The Journey has Begun

Tonight was the very beginning of my journey into the world of marathon training with a race at the end of it, the ING Ottawa Marathon.

If I may back up for just a moment, I began running seven years ago and no, I’m not going to account for my last seven years of races, however, last May was my actual first half marathon, in Ottawa. Since then I have totally fallen in love with running the longer distances, so much so, I have completed three half marathons, several 10K and the odd 5K in less than a year.

What better way to challenges ones self in this crazy world of running than to at least try a marathon. Who knows, but the journey has begun . . .

First Run - 6K Tempo

The running conditions tonight were absolutely beautiful. The temperature is 0 degrees Celsius with a wind chill of -5 or for my American friends, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Light snow is falling and it is overcast.

We have had an extreme amount of snow lately, so much so the cleanup crews have not even started cleaning the sidewalks in town. The ones that have been cleaned were sloppy, rutted and slick, not very easy to run on at all. Needless to say we ended up running on the road. Luckily the roadways are well lit and fairly clear except for some huge puddles.

Training for this marathon will be a great challenge for me and I won’t be doing it alone. No, there are 30 of us registered with a well-known running group that has locations all across Canada and they are now in the United States too. Their training method is tried and true and I’m confident that I will learn so much at a level that will be comfortable for my running ability.

Not much to report tonight, first night jitters are over.

This weeks running will be a total of 40k.

Tomorrow night is a 10K run . . . talk with you then.

Life’s fun if you don’t weaken, enjoy your journey one step at a time,
Lily