Week 3 Marathon Training, Check!

I've come to really enjoy the LAZY Sunday afternoon that is a requirement when someone who is a novice runner like myself, does a LONG run early Sunday morning. It really doesn't feel like much of an option to do much more than blog or catch up on Oprah, but even though it doesn't feel physically possible to do anything else, the laziness feels EARNED.

Here's how Sunday played out today:

1. Wake up at 6am (I got so lucky because I set my alarm for 6am but then accidently unplugged the alarm clock before I went to sleep last night. Somehow, I rolled over and realized that I couldn't see the clock and when I got up to check and see what time it was, it was 5:52am! Lucky!)
2. Get dressed. Yesterday, I treated myself to this new running shirt which added to the excitement.
3. Get myself and Bella ready for run, eating a light breakfast of raspberries and walnuts.
4. Drive to predetermined location to begin long run (Cooper and Ray).
5. Start long run with Bella (this week I started before Kevin so we'd finish closer to the same time)
6. See Kevin along the way (he caught me at my halfway point) for some encouragement and a little "pick-me-up"
7. Spend next 1.5 miles running while trying to wrestle with Bella who LOVES Kevin SO much and can't understand why he is running ahead of us
8. Complete long run and celebrate with Kevin who is chilling in the back of his truck
9. Drive home with air conditioning blasting on Bella so she doesn't die of heat exhaustion
10. Walk directly to backyard and instruct Bella to jump in pool
11. Dry off Bella
12. While beginning to realize how covered in salt I am, have discussion with Rick and Dave (his brother) about my run and how it went.
13. Take much needed shower and marvel at how jello-like my legs feel
14. With "runner's high" still in full effect, drive to bagel shop for breakfast because I'm ravenous!!
15. Stop at grocery store on way home to get our grocery's for the week
16. Return home and collapse in complete exhaustion.
17. Watch DVRed shows.

Today, Bella, Kevin and I ran 7 miles!!

We are having a record-breaking weather streak here in Phoenix (the temperatures are back in the 100s), so I started the run earlier in the morning this week so it wouldn't get too hot. Today's run went very smoothly and I felt as if it was even easier than last week for some reason. I felt like my pace was a little bit faster and I really never hit the "jelly legs" feel like I did last week.

There was that 1.5 miles of frustrating running when Bella thought she'd been shot out of a cannon and had to follow Kevin. She pulled on the leash for a REALLY long time and during that time, I concluded that it would be my last long run with Bella because I was sooooo annoyed that something that was so hard was being made so much harder by my dog. However . . . hang on . . . before you tell me what a horrible dog owner I am for giving up on Bella part way through her marathon training, let me tell you that as I was completing mile 7 today, I looked down at Bella who was still faithfully trotting by my side with her tongue half way to the ground and was overcome by:

1. How proud I was of her (I know, she's a dog but she's way cool, and she ran 7 miles)
2. How proud I was to have given her 7 miles of exercise
3. And of course, how proud I was of myself for just having RUN 7 miles

So, unless something drastic happens, she'll remain my running partner, even though she sometimes doesn't make things easy because even with the added difficulty she triples my pride in my running accomplishments.

One thing I think made the run feel easier today is that about a month ago I got an Ipod shuffle.

Why, do you ask, is this the first day I've ever run with the Shuffle if I've had it for a month?

It is because I think that iTunes is the most user-unfriendly, poorly designed thing I've come across a long time, possibly ever. Words cannot adequately describe how much I hate iTunes. Let's just say that I have screamed more obscenities at the computer in the last 2 weeks trying to transfer a playlist from my old Ipod to my new Shuffle, than you might have known existed. I finally conquered the beast last night and made a decent playlist on the Shuffle. It's full of Techno, Electronica and a few good rap songs thrown into the mix as well. I LOVED my Shuffle mix this morning. It seemed like there was always a great song on when I needed a little energy boost. The Shuffle was awesome--so light and so easy to control as I ran. I'm still not in love with my headphones but I'll work on that some other time.

I ran 18 miles this week, and I feel great!