Summer Reading

So these are the things that are consuming a little bit of my time lately.   I'm training for a Half Marathon.  Can you tell? 

Training. zzzzzz.

So I went on my first "long" 3.5 mile run last Saturday with a group.  A friend of mine told me about a group that was training for the Tulsa Run that meets every Saturday at 7am.  The group is being headed by the YWCA.

Sidenote:  I had NO idea YWCA's had gyms.  Where I come from it was a shelter.  Period.  So I'm completely confused at the fact that the YMCA and the YWCA are both gym places here.

Okay, back to my story....  So I started my half marathon training last Thursday with some weights and I can't remember what else because I've been getting up soooo early lately all the days are running together.  Yes that was a run-on sentence.

Okay, back to my story, again....  So I did a lot of reading about how to train for a half marathon on Friday.  I've learned all kinds of things about diet and cross training that I didn't even know would be involved in this process.  I just thought I was going to be running.  Turns out I'm learning a lot about just generally staying fit and getting healthy.  I like that.  I like that more than I thought I would.

So we get these weekly handouts every Saturday:

It's a more simplified training schedule than what I had found during all of my research and that helped me come up with my own plan.  I guess you say that it helped me get a little less overwhelmed.  Because lord help me I was overwhelmed!  They also gave me a handout on nutrition.  Again it was a much simpler explanation of what I need to be eating and why.  Much simpler than some of the complicated books I was skimming in Barnes & Noble the other day.  Needless to say I found these handouts incredibly helpful.  Each week we'll increase the length of our long run, which is the end of my week... A GOAL!  I've learned a lot about goals as well.  As in the fact that if you work out without a goal you can lose your vision and get bored.... sound familiar?

Now I know that I'm not even a week into my training but just the fact that I have a goal in the foreseeable future is keeping my motivated.  I love that.

I also love that Sunday is my day of rest.

Something I don't love: the fact that I now have to exercise 5 days a week.

So I've been developing my own plan.  I've incorporated the handouts with other stuff I've read to step it up a notch.  It's a plan that's something simple that I can get the hang of and not get bored with.  After the long run Saturday, I talked to the director of the group about my situation.   About how I'm training for a half marathon in December.  Being that this training group is for the Tulsa Run, she assured me t hat this was going to be the perfect pace for me because once we get to the Tulsa Run then i can keep with the same increased intervals each week to be prepared for the half.  This was like a breath of fresh air.  It was what I needed to hear.  It also helped to hear that she had just gone through Half Marathon training herself.

She also told me that if I was going to be doing all of this training that I really needed to add yoga or pilates into my routine so i could stretch things out every week.  So, I have plans to attend a yoga class as the YWCA using my 7 free fitness days card.  You don't have to use it consecutively, so I'm going to use it for 7 weeks of yoga.  My current gym doesn't have classes, so this is great.  And who knows maybe after it's all over with I might join the Y(wca).  These classes also fall on my cross training yoga day, Thursday.  :)

So here's my plan:

• Monday: run (mileage increase each week)
• Tuesday: cross train (weights and elliptical/ spin)
• Wednesday: run
• Thursday: cross train (yoga)
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: long slow run with the group
• Sunday: REST!

Each week we are adding a percentage of mileage to our runs.  We also added hills to the routine this week.  

My calves hate hills.  

More. Motivation.

As I was making this life changing spur of the moment decision the other night with Beck, Shane asks me who I'm talking to.  And by "talking to" he meant texting through blackberry with the annoying chiming going off every 10 seconds.  I tell him I'm talking to Beck.  I tell him that we are going to run a half marathon together.

He laughs.
He laughs  more.
He says, "Where are you doing this and when?"
He says, "I bet you're not going to do it."

And with that last sentence I bring up the White Rock Marathon website to pre-register.  Jerk.

I say, "Oh yeah?  How much do you wanna bet?  $50?"
He says, "No, that's not enough.  It's gotta be better than that."

Awesome.  And these thoughts went through my head:  A car?  No, no... Could I get thousands of dollars out of this?  Oooh.  What could I buy with all the cash?   No dummy, thousands is too much.

I say, "Okay, how about 300 bucks?"
He asks why 300 and what was I going to buy with it.

With that the lovely Beck chimes in that I should bet that if i finish he buys me the Le Creuset dishes I've been dreaming about.

"Okay, if I finish, you buy me the Le Creuset dishes.  The red ones."
"How much are they a set?"
"$59.50 for a 4 piece set or 200 for 4 sets."

Silence.

"If I win I get to buy a new shotgun!"  Oh my love, the hunter.
"If you win I will buy you 8 sets of the dishes."

"DEAL."

*Hand Shake*

"Hold on mister, I need to get this in writing.  What did you say again?"

Okay so he threw that last part about Christmas in at the last minute.  But whatever.  Either way I'm not spending any money.  WIN.  haha  I'll be eating Christmas dinner off those dishes!

Now where do I begin with this "training" business???? Gulp.

My Motivation... I'm scared.

Picture this.  Three years ago you were at your peak fitness level of your life.  You were lean and strong and most importantly you felt great about yourself.  Over the next three years you quit everything.  You eat what you want.  You know what has happened.  So you join a gym as a New Years resolution.  Yes, it's lame, everybody does it... but why not give it a try.  So you join a gym near your house in hopes that the shear vicinity will encourage you to be more active.   You download the Couch to 5K podcast and play it when you're on the treadmill.  4 weeks into it you get bored.  You take a break.  You start your own couch to whatever program when your ipod stops working.  You get bored.  You take a break... a long break.  You join an online fitness magazine program for encouragement.  You get motivated and start working out again.  You start a little weight lifting.  You run some but never very far and never for longer than 30 minutes but you feel like you could work yourself up to a longer run.  You take a 2 week break after getting one of those dang summer allergy/ colds...

Okay, let's bring it to semi-present time.  I'm wanting to get motivated to work out again but lack the.... well, motivation.  It's a Monday evening.  I've worked all day.  I'm tired.  I get home and grab the newly found game boy for a quick game of Tetris.  That's right.  Retro style.  I get a blackberry message from Beck the baker.  :)  I love getting bbm's from Beck.  They usually lighten my day.  And who doesn't love hearing from their awesome friends?  Her message simply says, "Hey-- do you want to run a half with me on Dec 5?"

I get butterflies in my tummy instantly and I respond, "Where? And I would LOVE to!"

WHAT THE HELL.  Did I just say I'd "love" to run 13 miles?  When on earth have I ever run that far?  I'll tell you where.  NOWHERE.  ummmm....

Fran, "Define 'half' please."

Beck,"Half marathon...13.1"

Fran, "Oh my...How do you train for that business?  Because I've sat on my ass for the last three weeks. Is that a good start?"

And with that we started planning our overtake of the Dallas White Rock Marathon.  What's that?  Did you ask what our goal is?  Oh, okay... it's to run the entire thing.  Truthfully, just thinking about it makes me go half numb, half serious butterflies in the tummy.

Fran, what were  you thinking????!  Well here are the thoughts that quickly went through my head when she asked me that simple question.

•  "Half marathon?"
• "Run with Beck?"
• "MOTIVATION!!!"
• "Awesome.  Okay!"

And that's it really.  I was looking for a lil' old motivation and it presented itself right in front of me.  

I'm scared.