Week 1 - Starting Over

Today was the 1st day of Woodland's Fit training. I've decided to stick to the 1/2 marathon. A few days ago, Sarah mentioned that internal struggle about whether to really train harder and work on getting faster...or to just take it easy and enjoy the workouts. I know that struggle all too well. Even this morning as I was waking up much earlier than I wanted to, I was debating in my head about whether or not I really wanted to do this training thing yet again.

Part of me just wants to workout how I want, when I want.
Part of me wants to seriously start training for a sprint tri.
Part of me misses the running.
Part of me doesn't give a rats ass about PRing.
Part of me enjoys competing against myself to do better and better.
Part of me needs that goal - the half marathon - to get my ass in gear each week and the support of the group to hold me accountable.

All of me wants to lose the rest of the baby weight (and then some)- that is my ultimate goal.

So, training for the 1/2 seems like a nice compromise - it's a good goal to shoot for (especially since I am really starting over) and the training is not so grueling that I can't find time to fit in some biking and swimming. While I'll miss the peeps in Houston Fit, it will be a good change of pace to run someplace new.

So how'd today go? You've seen my workout stats from the past two weeks. I've "run" 1/1 intervals, 2/1 intervals for 2 weeks now, but never for more than 20 minutes and always inside on the treadmill. I knew that today was going to be tough.

I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get to the Y, so I left ridiculously early. On the way over I just prayed that it wouldn't suck as badly as I thought it might. When I arrived, I immediately met some great people and I was instantly glad that pulled myself out of bed. I saw Coach Bill, who introduced me to running Goddess Kim Hagar. I also met someone who was starting over and doing 5/1 intervals...we stuck together all morning. I was thrilled to find out that the 1/2 marathoners were only doing 2 miles today - looks like someone was listening to those prayers this morning afterall. :-) I knew I could finish 2 miles.

We headed out and to my suprise, the 5/1's weren't too bad. It was great to have some new scenery to look at and my new found friend gave me the lowdown on the area schools, which is great when you have a kid starting school in another year. When we first started, I looked behind me and thought that yours truly was bringing up the rear. But, as we kept on we passed people here and there. Before I knew it, we were at the water stop that the coaches told us about - 1 mile down! Woohoo!

The 5's seemed a little longer on the 2nd mile, but before I knew it we were back at the Y. It has been a long time since I've run in warmer weather, so my head felt like it was going to explode and I was dripping with sweat...but I survived! Never in a million years would I have thought finishing 2 miles would be such a big accomplishment for me. :-)

This starting over thing sucks, but for now it's okay. Tomorrow, I am riding 10 miles on the bike...another thing I'm starting over. (Since I still can't get early morning access to the pool for my Sunday swim...thanks RealManage!) But, every day is a step in the right direction I suppose.

I wasn't going to post today's time, because to be honest, it's a bit embarrassing. But, I figure I'm not the only person in the world to start over. It's not easy, but it can be done.

Workout Stats
Woodland's Fit group run
2 miles
24:44:47