One down, 51 weeks to go!

So I didn't make it to bed until after 2 am this morning because of new years. I managed not to eat or drink too much, but maybe more than I should have if I wanted to run a marathon this morning. When I woke up about 8:30 am this morning, I had a sore throat. I don't know if it had to do with the drinking, lack of sleep, or simply a sign that I shouldn't run a marathon today.

But I didn't listen. I got on a treadmill in a packed gym at about 10:35 am, and 3:49:16 later I finished my first "marathon" of the year. And, I would like to add, this was my first ever treadmill marathon.

Not a bad run. I felt pretty good all along. I began at a 6.5 mph, or 9:15's. I quickly picked up to a 9 minute mile, because I was trying to finish in about 4 hours. But on a treadmill without any variation in terrain (I do set the treadmill at a 1% incline), the only variation I can get is with the speed. So at about the half-way point, I began to increase my speed ever so slowly, ending the last mile at a sub 7:30 pace, actually hitting a 6:30 pace for the last quarter-mile to stretch out my legs. The first half was just under 2:00, so the last half must have been about 1:50, or around an 8:30 pace.

Feeling a little tired (sleepy) but my body feels great. Legs really feel good.

Note: The real reason I am running today and not trying to get it done this weekend is that on January 13th I am running the P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon with my brother as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This will be my first marathon with my brother, and we intend to run the entire thing together. My guess is that we will finish at about a 10 min/mile pace. I really want it to go well, and want to run with him the entire time, so I am trying to schedule as much recovery time in before that run as possible. So if I run today and this coming Sunday, I will get my first two weeks out of the way and get a week to recover before the 13th. If anyone would like to track my fundraising progress, feel free to check out the website. http://www.active.com/donate/tntks/scotthill