Oh take me back to the start

Days to Marathon: 108

Miles to date: 127

And just like that, my miles have exceeded both the 100 mile marker and the days remaining to race day. WOW. My longest run to date has been 10 miles, and it was the day before I re-started the training plan. June 22nd marked the 18 week countdown to the marathon, which is the magic number of weeks the experts say runners generally need to prepare themselves for the big event. I figured starting early would be a good segue toward being fully prepared to train, and so far I've been right. I'm now in the 3rd week (16 left!) of the training and this week the first of the recovery weeks, dropping from a 7 miler last Saturday to a 5 mile coast this Saturday. Next week I'll jump back up to 9 miles again, so I'll be pretty close to where I left off when I restarted. I have to say though, to this point I'm definitely amazed at how much has changed since February when I struggled to make it through even one mile. Now in the dead heat and humidity of northeastern VA, the first mile is still the toughest, but in a different way than the gasping for life I experienced way back then. The muscles in my legs and body are still waking up and loosening themselves during that first mile, and I really don't get into a good groove until I've passed being winded initially. Sometimes its a bit before a mile, and at other times I'm miserable until about 2 miles, but after that, I feel great! Music usually rings on in my ears as I do the longer runs to dissociate a bit and temporarily deter my mind from the extra distance, so it's been a good gimmick to use on the weekends. They tell you not to bring ipods or other mp3 players to the marathon, however, so I think as the Wednesday runs get longer, I will try to run without and see how it feels down the road.

Work's been kinda the same old routine since last time I posted about it, but I am starting to see more levels of responsibility as the team starts to let up on the proverbial leash. Hopefully I won't disappoint them in whatever expectations they have for me. So far it's been wonderful, and I do look forward to the extra challenges that are coming in the near future. Vague I know, but its work...I don't like to talk about it too much outside of the office; I spend enough time out of my day there as it is.

I guess that's it for now...more to report soon though, there's more exciting activity in July to come!

B Easy