Today - Everything Changes....

Well perhaps that's a bit dramatic but today is the first day of "serious" training - well at least as serious as a 46 year old non competitive athletic guy can get! Yesterday's run was tough - seemed like mile 19 would never come! I've got a few aches and pains that I am "watching" - mostly my feet and ankles. Not sure what that is all about. I've gone through many pairs of shoes and have never been completely satisfied. If I only find the perfect pair of shoes.....

I didn't end up running anyplace interesting I just followed the same old path near the house. The routes around our house are not all that interesting but they are certainly convenient. Although I have been known to drive to a running trail it seems pointless since the whole idea of running is to run after all. When I run from the office the runs are much more interesting. One of these days soon, I am going to take my camera with me on one of my morning runs and blog about it.

I think one of the reasons that I am so sore today is because after my run I worked in the yard all day - it was a beautiful day in Seattle! It's the time of year that I love to be in the yard and of course I'm planning my vegetable garden - I'm also nursing my seedlings along in the kitchen window.  Here are a few random pictures in and around the garden.  Notice the growth in the seedlings one week apart!

So back to the title of the posting - Everything Changes. Like I said I approach serious training differently than maintenance running. Any time I've completed a marathon in the 3:45ish time frame - it's as a result of "serious" training. So as of today every run will have purpose, I'll do more cross training, no fried foods, no alcohol, and although I'm not going vegetarian - I cut my intake of meat products. I also track/log my food. I found a great iPhone application for that - Edibles.

Great tool for tracking your weight and creating the electronic version of a food journal. Check it out sometime.

Lastly - I am going to work on my core strength. I've never had upper body strength and every time I begin "serious" training I like to add something new - I suppose I'm still looking for just the thing that's going to propel me to Boston! Speaking of - today was the Boston Marathon - I feel terrible for the thousands of runners from Europe that could not make it due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

I bought a book called - 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups. I am going to give it a try and I'll let you know who I progress! Tonight I do the initial test to find out my base - Hopefully I can do 10! It amazes me that I can run 26.2 miles and have such poor upper body strength! I've read a lot about the benefits of developing your core and think it will yield great results.

 I'll keep you posted! "Serious" training - commence!

Later -

Jim