So here it is, almost March and I’m finally getting around to starting my journaling of my journey to run a half marathon in May. Here’s the scoop and a quick catch up with what’s been happening. January started a new year, with new years come new goals. The wife and I decided (OK, she decided) that we should start running. A coworker of hers is into marathon running and I guess it rubbed off. So the wife get educated on a few basic running principles and we set out.
This brings us to the schedule. It’s a fairly simple run down of our training, merged from many online and paper sources into the perfect beginner’s guide. Run, rest, run, rest . . . you get the idea. It starts off small, covers 16 weeks, and ends with running over 13 miles. I for one was not keen on the idea of running, even though I wanted to change how I was.
How was I, you ask? Easy, I love food (good food) and liked being lazy. But, I hit an all time new high . . . as in high weight. I’d say in my college days I was around 180-190 pds. As of January 2009, I had reached 233pds. Most of which I contribute to poor eating schedules, gorging on goodies at work, and lack of exercise. I was physically unmotivated to do much of anything, and I liked it that way.
This brings us up to week 1. To celebrate starting this change and the loss of my old ways, the wife and I headed out for a fine meal. We settled on steak, which of course had to be accompanied by a glass of wine. Well, I will never recommed eating a big meal before a run. In fact, I’d rather run on an empty stomach and eat afterwards now. It was painful, pulling my legs around the neighborhood. Our goal for the evening was to run for 5 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, repeat this 4 times. I thought to myself, easy . . . NOPE! I was so out of shape.
The next few weeks were rough. Each week we were doing more, running further and further. I look back though and the previous weeks now seem like a joke. The more I run, the more into this ‘lifestyle’ of running. I find myself getting more involved. There are so many resources available just online, but I will get into those at a later date. Let’s get back up to pace.
Week 6, currently in the middle of this. Just ran 3.5 miles this morning. It felt good, and I’m not even sore. First day of the week, Sunday, did the max I’ve run at 4 miles. The canals nearby have proven a great new-found asset too. I’ve come to realize the importance of spending a good 10-15 minutes of stretching before runs. So I suppose some are wondering about my weight now as well. With a change in diet, thanks to the wife who has been meal planning, things are progressing nicely. Wednesday Weigh-In right? OK, here’s the facts, 208.4 pds this morning, after the run. Folks, this is the 25 pound mark for me, I excited about this. Still not where I’d like to be, but I feel like I’m on a good track.
We’ll leave off here for now, just keep asking “what next?”
-jim-
Wow, I’m seriously impressed that you’re now running MILES. That’s still amazing to me. Especially now, I really appreciate the flatness of Arizona. My neighborhood is very hilly and it has deterred me from running as I have to drive somewhere to exercise. Plus, I hate doing it by myself. It’s been hard to get motivated when seemingly everyone around me is eating up and drinking too much. It’s taked some willpower to get started with anything. Looking forward to reading more about your process and resources online!