A Journey of a Thousand Miles (actually 600 miles) starts with a Single Step

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So the first mile of my training started at 9:10pm last night with two laps around the neighborhood. It was over by 9:20 but was a start. After looking over the planned training schedule, I will run 605 miles leading up to the race. 605 miles is equivalent to over 970 kilometers (or 194 5k races) and if you add on the 26.2 miles for the race than it would be the equal to running from my home in CT to Detroit. These figures are daunting (especially for someone who is basically starting from scratch) but have given me the motivation to run that first mile.

This first week will have me run a total of six miles. A mile each on Tues, Weds, and Thursday with the "big" three-miler coming on Saturday. I will build up the mileage from there with the toughest week coming a month prior to the race when I hope to total 38 miles in one week. The Saturday run that week will be the 20-mile jaunt that will truly prove if I am mentally and physically prepared for the marathon.

While I don't expect that I will be able to follow this exact regimen for the entire 25-weeks, it is a road map for me to strive for. Heading into Day 2, we are still on schedule.