Chicago Marathon training day one.

I've never actually followed a "for real" training plan for any race before. I've generally just flown by the seat of my pants and hoped for the best. This is weird for me and is definitely a new experience. I'm using a training plan that I found in Runner's World last week. I'm starting to get really nervous about Chicago, so I'm going to try to do it correctly this time. More correct than I normally do, I guess.

(and I do have those pipe dreams of someday running Boston...)

Today I was scheduled a 3 mile "easy" run. I'm not used to three mile runs and was almost disappointed with the short distance. I was tempted to run longer, but decided to go with it. By "easy", I ran half and walked half. I'm not sure that is what it meant by easy and I need to look more into that, I guess. I didn't push myself at all and my pace was terrible slow. I talked to my mom on the phone for about half of the time that I was out there.

It was weird to come back after three miles. I felt like I still had a lot of energy, but I'm really trying to trust the system. I'm just not good at trusting the system. (That goes beyond running. haha.) That's something that I'm working on.

I don't understand how I get SO dirty when I'm running. Granted, I run on a path and I ran in the grass a little today, but my ankles were caked with dirt when I got home. I'm not sure how that works out.

Tomorrow, I have six miles lined up! I'm excited. I'm going to work on my pace a little bit more tomorrow than I did today.

In other exciting news: Kath and I are registering for Disney's Marathon Weekend today!! Yay! I'm going to be Goofy again (likely Dopey) and she'll be running her first full!

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 247.78 miles/171 days
To go: 752.22 miles/195 days