Training commences

I guess when you train with a group - and a real training plan - marathon work starts a lot earlier. We're already getting started building our base for Houston in January!

Track Tuesday was the beginning of longer workouts, and it was amazing - because despite rain early in the workout, the weather turned out gorgeous. It was the first time I've run in weather under 80F in months!

(This weather prediction lied. It was 96 on Wednesday.)

We were doing 6x1000m at 6:45 with 2-3 minute jog, so the easy pace and ample rest felt good, too. The only problem occurred when my group switched pacers - I can pace pretty well on the track, but Paige is newer to track and struggled to get the pace right. After a rep at 6:50 and one at 7:00 (!), I was forced to take the leader spot over again. After the 1000ms, we finished with 4x150m strides with a walk-back rest after each one. Altogether, we ran 6 miles plus 3 in warm up and cool down. Then we enjoyed some of the beautiful sunset:

Hopefully the combination of longer, slower reps plus leg-turnover-encouraging strides will get me ready for a fast race in January!