Marathon Training Week One... CHECK!

I'm officially done with week one of my marathon training, and it really feels great. I know it's only week one, but I really do feel like I've accomplished something. I'm really trying hard to complete my training to the best of my ability and by the books, since I really slacked on training for both half marathons. My idea is that if I post for the world to see, it's a way of holding myself accountable. Of course I love dailymile, and have confessed my love for the site time and time again, but without others seeing what my training plan looks like, I really can't be judged for work I am/am not doing. I guess, I want to be judged. I want others to see my training and see how far I've some in such a short period of time, and maybe it's also for myself to see where I was at week one and see where I finish at week eighteen.

Monday: 
   Training Plan: Rest
   Actual: Rest Whew!
Day one sure was difficult. Almost didn't feel like I worked out. Oh, wait...

Tuesday:

   Training Plan: 3 mile run

   Actual: 3 mile run @ 10:30 min/mile pace
Nothing crazy. First run in a couple weeks, and only one of a handful since my last half-marathon in August. I wasn't really expecting much, so a 10:30 min/mile pace worked for me.

Wednesday:

   Training Plan: 5 mile pace

   Actual: 5 mile run @ 11:24 min/mile pace / 60 min spin class / 60 min weights
Over-achiever? Yep. Probably. My best friend is an incredible athlete, and helping me weight train. Wednesday's just happen to be a two-a-day workout. If it starts getting to be too much, I'll calm things down. Promise. ::fingers crossed behind my back::

Thursday:

   Training Plan: 3 mile run

   Actual: Rest
Yes, I know. You're probably thinking to yourself, "WTH? Skipping runs already, Andie?!" But it wasn't like that at all. Really worked out hard on Wednesday, and decided to take a day of rest to prevent any sort of injury. Last thing I wanted was to be injured after week one.

Friday:

   Training Plan: Rest

   Actual: 3 mile run @ 9:50 min/mile pace
Ran while in San Diego. The miles just seemed to come so easy, and time flew by. Really wish more runs were like that. But all runs can't be pure perfection, right?

Saturday: 

   Training Plan: 8 mile run

   Actual: Cross Train - row machine 20 minutes / bike 50 minutes
::FACEPALM:: Just assumed that my long run would be on Sunday, so cross-training on Saturday right?! Wrong. In the famous words of Oscar Wilde, "When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me." Truth. 
Overall, my first cross training session went A-MA-ZING! The last time I did a true cross-training session at the gym, I could barely get to 10 minutes on the row-machine, and somehow I made it to 20 minutes. Bike went well, too, but nothing crazy to report on. 

Sunday: 

   Training Plan: Cross Train

   Actual: 8 miles @ 11:58 min/mile pace
Now I know why cross training is on Sunday, and the long run is on Saturday. I was dying and my legs were extremely exhausted. Oh, well. Better luck next week. The only plus to this run? The gorgeous run along the ocean at sunset. 

Holding Myself Accountable

It's official: I'm currently finishing up with week one of training for a marathon. The marathon that I'm training for is the Carlsbad Marathon in beautiful Carlsbad, CA and is the first race in the San Diego Triple Crown series. The most exciting part of this race? While I'll be running the full marathon, my incredible husband will be running the half marathon. This will actually only be the second race of mine that he's attended, with the first being our Thanksgiving 5k last year. Wow. I've come a long way since then! :) Never ever in a million years would I have thought that I would even be slightly interested in running 26.2 miles for fun. Even when I went out for that first hellish run with my best friend Jessica in the Summer of 2010, the thought never even crossed my mind that I would be able to complete a 5k. Here I am, early Fall of 2011 and thus far I have completed three 5k's, two 10k's and two half marathons.

With all of that being said, I needed to come up with a way to make sure my training gets done. Once my husband gets home from Afghanistan, he'll be there to push me and make sure that all my workouts get completed. Until then, it's just me, myself and I. I'm not going to say that I'm a slacker (okay, okay. I'm a slacker), but sometimes I let life get in the way of my training. I think the only way to truly hold myself accountable to my marathon training schedule is to blog at the end of each week about the previous weeks training. Sure, I log my miles and workouts on dailymile, but no one knows what my training schedule was supposed to be except for me. As much as I love dailymile and absolutely swear by it, it doesn't really give me that extra push to get my miles in.

Are you good at getting training plans completed the way that they were meant to be completed? How do you hold yourself accountable?

Don't Worry. I'm Still Here.

It's been quite crazy the last few weeks. Scratch that. It's been a ridiculous 2011 and I think I've been moving at 88 MPH. If only I had Doc Martin and the DeLorean to take me back to the beginning of the year to slow things back down. Hmm... wouldn't that be nice?! The year started with prepping for the husbands deployment, continued with him deploying to Afghanistan and me going back to Milwaukee for a few months. I ran my first half marathon (and my second) and played tour guide to both my sister and my mom here in California. Throw in a few cross country road trips, and at least a hundred incredible memories and you'll have my 2011 to this date.

Since the America's Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego 3 weeks ago, I have found myself in such a horrible post-race depression/funk/rut. It's funny how as I was crossing the finish line at that race I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to start training for a full marathon, and a week later the last thing that I wanted to do was put on my running shoes. Thank goodness for all my incredible running friends who urged me to lace up, and my good friend Kama who got me to the gym yesterday for a killer spin class and weight session. It feels amazing to have the endorphins surging through my veins again. Tomorrow my friends and I have a challenging 5 mile hike planned and I'm so excited to take it on. Also, Tuesday officially starts my marathon training for the Carlsbad Full in Carlsbad, CA. It's so crazy to think that in just over 18 weeks I'll be crossing the finish line to my first marathon and able to call myself a marathoner.

So yes. I'm still here, just been very busy and was laying low from the running community. I'll be more active from here on out. Promise.