And the training begins!

Since I have a marathon to run in 61 days, I have gone and found myself a training plan. My goal for Boston: Run a sub-5 hour marathon. Super ambitious, especially since Nike Women's Marathon found me walking towards the end due to pain in my knee. But this time I am going to train hard, train smart, and run injury free. Let's just hope it isn't raining or snowing on race day. Or blowing cold winds either.

I made my training plan using the Smart Coach at Runner's World. I had to play with the intensity and weekly mileage a bit to get something that would work for me, and I feel pretty optimistic. So far I have run an easy 3 miles and a 6 mile tempo run at a 10:31 pace. I'll run 10 miles Sunday weekend as well. All this will prime me to finish under 5 hours.

People watching in the little gym today: the guy on the elliptical next to me checking out his guns. Fawning over himself. It amazes me how self-absorbed people can be in a public place. At least it helped the time go by on the dreadmill. I was afraid to run outside because I heard there might be thunderstorms tonight I am not in the mood to be struck by lightning. Ever.

This week I have felt so clear-headed. Even though the 5 am run was tough, I felt fast today on the treadmill. I found that happy place where your feet like light, your strides make you feel like you are gliding on clouds, and you never want to stop running. It took me 4.5 miles to get there, but the last 1.5 miles were fantastic. I hope I feel this good when I do some speed intervals next week.

This week everything seems to be coming together perfectly. My kids, even some of my lowest achievers, are making excellent gains, the cats are fighting less, more cuddles, my running is fantastic, and I feel in control. I hope that getting back into a running routine has brought back the peace I had back in August.