Week 1 done (ish)!

This week was my first, actual, official week of marathon training!  I've decided to follow the training plan from the Athletes to End Alzheimer's Team, since A) they provided it for me, and B) I'm sure I'll want some company once my runs get to be 10, 12, 15, and eventually 20 miles.  The team offers two weekday group runs, one technical and one easy, and a long run on the weekend.  There's no pressure to go to every session, and the technical workouts are emailed out to everyone each week so I can do the same hill repeats or tempo runs as the rest of the team.

Which is exactly what I did this week.  I know making excuses is frowned upon when it comes to working out, but here's what I was up against this week:

• My mother-in-law's health took a turn so my husband was out of town for a few days.
• A heat wave with temperatures in the 90s and humidity just as high made me visibly cringe at the thought of running outside.
• Friends visiting this weekend = (let's be realistic) little chance of doing my long run on Saturday or Sunday
• Needing to clean my apartment before said friends visit
• I got new running sneakers, which I was nervous to break in.
• Wonky feeling in my shin making me nervous that my leg was secretly broken even though I was perfectly capable of walking on it

But now it's Friday, and I'm proud to look back and see how I dealt with each of those obstacles:

• I supported my husband like any good wifey would.
• I ran at the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday instead of outside.  When I ran outside Thursday and today, I did run/walk intervals to save my energy (and sweat).
• I ran 6 miles this morning, which is darn close to the 7 miles my long run was supposed to be.
• I cleaned little bits of my apartment after work throughout the week.
• After one run in my new kicks, I could feel my ankles leaning in, so I bought arch supports to help jack up my flat-as-heck feet.
• I bought compression leg sleeves (like socks without the foot) and elevated my leg Wednesday night, and voila - next day, no shin pain.

Normally I'm one to cave under self-created pressure when a bunch of things pile up, but instead, I was motivated to get in as many runs as I could given my circumstances.  All in all, according to the schedule I should have run 20 miles, and I ran 19.  So, a big booya for me on week 1.  A bigger booya would be had with donations to one or both of my charities - check the end of the post for links!

(Note, mostly to myself: I'd like to keep writing these weekly training summaries throughout the next 19 weeks, sharing not only my workouts but my mood, motivation level, (hopefully a lack of ) injuries, etc.  Let's see if I keep it up!)

Photo of the week: My obnoxiously turquoise kicks.  Don't hate.

Week 1 Workouts
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 4 mile run (treadmill)
Wednesday: Time trials on treadmill.  1.25 mi x3, full recovery in between.  Did the first two at 6.0, the last at 6.2.
Thursday: 5 mile run outside.  5:1 run/walk
Friday: 6 mile run outside. 6:1 run/walk
Saturday: Rest, but probably a lot of walking
Sunday: Rest

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If you'd like to donate to either of the charities I'm running for, click one or both of these links!
Athletes to End Alzheimer's
Emslie's Fight - read Emslie's story then click on my name in the team list