178 days to Marathon!!!
I have a ridiculously sore throat today. I don't think it's strep, but it is uber discouraging. Today I get to rest. I need it too. I think my immune system might be compromised by working out so much.
I know you're prolly looking back at my previous posts and laughing that I say "workout" almost like hyperbole, but I'm serious! Remember, I was SEDENTARY mamma. No exercise, not even a little bit till last week. What you might not know is that on my off days, I have been doing some strength training and pilates!
I cannot do a single pushup. Not even on my knees! SOOOO, I have been practicing on the stairs.
Right now, I am leaning on stair number 5 and doing 5 normal, 5 diamond, and 5 wide pushups. Ooh, look at all those 5s!!! I am also holding myself up with my elbows off the edge of the couch for as long as I can stand it. I can really feel my core getting a workout.
Day 10
Tuesday May 18, 2010
179 days to marathon!
I went out this afternoon before eating dinner. I think that I had issues on Monday with my stomach because I had eaten only an hour beforehand. Never again!
Angel insisted on going with me, so we went on a quick 1 mile walk. I intended on running another mile afterward, but 10 seconds after I started jogging, I pulled my hamstring! Luckily, I was close to home so I limped back in the door. To top things off, I still had to make dinner. Bah, my poor leg hurt sooo bad. My dear boyfriend did the dishes and went to the store to get me an ace bandage and a cold pack.
For the rest of the night, I riced my leg. (Rest Ice Compression Elevation)
I am a bit discouraged now. I don't think the injury is that bad, but I refuse to continue training until I am positive that I am healed.
Day 9
Monday May 17, 2010
179 days to marathon!!!
Today was pretty easy. I went on a 20 minute run/walk for 1.46 miles. Drank a beer after the run and then chilled out in front of the boob tube. My breathing was a bit labored and my heartbeat spiked at 180 bpm. Not sure it that's safe or not. My hamstrings were giving me a little trouble, but nothing serious.
179 days to marathon!!!
Today was pretty easy. I went on a 20 minute run/walk for 1.46 miles. Drank a beer after the run and then chilled out in front of the boob tube. My breathing was a bit labored and my heartbeat spiked at 180 bpm. Not sure it that's safe or not. My hamstrings were giving me a little trouble, but nothing serious.
Day 8
Sunday May 17, 2010
180 Days to Marathon!!!
Ah, the start of a new week, the hope that things will get easier, and a day of rest and relaxation.
First, a re-cap.
Last week:
3 runs
2 hours
7 miles.
Meh, not great, but I am just getting started. I think my initial 4 mile run through off the training a bit but it will be interesting to see how fast I can do it after a month of training.
My biggest difficulty is maintaining good nutritional habits.
This website has been helpful in reminding me how many carbs, proteins, and fats I should be ingesting.
Wow, that's a lot of food.
This site tells me that marathon trainers should really aim for 65% carbs, 25% proteins, and 10% fats. I think that will be the one I follow.
Here is my sample meal plan:
3 cups of coffee with non-fat creamer
Cheese and egg-white sandwich or bagel
bowl of oatmeal with raisins
turkey, cheese, tomato on wheat.
well...
spaghetti with ground beef and parm cheese
Edamame!
BROC
Sweet potato!
And 2 beers. :)
180 Days to Marathon!!!
Ah, the start of a new week, the hope that things will get easier, and a day of rest and relaxation.
First, a re-cap.
Last week:
3 runs
2 hours
7 miles.
Meh, not great, but I am just getting started. I think my initial 4 mile run through off the training a bit but it will be interesting to see how fast I can do it after a month of training.
My biggest difficulty is maintaining good nutritional habits.
This website has been helpful in reminding me how many carbs, proteins, and fats I should be ingesting.
To maintain your current weight, you should consume 2266 calories per day. According to the USDA, that number of calories should be broken down as follows:
USDA Daily RDI Calories/Day Grams/Day 60% Carbohydrates 1360 340 10% Proteins 227 57 30% Fats 680 76
This site tells me that marathon trainers should really aim for 65% carbs, 25% proteins, and 10% fats. I think that will be the one I follow.
Here is my sample meal plan:
3 cups of coffee with non-fat creamer
Cheese and egg-white sandwich or bagel
bowl of oatmeal with raisins
turkey, cheese, tomato on wheat.
well...
spaghetti with ground beef and parm cheese
Edamame!
BROC
Sweet potato!
And 2 beers. :)
Day 7
Saturday May 15, 2010
181 days to marathon!
