Training: Week One Recap

Week one of official marathon training is in the books y'all. Holy crap.
In solid form, I have already skipped one day. I am going to blame the rain (and the fact that I was feeling a little lazy) and leave it at that.

Monday: rest day. completed that one like a champ. actually threw in an hour of yoga which felt nice.
Tuesday: 3 miles. I set myself the goal of doing it at a 9:30 pace.  This did not happen. I did 3.1 miles at a 10:09 pace so I guess I will take it.
Wednesday: 5miles at race pace. As I mentioned Monday I am shooting for a 10 min/mile pace. These 5 miles were done at an 11:12 min/mile pace so I kinda missed that goal as well.  Lesson learned - do not do two fast days in a row and expect good results. I was happy with the Wednesday run though because there were lots of little hills so that was a great challenge.
Thursday: 3 miles.  Yeah this one did not happen at all.
Friday: Rest day. Done. Like a boss.
Saturday: Thunder and rain interrupted plans I had made so this was switched to cross training day.  I spent three or so hours walking around the mall so I am going to count that. 
Sunday: 8 miles. Ran 8.11. My body hurt and my pace was 12:11 min/mile. Way far from ideal, but I got it done so I am ok with it.

Overall it was not the best imaginable start to a training plan, but also not the worst. 

Let's talk about this weekend...because it has been pretty awesome!

Friday night I cooked buttermilk brined cornish game hens following this recipe from Kitchen Confidante. 

They were spectacular! I love cooking on weekends because my boyfriend comes over to eat what I cook.  Much more fun than cooking for yourself!

 

Yesterday the dog was supposed to go for his last lesson, but the trainer texted Friday night to reschedule because the weather was going to be gross (and the lessons are in a park). So Saturday morning I slept in and planned to run later in the day When the storms let up a bit.  Hello cooler weather, please never change! Well, the boyfriend decided he wanted to go to Bass Pro Shops. It's a little under two hours away, but it is also attached to Concord Mills Mall, which is one of my all time favorites so of course I said yes!  We shopped and wandered around for a while.  I got a new swimsuit, a new pair of Nike running shorts, and two cute Addidas shirts. And a new toy for the dog.
We had seen Razzoo's on the way in and I mentioned it. He grew up in Louisiana so Cajun food is a favorite.  So we took a break and went there for lunch

They had the coolest menus and this drink was one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted.  It was like raspberry lemonade with white wine.  Crazy good.  Then lunch came out and I think my eyes might have about popped out of my head.  I am not a Cajun food expert by any means so I picked a combo skillet with lots of different stuff.  It was spicy (I like spicy and the waitress warned me so that was great) and I wanted to eat every bite, but I was so stuffed!  Makes for great leftovers though!

We went and wandered a little longer to work off some of our lunch before driving home.  Hank was not pleased that he had been left out, but then he got his new toy and all was forgiven.

 

I have some doubts about how long the rope will last, but he loves it very much.  It is made by Jolly Ball and I have had good luck with their horse toys in the past, so hopefully the ball itself will outlive the rope!

Totally random, but I have no idea why the dog always looks so small in pictures  People meet him in real life and are surprised by how large he actually is.  That said I think he has finally slimmed down and looks almost healthy with just a little chunky left :)

This morning the plan was to wake up and go for my run.  Went well until I woke up and found that my phone had only charged to 28% in the 7 hours it had been plugged in.  So naturally I went back to sleep lol.

We woke up later in time for brunch and used the leftover buttermilk from Friday's dinner to make pancakes!  And of course you can't have pancakes without eggs and bacon. And coffee.

 The cooking picture is courtesy of the boyfriend...the shirt is one of the new ones (I know I can't be the only one who buys something new and has to wear it immediately!)...and mom has already mentioned that the fridge looks short and that I look skinny.  I am not actually taller than the fridge, but we can pretend I always look skinny like that. Pancakes were made with this recipe from Oh Sweet Basil and were possibly the best I have ever made! My pancake skills have room for improvement, but these were easy and fabulous.
We decided to be lazy bums and went back to bed and watched the new 300 movie.  Okay, he watched and I played on Twitter :)
He eventually had to go home so I started typing this and Hank pouted.  Then I finally went for my long run. The training plan called for 8 miles, I was hoping to do at least 9 (10 if I am being totally honest), but my feet and legs were just dead.  I think it is officially time to retire my favorite shoes :(  I made it through to 8.11 miles though with a 12:11 pace.  Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I am being optimistic and thinking about all the room it leaves me for improvement!
The weather was almost perfect as well, which was a huge bonus. It was over 80, but right now anything under 90 feels like a blessing.

I also keep seeing a bunch of deer when I am out running.  There is one chilling in that picture but he's a bit hard to spot. I usually see 5 or 6 each run which is pretty cool.
The best part of the run was coming home and taking a shower.  As always!
Now that this post is all wrapped up it is time for #runchat on Twitter then sleep.  Tomorrow is a rest day so I don't even have to pretend to try to get up early! Hallelujah!
Hope you had a great weekend!