...and on to Week 3!

of training, that is!! I've been working really hard to stay consistent with my walking and workouts since I've committed to doing this half marathon. It's been pretty easy, only because I'm off track right now and have way too much time on my hands. I only hope that I can continue going this strong when I return to work in August.

I've been walking 6 days a week and strength training at the gym 2-3 days a week. My body has been pretty tired, and my rest days are well deserved. 2 days a week I have an awesome buddy to walk with, but all the other walks are on my own. Hubby offered to walk with me (he doesn't like the idea of me walking around by myself), but I had to turn him down (he'd slow down my pace!).

In the first week, I walked a total of 24 miles. Didn't think I could do that many in 1 week, but it was easier than I thought. I began the week averaging an 18 minute mile, and by the end of the week I had my average down to 16 minutes. I've been walking for a long time now, so I knew I could get my time down pretty quickly with some discipline.

The second week I walked a total of 26 miles, with 2-7 mile walks in the week. I don't think I was supposed to do that many long distance walks within one week, but I took 2 rest days rather than 1. And I got my time down to 15 minutes a mile! That is really awesome, and that's the time that I was aiming for. The fact that I'm already there just amazes me! But I'm going to keep at it, not to increase my speed but to work on endurance. I need to be able to keep that pace for 13.1 miles.

Since this is my first half marathon, my main goal is to simply finish the race! I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to finish in 4 hours or less. But as long as I cross that line and receive my cowbell, I will be pretty darn proud of myself. :) I'm getting more and more excited!! So week 3, here we go!