Bridal Bootcamp

I spent half of last week recovering from a hurt knee and the other half making excuses why I shouldn't go running. I did have one decent excuse- my best friend Rebecca came in for the weekend and there was no time for running, only shopping.

However, I did realize today that my wedding is 3 and a half months from today and this bride needs to get in gear. So this marathon training is doubling as bridal bootcamp.

Some things I've realized since I started training:
1- Don't EVER start training for a marathon when it's freaking cold outside unless you have a nice warm car to commute to the gym in.

2- Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream does not count as a good pre-workout snack. You will pay for that later.

3- Running outside in the cold is ridiculous....and brutal.

Since I only had to run 3 miles today, it seemed silly to walk 6 blocks in the cold to get to the gym, so I put on a few layers and headed outside. It all started out well enough. I turned my ipod on to Lady Gaga and started around the block. Halfway through Just Dance it hit me: this was down right painful.

Pros of running outside- You run fast in order to convince yourself that if you run fast enough, you'll warm up, and this whole silly thing won't be so bad.

Cons of running outside- You never truly warm up because your ears are on the verge of frostbite and your lungs feel like they'll never stop burning.

After weighing these pros and cons, surprisingly the cons won out and I decided to just walk the 6 blocks to the gym. I made my way to the treadmills, picked one, and started running. That's when #2 on the list kicked in- Ben and Jerry's= not a good workout buddy.

I wrapped up my run and walked my freezing self home. Tomorrow is my next run of 4 miles. I think I'll be more properly fueled, and prepared, for this one.