20.6 percent!

Today's run ended up being 5.39 miles! The exact distance is courtesy of my GPS-tracking teammates, because I couldn't get my app to lock down my location this morning. There were five of us there to train for a full marathon, and while we all ran at very different speeds, just knowing there were others out on the road with me and a coach at the halfway point was motivating.

The distance itself was surprisingly easy. I used my heart rate monitor to ensure I was keeping a decent pace, and probably could have kept going. That was definitely an encouraging feeling! I'm proud of myself for surviving and for training myself well enough to be able to handle the challenge!

I am dealing with a little shin pain, which I fear is a recurrence of the shin splint I had a few months ago. I didn't feel anything until the last mile or so, and the pain was fairly mild, so I'm hoping I'll be fine with some icing and rest. I also learned today that asphalt is softer than concrete sidewalks, so I'm going to make sure I'm sticking to the road as much as possible from now on! On my run today, I had to cut to the sidewalk a few times for safety and definitely felt a difference.

So week 1 is complete! Thanks so much to my pre-training and week 1 supporters:

• The Green Teahouse
• Mom & Dad #2 (Blaine's parents)
• My brother, Joe Haefele
• Grandma Haefele
• Aunt Ann Haefele
• The Rocktaschel family
• Wayne and Julie Crawford
• Tricia Hamlin
• Doug Walters
• Sergey Katsev
• Brian Abraham
• All my CT friends who have "purchased" some of Ed Stuart's homemade wine
• Everyone who has bought some of my matcha (green tea) cookies

Unofficial total raised so far -- including this weekend's cookie sales -- is $756.52! You are amazing! ♥