I am a runner!

I am a runner, I am a runner, I am a runner!!!!!!!

Now, I realize that sounds incredibly stupid from some who is training for a half marathon, but my goal was simply to walk and beat a 16min/mile pace. Beating the pace is still the goal (I am still very slow) but as I have been training/researching, Galloway's walk/run made so much sense to me. Princess J trained with a local Galloway group and has been encouraging me to give it a try. So with much trepidation, I asked another friend who is a nutritionist/trainer to give me some tips about form, etc. Well, shock of all shocks, she says I have near perfect form and had me run intervals and I did it without having a heart attack!

I am pumped! I know I am no where near being able to sustain 13.1 miles yet and I am definitely way over pace at the moment, but I NEVER thought I could run. This is the first time in my entire 41 years that I ran and did it without pain or falling or hating every second. I feel like today was a total game changer for me. There is a lot of work left to do, but I feel like not only will I be able to cross that finish line, I will be able to RUN across it!

Week 44 in review & Looking ahead to next week

Hey gang! If anyone is counting, we are beginning week 43 of training! It is pretty scary to think that there are only 43 sundays left until race day...

So, training this week kind of sucked. Tuesday I did a great interval walk. Got my pace up to 19:14 comfortably. I did a 20 minute walk last Sunday with a pace of 18:15. However, I could only keep at it for 20 minutes. I did do over a mile, but it was a bit too much.

I have decided Monday is always going to be a rest day. Mondays are just too hard in general, and let's face it, getting up extra to get a walk in just f*----- sucks, when you don't want to get out of bed to start with.

But back to last week's training...So did a great walk on Tuesday. Wednesday was the planned 3mi with Princess J. Unfortunately, there were tornado warnings everywhere, and even our back up treadmill location was requiring everyone to get out in the halls and away from the windows. Needless to say, we canceled the walk. It was the rest of the day then that just went to hell in a handbasket. DH was being all pooey (I think it was his every 6th week PMS time), so to compensate, I took DS for the afternoon and forfeited my time. I then proceeded to start a pity party for myself and ended up eating 1/2 a bag of cheetos for dinner. Uuuugh!! I hate when I make bad decisions and do s*-- like that! Thursday was totally off at work and I made the incredibly bad choice of a Frisch's Swiss Miss for breakfast, and let's just say the day went down hill from there. Thursday night/Friday morning DS woke me up with projectile vomiting @ 1am. I was up the rest of the night with poor darling...I had meant to get up to watch the Royal Wedding, but that wasn't quite what I had in mind! I worked Friday on about 3 hours of sleep, and not surprisingly, ate crap -- chips & queso, ritz crackers all day. Uuuugh!!! At least Saturday I got back on track!

Today Princess J & I went to the Flying Pig expo here in Cincinnati for inspiration. I got some cute stuff (more on that later) but most of all, we got to see the Princess Medal at the Run Disney booth. It was totally inspiring that we got to see & touch that gorgeous tiara medal!!!

So, looking ahead to next week, a huge priority is grocery shopping, prepping, & packing for later today. I have, at least in my head, come to grips that I have to give up or at minimum a 3 bite rule, for my beloved bready carbs. I have got to get some success on the scale to help increase my pace, so I need to make some better choices and have a plan.

Here's what I am thinking for this week:
Salami rolls & oriental salad
Low carb crepes for all kinds of things-- breakfast burritos, quiche crusts, no noodle lasagna
Berries & melon
Fresh mozzarella with grape tomatoes & pesto
Cucumbers & hummus
Chicken cherron
Mom's pot roast & veggies
Salad greens
General Tzo's chicken
Chicken cesar salad
Apples & Peanut butter
Roasted vegetables

My thoughts are trying to focus on things I love, not things that I need to avoid. Let's see how this goes, and I will keep on posting!

First real training session

Yesterday, Princess Jennifer & I did our first training session. It was a bit windy, but sunny and it felt amazing! I just can't believe the endorphin rush from talking about the race and making our training schedule...

We have planned to work on pace/speed first. I am REALLY slow, and so the goal is by July 1 to be at a 15min/mile for at least 3 miles. Distance wise, I can do three miles easily now but they are slow miles. We are planning to use the Galloway method of walk/race walk-run to increase the pace. Tomorrow will be my first solo training session with the new plan. I have the interval run app on my iphone, so I have started with a 5 min warm up walk, then 30 seconds of race walking-running, alternating with 2 minutes walking for a total of 20 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down walk. I also need to remember stretching after my walk. In my excitement yesterday, I overlooked the stretching, and boy did I feel my mistake the rest of the day. Unfortunately, being a more "mature" princess, I totally need the stretching...

We have also decided to do a 5K race sometime in July. Again, the goal is to complete the 5K at our Princess Pace and then add distance from there. We also plan a 10K in the fall at our Princess Pace, and then we are right in line for the Princess Feb 26, 2012 !!

