Ever since I started running last winter, I've always had difficulty with declaring I'm a runner. I had always felt that I wasn't strong enough, fast enough or "hard core" enough to be considered a runner, especially because running has never been easy for me. It was always a source of punishment while playing high school sports or something I just needed to do to be part of the varsity team. It was something I pushed myself to do because I had to, not because I enjoyed it. I tried to pretend I enjoyed it throughout college, but I did it mainly to ease my mind because I was no longer involved in sports and knew I needed physical activity.
As I said before, I made the decision to follow the walk-run method because I felt stronger and was able to accomplish longer distances than if I just ran the entire distance. When I made this decision, I really struggled with calling myself a runner because I wasn't technically running the entire distance. I love Twitter and have found some amazing runners who inspire me to be better every day. On the other hand, seeing their amazing feats, that involve NO walking, made me question if I was a runner even more. You'd think after finishing my first half-marathon, I would be able to definitively say "I'm a runner," but no such luck.
The last few weeks I've begun a program to help me get quicker and stronger in time for the Disney race. I'm finishing more miles a week and building my endurance so that 13.1 miles doesn't feel like I've reached my limit. My goal is to cross the finish line and still have energy to party at the Wine and Dine after party! Yesterday I was running at the gym (school started again so week day runs are on the treadmill again... boo!) and I realized I only had 10 minutes left on my workout. For the first time since I began training for my Disney race I realized what it felt to be a runner. It didn't matter that I was doing walk-run intervals... I was a runner. I was getting stronger. I was getting faster. Best of all... I was gaining confidence!
I may not be the fastest runner or the most decorated, but I am a runner. I no longer fear saying that phrase and I look forward to growing as a runner and becoming a better athlete.
Did you ever feel like you weren't good enough? Did you have a moment when you knew you were a runner?
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Rock N Roll Providence Recap
It's been WAY too long! My last post was before the school year even ended and summer vacation began. I had made a goal of trying to be a better blogger this summer, but that goal was smashed when we sold our house and our new house wasn't finished being built... if anyone has ever been in that situation, you know how stressful it can be. Fortunately we were incredibly lucky and were able to stay with family for the 5 weeks we were waiting for our house to be done. We owe them so much!
With all of the moving and "vacationing" that we did this summer, my first half quickly came up. As much as I wanted to be well prepared, I knew this race was going to be one of the hardest things I had ever done. I knew I wasn't as ready as I would liked to have been, but I knew that I could do it. In true "Liz fashion," I over planned our weekend without even thinking and scheduled my daughter's first birthday for the day before the race. At first, I wasworried panicked that I would be overly exhausted and do even worse at my race. Thanks to Hubs' support, I was able to fall asleep at 9:00 at night and sleep straight through until my alarm at 3:30 am. Oh... I forgot to say that I live an hour and a half away from Providence so I decided to just get up early and head out to the race. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and when I arrived and got ready for the race, I felt pretty good. Since it was such an early race, Hubs and Bubs decided that they would join me later and see me at the finish line. Since my mom is awesome, she even woke up early and drove into the city to spend time with before the race since I would be by myself. Even with most of my family at home, I felt blessed to be supported by so many people.
Waiting for the race to start was one of the most emotional experiences I've ever had. Yes, I have experienced childbirth, college graduations, and the passing of family and friends, and I will say that the feelings that I had at the start of this race could be included in the same group as these events. While I waited for my corral to leave, I couldn't stop thinking about how I had made it. Even though I hadn't run the race yet, I knew that I would finish (no matter how slow or hard it was), I knew I was going to finish. For someone who had never run more that 2 miles before I decided to run in Disney, it was an incredible feeling. The emotions hit me like a wave when my corral was let out and I held back tears while I had a gigantic smile on my face. Not sure if anyone else has felt this way... but I guess I now know what's it like to feel the true joy of running.
