Does anybody read these?

Destination: NashVegas

Last year I trained and completed my first half-marathon, the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. It was an awesome experience, although grueling. As difficult as the race was, I caught the bug. I'd hoped to do a race this year, but every one I had planned fell through. Sooooo...I'm going to start training for next year's race, and I'm pretty excited.

I've decided that regardless of where I am living next year, I'm putting the Country Music Marathon on my schedule. It sounds like it's going to be a good time. It's April 29, 2006.

So, I've started my training. And it was about time. I've been lazy. Of course, my body knows that. So from here in it's at least 2 miles a day. And, of course, I'll increase my miles on the weekend so that I'm ready for 13.1 on race day. It really wouldn't have been that bad in Detroit if I could've kept my 18-minute/mile pace, which is what I need to complete Nashville on time. Because they close the border between the U.S. and Canada for Detroit (it's the ONLY marathon to cross international borders), the first 8 miles have to be on a 15-minute pace, which makes the last 5.1 miles pure hell. I'd like to be a bit faster than 18-minutes by April, ideally doing a 3:1 walking-to-jogging ratio. We'll see...

In this space, you can expect a daily training log. I think I'll stick with the "Destination: NashVegas" header for these. I can tell you from last year that sometimes this'll be a long entry, sometimes it'll be nothing more than a report on my miles logged and time for the day.

Oh, and if you log on and don't see miles for a day, ask me where they are. I have a feeling I'm going to need folks to ride my lazy ass until I am sure I'll stick with it. AND last year I walked for a charity. While I won't participate in Team In Training again because it was SO hard to raise all that money, I may try to raise some pledges for a particular charity if I find one that really makes me want to keep going. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to drop me a line...

So, after all that I'm just gonna shush for now. Here are my first two days of miles logged.

Wednesday 10/12: 1.5 miles
Thursday 10/13: 2 miles

posted by Laura at 6:44 PM