Week One

Yesterday I started my 16 week training process to run my first half-marathon on April 25 in New York City's Central Park. My background is six years as a sprinter, never racing more than a 400 meter so I figure this will be quite a challenge.

Day 1, Jan 5: Went to the gym with some co-workers. Ran 1.5 miles on the treadmill at 4.2 speed in about 22 minutes. Much better than I thought working out for the first time in about nine months....my schedule said 1.5 miles OR 30 minutes, whichever came first so feeling pretty good! Woke up in the morning and calves are kind of sore...to the point where I walked down the stairs and about fell over. Had oatmeal for breakfast so on a roll! Next scheduled 'run' date is Saturday, but I might go in Thursday for a little cardio.

Goal is obviously to finish the half-marathon, but the restriction is finish it in 4 hours, so here we go!

Day 2, Jan 7: Alone at the gym today, so had to build up some motivation to go. Would rather sit in my sweatpants, but we have goals to keep up people! Gym was pretty empty, which was nice, so I hopped on a treadmill and got to work. Same schedule as Day 1...1.5 miles at 4.2 speed in 22 minutes. 21:56 actually. My mile time right now is a little over 14, so working on getting that down. Calves are still sore, something I dealt with a lot during my high school track career, so I need to figure that one out soon. Overall, very pleased! See you Saturday Gym!!

Day 3, Jan 9: Saturday morning...duh duh duh. Made it to the gym at 10am and met up with a friend, so great to have someone to work out with! Always gives me more motivation than going by myself. Resisted all temptation to stop at the Mcd's on my way into Post (sorry Myssi!). I forgot how much easier running gets everytime you go, makes me really miss my high school track days! 1.5 miles at 4.3 and 4.4 speed, knocked it down to 21 minutes. Not too bad! Next week schedule says 2 miles in under 30 minutes, will probably start running at 4.5 and getting my time down. Can't wait until my schedule has my Saturdays as longer runs, I really want to go down to the city and run in Central Park on Saturdays! Will have to wait until I get my Nike+ in so I can track my milage. Overall, successful first week and I feel GREAT!