I could write for hours on what was going through my head and how I felt during the race, but since no one has hours to read my story, I'll keep it brief. I had decided this summer to try the Galloway method of run/walk - ing. I had chose the interval 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk this summer and was feeling very comfortable with this pace. However, my Garmin died after 4 miles (Iswear thought I had charged it the night before) so I needed to rely on how my body felt for my intervals. This was the most challenging part of the run because I usually use my watch to help me during the time times. It gives me something to focus on and I can remind myself that "I only have ..... to go." By mile 8 I had gotten in my head and I had hit a wall. I was quickly doubting myself and if it wasn't for the constant texts from my mom and hubs during the race I would have given up and walked to the finish line. When I reach the mile marker for mile 12, I decided that I was going to walk most of it and finish strong. Since this was my first half I knew that finishing was my only goal. I was feeling some soreness in my hip and I didn't want to injure myself because I still have my runDisney race in November. I walked about quarter of a mile and ran the rest of the way to the finish line. A shout-out goes to Katy Perry's Part of Me for my motivation! I crossed the finish line, took my medal picture and headed out to my family. I had finished! I had done something I had never thought I could do and I finished with a time of 2:35:25! Not a bad time for a first time.
Even though it's been a few days since the race, I still can't put into words how Ifelt feel about running my first half marathon. I am now working on building up my stamina, charging my watch (ha ha) and my speed. As I look forward to the race in November, I am hoping I can feel stronger throughout the race and finish with a better time. I also hope I can be better about blogging and share my experiences with you from now on! But... now I'll leave you with some pictures from race day...
With all of the moving and "vacationing" that we did this summer, my first half quickly came up. As much as I wanted to be well prepared, I knew this race was going to be one of the hardest things I had ever done. I knew I wasn't as ready as I would liked to have been, but I knew that I could do it. In true "Liz fashion," I over planned our weekend without even thinking and scheduled my daughter's first birthday for the day before the race. At first, I was
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| Best sign ever! |
Waiting for the race to start was one of the most emotional experiences I've ever had. Yes, I have experienced childbirth, college graduations, and the passing of family and friends, and I will say that the feelings that I had at the start of this race could be included in the same group as these events. While I waited for my corral to leave, I couldn't stop thinking about how I had made it. Even though I hadn't run the race yet, I knew that I would finish (no matter how slow or hard it was), I knew I was going to finish. For someone who had never run more that 2 miles before I decided to run in Disney, it was an incredible feeling. The emotions hit me like a wave when my corral was let out and I held back tears while I had a gigantic smile on my face. Not sure if anyone else has felt this way... but I guess I now know what's it like to feel the true joy of running.
I could write for hours on what was going through my head and how I felt during the race, but since no one has hours to read my story, I'll keep it brief. I had decided this summer to try the Galloway method of run/walk - ing. I had chose the interval 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk this summer and was feeling very comfortable with this pace. However, my Garmin died after 4 miles (I
Even though it's been a few days since the race, I still can't put into words how I
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| My cheering section waiting at the finish line. |
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| "Mom is working hard and I've got my feet up." |
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| Coming up on the finish line. |
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| Getting a hug from Bubs after the race. |
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| Not sure if you can see her shirt but it says "My mom is faster than your mom." Not necessarily true, but it still made me feel good! |
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| Post-race treats and snacks. |
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| Family picture after the race. By time I was pretty sure my legs would collapse! Thank you compression sleeves! |
What was your first race? Were you as emotional as me!?
Monday, May 28, 2012
First Double Digit Run
I know it has been a week since I last wrote, but with school winding down and Baby Bubs finally teething, it has been challenging to find the time to write. Last week, I completed a VERY challenging 10K. I was very disappointed with myself because I walked more of that I had hoped and I was not pleased my with my time. I was especially disappointed because I had been running over 7 miles consistently for four weeks so 6.2 miles didn't seem as bad I had expected. After taking some time to reflect, I realized that I probably shouldn't have done this race. The week before I had lost my grandfather suddenly to a heart attack and I had spent almost all week at home with my family. Running, eating healthy and training was far from my mind as I spent the week grieving with my family and remembering an amazing man. When I started my race on Sunday I didn't think this was going to be as challenging as it was. I also wasn't aware that it was supposed to be almost 80 degrees at 10 AM and that the hills would kill me. After what seemed like the hardest run of my short racing career, I finished 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes. YIKES! Needless to say I was disappointed in myself for letting my mind get the best of me and giving in to the challenges I encountered. After reflecting on the race, I realized that I also didn't set myself up for success the week before.