So were are official now. We have a training plan and our next walk together is scheduled for April 20th. I have a lot of homework to do in the next two weeks, but I am pumped!

It's time to get serious...

Well, it is now a little less than a year until Disney Princess 2012. I am scared, scared sh*tl**ss to be exact. There was something comforting in knowing it was over a year away, but now it's time to get to work in earnest.

One of my friends says a year is plenty of time. Well, maybe plenty of time for a lot of people, but I ain't one of them. I have not run a step since I was in the ninth grade, I have a little more than a hundred pounds to lose to be at my ideal body weight, and thus far can't seem to keep any training efforts consistent. I am now starting feel a bit of pressure, but I think that may be a good thing.

So back to basics:

Walking three times per week for at least 20 min, ideally 30
One long walk per week
Using the Marathoning for Mortals schedule, start working on increasing speed after week 6
Starting week 6, increase speed with the walk/run strategy Galloway teaches

Keep it simple, keep it steady, and away we go!

Pefect World...

Training has been going well.  I started in earnest Dec 30, 2010.  You know--I had to start before Jan 1st.  Everyone knows that people who start Jan 1st are going to fail, and by God...this time I am not going to fail!!!

The first two weeks were really good.  This past week, however, was a bit of a mess.  New babysitter, new school schedule for wee one, snow days with work canceled, and a great flourish to the week, a tummy bug running rampant through my house.  Uuugh!  My treadmill thinks I have abandoned her, I am totally missing my internet smut that keeps me occupied during my training sessions, and the healthy food I bought last week is still in my refrigerator, decomposing as I write.   But this is life, eh?  I don't have a perfect life, nor do I live in a perfect world.  The million dollar question is always, how do you keep on track when despite your best intentions, your imperfect life derails you? 

 Here are my thoughts:
  Today I will make it happen.  Just for thirty minutes.  If it works out for more, then great.  But at least I am going to get on the treadmill for 30 minutes.

I have a plan for my food this week.
Breakfast doesn't seem to be an issue.  So I am not going to worry about it.
Lunch.  I want something satisfying... I am feeling kind of empty if all I do is a grilled chicken ceasar at lunch, although I love them.  I am thinking BBQ meat balls with oriental salad and some fruit.  Warm and filling yet good protein with fun crunch of salad.  Mmmm...
Dinner.  I am going to utilize my resources on this one.
Options for the week
     Meatloaf w/ smashed cauliflower
     Turkey kilbasa & sauerkraut
     Veggie lasagna & salad
     Chicken mole`
     Chicken cherron`
     Pan fried fish w/ baked sweet potato fries

The beef should be coming soon, so we can add beef stew, cube steak, and grilled steaks to the mix...yummm...

I am working to earn a timex iron man watch.  I want the one on the Galloway site.  If I food journal everyday and get in my training schedule for the next two weeks, it's mine!!!

Training schedule, what training schedule, you say?  Well, sort of forgot to mention that hmmm...For now here is the plan.

Training Schedule
(taken from John Bigham's book, "Marathoning for Mortals")
Walk every day for 30 minutes.  2 rest days permitted.  1 long walk per week.
I should be on week three.  However, I feel like I need a week two do-over, as week two only had two walks this week.
So, walk every day for 30 minutes.  2 rest days permitted.  1 long walk of 3 miles this week.

Princess Jennifer M. and I have committed to  the Louisville 5K.  We totally need a short term goal.  I am going to have to chat with her about details, etc.  Oh, and signing up would be a good start too!


I am off to convert some contemplation stage into action stage...

Turkeyfoot Trot

Last Saturday Daniel and I did our first race together, the Turkeyfoot Trot.  We only did the one mile, but he pedaled the entire way on his trike and I pushed.  It was a great day and hopefully the first of many events we do together.

Signing up for the race!

Daniel's first race number bib

Striking a pose at the half way turn-around

Saturday Moring Walk

Although a little chilly, we headed out this morning to Fernbank Park, my absolute favorite park.   It has a fabulous kids playground and a beautiful 1.5mi paved track that is almost completely flat.  One half goes right along the river and has gorgeous mature trees.

After Daniel realized that there weren't other kids on the playground, I had done about half a mile.  We all met up again and did the 1.5mi loop as a family, with Daniel mostly on Steve's shoulders. Not quite the 3.2 miles I had planned but for 2 miles, it was perfect!

Now some training notes for me:

Don't start my tunes until after at least a half mile wam up and stretch!
Neck gaiters are good things!
Stretch, stretch, stretch when I'm done!

The beginning

I saw my friend Jennifer a couple of days ago, and in catching up, we discovered we had both made fitness firsts this year.  She completed a marathon (WOW!!!!) and I did my first race ever-- a 10K.  Even more amazing, we found out that we shared the long term goal of finishing the 2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon.  We have committed to becoming training partners, realizing we are in different places in training, however we both need accountability and a buddy who is training for the same race.

So here it is, the beginning of what I hope promises to be a virtual palace for our royal highnesses to share our journey to the finish line together!