also cling to what I now call my marathon verse: Isaiah 40:28-31 "Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of heaven and earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out, he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."