I got off my lazy ass yesterday and walked around the block. It was supposed to be a 20 minute walk, but the girls turned it into a 2 hour long adventure! I found out a couple things about the girls; Thing 2 is a born runner! She loved being in the front of the pack and running out in front of everybody. She's only 6, but I am thinking of taking her out on my shorter runs or maybe my warmup laps.
Thing 1 though, holy shit. I could not get that girl to stop dragging her feet! She was much more interested in taking in the scenery than in getting to her destination. I love that about her, but it slowed me down muchos. I can't be upset with her, she's a awesome little girl and she's only 4, but I will think twice before taking her out on a walk again unless the purpose is more educational. Maybe John can take her out on walks?
Anyways, we walked to the park, Thing 2 had to pee, so we went home. 1.8 miles in 42 minutes.
181 days to marathon!
I got off my lazy ass yesterday and walked around the block. It was supposed to be a 20 minute walk, but the girls turned it into a 2 hour long adventure! I found out a couple things about the girls; Thing 2 is a born runner! She loved being in the front of the pack and running out in front of everybody. She's only 6, but I am thinking of taking her out on my shorter runs or maybe my warmup laps.
Thing 1 though, holy shit. I could not get that girl to stop dragging her feet! She was much more interested in taking in the scenery than in getting to her destination. I love that about her, but it slowed me down muchos. I can't be upset with her, she's a awesome little girl and she's only 4, but I will think twice before taking her out on a walk again unless the purpose is more educational. Maybe John can take her out on walks?
Anyways, we walked to the park, Thing 2 had to pee, so we went home. 1.8 miles in 42 minutes.
Day 6
Friday May 14, 2010
182 days to marathon!
I am finding it very difficult to motivate myself to go out and do anything in this heat. I went to my momma's house yesterday with the Things and played video games all afternoon.
Fallout 3 is ridiculously addictive and a great procrastination tool; it's even better than facebook or blogging! I am almost embarassed to write this evening because I have been reverting to my lazy ways, but I need this site to keep me accountable.
Amount spent: $75 shoes, $60 sports band, $60 sports bras, $60 marathon registration, $50 hotel reservation = $305
Holy shit. I haven't added it all together yet so that amount is absolutely daunting. The only other thing I have ever spent that much money on (besides car payments, rent, etc) was this laptop. Ugh, I will take the girls to the park tomorrow.
182 days to marathon!
I am finding it very difficult to motivate myself to go out and do anything in this heat. I went to my momma's house yesterday with the Things and played video games all afternoon.
Fallout 3 is ridiculously addictive and a great procrastination tool; it's even better than facebook or blogging! I am almost embarassed to write this evening because I have been reverting to my lazy ways, but I need this site to keep me accountable.
Amount spent: $75 shoes, $60 sports band, $60 sports bras, $60 marathon registration, $50 hotel reservation = $305
Holy shit. I haven't added it all together yet so that amount is absolutely daunting. The only other thing I have ever spent that much money on (besides car payments, rent, etc) was this laptop. Ugh, I will take the girls to the park tomorrow.
Day 5
Thursday May 13, 2010
183 days to Marathon!
Woke up this morning an my muscles were a little stiff but the pain was manageable. I took Gabby to the park in the afternoon and walked a mile in about 20 minutes.
One thing I must say though, this park was fantastic!!!! It's small enough to where I can keep an eye on Thing 1 while I run around a .33 mile track. The playground is fenced in and it's surrounded by a large field which is surrounded by a track surrounded by another fence. And water fountains. GLORIOUS water fountains! No, I'm not talking about statues with water spurting out of an angel's lips, but simple little stop-and-sip stations. They were a life saver. I will definitely be utilizing this park in the future.
Alright, you see that muscle that's connected to the tendon of the big toe? That's the soleus. If it disconnects from the tibia, you get a lovely little malady called shin splints. Sounds painful, eh? Well, the rest of my legs seem to be healing fine, but my soleus's (solei?) are in pain. Probably just more DOMS, but that doesn't really ease my mind.Anyway, will be adding more stretching to my routine along with push-ups on the off days to improve my core strength.
What else did I do today? This morning, I started writing this blog! I think it is important to track my progress and the Nike log just wasn't up to my standards. Plus, I think I have been clogging up my facebook feed with unnecessary traffic when I could just vent it out into the whole of cyber-space!
Why Atalanta? She was a character in Greek mythology who liked to run. She was raised by bears and was ultimately turned into a lion. She was thwarted by golden apples. Fascinating story.
I hope to eventually turn this project into a book and finally make my millions! Then I can be as off-beat as I want!
Day 4
Wednesday May 12, 2010
184 days to Marathon
PAIN
I can't walk! I can't move! I am supposed to run another 4 miles today.
