Week 2 of Marathon Training

I’ve officially signed up for my first marathon! I’ll be running the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon in Louisville in late April. Wish me luck!

Sunday: I skipped running because I had a headache for most of the day. Instead I went for a 1.84-mile walk before sunset, when I started to feel better. I noticed a lot of trash left behind after last Saturday’s parade; I spotted gloves, hats, water bottles, wrappers, signs, empty bags of chips. It all made me kind of sad. Let’s keep Phoenix clean!

Monday: 2.57-mile run. It was cold for Phoenix. My pace, according to my Garmin Vivosmart, was 9:10/mile, faster than I have been running. It felt good, though I wished I had a jacket that covered my neck and part of my face. Brr!

Tuesday: I skipped running again because I had a headache. I managed to get all my goal steps in by walking around the house.

Wednesday: 3.04-mile run to start my New Year’s Eve. I was hesitant to run when I looked outside and saw it had rained, but it cleared up for enough time for me to get my workout in. My pace was 9:12/mile — not too shabby.

Thursday: 1.1-mile sunset hike/jog to kick off the 30-day Ragnar Training Challenge. You can see snow-capped mountains from the trailhead. Apparently it snowed in Phoenix on New Year’s Eve, but we didn’t see any at our house. I was bummed.

I’m taking this sunset as a sign that 2015 will be good to us.

I followed up the hike with a 30-minute online yoga class via Yoga International, which is offering free online yoga classes all month!

Friday: 3.5-mile run. I was proud of myself for running A. after work and B. in the cold. I ran my first 3 miles in a 9:21/mile pace and finished the last half mile at 8:46/mile.

Saturday: 2.58-mile hike in the snow. Graham, the pups and I drove up north to play. Lots of people had the same idea, which became clear when we hit traffic from Anthem until Black Canyon City. We pulled over at Schnebly Hill Road and walked along the closed road toward the camping area. We decide to climb a random hill to check out the view. It was tricky (and slippery) hiking up but so worth it. The dogs had a blast!

Sunday: 6.11-mile run at a 9:10/mile pace after my first aerial yoga class. I was nervous to start aerial yoga, but I had a lot of fun. I even went upside down once! I need to learn to trust that I won’t fall before I can move on to other poses. I’m excited to try again soon. It was nice to spend time with one of my friends from yoga-teacher training and grab brunch at Luci’s Healthy Marketplace afterward.