Day 76 of Training: 3.5 Miles

Saturday came around and it was the start of a new training week. I was supposed to run for 20 minutes, walk 5, then run for another 20. I did pretty well at first and made it through my first 20, I started to walk, slowed down to catch my breathe and then started running again.

I don't know why I didn't think this through but I was going the same route I do everyday which is about 3.7 miles. Well, I realize I'm going to run out of my route before I run out of time so I'm trying to decide where to go. After considering some longer routes I finally decide that I'm just going to pass my house, keep going to the end of the street, take a left (which is a dead end) and then come back. In my head I'm thinking this should be about right. So I pass my house, wave to a neighbor that's working in his yard, run my new route and start heading back towards my house. I wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch... I still have 5 minutes left!! I pass my house again and run to the end of the street which took considerably less time than I had anticipated. I come back toward my house wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch. I still have 2 more minutes! I decided to just bag it. My neighbor was starting to give me odd looks, my legs felt like jello, my sides were hurting and I think there's only so many times you can pass your own house and not just want to collapse onto your porch. My second time around was only 18 minutes. Close but didn't make it.

I started to think about it and I wondered if I hadn't have stopped for the 5 minute walk how long I could have ran? I also probably would have been able to keep my same route without the slow down in the middle if I would have just kept running.

Today I decided to take no breaks, take it easy and slow and see how long I could run. I was pretty excited as I came up on my 20 minutes, then 25, then 30 and I finally decided to stop and cool down at 35. I felt like my legs were getting tired and I was coming up to my house. 35 MINUTES!! I was pretty excited.

I was getting really nervous about the 5K that I signed up for on October 10th. I was worried I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing but now I feel like a weight has been lifted. I did 3.5 miles in 35 minutes... I know, only a 10 minutes mile. I'm going to keep it here and try to get a little faster before the 5k.

I'm so excited to be jogging for more than 30 minutes! That means I can officially start my marathon training program in a couple weeks! Yay for 35 minutes!! I thought I'd never get here!!

Day 67 of Training

Saturday. I love Saturdays!! I get to sleep in a little. Zach doesn't have to rush off to work so I get to take my time trying to do good things for my body. I woke up around 8am which is about 2 hours later than normal. I'm not sure why, maybe it was all that extra sleep, but I felt like trying to run for 15 minutes today.

I danced out of my bed and slipped on my running clothes. I'm excited that it's sunny outside and I can wear my shorts & t-shirt instead of my long pants, jacket and hat that I've had to wear lately to keep warm. I get warmed up, turn on my music and do a quick walk for 5 minutes. I don't get far when it's time for my 15 minutes of jogging to start. I'm taking it slow and I'm still amazed at how easy it is for me to do this now. I remember the first couple of times that I ran and how I felt like I was gonna die and I had only ran for like... 30 seconds. It's amazing how when you get it right it's so much easier.

I'm on the rail trail and the sun is streaming through the trees making a picturesque seen in front of me. There's also all these tiny little bugs floating in the air. I keep trying to breathe without actually inhaling the bugs. It makes me wonder if they're always there and I just don't see them because there's no light at 6am or if they show up when the sun comes out. I don't want to think too much about it. The idea that I continuously swallow bugs without realizing it is kind of making my stomach turn.

About 8 minutes have passed. I get to the part of the trail where I would normally turn around and head back. I realize that I'm going to need more mileage if I'm going to run the 15 minutes twice. I decide to cross the street and go an extra mile. There aren't any trees on this part of the trail and the sun is getting hotter. I can see the end of the trail ahead and it felt like forever but I finally made it. I turn around and start walking for 5 minutes. Wow! Not so bad!! I did it!! I ran for 15 minutes. I was a little tired but by the time my 5 minutes of walking was up I felt good enough to do it over again.

I made it about 10 minutes and then I started to feel really tired. My legs started to feel a little more like jello than muscles and my breathing wasn't as easy as it was before. I thought about stopping, calling it good. I did try to do the 15 minutes 1 day ahead of schedule. Technically, I shouldn't have started until Monday. Maybe I should just give myself a break and call it good. Then I decided... I probably wasn't going to hurt more or feel more tired in 5 minutes than I do right now. BUT... I knew that emotionally, I would feel totally different if I went through and finished or if I stopped and called it good. It became the difference of winning or losing. The difference was knowing I did it or quiting. I decided to do it. As the timer ticked down to zero I was practically on my front porch. I did it!! Then I thought... I ran for 30 minutes today. With a 5 minutes walking break but still... I ran almost all of 3.7 miles!! That's pretty awesome for me!!

