Week two of training: Looking back at the past

Remember that kid in gym class that was gravely athetically challenged? The kid who always managed to get hit in the head during kickball games? That was me; I was that kid. I once got hit in the head by a kickball when I wasn't even playing. I hated sports, they were trying to kill me!

Then, in middle school, we were required to up our ante and run the dreaded mile once a week. At that time, running a mile to me might as well have been sending me on a death march. Isn't this what they make prisoners do as punishment?!

The first time my gym teacher annonced that we were going to run the mile, I debated claiming that I was sick, I debated doing a rain storm dance, I debated doing anything I could to get out of running it! But as a very shy, awkward, middle-schooler, I said nothing and lined up at the starting line on our gravel track. The teacher blew the whistle for us to begin running. This is no joke, I took about two strides and fell flat on my face. It took me a second to get up and I quickly realized that both of my knees had huge, bleeding, open wounds. So I limped over to the teacher and asked if I could go to the nurse to get cleaned up and get some bandages. But no, not happening; he insisted that I keep running and said that I would fail for the day if I didn't. Being the shy girl that I was, I followed his orders and continued running while blood was running down my shins. I finished the mile in 15+ minutes - a failing time! I might as well have just went to the nurse and had my parents on the gym teacher's ass for making me run with bloody knee caps. I never wanted to run again. In fact, if I told myself at that time that I would later be training for a marathon, I would've probably dropped dead on the spot.

Ironically, I am now a runner and a very happy runner indeed. Running is my escape from life; a time to clear my mind. This is my second week of training and I am already starting to feel stronger. This week I will run 23 miles total. Now I just need to imagine running that far plus three miles in just a few hours. Yeah, I won't start thinking about that yet. One step at a time.

Also, in case anybody has a brief moment of insanity and decides to also train for a marathon, I'll post my training schedule each week, which was created for me by the professional runners at Runner's World. Note: this training regimen is for intermediate runners; I don't recommend this for somebody who just decides, on a whim, to start running. Please get a physical from a sports doctor and make sure your body is ready for miles and miles of pavement pounding.

Week Two Training
6/15 - Rest day (ran 8 miles yesterday)
6/16 - 5 miles @ an easy pace
6/17 - 5 mile speedwork:
- 1 warmup mile, easy pace
- 2 miles sprinting w/ half mile jogging in between each mile
-1 cooldown mile, easy pace
6/18 - Rest day
6/19 - 5 miles @ an easy pace
6/20 - Rest day
6/21 - Long run - 8 miles

Total miles for the week: 23