I decided this week I would train more consistently and work on speed and hills. I completed two vigorous workouts this week and felt confident in my training. However, I was very anxious about getting back out on the road and doing my long run. I was intimidated and still overwhelmed with my poor race on Sunday. Our Saturday was busy this week so I pushed off my long run until Sunday night. Since the Wine and Dine Marathon is at 10 at night, I wanted to make sure that I am training in the morning (when I'm most comfortable running long distances) and at night. I know that running longer distances at night is much harder because you have spent all day living life. I was very apprehensive about my long distance and I planned on going out for 8 miles. When I got out running I realized that I had missed the long runs where I could just relax and reconnect with myself. At mile 4, I decided to go a little further and shoot for 9 miles. At 9 miles I realized why not just go for 10 since I was still about a mile from home. The end of my run I had completed 10 miles in 1:43:04 with a pace of 10:18 per mile! I can't even describe how much of a relief and confidence booster this run was. Instead of focusing on my challenging 10K I was able to feel how great it was to accomplish my first double digit run. I came to the realization that my worst enemy was myself and if I am able to remember the excitement of running then I can do well. This is the biggest thing I have to keep in mind before my next race.
Today I made the decision to join the Runner's World Run Streak. I have also decided that I will have some flexibility in my streak and if I find myself feeling tired due to extended training I will use one of my weekdays to walk a mile. I'm hoping that I can challenge myself and complete the Run Streak fully. I look forward to seeing the other posts of people that are also streaking along with me!
Has anyone else has a race that redefined their training? What were some of the challenges your encountered?
I decided this week I would train more consistently and work on speed and hills. I completed two vigorous workouts this week and felt confident in my training. However, I was very anxious about getting back out on the road and doing my long run. I was intimidated and still overwhelmed with my poor race on Sunday. Our Saturday was busy this week so I pushed off my long run until Sunday night. Since the Wine and Dine Marathon is at 10 at night, I wanted to make sure that I am training in the morning (when I'm most comfortable running long distances) and at night. I know that running longer distances at night is much harder because you have spent all day living life. I was very apprehensive about my long distance and I planned on going out for 8 miles. When I got out running I realized that I had missed the long runs where I could just relax and reconnect with myself. At mile 4, I decided to go a little further and shoot for 9 miles. At 9 miles I realized why not just go for 10 since I was still about a mile from home. The end of my run I had completed 10 miles in 1:43:04 with a pace of 10:18 per mile! I can't even describe how much of a relief and confidence booster this run was. Instead of focusing on my challenging 10K I was able to feel how great it was to accomplish my first double digit run. I came to the realization that my worst enemy was myself and if I am able to remember the excitement of running then I can do well. This is the biggest thing I have to keep in mind before my next race.
Today I made the decision to join the Runner's World Run Streak. I have also decided that I will have some flexibility in my streak and if I find myself feeling tired due to extended training I will use one of my weekdays to walk a mile. I'm hoping that I can challenge myself and complete the Run Streak fully. I look forward to seeing the other posts of people that are also streaking along with me!
Has anyone else has a race that redefined their training? What were some of the challenges your encountered?
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Catching Up
I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but it has been a crazy few weeks. My last post was about my first 10K race, which also happened to be the last day of my April vacation for school. Going back to school meant standardized testing time! As a special educator, this is one of the busiest times of the year for me because I have to make sure that I have all of the tools and resources that my students need to succeed ready to go prior to starting there tests. Add on top of that the normal day-to-day paperwork, parent conferences and preparing for summer tutoring, I don't think I had a second to breathe at school, never mind with training and being a mom.
