This week I came to realization reading other runner's blogs that I needed to get serious about my training. I decided that I don't want to just finish the 1/2 marathon, I wanted to do well and feel like I accomplished something special. I know that it's ridiculous to want to have a time goal, but I don't want to go into the race in November with the slightest worry that I will be wheeled off the course because I haven't kept up with the minimum pace. So today, I made the steps in the right direction.
Step 1: The first thing I wanted to do was to look at my lifestyle and decide what I needed to do to get rid of those last linger baby pounds and get my body healthy again. I had heard great things about Weight Watchers, but I was really concerned that I would be trying to lose weight while running. I have done a lot of research about running diets and it's really important to take in enough calories to ensure that you give your body the energy and to prevent injuries. I did the free analysis to see where I would end up falling and I was surprised to find that I was actually in the expected range for my height. Therefore, I decided that I would use Weight Watchers to help me maintain an appropriate weight and to better track my nutrition. Nutrition is definitely my hardest area of training because I'll admit it, I love eating. Not that I overeat all the time, but I do enjoy meal time. BUT... I'm putting my foot down and finding my inner strength. I don't want to just look like I'm trying to succeed at doing a 1/2 marathon, I want to succeed In order to do that I have to stop talking about good nutrition and do it.
Step 2: Organize a race schedule. This step had two reasons: to help me stay focused and to give me practice in race day "conditions." I need to learn how to pace myself and get used to having so many people standing around me waiting to run. Knowing that thousands of people race the runDisney events, I know that I need to push myself to do bigger races to get used to running with a large amount of people around me. I've already completed 3 of my races and I must say I did better than I had expected. My last race was on Saturday and it was my slowest 5K at 33:40, but the weather conditions were more realistic to what I would be running in Orlando. After Saturday's race I sat down and organized my schedule for the rest of the year leading up to November.
April 22nd 10K
May 20th 10K
May 27th 5K
June 2nd 10K
June 24th 10K
July 4th 4.5 Mile
July 21st 7 Mile
July 31st 10 Mile
August 12th 7 Mile** Tentative and based on lottery acceptance
August 19th 1/2 Marathon
September 2nd 10K
September 9th 10K
October 6th 10K
October 28th 10K
November 10 1/2 Marathon - Wine and Dine
Step 3: Enlisting support. My husband and family have been incredibly supportive of my goals, but I learned I need to rely on them more. As much as I love running, it can be lonely and defeating sometimes. I always thought I was good at pushing myself because I've always been competitive, but I am learning that it is much more challenging than I thought to trick my brain when I'm in the middle of a long run. I am learning I need to rely on my family to support me and to remind me why I want to run, which I am learning has morphed a lot throughout my journey. I'm running to prove that I can do something challenging, but I am training to be healthy for my family. My 10-month-old daughter is teaching me that it's not about me anymore, it's about her and my training isn't just for that race in November. It's for a lifetime of health for my daughter. Remembering that and relying on my husband and family to be my biggest face is my last and most important step in my training plan.
It's already been 2 months since I made the decision to run the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon and I'm realizing that it's getting closer to the date much quicker than I had expected. When my husband helped me name this blog we chose The Disney Dash because it sounded like a great play on words... little did I know it would become a real life statement!
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