What a beautiful day for a walk with the man you love!

Well - I was unable to run Monday due to meetings, so my boyfriend (Mr. Meat) and I went for a nice long walk around our neighborhood. It was nice spending time out there with him, as we used to run together. Back problems now keep him walking instead of running, so I try to fit in runs without him, and still do our nightly, or near-nightly as it is, walks.

We did around 2 miles, and it felt so good! Today I would like to get in a run, but missed the opportunity this AM because I was super sleepy! Tonight will be another walk, but if Mr. Meat decides not to go, then I will be running.

Oh - and "Mr. Meat" is a name I call him on here and other blogs because he is a carnivore all the way - read no more into that, please! I am "Miss Veg" - the lovely lady of his world who - to his dismay at times - is vegitarian. But I guess the longer this blog goes on, the more you will find out about our house divided!

But I digress - I have decided to go ahead and take my training slow and smart. I will be ready for 10 miles in August, and if not, then I will do the 5K or 8K run. I refuse to let negativity back into my head, or my heart!

I am running to my ability, and increasing that daily. And I must tell you - I am feeling so much better for it! I have a new found love of running, a passion to succeed smart and the ability to perform well.

This is the perfect time to let you know about a few books I have been reading.

• Four Months to a Four Hour Marathon - Dave Kuehls
• Run Tall, Run Easy - Coach GP
• The Runner's World Complete Book of Running - Runner's World
• The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer - David A. Whitsett, Forrest A. Dolgener, Tanjala Jo Kole

And the one thing all of these agree is that you must be able to run/jog for 30 minutes straight prior to trainng for any sort of endurance program. (The exception being Coach GP's book, in which he explores and explains the biomechanics of running - very usefull if you have form concerns.)

These books have replaced my nightly reading of novels, and have given me the consistency and motivation to try other forms of training - speed work such as fartleks, and Yasoo 800's.

My subscription to Runner's World has also helped provide me with useful information about nutrition and training, and this month (July issue) they are starting a marathon training program step by steo which they will have segments in the forthcomming issues.

You may be looking at my list of current reading and be thinking - "But I thought that you were running a half-marathon! Why are you reading up on marathoning?"

Well - to answer your question, and a good one at that, let me g into some basics. To better understand the biomechanics of running, is to gain better form and efficiency. To better understand the demands of running 26.2 miles at a certain pace, these principles apply to any endurance runs - 13.1 miles included.

I have ran in two marathons (Bayshore in 2003, and The Flying Pig in 2004) and have learned that I was sorely (pun intended) unprepared mentally and physically for the endurance runs. After meeting Coach GP in person at the Flying Pig (he even signed my copy of his book!) I realized that I had no clue what I was doing out there.

As a runner you can quite simply get out there and run. And you may potentially succeed and do well. But endurance training takes more out of you than a 5k. In fact, some books consider a 10K the entry into distance/endurance running. So why not learn what the body needs for a longer distance (26.2 miles - the Marathon) to see where I want to get, employing the same tools and theories for 13.1 miles?

But you ask - "The distance of a marathon is twice as long as the half, so why not study on running the half marathon distances?" Well, to answer you here - I simply have not seen anything specific to the half-marathon distance.

Biomechanics are biomechanics and you use them for the mile as well as for 50 miles! I want to learn to be more effiecient, to understand what fuel I need for long runs, and how to get this all intuitively.

So today's mission is to run smart, run tall, and run with ease.
Run on my friends!
Runnergirl

NOTE: all these books are available online at Amazon.com. Coahc GP's book - Run Tall , Run Easy is available on www.runningbuzz.com