During this time, I celebrated my first Mother's Day (more to come in a later post!) and experienced an unexpected death in my family (also, more to come as I'd like to share some of the wonderful things I've learned from my grandfather), resulting in what seems like forever since when I was able to post. I am hoping to be more faithful with my blogging as the school year is winding down and I am gaining more free time at the end of the day. This is only a short post, but it's mostly for my own benefit to hold myself accountable for staying on top of this blog.
So, I am saying thank you to those people who do read this blog. I know this blog is in the beginning stages and I have a long way to go, but thank you for helping me develop my skill as a writer.
Until next time...
During this time, I celebrated my first Mother's Day (more to come in a later post!) and experienced an unexpected death in my family (also, more to come as I'd like to share some of the wonderful things I've learned from my grandfather), resulting in what seems like forever since when I was able to post. I am hoping to be more faithful with my blogging as the school year is winding down and I am gaining more free time at the end of the day. This is only a short post, but it's mostly for my own benefit to hold myself accountable for staying on top of this blog.
So, I am saying thank you to those people who do read this blog. I know this blog is in the beginning stages and I have a long way to go, but thank you for helping me develop my skill as a writer.
Until next time...
Monday, April 23, 2012
Race for Charlotte 10K
Sunday I completed my first 10K. I know that everyone says not to go in with a time goal on the first race of a new distance (I am also aware that I said I didn't have a goal in my last post), but I did want to go and finish in 1:05. This would give me about 10:30 miles... slow I know, but for me that's all I wanted.
I was a little nervous going into the race for a few reasons: First, I had never run a 10K.Second, it was supposed to downpour the entire race and I had no idea how to dress. Third, I wasn't sure how many people were racing and I didn't want to be the last person. Although I was nervous, I was determined not to let it psych (I can't figure out the right spelling even after googling... please forgive my spelling if it's wrong!) me out. I had a relaxing morning and hung out with my family and got ready to get to the race only 40 minutes early. I figured any earlier and I would stressing myself out and any later and I would have to shovel my way into the line up where everyone was. When we arrived at the race, I realized there were at least 3,000 people at the race. Luckily, the majority seemed to be doing the 5K run and walk, which was one of my biggest pet peeves about the race (more about that later). At 20 minutes until race time the announcer asked us to line up and my husband and daughter headed out to run some errands locally. Usually I would have expected them to stay around until the race officially started, but it was sprinkling and the threat of downpour was looming over us. I figured it wasn't worth them getting wet waiting for me. After 20 minutes of waiting, which felt like forever when you're by yourself (I'm extremely shy in social situations so I'm not one of those people that will just start talking to someone I don't know), we were off.
This race was a learning experience for me for many reasons. The first thing I learned was that I hate when races have everyone line up by mile minutes and then just let us go all at once. The start of the race begins to resemble a herd of cattle. Everyone starts pushing through each other to get started and inevitably the people who are slower runners (like me) get caught up with people who really aren't as fast as they think they are, or are much faster. For someone like me who gets overwhelmed easily in social situations, it's not a positive way to start the race. I constantly am trying to find some place where I'm not on top of everyone to run. I usually run on the very outskirts of the street so that I can avoid the mad group of people. I now know that I need to be preparing myself not only to run, but the social anxiety that may come from a packed starting line.
One of my goals this race was to really pay attention to my pace. I didn't want to start out at 8 minute miles because I let the adrenaline get the best of me. I started slow and I'm ashamed to admit it but my first mile and a half was probably an average of 11:30 - 12:00 minute miles. However, I'm really glad I did this because my mile 2 I had settled into a groove and when I checked my pace I varied between 8:30 and 9:30 minute paces up until about mile 4. At mile 4 I hit a wall. It wasn't that I had to stop running because I was tired. I had hit the mental wall and I'm sad to say it that it got the better of me for a short time. After allowing myself about .5 to walk, I forced myself to get back out there. Leading me to my second lesson learned, I am stronger than my mind makes me think. Now that I have finished this race, I know that I can push myself further and harder because I have proved to myself that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.