It's good to feel like I'm progressing and it's fun to look back at where I've been. It makes it mean so much more to see how hard I've worked to get here. Oh!! PS. I signed up for the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon this week. I heard it's awesome and I'm pretty excited!! I also signed up for the 1st 5K that I will be RUNNING... or actually jogging. : ) It's the firehouse run at HAFB. I'm more nervous than excited about it. I really want to be able to run the whole 3 miles without a walking break in the middle. It's 20 days away... wish me luck, cross your fingers and pray for me! I need all the help I can get!!

Day 62 of Training: 10 Minutes!!

Today I got up, didn't feel like moving so I kind of sat in my closet for about 20 minutes deciding if I really wanted to try to squeeze into that sports bra today. I finally did and just as I was on my way out the door my 2 year old, Anneliese, woke up. Considering how happy she was I knew there was no way she was going to go back to sleep.

I bundled her up and walked her out to the garage. I have one of those really awesome bike trailers that converts into a running stroller that costs more than my mountain bike did because it's so easy to use, so easy to convert, safe, etc... Well, I couldn't figure out how to detach it from my bike "with one easy to remove latch". So I ended up taking our regular, cheap, bought in an emergency at the WalMart by Disneyland stroller.

We finally get going. I decided I was going to walk 5 minutes & run/jog 10 minutes today & repeat it once. I start walking around my corner and up the street out of my neighborhood. I can't quite figure out exactly how to hold the stroller. I still wanted to move my arms so I tried to one hand it. It didn't last long. I couldn't control the stroller very well and Anneliese was heading to the middle of the street and then to the gutter, depending on which arm I was holding the stroller with. There was no way around it, I needed to use both hands.

My 5 minutes of walking is up and I'm jogging. It's a little bit harder because I have the extra weight of pushing the stroller. I'm going slightly uphill and I check my watch, only 2 minutes have passed. Hhhmmm... I think I'm doing pretty good. I don't think things could get much worse than the way I feel right now if I keep my pace. I start to take larger strides. I'm feeling pretty good until I take a step onto the back of the stroller and try to kill myself with this super stunt. I kind of do a... um... very graceful... spin to the ground. OUCH!! That's gonna leave a mark! I get up and scrape myself off. I remember my iPhone in my pouch and I'm grateful that I have it. It's just my normal clumsy self that will end me up in the hospital or stuck on one of these trails with no way to get home except to call for help. I smile as I take note of my smarts of always bringing my phone. Luckily, I'm just fine, no ambulance needed today. : )

I decide to keep my steps short to avoid tumbling over the top of my 2 year old. I've also slowed down a bit. I'm not going to win any races at the pace I'm going but I'm OK with that. I'm still moving toward my goal. I ran 10 minutes TWICE today. I'm pretty darn excited about that! On my way home I ran past a neighbor that was just starting her run. She's lean, she runs marathons, she WINS marathons or is always at least at the top of the list. She has a smile on her face. I remember that she just won the women's division of the Bair Gutsman. She's gorgeous and pretty amazing. We don't say anything but "Hi" as we pass. Neither of us wants to stop. I know I'll never be like her, I know I'll never be winning races. I'll probably always be in the middle (or more at the end). I'm fine with that. I'm more than fine with that. I'm just pretty ecstatic that I'm doing it!

Day 57 of Training (Epiphany: Go Slow)

I've had an epiphany today. For all these weeks, any number of my friends that have given advice have said "just take it easy at first" or "go slow". Well I thought that meant... don't try to do all 3 miles of running right off the bat... build it up slowly. So I've been trying to sprint for five minutes & walk for five minutes. Until today.

Let me back up... About two weeks ago I had to take some antibiotics. I don't do very well with any kind of medication and I was SO TIRED all the time. We went on a little vacation around the same time to Cedar City to watch the Shakespearean Festival. While there my Husband and I were like "Hey! We're on vacation!! Let's eat anything and everything that we would never eat at home" My diet was mostly carbs, grease and sugar while there. I came home feeling like crap. I felt physically ill. I think my body just couldn't function with all the drugs & the awful food. Lesson learned... I'm not garbage so I shouldn't put garbage in my body. Of course, I HAD to take the antibiotics but the food? Not necessary, I need to be kinder to myself.

Well, when I came back I couldn't even run for 3 minutes. I had really gone backwards. I was so frustrated so I just kept pushing harder. I was trying to power through the run. I read an article that said I should just try to relax while running. I tried really hard to relax my upper body while I was running. Relax my arms and my neck, shoulders, etc... It did seem to help a little. I wasn't as tense and I seemed to use less energy.

Then yesterday I went walking with my Mom and she said that she had read that it's easier on your body and you go faster by taking smaller strides. Hhhhmmm... I'll have to give that a try.

