How to train for a marathon

I was talking to someone in my Circuit Class who is going to run her first marathon this fall.  (Yes, of course Twin Cities) and she was asking about how I trained for my first marathon.  Same way I trained for the next two.  Run!  This is actually the first year I've introduced cross training into my marathon plan.  We'll see if it helps.

 

How have I been training recently?  After that great long run on Monday I took Tuesday off.  We're calling that a nutrition fail.  Because if I had eaten better, I wouldn't have been so tired.  Fail.

Wednesday I hit the pool for Water Running.  It's definitely harder without the water belt.  Wow.  In the evening I took a long walk with a neighbor.  We stopped by the best coffee shop in town for an iced mocha and then headed around Lake Hiawatha.  The sun was setting and it was gorgeous.

 Shadows on the wall as I was leaving my house.

Sun setting over Lake Hiawatha.  You've seen this shot a few times before but the lifeguard chair is gone now.  

 Cheryl and Sky.  Sky is totally a sniffer.

Pretty flowers at the end of my walk.

 

Thursday, along with Monday, is a big exercise day.  I started off with a four mile run and for some reason, I was in the mood to move.  It's my second fastest 'time' on this route ever and Lance Armstrong thinks I set a new personal best for the mile! 

 Sun coming up as I got back home.  The sunrise was quite nice.

That thing all runners do where we take pictures of our feet and shoes... 

  It was a good run but it hurt too.

Thursday evening I headed back to the gym.  Circuit was quite challenging.  Anyone who's done an elevated push up knows what I'm talking about.  Zumba was fun as hell.