The first 3 weeks of training have gone pretty well.  Of course these are some of the easiest weeks of the training cycle but glad to pass through these past few weeks feeling pretty good and no potential injuries. 

My runs in general have been hilly with an easy pace, while I try to drop my weight (more on that below).  I had 22, 25, and 29 miles for the first 3 weeks.   Some of my runs were on vacation near The Smoky Mountain National Park with incredible scenery.  

Some lessons and thoughts from the first 3 weeks: 

1. Weight loss is hard while training. I knew this before but decided to test it out anyway!  So during these 3 weeks, not much weight loss unfortunately.  I’m going to have to make some dietary changes for the remaining 13 weeks of training.  

2.  Related to #1, food choices do affect my runs, as does alcohol (beer).   So going forward, I will be cutting down alcohol consumption as well as spicy foods.  

3. Not a lesson but a thought – I have felt great on runs as far as no nagging injuries, etc.  However, I have not been doing a lot of stretching or foam rolling.  But I need to now because waiting until pain appears is really too late. 

The training schedule becomes more difficult after week 4, which I’m currently on.  Another update will come soon.

-EJW