Training Week 3: Food, Sleep & Training Partners

Week three of training has already begun! I didn't have time to organize my training schedule and mentally prepare for the week yesterday because we had such a busy weekend. I was up until 11pm on both Saturday and Sunday night. As you could imagine, I was exhausted! I'm an advocate of sleep and believe that the appropriate amount of sleep can change your life. Anyways, let's get to the mileage:
Day 1: 3 miles (Tuesday PM)
Day 2: 4 miles (Thursday PM)
Day 3: 3 miles (Friday AM)
Day 4: 7 miles (Sunday AM)
Once again, one mile has been added to the long run. Last week I changed my schedule a little bit and ran two miles on Friday and seven miles on Saturday. After I complete this week my total mileage will be 48 miles. Damn! I've been sleeping like a baby and eating like a teenager.
I'm not sure how to calculate how many calories I should be consuming but I'm pretty sure a pastrami Reuben, fries, coleslaw, an XL brownie, coke, a salad with ranch dressing, a plate of spaghetti and a bowl of cereal all after 2pm is too much. I did burn approximately 1,600 calories running last week but that is no excuse. I'm trying to do things better this week and I hope I can contain my eating after the long run on Sunday.

I would like to introduce my amazing training partners for the marathon, Rudi and Kelsey. Okay, I'm still trying to convince Kelsey to commit but I'm almost certain she will. She is a busy, working mom of two young kids and just graduated with her master's degree in social work from Pitt. Yes, she lives in Pittsburgh which is not ideal training ground in January/February. A colossal challenge? Indeed. Doable for this supermom? Absolutely.
My other training partner lives in Chicago and is Stan's best friend since their days of high school baseball at Hickman field. Rudi is diligently using the same training book (The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer) and schedule as I am. Being in Chicago, he has had to brave the snow for most of his runs thus far. He loves the snow! We are in contact daily to discuss our runs, injuries, icing, socks, shoes, routes and dinners. He has been a tremendous support for me over the past few weeks and I look forward to completing the training and crossing the finish line with him on May 8th.

I'm going to drop Lucky off at Stan's office for a daddy/son lunch so I can get that first three miles of the week taken care of...

Training! Week 1

Today starts the 16 week training program leading up to the marathon on May 8. I am using the training schedule/program in The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by Whitsett, Dolgener and Kole. I will be running four days a week including two short runs, one mid-length run and a long run. This week's schedule is:
Day 1: 3 miles (will do today, AM)
Day 2: 4 miles (tomorrow before class, 2:30)
Day 3: 3 miles (Fri. AM)
Day 4: 5 miles (Sat. afternoon)
I am confident that I will get through this week with ease. Chapter 1 in the book discusses creating an internal locus of control. This is a psychological concept in which people believe that they are in control of the events in their life versus thinking that other people, fate or circumstances dictate the events in their life. Thankfully, I have a strong locus of control. This control will be a necessary element to successfully complete all of the training runs and eventually the marathon. I need to believe that I can effortlessly and joyfully run and run and run...here i go!