Oh crap, I'm marathon training again?

I have all these great ideas for blogs when I'm running, when I'm driving in the car, when I'm falling asleep at night, but then BOOM!  They all fizzle when I'm met with the blank page.  Once again, here goes all the random:

I stumbled upon marathon training this week.  I knew it was on the horizon and sensed it was coming soon, but it really snuck up on me.  Tuesday was the day I was supposed to officially start according to the plan that I've used every year.  Basically the first full week of January begins the first full week of marathon training.  On Tuesday (New Year's Day), I was planning on doing a 10-miler for the Christmas Calorie Challenge.  After I completed the 10-miler, I was like, hmmm, maybe I should go ahead and plug in my Smart Coach stuff and print out a calendar.  The first long run is always a 10-miler so I knew I could just check that bad boy off the list.

I ran a 6 mile tempo on Thursday night that was pretty good.  It was a 1 mile warm up, 4 miles at just over 8:00/min miles and 1 mile cool down. I have been a slave to my bed and the snooze button this winter.  I am so unmotivated to get up in the mornings.  My punishment: evening runs, which I normally feel terrible.  But I suppose my first realized marathon training run was enough to get my body and mind in the right place and I felt it went well.

I decided to do my 5 miler today (this 'schedule' thing is very loose) instead of yesterday.  I had the day off work and knew I'd feel better than trying to squeeze in another run 8 hours after the tempo.  Friday night is always date night so I didn't have any time after work.  Today was great!!!!!!! I had breakfast and coffee late in the morning and headed out just before noon.  I didn't look at my watch except for where I neared the turnaround.  Listening to my body proved to be good as I ran faster than my tempo today.  Whee!  7:47, 7:36, 7:34, 7:43, 7:03.  I really wanted to go sub 7 on that final mile except I didn't realize how fast I was going until I check my watch 1/10th of a mile from the end. Oh well. 

I did do 2 sessions of strength training this week which was far better than I had been doing (re: 0).  As part of my marathon resolutions, I am hoping to keep up strength training at least twice a week. I did run the hilly course for my tempo today--another resolution--so I feel like I'm off to a good start.
I forgot to mention some of the gear that I got for Christmas that I've been putting to good use.  I got a new Brooks long sleeve that is perfect for the 'cold' days in the South.  It has little thumb cutouts which I find to be super snazzy.

I also got an armband for my phone as I found that streaming Pandora does not kill my battery life and is perfect for when I get tired of my own iPod mixes.  The armband is waaay too big so I am going to have to get creative with the strap piece.  I have strapped the tightest it will go and it still slips some.  This makes me sound like a smug skinny-armed be-otch, but I think it was just poor design/made for the XY gender.  On the flip side, I got some rain boots (non-running variety) that were too tight for my (super sexy muscular) calves.  Yeah, I was feeling a little body conscious about those 'cause I thought rain boots were supposed to fit loose and these were cutting off my circulation.  Upon checking the Amazon reviews, I discovered that this was a common complaint and thus, reinstated my self-esteem back to normal levels.

I got a new wristband for my Garmin because the old one was 2 years old and starting to smell funnnnky! I think the fabric band is more comfortable, but that is the one major drawback.  Fortunately, it required only a minor in engineering to change out and now my wrists are stink-free for at least a few weeks.

Lastly, I got some more Balega socks.  Have I mentioned how much I love Balega socks?  I could totally be their spokescasualrunnerwoman. 

This week I have a 12 miler, mile repeats (eek!), and 2 easy runs.  This year I feel much more happy about my running.  I was kind of loathing it last year and definitely on the fence about giving it my best effort.  But now that I've taken the stress out of not PR-ing every time, I feel much more relaxed.  I always want to PR, but I know that I can just go out there and have fun too!!