Officially in training mode.

Now that I made the commitment to run the NJ marathon, I'm officially in marathon training mode. For me, this means overcoming one huge obstacle: My wimpiness. We've established that I am not the biggest fan of running outside in the cold or the dark. I'm just a major weather wimp. Some of you have encouraged me to suck it up, embrace the cold, that sort of thing. Good advice, however, I haven't really followed it.

I've been running on the treadmill. And, you know, that's been fine. I found my groove and I've been happily trotting along for 4 miles or so at a time. I've done some decent speed work on the 'mill, since I do tend to get bored just looking at the bins of Christmas ornaments and Conal's out-grown clothes and playing with my speed keeps things interesting. But, as you know, you can't just run speedy 4 milers and think you can cross the finish line of a marathon alive. Well, maybe you'd be alive but, man, I would imagine you'd be dragging.

So. I think you what's coming . . . and you're right! I sucked it up and ran outside today. Oh, it was chilly for sure. Maybe 22 degrees? Not sure. Probably colder. And, with the wind chill, definitely colder. But, I bundled up and it was fine.

My route started with a half mile hill so I warmed up quickly. Once I was warm, I just cruised along, finishing 7.65 miles in 67:19 or 8:48/mile. I didn't look at my watch at all during this run because I wanted to go out there and run comfortably, to determine what pace my body would settle into. I wasn't surprised since an 8:45 or so pace seems to be where my body tends to gravitate on most runs. This means I'll need to slow it down for my long runs and speed it up for my tempo runs. I'll stick with that pace for my regular ol' runs.

The treadmill will continue to get some action during the week, when it is too dark for me to run in the evenings. But on Saturdays and Sundays, I'll now be hitting the roads. Watch out, world!