So I did it. Shortly after writing my post last night, getting approval and support from my husband (he’s always part of my “gut check” process on almost anything) I did this:

CIM, here I come. Naturally that made today training day #1. I’m weirdly really calm about this process this time. I haven’t made up my actual training plan yet, I’m going to draft it tonight or tomorrow after taking a closer look at K’s  (she posted about her’s today!) and Corinna’s, who I run my track workouts with whenever I’m in Seattle. I’m going to try to keep the pressure to as much to a minimum as possible during this training cycle (yes I say this now…) My top goals are to run more miles than my last training cycle and to pace anything over 15 miles better. I really struggled with that last time, and I’d fall apart early, making reaching 20 very very difficult. I want to go into this marathon knowing that my body can take those miles and still be able to dig to get those last ones to cross the finish line.

I’m also fully aware that it’s possible I could get pregnant during this training cycle, if I do, then I will still run the marathon (if my body is cool with it) but I won’t have any other goal but to finish (okay, maybe I’ll pace K through the first half, because that would be fun, but I won’t expect myself to stay with her for the entire race if I’ve got something brewing inside me). This is a big unknown, we’re not exactly trying we’re just not, not trying. Because my travel schedule is so crazy I don’t know if we’ll get pregnant unless I make it a priority which I’m not willing to do within the next 3 months. So there you have it, stay tuned, but don’t hold your breath.

Being that today was my very first day of training, what did I do? A double of course!

CrossFit at 6am, where I saw Meshelle who gave me crap for being overly dramatic about what weight to choose (she gives me crap in the nicest way possible. love my coach)

Oh hey 1/2 in band, I haven’t seen you in awhile, thanks for joining the weak sauce party! YEP. I went soft today. BUT this is what we call modifying for good reason in my world. I knew I was going to do a run in the evening, I also knew that I was not feeling very strong, as a matter of fact, I felt a little under nourished (I’ve been eating shit lately and not drinking enough water, I know, Mel… I know…) So got to get back on the “eat breakfast every morning, grab a couple bites of larabar before a WOD ” train. I’ve just been lazy in the morning, this is one of the reasons I need my husband, dude cooks me breakfast whenever I ask him too, and it’s usually an awesome egg sandwich with fake sausage and cheese plus a protein smoothie, because he’s awesome and we have a lot of protein to go through these days.  Love him. Miss him all.the.time.

Anyway, back to the WOD, it was not my strongest or hardest fought WOD. Not all of them can be. I was going to go with 55# and fight through it, but when I cleaned that weight and thrusted it up I couldn’t get my arms locked out . I wasn’t going to do crappy reps. So instead I dropped to 45# and thought about the full movement while doing it. Controlled squat, thrust hips to get the bar overhead, punch it up keeping the bar close to my body, head “through the window”. I had a few too many reps with the bar out too far in front of my face but I made sure to correct it on the next rep. I sweated hard,  and it felt better than staying in bed. I’ll call that a win.

Work was super busy and I didn’t get out the door until just before 6. I was smart and brought my running clothing with me, instead of going home to change and then decide where to go. I knew this morning that it would be a China Camp Run, and that it would be based on feel. My knee was achy going up and down stairs all day. So this ended up being an easy run, made easier because I got lost. What was supposed to be an out and back ended up looking like this:

At Mile 2 I was ontop of a big hill that took me some time to run up (hills = weakness)thus all the red. On my way back down I couldn’t remember which way I came from, that’s why there’s a little tail off to the left, I then cut the route short because I saw a parking lot I recognized. Not going to lie, it’s scary getting lost out there by yourself, there’s signs posted warning about mountain lions. I didn’t even have my phone, just my watch. Turned out just fine though, minus dropping my cheap sunglasses and busting them.

4.2 miles in 39:30. So today wasn’t a day of bravery with speed or strength. But it’s the very first day of marathon training, December 2nd is not right around the corner, I’ve got quite a few weeks to get myself to tip top marathon shape. With CrossFit for conditioning and calling all the shots on my running regime rather than feeling strapped to a plan devised by someone else, I think I’ll be enjoying this training cycle much more than my first go round.

Related posts: