Raegan 1, Training 0

Week one of training is done and I've made it through the week 1)alive and, 2) in good spirits. I decided that this time around I was going to try to photographically document my journey so I had my mom take a photo of me before I began my official training. I felt good. I felt motivated. And soon I felt...hot. But we'll get to that later. In my before pictures you can see a woman about ready to embark on a mission.

So I was dressed in one my most comfortable running outfits, I had my iPod ready and a bottle of Powerade chilling waiting for me to finish my 4 miles. I was confident and I was ready to go. I stepped out of the house and was greeted with approximately 146% humidity. Yeah - this was going to be a long 4 miles. In my cockiness, I actually planned a route that was a mile longer than my prescribed run and it didn't take Mother Nature long to smack me in the face for my audacity. Speaking of which, I have a bone to pick with Mother Nature. This summer has been unseasonably cool and not swimming friendly, to my chagrin. But I just kept thinking that at least it will be good for training. But Nooooooo! The heat returned on day 1. I will not be deterred though. I'll be stinky, but not deterred. We can see this from the "after" picture. The really awesome thing about this run was that my mom (she's the best) offered to pick me up at the end of my run and came not only with my chilled sports drink, but also a cinnamon biscuit to "replenish my sugar." I could get used to that kind of treatment.

Day 2 was fairly uneventful as I did my 3 miles on Constitution Trail. Wednesday, however, is when I discovered the Holy Grail of my marathon training: water stops. I had pre-arranged to stop on my run at a friend's house to get some cold water and short break. It was, however, a bit of surprise to show up at my water stop and finding myself in the middle of an impromptu party. At least I was wearing my running skirt in a fetching shade of pink. The sweat stains on my tank top weren't quite as fetching.

Little did I know that the anticipation of my water stop and the refreshing effect it had afterwards would make my run so much easier. I am in love with this plan. Shout-outs to Gail, Joan, Ken and Candace for serving as my water stops this week. You rock! So I'm hydrated but unfortunately my nutritional situation leaves room for improvement. Dinner after my Wednesday run consisted of a Cliff Bar, a couple of slices of cheese and 2 Advil (to alleviate the previously-mentioned chafing situation). Oddly enough, my appetite isn't corresponding with increased mileage.

My first long run was only 6 miles. I chose to do this on Sunday morning. Little known fact: in the city where I live, Fort Jesse Road from Veteran's Expressway to Airport Road is mostly uphill. My calves clued me in to this fact. Of course, if I hadn't been standing on my tired legs in front of my TV for 8 hours the day before playing my new Wii, they might have been more forgiving.

Toenail update!
Normally, the danger of losing toenails doesn't rear it's ugly, uh, foot, until the mileage gets pretty high. However, I have already managed to lose part of a toenail. To be fair, stubbing my toe on a grocery cart earlier in the week probably instigated this injury but the 17 miles I ran over the course of 4 days certainly pushed it over the edge. So much for my beautiful pedicure...

So week one is done. Ony 17 more to go.