I am now officially a month into marathon training, and everything is still going great so far! I have been feeling healthy and not too many aches and pains with the piriformis, so that always makes for a good week!

This week I had some travel for work to Las Vegas, but luckily the travel did not impact my normal workout routine. When I got out to Vegas on Monday, I did my normal bicep/tricep weight routine and 45 minutes on the stair climber in the Rio's gym. On Tuesday morning, as I walked off the elevator into the casino at the Rio, I couldn't help but giggle, as I knew that most of the people in the casino that were there at 6:45 am that morning, probably had not even made it to bed yet! I have been to Vegas many times, but never as a runner, so running for the first time outside in Vegas was pretty exciting for me! I met my friend Mark at the entrance of the Rio and off we went! It was a beautiful morning, sunny, and a temp of about 40 degrees with little wind- great running weather! We finished our 4 miles in 33:10, which was an 8:18 mile pace. While we were walking back to the hotel, Mark confessed that he normally does not run that fast, but knew that if he did not keep up, then he would never hear the end of it from me! :) I was really glad he ran with me, it made for a great rest of the day in Vegas!

I arrived back in KC late Wednesday night, and the temps were a balmy 12 degrees...NICE! So, of course Thursday's short run was on the treadmill at the gym. UGH! This week, Jeremy and I's long run was 9 miles, and although the weather was about 37 degrees with a lot of wind, it was a fantastic run! We ran 9 miles in 1:17:52, which was an 8:39 minute mile pace, my fastest 9 miles ever! I was pretty excited that that pace felt great and I wasn't over-exerted after we were done.

It looks like for next week, we are supposed to get a break in the weather hopefully, and we should have some 50 degree weather for our long run! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!