The Diary of a Rookie Marathoner

I have moved on from being only half crazy (running 13.1 miles) to full on crazy (running 26.2 miles). The transition came after my body was on endorphin overload shortly after running the Fargo half marathon, and I knew that if I didn’t sign up that second, my mind would quickly change and running a full would remain to collect dust on my bucket list.

I am following an 18-week Hal Higdon training schedule and vow to stick to it as closely as possible. Monday marked the first day of this journey and while making monthly calendars to stay organized, it dawned on me that this is going to be the biggest challenge I’ve taken on but one that I am ready to do!

Along with the physical side of it, I will be re-focusing on my nutrition. When doing the 100-day workout challenge, I felt that my eating habits spun out of control since I knew I was being active day in and day out. I would grab that handful (or five) of chocolate covered pretzels and get seconds (and thirds) when eating pasta, even though I knew I would regret the decision after the last swallow.

To help me with this part of training, I started reading Nutrition for Runners by Jeff Galloway. This book “is loaded with tips on what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and how to combine all that with your training schedule while still retaining the change to enjoy other aspects of your life.”

Being that this is my first marathon, I want to document my training for a couple of reasons:

• -       Hold myself accountable
• -       Stay motivated
• -       Share my struggles/successes
• -       See what my body can do

I will be posting every week leading up to race day (September 21^st), recapping the week's workouts, discussing Jeff's book, and anything else that I feel is blog-worthy!