I need to find a shorter title for these because what I have here is gonna get old real quick. Anyhoo, last week kicked off my official training for the marathon I’m signed up for in October. The GR is for Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is the location of the race. I’m excited about the location because I’m hoping it will be a little more accessible to my friends and family who may want to come cheer me on. Also, it’s a race my family members have run before and have nothing but good things to say about. It’s a flat, smooth course and should be perfect for my fitness level and physical challenges.

My weekday runs weren’t exactly what I had expected. I had an outdoor run that was going beautifully until the last leg, when I had about a quarter mile to go. On a walk break, I started to have this very sharp pain in the left side of my right kneecap. It just seemed to appear out of nowhere, and grew stronger so quickly that by the time my walk break was over, I couldn’t start running because I couldn’t put any pressure on the leg. I was able to s-l-o-w-l-y walk back home, and the pain subsided. However, I’m treating that knee with kid gloves for awhile, wearing a knee brace when I run. I’m still not sure what happened, but the pain has not returned so far, and I’ve done a lot of running since then.

The other weekday run I decided to run on the treadmill because there was an air quality warning in our area due to the wildfires in Canada. I had been seeing from friends on Facebook that they were having issues with breathing so it just made sense to stay indoors.

I’m pictured below, post treadmill run in the man cave. You’ll see my hair does some funny things when I sweat. Hanging on the wall to my right are black and white photos of Tiger Stadium, and behind my head is a seatback from the old stadium. I am still not crazy about running on the treadmill, but at least I have the dogs and my husband’s sports memorabilia to keep me company. I’m smiling because I’m done.

My final run for the week, the long run, was 4 miles and I had the opportunity to run it with my son. He has wrestling camp coming up real soon and is worried he’s gotten out of shape so he’s joining me in some of my training. Teenagers are a lot more talkative when they are moving, did you know that? If you’ve got one you are wanting to connect with better, I highly recommend taking them on a walk or a run. My son has always been a talker but as he gets older the competition with cell phones and video games has become increasingly challenging. So I was really grateful to have that time with him and I hope he joins me for more runs this summer!

That’s it for week 1. I was feeling a little hesitant about this marathon immediately following the Bayshore half but my body is fully recovered and rested and I’m feeling strong and confident again. Training for and running a marathon is a really big deal even for normal runners, so it’s not lost on me what an undertaking I’ve committed myself to (again). But with all y’all’s encouragement I know I can do this, one day at a time. Remember, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite a time!