Up and running!

Good Monday morning!

I was FINALLY able to run this weekend! I started mentally preparing for a Saturday run last Thursday; my rib (still not quite fully healed, even today) had been feeling a little better every day, and I felt like -- hoped -- I could do it.

In preparation for running Saturday AND for the marathon (or the half marathon), I researched run/walk methods for long-distance running. I found this article by Jeff Galloway (and then my marathon-running neighbor ALSO suggested his advice after I found the article, so I knew I was in good hands), and decided to give it a try. I bought a GPS watch back in November at the Navy Exchange for a really good price, and finally opened it and set it up last week. I programmed it with intervals of running for three minutes, then walking for one minute (the watch beeps and vibrates when it's time to switch between running and walking).

***Side note: Am I the only person with this problem? Countless times I've bought something that requires me to wade into unknown territory outside of my technological comfort zone, and then wait days/weeks/MONTHS (not years, thankfully) to finally open it up and figure it out. It's never as daunting as I expect. But, yes, technology scares me.***

Anyway, with my run/walk plan in place and my watch set up for 3:1 intervals, I took some ibuprofen and set out, having ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how it would go. According to my marathon training plan I needed to run 12 miles. According to my half-marathon training plan I needed to run 6. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to finish a single mile.

But I was fine (and able to complete 12 miles)! I could feel my rib (but it didn't hurt), and after six miles I had completely forgotten that it was even an issue. I LOVED the run/walk strategy. I am a task-oriented person, and the constant switching back and forth between running and walking felt like putting checkmarks in a box.

My legs are still sore from Saturday, but I'm going to run the full marathon. I'd felt pretty discouraged the last few weeks, but had I not gotten sick/hurt, I wouldn't have even considered a run/walk strategy for the race.

Sorry for not posting pictures of the kids -- I haven't taken any! I'll take some this week!