After being a drill sergeant and yelling at Jared this weekend, karma caught up to me. My 1st day of marathon training was less than ideal. Makes me wish I was a little nicer to Jared when he struggled during our run. 
I had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast and snacked on a mini Clif bar around 10 am.
I had the most delicious salad for lunch: Spinach, chicken, avocados, black beans, corn, and tomatoes. So fresh and tasty. Filled with vegetables, healthy fats, and some protein. I wish the Healthworks Cafe made this salad every day instead of serving it as a random specialty item.
Training Day #1 of 126 called for a 3 mile run.
After my workday ended, I laced up my sneakers and ran laps around the cemetery behind the gym until my Garmin beeped 3 times. While my pace was a little bit faster than planned, I was disappointed with myself. I got a cramp after 1.5 miles. Nothing serious or super painful, but still uncomfortable to keep running. Probably had too many sips of water right before I started my workout.
I also struggled mentally. A 3 mile run takes me less than 30 minutes. Instead of enjoying my time out and about, I was thinking about how I’ll cope when I have to run loooong distances. Will I get bored? Should I carry my i-pod? Will it be lonely? Gotta stop psyching myself out and taking it one mile at a time, one day of training at a time.
Total Distance: 3.02 miles
- Mile 1 – 8:52
- Mile 2 – 9:12
- Mile 3 – 8:49
Average Pace: 8:58/mile
Total Time: 27:02
I went back into the gym to cool down and stretch. I relaxed and used the foam roller to keep all of my leg muscles pain free.
I really needed to go grocery shopping, but the sky was looking dark and threatening so I decided to scrape together a meal of random leftovers. I made a veggie burger with Laughing Cow cheese and grape tomatoes. I had some tortilla chips on the side. Scoops aren’t the healthiest, or my personal favorite, type of chip but they were hanging around from our BBQ a few weekends ago.
Even though I stretched immediately after my run, I spent most of my evening stretching while watching TV. I held some hamstring stretches for a few minutes at a time. I think the 2nd round of stretching made a difference because my legs feel 110% right now. 
COMMENTS
8 Comments
1. Shannon
June 15th, 2010 03:19 AM
That salad does look wonderful!
I’m sorry your run was frustrating today. In your 126 days of training, there will be plenty of good ones to outweigh the bad.
2. Kelly
June 15th, 2010 05:00 AM
I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on running, but I do want to say I find short runs harder mentally than long runs. When you tell yourself it’s less than 30 minutes, you feel like it should be easy and then when things get in the way like stomach cramps etc, it gets frustrating quicker. You know you can do much longer than 3 miles, and although a marathon will not be easy, you can DEFINITELY do it!
3. Emily Eats and Exercises
June 15th, 2010 05:55 AM
I wonder if part of your struggle was a running route thing. I always find doing laps totally boring and frustrating while a big loop – or even better a one way run with a ride home at the end much easier to get my head around. I feel like I’m actually going somewhere instead of running in circles.
I’m sure the next one will be better anyway.
4. Helen
June 15th, 2010 06:31 AM
Oh no I hope that you aren’t too down about your run. I agree with Emily, maybe it was because you ran laps that you didn’t enjoy it. If you had a route to follow then it might have been better and you would have been more focused. Don’t worry about the stomach cramps, maybe it was the water that was the problem. As you say, take each day at a time, you’ll get there.
5. Kim
June 15th, 2010 06:57 AM
If I know you you will cont. to get back out there and enjoy the sunshine and nice weather. Try taking your IPod today.
6. Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly
June 15th, 2010 08:13 AM
Shorter ones are definitely more difficult than long runs…no worries…you will be totally fine!
7. BostonRunner
June 15th, 2010 11:29 AM
I agree with Emily, one big loop is definitely better than laps. I think you’re overthinking everything and should focus on just one mile at a time, like you said. When the longer runs come, you will be ready for them. But I definitely agree sometimes shorter runs can be the hardest of all!
8. Abby
June 15th, 2010 12:49 PM
Ahhh Bad runs happen!!! Don’t beat yourself up about it! Just try to run and not analyze every step! That sucks the fun out of it..I know from personal experience!