Halfway!

Marathon training is officially [more than] halfway over! I almost can't believe it. Today marks the start of week 12. It's kind of been a whirlwind, to be honest.

This past week was the highest mileage week out of the 18 week plan. I ran 36 miles. Pretty impressive, huh?

The long run this week was 18 freezing cold but sunny miles along the towpath. Surprisingly, I wasn't sore at all after my 18 miler. Not sure how I accomplished that. I was incredibly tired that afternoon, but I think that's fairly normal.

I absolutely love running on the towpath! For one, it's flat and I kind of hate hills. Hills are work! I mostly love the towpath because of all of the wildlife you can see along your run. A couple miles into our run, we saw a coyote! A few miles past our turnaround we saw 2 bald eagles soaring in the sky. Not to mention the plethora of robins and red-winged blackbirds. Ahh.. spring is close!!

Along with everyone else, I can't wait for the weather to warm up. Word on the street is that it'll be 71(!!) on Thursday. I'll believe it when I see it. Jezebel is excited for the warm weather so she can hang out in the sunroom and watch the birds and squirrels.

Embracing Winter

I'm in the middle of week 7, and yikes this week is tough so far! For the past few weeks, weekday mileage has consisted of 2 3 milers and a 6 miler. This week was bumped up to 4,7,4. Only 3 extra miles? No problem...

Tuesday's run felt great. It was nice to have a different route, at least for part of the run. Wednesday's run downright sucked. I usually don't have terrible runs, but this one was pretty bad. The path I planned to run on wasn't plowed at all, so I had to resort to pseudo-plowed sidewalks along a busy street until I could get to a part of the path that was also pseudo-plowed. It was quite the workout running through fluffy, uneven, icy, chunky snow and hurdling over the piles at the end of driveways! Today's run was pretty good. I ran with a friend at the Shaker Lakes. It was bitter cold out, but we made it!

Eugenia and I post run!

Training in the winter is always challenging, but I still love it. Plus, I get to run with this crazy crew on long runs.

Say CHEEEESE!

And see pretty views like this.. 

ooooOOOOoooo

And most importantly, hang out by the space heater post run.. ahhh.. warmth!

Being a cat is tough

Hello Week 6!

I had every intention of starting up this blog again to coincide with my marathon training. Especially given the fact that was the original purpose of this blog (yes I know, 4 years ago..)

Well, sorry!

So here we are, at the beginning of week 6!!

Just to recap, at the end of December, a friend and I signed up for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon!!!! A FULL!!!! Marathon!!

Wow. I still can't really believe it.

I ran the Cleveland Half Marathon the previous 4 years. I love it. It's such an exciting race. I love running through downtown Cleveland, Ohio City, Lakewood, Tremont. I love the crowds, the bands, the support. It's great!

I sometimes love the weather.. 50s and drizzly?!? PERFECT!! 80s and sunny? Not so much! But in Cleveland, anything can happen!

Running a marathon was the first goal I had when I first started running. Seven years and 7 half marathons later, I'm glad I finally took the plunge and signed up!

Weeks 1 through 5 have been great so far. I'm following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Training Plan. There are 4 days of running, 1 cross training day and 2 rest days. I've been enjoying the long runs on Saturdays, instead of the usual Sundays. It gives me more time to recover before the week starts again and I like having Sundays to chill out instead of worrying about getting a long run in.

Week day runs are on the shorter side (so far!). The longest one is on Wednesdays, and as of now it's 6 miles. Running 6 miles used to be a LONG RUN. Now I can just crank it out and get on with my day.

What's been a bit of a challenge so far is the weather. While I prefer running in cool weather rather than hot weather, it's been kind of extreme! The weather in Cleveland, and much of the midwest and northeast has been anything but mild. I'm about to head out on my 3 miler and it's a brisk 17 degrees. I miss the warm weather! I don't mind running in the cold, but it takes some convincing to get myself out the door. Once I'm out there, it's not that bad.

Time to lace up my kicks!

Finally!

Well, I actually did it. I signed up for a full marathon. After years (5? 6? 7?) of thinking about it and talking about it, I bit the bullet and signed up for the 2015 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon! I've run the Cleveland Half Marathon 4 times already. I love the race, so I thought it would be nice for it to be my first full. PLUS I can convince everyone to come cheer for me. Win!

I am thrilled! Excited! Scared! Nervous! Exhilarated!

I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. More emotions to come!

Training starts on Tuesday. Well, technically Monday, but Monday is REST DAY! My favorite day of the week.

I still haven't decided on a training plan. You know, I still have about 6 more days to decide. That's practically forever.

I'm going to be running with this girl.. and it's going to be pretty crazy.