londons run

we finished! and we are both alive! hurting, but alive! brig did end up running. in fact, he totally dominated.

legs are aching, booty’s aching, feet are hurting, hot tub already visited, ice cream eaten, now resting on the couch while baby sleeps. yes!

brigham did the race in a whoppin 1 hour and 36 minutes!! a.ma.zing. i am proud to say that i beat my last 1/2 marathon time by 10 minutes which means i did this one in 1 hour and 42 minutes. i also placed 2nd in my age group {out of the girls}. yay!

there were pictures of sweet london {a little girl that lost a fight to cancer} all throughout the course that helped me to keep going strong! i would much rather run a 1/2 marathon than have to fight cancer. i admire everyone out there who does have to fight such a terrible thing.

 

before

after

did anyone else do london’s run?

do share!

londons run!

everyone please wish me {and my husband} luck on our 1/2 marathon this weekend! i am excited/nervous. brigham is injured/nervous.
if anyone else is doing it, good luck to you!!!
p.s. this time i will not be choking down energy gels. i will go for something a little more tasty, even if it requires more time and energy to eat it.

guess what?

i just found out that i CANNOT run without music. okay, i can. BUT it is torturous and i complain the whole time and i run a lot slower and i feel every ounce of pain!!! just ask my husband. we did our 9 mile run together on saturday. i dont think he will ever want to do that again. i’m such a baby. i forgot my ipod and didnt want to go back and get it, so he tried to entertain me while i complained about how my legs hurt and i couldnt run any faster. i thought maybe it was just because i was out of shape {even though i run every week!} or just sore, or for other reasons. so yesterday i went and did my 5 mile run WITH my music. it was beautiful. my legs were hurting a little, but i didnt even care! i was so into my music and thinking about other stuff that i didnt even care if i was in a little pain. i ran it in 8 min miles instead of 9 min miles {which really is a big difference} and i even sprinted the last mile because i was listening to my favorite song.
music works miracles. NO JOKE. i would never EVER run a race without it. just thought id let you know incase anyone needs some encouragement!! :)

picture from here

working up to long distances

kami, thanks for your comment! i feel your pain! i felt like that before my half marathon. here is a good schedule to go by {or something similar}:
start by running 1.5 miles monday & wednesday {or tues & thurs}, then try pushing yourself and running 3 miles on saturday {dont worry at all about speed!}
do that for a couple weeks until you feel comfortable.
once you are comfortable with that run 2 miles monday & wednesday and then 4 miles on saturday {again, do not worry about speed! just endurance}
do that for a couple weeks until you feel comfortable
then continue with the pattern moving up a half mile during the week and a mile on the weekends. does that make sense? the saturday runs are not supposed to be easy by any means. they never were for me. but you learn to push yourself. and be positive! most of it is mental!! this is true. if you think to yourself that its no big deal to just go do a light long run, then it wont be. dont feel pressure to run fast!!
feel free to do each one as many weeks as you need to.
try to do a small workout the days between runs and give yourself the day to rest before your long run and also sunday of course :)
small workouts might include, the stair master, bike, weight training {i like the leg workouts and the ab workouts. getting your abs strong will help you to not get as bad of cramps when running!!}, etc.
another tip. if you run on the streets, run in a large circle instead of running down to a certain street and back. it makes the run much more enjoyable and feels a lot shorter!!!
did this help? i hope so! if you have any questions about it let me know! :)

goals

dont we all start the year out by making a few goals for ourselves? i sure do. i have so many that i think i forgot about half of them by february. thats what happened last year.

here’s a hint. make goals that are realistic. if you want to run a 10k by the end of the year, then make a list of ways that you will accomplish that. ex: how many times a week you will run, how many miles a week you will run, how you will eat better to be able to run that far, etc.

my physical goals this year include:

1. run 1/2 marathon
2. work out 3 times a week, 30 minutes each time {running, gym, walking..whatev}
3. learn more about nutrition, cook and eat healthier meals

if you sign up for a race, you will train for it. especially if you have already paid :) that is my biggest motivation to get out and run, as well as my husbands. the other day he almost decided to not run the 1/2 marathon we signed up for because he didnt want to train for it. then he realized that he wouldve lost 45 bucks! he is now training again :)

set some goals! realistic ones. make a list of how you will accomplish it. review your goals each week!

have fun!

what are some physical goals you’ve set for yourself for 2011??