And the next challenge is....

Whoa whoa whoa....you can breath, I won't be doing a marathon (maybe one day) but the 8k! The focus of my new blog will be about the trials and tribulations of training! You can look forward to high points, low points, and everything in between!

An 8k? Really?

I know many of you are thinking about the old blog and how I talked about wanting to run a 5k and whatever happened with that. Well, I didn't ever get to run one :( I have run/walked 3! 

I decided to embark on this journey with some of the most amazing co-workers! There are 8 of us total who will be running in the race. Most of them will be running the half! 

Safety in numbers! Since there will be so many of us running a long race for the first time I figured there was going to be so much support around me, that I had to sign up for something! Three of us from 4th grade have made plans to train together and hold each other accountable! I really feel this is going to be the best way to keep me accountable! I do better when I have friends who will encourage me and be disappointed when I don't follow through! I know my friends are going to do just that!

Another great resource I am going to be relying on is my sister, Panda! She has been a source of inspiration! After moving out to CO almost 2 years ago she has made many running goals and accomplished them! I had the honor and privilege of watching her compete in her first sprint triathlon!! I was so proud of her! Panda didn't stop there! A few weeks ago she ran her first half marathon! I hope someday I can accomplish half of what she has! Already I have bombarded her with questions and thoughts. She has been emailing and texting with me frequently!

Training Plan
My sister sent me a 20 week schedule! Which looked thorough and somewhat confusing! I knew the plan was in there somewhere!  I also decided to see if there were any apps out there! I came across one called couch to 10k. After reading some research and reviews  I decided to purchase. This app is a 14 week plan with running 3 days. I like this plan because it tells you when to walk and run and you can play music at the same time! Plus the man sounds cute so I am pretending he is my hot personal trainer!! 

I like that the plan is a 10k trainer so I can work towards more! I also like that its 14 weeks so if I struggle with a week I know I have a few extra weeks before the actual race that I can go back and run weeks again if I need to!

My general plan is....
M-run
T-elliptical/bike or muscle class
W-run
Th-swim/abs
F-long run
S and Sun will be a rest day or make up long run if I need to.

I want to keep my weekends free of long runs since I know many of them are booked! I figured if I keep weekends free I have some wiggle run if I miss a run. I also know that I will be playing tennis this winter on some Friday and Wednesdays!!

Day 1 (11/5)
Today was my first day of training! I left school a little bit late so I decided to head directly to the gym! Week number 1 is as follows:
-5 minute warm up
-1 min run/1.5 min walk (6 times)
-5 min cool down
-Total of 25 min

I was able to add a little extra on! After the cycles of 6 were done I added on 2 more runs/walks. I did this through the cool down. All together I did 2 miles with a time of 31:00. 

Go Molly, Go Molly!!

I was super proud of myself for starting day 1!

Race Goals
I am not sure if it's too early to make any goals. The biggest goal is going to be to finish the race!! After that I would like to able to run the whole race! Not really sure what time I want....I'm not too concerned with that part yet.



Well that's it for tonight!! I hope you enjoyed my first post! I am going to do a better job of keeping this blog updated!!! Thanks for following me along on this new and exciting challenge!!