The training begins...with snow

First week of training today with Portland Fit and let me tell you -- I was not so excited when I went outside this morning and found snow. How lame is that? I mean I just wrote the other day about how I was getting inspired by the new weather and here I am freezing my butt off while this guy cracks jokes and I wait to run. That's why I try to do my warm-up inside when it is cold -- and I admit, why I have a hard time getting my butt out to go running during the winter months.

So anyway, what did today start, you ask? I decided that after training on my own last year and getting pretty good results, it might be even better to join a training group. My friend Katie did this last year and liked it, so I figured why not give it a shot? I would like to bring my time down a bit this year and I'm hoping this could be the key. What I need is to focus this year on doing more than just getting myself prepared to last that long but also figure out how to get my legs stronger and optimize my workouts so the marathon gets easier and I finish with a better time.

This morning Annie and I were the only members of my group able to go. Annie is a friend of mine from way back to grade school and getting into running for the first time. We got there and got our sign-up going for Portland Fit and then after listening to a pep talk went out on a 3 mile run. I did pretty well and finished among the faster new recruits to the program. They separate the big mass of people by color groups based on ability for the coming weeks. I finished in the green group, the second highest group. When I finished she told me I was on the cusp of the faster group and I could trade up if I wanted, but I decided to stick with my green group. I don't want to have any illusions about my abilities and set my self up out of my league. And Annie? Hey -- she ran the whole thing and didn't resort to walking once! For someone who hasn't been running at all, 3 miles can be a little daunting and by keeping going she showed she's already got the determination that she's gonna need when the training gets more intense.

So now it's on to the first week of training -- I have my schedule that will force me to get out there. I'm not a big fan of only running 4 days per week (this is my stress release and relaxation!) but perhaps I'll do some weights or something a couple of days. Happy training!

Spring is coming!

I think that March is like my New Year. When January 1 comes around, I have a hard time getting myself motivated to go out and do something. I don't think I'm at the point where I feel competitive enough in my running to hit the road at 6 AM when it's freezing cold and dark...and more often than not raining. But there's something about when my allergies start to get bad and the sun starts to come out earlier and it's not crazy to go running in the morning or after work that I finally feel like I'm ready to make some changes.

So a couple of weeks ago I finally started getting out on the road regularly and although I'm being lazy this week in anticipation of not being able to once I start Portland Fit this weekend, I really feel like this is the time of year I'm ready to go out and do something.