Half Baked

My oldest son and I decided to run a marathon together in the Fall of this year.  So, I decided to get my act together and actually follow a training schedule for a change.  I pretty much took a Christmas break from running, so I’m feeling rather soft and out of shape.  I’d like to lose some weight and improve my speed so that if my son decides he wants to run the whole thing with me, it won’t be absolute torture for him to go as slow as I do.

The first two days, it was tough to get out the door to run 3-5 miles.  However, today something started to kick in.  I set out to run three miles and continued to stretch it out and ended up running up to Hanna Park, a city park north of my house, and doing some trail running to end up running eight miles.  It was an absolute blast — the sun shining on me and then being able to watch the hues of the sun setting, the rough terrain of our somewhat eroded beach, and being able to be outside and move on a warm January day.  I can’t remember the last time I came home from a full day of work and put in eight miles!  Usually, it’s a four mile or so trudge after getting home from work.  I was pumped!  So it looks like I’m good for “sticking with the program” for this week.

I’ll be lining up some events for late spring and early summer to test my fitness.  Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can lose some weight, feel better, and gain more energy.