Running Report: Week 1--The LONG Run

I guess tecnically this blog is supposed to be about the girls, but heck.... It's *my* blog, and I can break the rules if I want to. I need somewhere to log my training efforts, and this seems to be the most logical place to do it!

So, I guess I'll call the previous week #1 even though I hadn't set out for it to be such. With Ella's birthday and the accompanying merriment, I didn't expect to have much opportunity to run. Turns out I was wrong. I managed to run four times last week--and three of those runs took place outdoors, which I think is a pretty impressive feat for January.

Anyhow, this week marked my first "long" run. Typically, when you are training for distance, you try to run at least four days a week. And one of these runs is the "long" run, where you try to gradually increase your distance. Since my typical weekly runs are about three miles (and my longest run ever was FIVE miles), a reasonable first long run for me might be four miles. And that's what a friend and I set out to do yesterday--four miles. We ended up doing SIX. Which is my new distance record.

We headed out to the forest preserve to run the trails. Very quiet this time of year, and we saw tons of deer. Plus, it's a great place to keep track of mileage since the trails are mile-marked, and there's a decent map as well.

I'm pleased to report that it felt like a very managable distance. Not sure I could have done four more right then, but I think I could have done another mile. And I guess that's how you build distance.

At this rate, we should be more than ready for the April ten miler.... And now we're contemplating a half-marathon if the ten-mile race goes well.

Stay tuned.