I also read an article that was about the biggest mistakes that beginning runners make. One of the things that stuck out to me is that I should be running slower, jogging. Well I thought I was jogging. I didn't really know the difference between a jog and a run other than one is slower. I'm running slow. I assumed I was jogging. Then the article explained how I should feel. It said I should feel relaxed, my breathe should be easy and not strained, I should be able to talk while I run. I thought about how I feel when I run and I wouldn't use any of those words to describe my feelings while I run. In fact... kind of the opposite.

I decided to give "slowing my run down" a chance. So this morning I warmed up in front of my house and started running... slowly... I guess this is what jogging is... Side note: I feel pretty cute this morning because I just bought some new exercise clothes yesterday. My old ones were to big and to my delighted surprise I was 2 sizes smaller than I thought I was. OK, back to this morning: I came around my corner and I mentally tried to make my strides small, I relaxed and went slow. Hhhmmm... I wasn't losing my breathe yet. I wondered how long I could go? I jogged nearly a third of my route before I thought that maybe I should go into my walk. The part that I ran usually takes me about 15 minutes to walk so I think that I might have been jogging for TEN MINUTES!! I was pretty excited. I think I could have kept going but I wanted to make sure I wasn't over doing it with my new found comfort of running.

I started walking. Now, usually by the time I start walking after a run I'm gasping for air and I feel like grasping hold of something to try and catch my breathe. Not today! Going in and out of walking was easy and such a smooth transition. I walked for just a couple of minutes and started my jog again. I'm sure people could visually see the little cartoon light bulb click on over my head. "OH!! Go Slow!!" Everyone was telling me the whole time but I somehow misunderstood! I thought I was such a smart girl! Maybe I was over analyzing what everyone said, who knows why it didn't make sense until just now.

I'm confident that I could run/jog my whole course. It almost seems easy to me now. Of course I can't sprint the whole thing, what was I thinking? Running doesn't have to be sprinting. I enjoyed it so much today, it was so awesome to be able to run and breathe all at the same time. hahaha I'm laughing because you wouldn't think you would have to explain how to "run" to someone. Like I said at the beginning though... I've never done this before. I'd bet that I'm the most un-athletic person you'll ever meet... but THAT is changing.

Day 41 of Training: Five Minutes

I RAN FIVE MINUTES TODAY!! I know that sounds lame. Many of you might be thinking... 5 minutes of running... um... ok... cool? It's a big deal for me! I've been trying to run for five minutes straight for over a month now!! The good news is that I didn't just do it once but three times today! Walked five, ran five & repeated three times. I'll admit that on my last five of running I was looking at my watch more than at the road. I had to really concentrate on my breathing. I knew that I could run half of it but the length of time I could run was 3-4 minutes last week so I was pretty excited today!! I just couldn't help the huge smile on my face (while trying to catch my breathe) as I finished with the first five minutes today. I'm sticking with this for a week and then I'll be working on running for ten minutes then walking for five minutes.

I was in my first 5K on Saturday. When I signed up for it I was hoping to be able to run the whole thing but... as everyone knows from my above comments... that just didn't happen. It didn't matter to me though. This was the first race I've ever been in. I manipulated my Mom into doing it with me and we walked the whole thing together. It was so fun and I was glad to kind of see how the whole race thing works. The race was for women only and was all about loving your body. I felt like it was the perfect race to start out with considering that's exactly what I'm trying to do. After... I heard that it was terribly unorganized & not as great as others that people had been in. I didn't know any different but it's kind of fun to know that they just get better than that. I loved the whole theme of it though & I was pretty proud of us for doing as well as we did.

I know that I still have a long ways to go to be able to run my marathon in May but I feel like I'm chugging right along. It's been really hard so far but it's also been very exhilarating to know that I can do something that I couldn't do 6 weeks ago and that I did something this weekend that I've never done before. It's all pretty cool!

Good Thinking.

As I've been training I've had a lot of people give advice, tips & ideas. Most people are encouraging, they know I can do it. They get excited with me and want to help. I've had a couple of people think I'm pushing it too hard & trying to do too much, too fast. I listen to everyone. There's something to learn from every piece of advice, positive or negative. I would like to say a few words today about the few who have said... "Your body can't handle training to run 26 miles by May." "This is something that takes years to build up to. There's no way you can do this." "Are you crazy? You're going to get hurt." Don't try for the full marathon, you're just building up your hopes. How are you going to feel when you just can't do it? Try for something easier first."