When I ran that last mile all I could imagine was in a few months I would be crossing a finish line after running 13.1 miles and that the accomplished feeling I felt running this 10K would only be magnified. This brings me to my last lesson learned. When I finished the race and got my official results later in the afternoon, I realized that there were only 30 people who had finished after me out of 560. I was so embarrassed when I shared that with my husband, which made me realized an important thing. I don't just want to finish my races, I want to win. OK, I know that I'm not going to ideally win any races because I'm not an elite runner, but if I have to be honest with myself, I want to at least be in the first half of the racers. It's to finish the race and be proud that I did the best I possibly could. Now that I have a few races under my belt, it's time for me to stop "trying to finish" and time for me to start "giving it my all." This might have been the hardest race I've done, but one of the biggest learning steps for me in my training for my 1/2 marathon and as a runner.
Now that I've shared my experience, I'd thought I'd share some of the few images from my day. As the weather gets nicer, I'll try to get more images to add from each of my races.
I was a little nervous going into the race for a few reasons: First, I had never run a 10K.Second, it was supposed to downpour the entire race and I had no idea how to dress. Third, I wasn't sure how many people were racing and I didn't want to be the last person. Although I was nervous, I was determined not to let it psych (I can't figure out the right spelling even after googling... please forgive my spelling if it's wrong!) me out. I had a relaxing morning and hung out with my family and got ready to get to the race only 40 minutes early. I figured any earlier and I would stressing myself out and any later and I would have to shovel my way into the line up where everyone was. When we arrived at the race, I realized there were at least 3,000 people at the race. Luckily, the majority seemed to be doing the 5K run and walk, which was one of my biggest pet peeves about the race (more about that later). At 20 minutes until race time the announcer asked us to line up and my husband and daughter headed out to run some errands locally. Usually I would have expected them to stay around until the race officially started, but it was sprinkling and the threat of downpour was looming over us. I figured it wasn't worth them getting wet waiting for me. After 20 minutes of waiting, which felt like forever when you're by yourself (I'm extremely shy in social situations so I'm not one of those people that will just start talking to someone I don't know), we were off.
This race was a learning experience for me for many reasons. The first thing I learned was that I hate when races have everyone line up by mile minutes and then just let us go all at once. The start of the race begins to resemble a herd of cattle. Everyone starts pushing through each other to get started and inevitably the people who are slower runners (like me) get caught up with people who really aren't as fast as they think they are, or are much faster. For someone like me who gets overwhelmed easily in social situations, it's not a positive way to start the race. I constantly am trying to find some place where I'm not on top of everyone to run. I usually run on the very outskirts of the street so that I can avoid the mad group of people. I now know that I need to be preparing myself not only to run, but the social anxiety that may come from a packed starting line.
One of my goals this race was to really pay attention to my pace. I didn't want to start out at 8 minute miles because I let the adrenaline get the best of me. I started slow and I'm ashamed to admit it but my first mile and a half was probably an average of 11:30 - 12:00 minute miles. However, I'm really glad I did this because my mile 2 I had settled into a groove and when I checked my pace I varied between 8:30 and 9:30 minute paces up until about mile 4. At mile 4 I hit a wall. It wasn't that I had to stop running because I was tired. I had hit the mental wall and I'm sad to say it that it got the better of me for a short time. After allowing myself about .5 to walk, I forced myself to get back out there. Leading me to my second lesson learned, I am stronger than my mind makes me think. Now that I have finished this race, I know that I can push myself further and harder because I have proved to myself that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.
