Many Changes

Along with training for my first marathon I have also added a few other changes in my life. For the past few weeks I have been attending Buddhist Services and I have also decided to become a vegetarian. These new changes coincide with one another. I feel amazing about both of these decisions. Being a vegetarian has made me feel healthier and I often view my outdoor runs as a form of meditation.

On Saturday (5.15.10) I ran 14 miles. It was a perfect day for the run. There was a slow steady rain and it felt nice and cool out. This is probably the reason that I didn't drink as much water as I needed to. I felt great after the run (besides being tired) and continued to feel great for a few hours after the run. Then my lower back started to hurt. I just assumed that I got tired towards the end of my run and finished the run with bad posture. When I pointed out to my boyfriend where the pain was, he informed me that the location I was pointing to is where the kidneys are located. After drinking a Gatorade and a ton of water I started to feel much better and the pain in my lower back subsided. Lesson learned...from now on when I am doing long runs I will bring Gatorade and water along with me.

You could say that running runs in my family. My father was a runner, my 3 sisters are runners (one even ran the Boston marathon), and myself however....I was more of a walker. I thought that in order to be a runner you needed to be born with the running gene...a gene that I always assumed I was missing.

I started running in January of this year after talking to my friend, Molly and my boyfriend, Alan, about running half marathons. I decided that although running felt unnatural to me, that I too would try to run. I have now completed my first 10k and half marathon, and I am now attempting to run my first marathon.I am dedicating this blog to my experiences while trying to train for my first marathon as well as other new adventures.