One week down!

I'm proud to say I survived week one! As you know, I am training for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and am on a 16 week journey to prepare myself for the 26.2 mile run. During week 1, I put in 15.51 total miles! 10.2 of those miles were done on a treadmill because we had a serious arctic cold front come through this week and I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to temperatures in the 20's and wind chills in the teens. Chances are good I won't be running in these temperatures for the marathon on *May 1* so I'm going to be a baby and not train in those conditions!!

Before I give a the breakdown of my runs this week, I'd like to share my goals with you. I am hoping to finish the marathon in 5 hours, which I googled as being the "average" finish time for females. I know this is my first marathon and may not make that number but I like to dream big. ;) In order to finish in just over 5 hours, I need to have an average pace of 5.2 mph which is an 11:30 minute/mile.

Monday, January 10
Miles - 3.10
Total Time - 00:39:54
Average minute/mile - 12:52
Location - YMCA Treadmill
Thoughts - First run of the training program! Felt great, no complaints!

Wednesday, January 12
Miles - 4.00
Total Time - 00:54:08
Average minute/mile - 13:32
Location - YMCA Treadmill
Thoughts - Eek! I didn't drink enough water during the day and felt like crap about 1.75 miles in. Note to self - drink more water... especially on run days!

Thursday, January 13
Miles - 3.10
Total Time - 00:38:14
Average minute/mile - 12:20
Location - YMCA Treadmill
Thoughts - Better total time and average minute/mile than Monday! Felt great during and after!

Saturday, January 15
Miles - 5.31
Total Time - 01:11:48
Average minute/mile - 13:31
Location - Ardmore Regional Park
Thoughts - First outside run! Noticed a definite decrease in energy for the last 1.5 miles but nothing that can't improve! I had some Jelly Belly Sport Beans before this run... I am going to get several different gel packs and see which I like best to use as my runs get longer and for the actual marathon.

So, as you see I am definitely not the fastest or the best runner out there but that's part of the challenge! I wasn't very good at doing consistent runs in the months leading up to the start of my training due to various life events so I'm not disappointed with where I am. I am working on maintaining a steady pace throughout the run rather than start quickly and not have any energy left! I can do sprints all day but since this isn't a sprint, it won't do me any good! :) Looking forward to showing off my progress throughout these 16 weeks!

On to week 2!!