Sunday, January 30, 2011

Let the Marathon Training Begin!!!

Alright FitMePeeps! I'm getting a little tired of reading my old posts that begin with an apology for being away so long, so here I am saying that I. AM. BACK.

Before I officially start my long-windedness, however, I have to thank so many of you for your thoughts and concern for my sweet nephew, Baby Jack. The last time I posted, he was still in the hospital after his second surgery for Duodenal Atresia. Now he is home, he is gaining weight, and is doing great!!! Life is somewhat getting back to normal (is it ever normal?) for my family. Yay! If you want the full story of his traumatic beginnings, my sister is posting the details on her blog.

As for me, exciting things are happening in the fitness department! First of all, I am now an official Zumba instructor! I spent three years as a Cheerleader in High School, and when I graduated, I thought I left my booty-shaking ability behind. I guess it was just tucked away for future use, because I'm now spending some time three days a week with other women, teaching them the pure joy of shaking up a sweat! I don't consider this my "workout" per say (although the calorie burn is notably high), I consider this my fun break. Haven't Zumba'd before? Try it...you'll love it! And if you don't love it the first time, try it three more times...the more you Zumba, the more you love it!

As for eating meat, I'm still not (well...occasionally I am...but mostly not). In March, it will have been a year since I read The China Study. I have to say, I haven't had a hard time transitioning to a flexitarian lifestyle. BUT planning meals has been a bit of a challenge. My husband's biggest complaint with most of my experiments is that they're lacking in flavor. A few awesome blogs have helped lately, however! I would consider making these recipes even if I wasn't trying to limit animal protein! My favorite go-to-blog is now VeganYumYum. I even bought her cook book...her stuff is thatgood! (It helps that she's a great food photographer!) Another great (non-vegetarian) blog my friend told me about last week is Skinny Taste. For those of you Weight Watchers people, this blog is for you! With each recipe, she gives you the old points, and the new (points+) points! Yay for yummy, healthy, family friendly recipes!

A few months ago, I was featured on this post as one of 40 websites to motivate you to get healthy. I was classified in the "weight loss" blogs category with the description: "This blogger nearly serves as your personal cheerleader for getting and staying in shape..." Hopefully I'm thenon-annoying cheerleader type. Actually...I blog to motivate myself with the hopes that someone else will also find some inspiration! Yay team!

And speaking of inspiration, I need some quick! I am signed up to run the Ogden Marathon on May 21, 2011! So guess what that means?!?! My 16-week training schedule starts TOMORROW! Yikes! Actually...I'm really excited about it! I've been pretty nervous about this race, so I've been sort of "pre-training" all winter long. I'm up to 11-miles for my long runs, and I have to say that running has helped more than anything with the post-baby weight this time around! I never completely lost all my baby weight with #2, but am happy to say that third time's a charm!

And although I'm completely jealous of my husband's ability to wake up one day and just run a marathon, I'm definitely not following his example! A few months ago, I found a training schedule on the Boston Marathon's page, which I cannot for the life of me find again! Luckily, I programmed the ENTIRE SCHEDULE onto my phone's calendar so I'm going to stick to that plan as much as possible. However, if you're looking for a good training program, check this oneout. When selecting a marathon training program, you need to figure out what your goal is. Are you just trying to finish? Are you trying to improve your time? Are you trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon? (Eventually my goal...it's been over 6 years since my last marathon so while I'm trying to get a good time with this one, I'm not sure whether it will be that good). I don't think the program you choose is as important as just making sure you remember that 26.2 miles takes a long time to DRIVE! You're going to be RUNNING it! In order to run 26.2 miles, you need to run. Period. However, don't let yourself get so stressed out about running that you don't also plan adequate rest! Your body adapts to physical training during REST! For me, Sundays will be my guilt-free day of rest!

For other marathon training advice, check this out!

If any of you are training for a Spring Marathon, and want to follow along, here's my (somewhat brutal) plan for this week...with a disclaimer! Life is crazy, so as with everything, nothing ever goes completely as planned. If I miss a day (or two or three), I'm not going to stress about it! I'll do the best I can. A day missed is a day missed...I won't try to make up for it! That said, I'm going to try my darndest to do the following:

MONDAY: Interval (6 to 10 miles), 2 x (3 x 800 m) at 10K pace, 90 seconds recovery, 5 minutes recovery between sets. (+ Zumba)
TUESDAY: Distance--4 to 6 miles (+ Zumba)
WEDNESDAY: Tempo--4 to 6 miles (+ Body Pump)
THURSDAY: Distance--7 to 8 miles
FRIDAY: MLR--12 to 14 miles, steady, easy paced
SATURDAY: Long Distance--15 to 18 miles, steady, easy paced (+ Zumba)

Interval runs: Not an all-out sprint! The intervals should be run at a pace somewhere between your 10K pace and goal marathon pace. Mondays will be my interval days!
Distance runs: Your typical daily run...the most flexible in terms of distance and pace! Listen to your body, and run what "feels good."
Tempo runs: Try your best to simulate your marathon pace.
MLR: stands for "medium long run." This week, the difference between the MLR and the long distance run isn't much, but as the weeks go by, 12 miles really will just be medium!
Long Distance: Possibly the most important component of a marathon training plan! However, if done too long, too often, or too hard, it can also cause the most damage. I plan on running my long runs considerably slower than I hope to run on race day!
Cross Train: I teach Zumba 3 times a week, plan on hitting up Body Pump at the gym every Wednesday, and possibly a weekly Spin class.

Phew...it's going to be a crazy 4 months! If nothing else, my goal is to stand at the marathon starting line knowing that I've put in the work, and that I'm prepared. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear," right? Come on legs and feet, here we go....

4 comments:

Michael said...

I didn't know you were featured in the top 40 on that blog. That's cool. Also, good luck with your marathon training. I hope you don't lose a toenail....ha ha ha.

Bonnie Wayne said...

Good for you - Zumba looks really cool - I haven't tried it yet - but I want to ! And that is awesome you are doing a marathon! Ghirardelli just did one in Chicago - and people who entered could get a free sweatshirt that said "I run for Chocolate" or something really cool. I could have gone for a sweatshirt like that for running a marathon...!

Jer + Lu said...

Wow. You are one tough cookie! Good luck with your marathon training. something tells me you're gonna totally rock it!

Jill said...

Good luck! I love running, but at this point in my life have no desire to put in that much time to train for a marathon. I'm also the type that would want to train really well to run my best, and that's just not going to happen at the point in my life. So I'm planning a spring 10K, a summer half marathon, and a relay in the fall.