When I ran that last mile all I could imagine was in a few months I would be crossing a finish line after running 13.1 miles and that the accomplished feeling I felt running this 10K would only be magnified. This brings me to my last lesson learned. When I finished the race and got my official results later in the afternoon, I realized that there were only 30 people who had finished after me out of 560. I was so embarrassed when I shared that with my husband, which made me realized an important thing. I don't just want to finish my races, I want to win. OK, I know that I'm not going to ideally win any races because I'm not an elite runner, but if I have to be honest with myself, I want to at least be in the first half of the racers. It's to finish the race and be proud that I did the best I possibly could. Now that I have a few races under my belt, it's time for me to stop "trying to finish" and time for me to start "giving it my all." This might have been the hardest race I've done, but one of the biggest learning steps for me in my training for my 1/2 marathon and as a runner.
Now that I've shared my experience, I'd thought I'd share some of the few images from my day. As the weather gets nicer, I'll try to get more images to add from each of my races.
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| Baby Bubs and I post race. Proudly finished 1:04:56. |
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| Baby Bubs and the Hubs post race. Proudly holding my race number. |
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| Race for Charlotte 10K (April 22, 2010 ) |
What were some of your most memorable first races? Why were they so memorable to you?
Friday, April 20, 2012
Remembering Why I Run
This Tuesday was a challenging running day for me. I struggled with my own emotions about running and was unable to push myself as much as I had in the past. On Thursday when I had scheduled to run, I decided that I would go run a route that I had always wanted to and not worry about time, distance or speed. I wanted to rekindle my love for running. I didn't want to think about training and the stress that comes with pushing yourself to reach certain goals. I just wanted to put on my iPod and get out there and do what I love... run. My husband was great and came with me to the start of my route which happened to be the elementary school that he teaches at so he was familiar with the playground and things he could do with Baby Bubs. Turns out Baby Bubs took her morning nap in the car so he was able to relax in the car during my run. He even offered to time me if I wanted to just run with music and not my Nike+ app.
It was the perfect weather for a run... 58 degrees and a little overcast. I started out on my run and headed toward one of my favorite places in the world. When I first met my husband and moved to MA with him, he brought me to a long wooden bridge that connected the local beach to the "mainland." It's a gorgeous bridge that is surrounded by one of my favorite things in the world... the ocean. The way the sun hits this bridge and the beach no matter what time of day is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It's actually the place where my husband planned to propose to me until he realized how many people where there that night. Although we did get engaged a little ways down from the bridge, it will always be a special place for me because my husband and I had our wedding pictures taken there after the ceremony. How can you not love it!?
Since this is my favorite place, it was the only logical place that I try to regain my love of running. By the time I had reached the bridge it was already almost 2 miles into my run and I was running under 10 minute miles. Not a consistent pace, but consistently under 10 minute miles. I had decided before I ran that I would still measure my distance and time for my run, but do it under a "basic" workout. This meant that I wouldn't get any time or distance updates during my run, but I would be able to check in to see how far I went at the end. This was still important to me because I wanted to just monitor that I wasn't going to run too fast and have to walk back because I hadn't taken care of myself. The rest of the run back to the school was along the harbor and it was such a beautiful sight to see the sun start to break through on the harbor. It was such a quiet time of day and I was able to just enjoy my music and the sights around me. In the end I had run 4 miles in 38 minutes and 40 seconds, a personal best.
It was such a reassuring run and made me realize that I had to remember why I had originally started running again, because I love it. I needed to reconnect with what running meant to me. Just in time because my first 10K is on Sunday and I'm hoping that I can remember how I felt yesterday when I run the race. I'm not going for a specific time because it will already by my personal best. I'm just hoping that I can finish the race strong and leave feeling accomplished. Isn't that the whole goal of distance running?
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| Powder Point Bridge (July 9, 2010) |
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| July 9, 2010 |
It was such a reassuring run and made me realize that I had to remember why I had originally started running again, because I love it. I needed to reconnect with what running meant to me. Just in time because my first 10K is on Sunday and I'm hoping that I can remember how I felt yesterday when I run the race. I'm not going for a specific time because it will already by my personal best. I'm just hoping that I can finish the race strong and leave feeling accomplished. Isn't that the whole goal of distance running?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Official Race Schedule
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!
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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