Base Training - Day 1

There I am after my first base training run!! Just 3.1 miles, but it felt great. I think I am still so excited about the fact that I am actually signed up for a marathon that I am just feeding off the adrenaline. It's awesome. I woke up this morning and thought, "omg, i actually signed up for a marathon last night." It kinda freaked me out to be honest, but now it has me excited about running. I really needed something to get fired up about. I have been playing tennis almost every week since the summer season and just changed jobs. Between tennis and the new job I just haven't had time for running. It feels so good to be back with a new goal ahead.

The Marathon is April, 30 2011 in Nashville. Believe it or not, Nashville is one of the few cities near Atlanta that has a "big" marathon. I really didn't want to run the ING Marathon (now sponsored by Publix and called the Georgia Marathon?) here in Atlanta. I did the half last year and it was tough with so many hills. I hear the full is even more brutal. Plus, I wanted to travel if I was going to run a marathon! It makes it more exciting, but at the same time I don't want to fly somewhere.

This is my first marathon, so the goals were #1) nearby (drive-able), so that my boo AND my parents would be there to cheer me on #2) a BIG race (gotta have lots of people to make it that much more exciting, and #3) a fun a city. Nashville is definitely drive-able. The Rock n' Roll series is a big race known for its HIGH energy. Also, I know that Nashville is a fun place to visit because I have been there a time or two. By the time I make it to Nashville in April it will have been over 4 years since my last visit. I am hoping to make some new, fun, and life-changing memories this next time :)

Back to the training plan - for the last two half marathons I have followed Hal Higdon, almost religiously. I am again following Hal Higdon's advice for the marathon. I am even going to buy his book and training guide. These next 8 weeks will be my base training. I haven't been running consistently for quite awhile, so I need to build a solid base before training for a marathon. Hal suggests running 4-5 days a week, averaging 20-25 miles a week before beginning any marathon training plan. Definitely do able.

So for now I am just concentrating on building my base and basically getting back to where I was last fall. This time last fall I had just completed my first half marathon and had many months of running behind me. I have signed up for some 5ks this fall (maybe a 10k in there somewhere) I and will just keep working on building a foundation to prepare.

In mid-March I will run the Georgia Half Marathon which will be great practice. And before you know it, it will be late April and the Marathon will be here! I am pumped (even though it's pretty far away)!

Thanks for all the love and support I've already received! This is going to be quite the journey!!