One Month Down...Two to Go!

Today's long run offically completed my first month of marathon training. To change things up a bit, I decided to run along the American River bike path. The plan was to run for 90 minutes. My goal was to get in at least 9 miles. It was quite a pleasant run. Normally I run through the neighborhoods. I might see a few kids walking to school, or a few bike riders, but on the whole I typically do not see a lot of people. The bike path is so much different. Bikers, walkers, runners and roller bladers are every where. Running through the streets of Folsom can be a bit boring. Passing all the runners on the bike path was very motivating. When I felt tired, I would see another runner coming the opposite direction and I could take comfort in knowing they too were feeling the pain of running. They felt the same way I did. The only downside to being with other people is the extra effort one uses saying hello to everyone. Having not had a lot of human contact while running, I initially enjoy saying hello. I started the running with a very chipper "Good Morning" to everyone I passed. As the miles pasted, I tamed down to a "Hello" then "Hi". Eventually it dwindled down to a wave, then a nod, and finally a lifting of the eyebrows. It was still fun though. The river was beautiful and I entertained myself by watching the kayakers (my music died 30 minutes into it) Ultimately I would classify this as a great run. I ran 9.64 miles at a 9:22 pace. I came home and downloaded my running data from my GPS and discovered I ran about 90 seconds per mile faster than I did last year. Over the past year, I have burned 107,437 calories and have ran 820 miles. When I look at those calorie numbers I think, if I've burned that many just running, think how can I possibly not be at my goal weight? Kinda cool, yet depressing all at the same time.