This will serve as my 1st entry into what I hope will be come a blog about how a 5-7, 200 something pound, 25 year old, transformed herself from a binge-drinking, late-sleeping pile of crap, into a healthy, fit, energetic marathoner!
A Little Background
A few years ago I made the commitment to myself to get healthy. I weighed a ton and one day, when I tried to go out for a run I was disgusted at how an athletic, energetic high school soccer player had turned into a tub of crap that could barely do anything. I used to be able to run, although I never enjoyed it. This day I could hardly run 2 blocks without stopping. I decided all of the extra weight that countless frat parties, late nights, pints of Ben and Jerry's had packed on me, was contributing to my difficulty, so that very day I went through our cabinets and threw out anything and everything that contained carbs ( my skinny little roommate wasn't too excited about this), and I began Atkins. Over the next 8 months I proceeded to follow that way of life, went to the amazing gym down the street every single day for 1-2 hours and lost 70 lbs (I contribute the last 20 of that to being stressed out to the max about moving 600 miles from home for the 1st time ever, (e.g. I wasn't eating and hardly had any money with which to buy food once I moved...that was when I was at my lowest weight!). 70 lbs. sounds like a lot, and it is, but when you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 110-120 lbs to lose before your doctor considers you "ideal", it doesn't look as impressive as it sounds.
The Decision
Needless to say, as I settled into my new environment and my paycheck started to cover the debt I found myself in after moving, I began buying food, and going out for dinner, and buying beer and joining teams that focused around happy hours...and I gained about 20 lbs back. I moved again about a year later - another great chance to clean out my cupboards and start Atkins again. Yeah right...... I ended up eating high fat/low carb food and then ruining it on the weekends/out at dinner with high carb food, which completely defeats the point and actually makes you gain weight. So I joined the gym down the street for the new year and while 45 minutes on the elliptical machine is certainly a goal, I needed more. It's one thing to say, "I want to lose X lbs. by such a such a date", because you can always slack off and make up for it later. So I decided to set a fitness goal for myself. I know that running is the most efficient way to burn calories, so I decided I would run. But what kind of running goal should I set for myself? I am a firm believer in the "go big or go home" philosophy, so on a whim one day I decided to commit myself to running the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. It's open to whomever signs up on a 1st come/1st served basis, while there is a little elevation play involved, it's not like Boston, where the whole things is downhill and then uphill towards the end. All in all, it's a decent race for a first time out. Plus, I feel if I have a fitness/health goal rather than a weight goal, I will drop weight regardless and have something to feel awesome about when I cross that finish mat in Arlington on 28 Oct, even if I weigh 200 lbs.
And Now
So I made the decision to run on 11FEB 2007. I started on the treadmill at the gym and I was seriously dying at about 1.2 miles, running at a blisteringly SLOW speed of 4.5 mph. I toughed it out to 2 miles though and enthusiastically hit STOP as hard as I could the second the pedometer clicked to 2.0. I was very proud of myself! I am pretty sure I even fist pumped and got a smile out of the guy on the bike behind me. The following week I put in 2 miles on the 13th and 14th and 1.37 on the 15th because I was just too tired to keep going. I bumped myself up to 3 on the 18th and was so excited when I finished that night! I found Hal Higdon's 18-week marathon prep schedules online and after doing a little research, Novice I is the plan I have decided to follow. Yeah I realize the race is like 30+ weeks away, but this gives me the chance to repeat weeks when I am feeling shaky ( e.g. the beginning) and also repeat at peak, maybe even sneak in a 26.2 in August before IO kick it down and start to taper in October. According to the HHG, I will be/am currently running on T,W,R, with a long run on S/S and the other weekend day reserved for cross-training. I have yet to to the cross training deal, but I did complete my 1st long run on 24 Feb, of 6 miles. I am not counting that week as a 1st though b/c I only ran 2x during the work week prior, for 3 miles each. The week after my long run, I had a weird head/chest cold and was way too tired to crunch out 3 miles on T, so I ended up doing 1.2 on T, and 3 on W,R,F with a 5 mile run on that following Sunday, 04MAR2007.
So here we are, on 10MAR2007 and so far this week I have successfully run 3 mi on T,W and R. If I can pull off a 6 mi run today or tomorrow, I will consider this to be week 1 of my training, which will be super exciting for me. I am hoping to get outside a little bit today. I have been reading that while treadmill training is great for running when you can't outside, it's technically cheating b/c it's a little bit easier. To compensate for this, I should be setting the treadmill to a 1-2% incline, which I did do for about 1/2 of Thursday's run. I had a little fun with speed this past week. I ran 3 mi on Tuesday in 32 min flat, fluctuating between 4.8 and 6.8 mph (The 4.8 was a recovery jog after running at 6.8 for about 5 min...yeah I know it;s slow but I'm a novice so give me a break!). Wednesday I ran a few fast min. at 7 mph and was able to finish the run in 31:34, so far my PR! Thursday saw the incline but I was still able to finish in 32:34. A little slower but decent considering it was technically a more difficult run.
I have been spending a some time this morning with Google's pedometer tool, trying to map out some 3 and 6 mile outside courses. I decided to sign up for the St. Patrick's Day 8K, which is a 5mi out and back in downtown DC I am hoping that the atmosphere and the whole being outside thing will make me run a little bit faster that I do on the treadmill, but we'll see. As long as I don;t finish LAST, I will be okay. It's really just to get me into a pack mentality and to get a technical T! Plus I have been reading that racing is addictive. The whole crowd yelling for you thing is a great high. I am hoping I finish in an hour or less. That will be my goal! am very nervous and excited at the same time.
Okay so that's enough babbling from me. I am pretty sure I am all caught up with my training now. And honestly, to re-think the past month while I write this makes me feel very accomplished!
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