Monday, November 19, 2012

Wheeee...

Hey, MariBelle! I just want to point out that your half-marathon running stint last year has inspired me to think that I can do it too. I used to think that 2 miles was a reaaaallly looong tiiime, but since I've been building up mileage, running 2 miles has felt like a coffee break!

By the way, I'd also like to mention that none of us has the stereotypical "marathon physique," which makes me love the message that the average woman can do this. Also, Jess, I'm not sure how tall you are, but Marie, Perry, and I have the additional challenge of shorter-than-average legs, :/.  But that's okay too! I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to exploring the Kingdom and finishing.

Today, I'm blogging because I lost the motivation to run outside and tricked myself into think cross-training should be an adequate substitution. I hope that's okay? My average weekly mileage has been around 6mi, and my longest run thus far has been 8mi, so I think I am on track. I hope we can continue motivating each other through these pound-laden holidays, too. As far as cross-training, I throw in a swim every once in awhile but currently am looking for good, simple strength training exercise. What do you all think of this one? Any suggestions?

I'm throwing in a second vote for the Jeff Galloway methods. I also love RunKeeper, which uses my iPhone's GPS to track my runs. Run run run...

Monday, November 5, 2012

Day One: Taking Stock

Today is day one of training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2013. So let's take stock with our stats (I've noticed numbers are popular in the running world!) 

This blog will chronicle four women in three different cities as we train. Two of us will be running in and around Washington, DC. One of us will be running in the Chicago cold and another in Brooklyn, NY. 

Three of us were athletes of some sort in high school, so training for this race will be familiar. Two are still in graduate/professional school and will fit training in around classes. Two of us are working full time and are running during lunch break and after work. One of us has run this race before...and all four of us are determined to have fun!

Now for a few personal stats. I've run the race before and managed to convince my friends to run with me! I'm quite lucky to have such fun and adventurous friends. When I ran the 2012 Half Marathon, I had started running only 10 months earlier. That's right-- no running at all before April 2011 and 10 months later a half marathon! I'm not running for speed; I usually average around a 13 min mile. I'm running for fun, to develop healthy habits, and for bragging rights. Also, because it's pretty much the only time it's acceptable for a grown woman who is not a ballet dancer to wear a tutu and tiara in public! 

I'm looking forward to running a little faster and more consistently in 2013. I've been in a bit of a running rut (characterized by not running, then being unhappy with not running, running a little, and then more not running due to previous disappointment) without any race I was particularly excited about. I'm really looking forward to training for this race and sharing my training saga...ehrm...adventure with my friends.

Today I'm logging my first run. According to my training plan (a combination of MyAsics.com, Runner's World and the Jeff Galloway method for Disney), I'm supposed to be starting slow. When you know you can do a little more... a little faster... taking it slow is hard. For me, it's just as hard as pushing myself. But, there's a long road ahead to taking it slow is the best idea.

One run and 3 miles down... another 50 runs and 290 more miles to go!