Run away from Cicadas

The cicadas are back!

Ugly little suckers.  Noisy, too.

My son is terrified of cicadas.  He won't walk down the driveway without screaming like a baby.  So, I've got that going for me.  I've often said that the sound of the cicadas is what serial killers hear before shaving their heads and climbing a bell-tower to shoot everyone.  Not that I've ever thought about this.

I am off antibiotics, so it's time to get my head back into the game.  My next race is in August, Leg 7 of Burning River, which is about 15 miles.  The next weekend I have Ragnar Trail Relay in West Virginia, where I will run 30 miles.  During this time, I will be training for the Akron Marathon at the end of September.  It will be my first marathon.

Those of you who know me know that I am not comfortable asking for favors or showing that I need something.  This has been a very vulnerable time for me (3 family deaths!  2 in one week!), so last week I broke down and told Shelby that I needed her to run the Akron Marathon with me.  I never say I need anyone or anything, so she was a bit shocked, I think.  I'm so lucky to have her as my friend.  Who else will listen to my bullshit?

This is EXACTLY how I look when I beg Shelby to run my first marathon with me.

Bedford Reservation.  Beautiful!

On a completely unrelated note, I am now a Bondi Band ambassador, Peeps.  I love Bondi Bands because they are the only band that keeps sweat wicked away from my eyes.  I sweat A LOT.  You can see in the picture above that Shelby and I are both  sporting Bondi Bands.  If you ever decide to order any of their products, use my code (TroubleRun) to get 10% off.

This is my first official week of training for the marathon.  I have finally cobbled together a program based off of about three different books and a webpage.  My prep will basically consist of three different types of runs: the tempo run, the long run, and intervals.  I will also have easy runs in there to help ramp up mileage. The part I couldn't figure out was how to safely ramp up the mileage while making it fit my lifestyle, which is why I had to consult so many charts.  Then I printed out a blank calendar and wrote those miles into the days when I intend to run.

Today I started with a 3 mile hike at Adam Run with the kids.  We saw two salamanders.

Say hello to my leetle friend!

One thing I like about my plan is that some of the runs are shorter than what I'm used to.  This will allow me to add in strength training after a run. Normally I devote separate days to yoga and lifting, but now I can add it in on short-run days.

I'm excited to train for my first marathon.  Will I feel this way in four weeks?  Who knows?  Right now my first challenge will be to run in Florida.  I am not a fan of heat and humidity, but I'm sure it will make me a stronger runner.

What are you training for, Peeps?  I hope that you are able to run happy this week!

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