I’ve decided to rename Phase 1  as the Faster, Leaner, Meaner Phase!  Because it really does incorporate all three of those goals.

~~ Faster — increase my running pace before the real Marathon Training Miles begin in September.

~~ Leaner — drop some pounds before January — 30 pounds if possible.

~~ Meaner — strengthen my mind, build mental toughness…..um….become a Bad @ss!  So I can use that strength to get myself through 26.2 miles, no matter what happens that day.

Yup — that about sums it up.

Week 2 has brought promising signs.  I’ve seen small incremental payoff in the Interval runs.  I ran 2 miles outside this morning, on what had to be THE NICEST SUNDAY MORNING of 2012 so far.  And I ran the whole thing.  First mile was 10:54.  Second was 11:46.  Both very respectable for me.  I had to use my mental PUSH technique to talk myself up that d@mn HILL.  Come on, Diane — by anyone’s standards, it’s not even a hill.  It’s an incline, yes, but a hill?, uh – no!    Ok, shut up already, Inner Voice!  Don’t be mean to me.  But you are right.  We just built that hill up to be a nemesis, and ….so that’s what it is.  Every darn time we run it.  Gotta get rid of that Belief, so its easier to run.   You go Work on that, instead of bugging me, OK?

On the Leaner front — my Saturday Weigh In was AWESOME.  Down another 3.8 pounds.  I finally worked off (for the SECOND TIME) the weight I gained back over spring break in Florida.  Diane, no more doing that K?   We’ve got to use our next “get away” to learn how to Be Away and Stay On Track.

Learning, Learning, Learning….always Learning.  That’s Progress.

Ciao for now…..Diane