I know that I think differently than most people... at least... I think I do. To be honest... the thought that I couldn't do this never actually entered my mind. I know that I'm overly optimistic about things but that has always helped not hurt in my life. I have many examples in my life of how this has worked to my advantage. I can't think of a time where it hasn't. I'm always the first to jump, I take high risks, I like the thrill of the unknown possibility of how things could be. I know that the only thing standing between what I want and having it is just a little hard work. I'm realistic, that is... I do think of the bad things that could happen but the good things usually by far outweigh any negative things that could happen and I concentrate on the positive things and I guess you could say I make those things happen.

On my personal blog I wrote about this subject...
http://juliespilledthebeans.blogspot.com/2009/07/close-your-eyes-and-jump.html

Well... I don't see the difference in running. I know that I'm not athletic, never have been. I know that I have a lot of hard work ahead of me if I'm going to be able to finish the marathon. I know that I have to be careful and listen to my body. I also know that thousands of people have done this having less time to train than I have. Once I can jog for 30 minutes I can start my training schedule. The schedule is 16 weeks and then the marathon. I have about 35 weeks left. That gives me around 19 weeks to get up to running 30 minutes. I'm not close yet but I've only been working on this for just over 4 weeks. I know that a lot of people that have done this exact program were older than me or weighed more than me, had health problems of some sort or combination of these things. If they can do it than surely I can.

I don't start things to do it halfway. I've always had high goals that some might think... unattainable. I think if you set your goals high enough you might be surprised at what you can accomplish. You just need to go forward thinking about your goal, believing you can do it and continuing to work toward it. It will happen, I will run a marathon in May. I will be ready and for those of you that think there's no way I can... you wanna make a bet? : )

Day 29 of Training

I'm on a good schedule that works for me right now. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday I "run". Tuesday & Friday I walk and Sundays I don't do anything. That's working out well for me. Everytime I run I try to push it a little more.

The timer thing wasn't working out so I switched to distance. "I'm just going to make it to this tree" or "to the end of the field" or "to this mailbox". I think that's motivating me a little more than trying to run for a certain amount of time. Maybe it's because I'm a visual person, not sure. I can see where I have to be and I see me getting closer to my goal. I feel like I have a reason to run or a place to run to, rather than just running to try & make it to a time. Going with this... I've done really well!! I'm pretty excited.

I don't know how long I'm running but I can say that I am running MOST of the the 3 miles now. When I say "most" I mean... more than half of the 3 miles I'm running. The stretches that I run are longer & longer each time. Pretty good for being me & all!

I have a friend that I went to Junior High with that's been emailing me. She's helped me a lot to create a good diet that can accomodate all of my needs. (I found out I wasn't getting enough carbs & protein. I'm eating more "whole foods" like oats, cooked wheat kernels, nuts, veggies, etc....) I'm also trying to tone everything up & build up my strength a bit and she's been super helpful. I don't have all of the right equipment yet but for the level I'm at right now, I think I'm OK. I've added weight training to my schedule and I'm enjoying that. I don't want to be superwoman but in the future I would like to be toned. I don't want to be flabby anywhere. After 4 kids... I'm done with the "I'm still trying to lose my baby weight from the last 3 kids" look that I've got goin' on.

Saturday while I was running I thought I was doing SO good. I had just ran my longest, I started to go into my walk and an old lady breezes right past me. She's listening to her iPod, smiles huge at me... I may have glared at her, not sure. I felt awful all of a sudden. I felt pretty pathetic that an old lady can run like that & I can't. How sad. I was contemplating this and my neighbor that I'll be running with on the Wasatch Back smiles & waves at me as I walk by. I'm not sure why but it just made my morning. All of a sudden I was fine again. I just thought... that's what I'm trying to do. I'll be like that lady when I'm old.

I do get side tracked sometimes but then I look back and I see where I'm at now and it's nice to feel like everyday I do a little bit better. I get impatient sometimes and I have to remind myself that it's just going to take a while to train my body to do something that it's NEVER done before. I've never done any kind of sports, I used to skip Gym class in school, I've never WANTED to do anything like this before. It's exhilirating to know how just last week I couldn't go as far as I can this week. It relieving when I feel like my lungs are working more efficiently. I can feel them building strength and they can go longer and longer before I start to feel the burn.

I found out that one of my neighbors is also going to run the Ogden Marathon so we've made plans to go down together. She's a lot faster than me so I know she'll be running ahead of me but it's nice to feel like I'll know someone there. Makes it not so scary for my first time.

I'm doing my first 5K on August 22nd. I might be walking a lot of it but that's OK. This particular run is supposed to be all about women & loving your body. I figure... that's what I'm trying to do so it sounded like a good fit for my first race. My Mom started walking 3 miles and I've talked her into doing it with me. It's going to be a lot of fun.