It's okay, that's why they made Motrin, right? Popped 2 motrin at 7.... no change. Popped 2 more at 9.... nothin.
This sucks so bad.
So I went online and discovered DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Here is a great website that explains what DOMS is and ways to treat it. It apparently dispels popular myths and gets down to the nitty gritty about post-training aches and pains.
From what I was able to glean, one of the only treatments for DOMS without buying expensive gear is Contrast Water Therapy.
SO, I drew myself a hot hot bath. I added some bubbles because I was in a lot of pain and bubbles make everything better. When that was prepared, I went into the other bathroom and took a freezing cold shower for exactally 60 seconds. HOLY SHIT, that hurt SO FREAKIN BAD but I made myself stay in there while counting up to 60. When that was done, I ran to the hot bath. I might have scalded myself a bit, but it Felt. So. Awesome.
I think that bath lasted about an hour so the hot water could build up again before my final shower. I drained the tub and forced myself to take another icey shower followed by another hot blast.
Did it work? Maybe for about 5 minutes, but then my limbs were on fire again. BOOOO
There was no way I could run in these conditions and I also realized that I was starting off too fast.
I found another marathon training guide online that seemed to be more my level.
This Program starts me off walking instead of assuming that I can already run a good distance. I think I will be following this schedule to keep myself from any future injuries.
184 days to Marathon
PAIN
I can't walk! I can't move! I am supposed to run another 4 miles today.
It's okay, that's why they made Motrin, right? Popped 2 motrin at 7.... no change. Popped 2 more at 9.... nothin.
This sucks so bad.
So I went online and discovered DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Here is a great website that explains what DOMS is and ways to treat it. It apparently dispels popular myths and gets down to the nitty gritty about post-training aches and pains.
From what I was able to glean, one of the only treatments for DOMS without buying expensive gear is Contrast Water Therapy.
SO, I drew myself a hot hot bath. I added some bubbles because I was in a lot of pain and bubbles make everything better. When that was prepared, I went into the other bathroom and took a freezing cold shower for exactally 60 seconds. HOLY SHIT, that hurt SO FREAKIN BAD but I made myself stay in there while counting up to 60. When that was done, I ran to the hot bath. I might have scalded myself a bit, but it Felt. So. Awesome.
I think that bath lasted about an hour so the hot water could build up again before my final shower. I drained the tub and forced myself to take another icey shower followed by another hot blast.
Did it work? Maybe for about 5 minutes, but then my limbs were on fire again. BOOOO
There was no way I could run in these conditions and I also realized that I was starting off too fast.
I found another marathon training guide online that seemed to be more my level.
This Program starts me off walking instead of assuming that I can already run a good distance. I think I will be following this schedule to keep myself from any future injuries.
Day 3
Tuesday May 11, 2010
185 days to marathon.
Last night, I forgot to mention that I came home after my run to a loud hissing coming from the wall above the refrigerator. I looked everywhere for the source of the noise, but to no avail. I was totally pooped so I downed a beer (will expand later on the benefits of beer and running) and took a shower. I was high on endorphans and feeling a little bit tipsy. It was the perfect mood for making love to My Dear Boyfriend (MDB). Fantasm! (TMI? IDC!)
I forgot all about the hissing until this morning.
Thanks to my Navy training in trouble shooting, and a little common sense, Thing 2 and I were able to determine that there was a water leak INSIDE THE WALL. I called MDB at work and he called his friend who came over to fix the leak. With Thing 1 at my sister's house and Thing 2 in school, this WOULD have been the PERFECT day for my second run. But NOOOOOOO. I had to stick around while leak got fixed. After the leak was fixed, we discovered ANOTHER leak. This took almost all day.
Oh shit, I'm supposed to be making a chili dinner for 11 tonight! The kitchen is a mess! I need more ingredients! I need to take a shower! I need to make myself pretty! I need to run 2 miles!!!
Ugh, I was able to make most of the chili before I left to pick up the Things, my sister insisted that I leave early because she needed to go to work so I skipped out on the shower but still managed to make myself look presentable. '
Picked up the Things, went to the store and got last minute items and arived home in just enough time for the first guests to arrive.
I finished cleaning up while others socialised, finished the chili, and proceded to get myself very tipsy on yummy yummy wine.
The chili was a hit but I had to skip the run. :(
Atalanta Chili
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 can black beans
3 burger patties from Sunday's cook out (crumbled)
3 cans tomato soup
2 packets Mcormick Chili flavoring
3 cups of water because it all tastes like sweet tomato soup and you feel like it is too thick
half a bottle of beer because the chilli has NO flavor so you looked up award winning chili recipes
1 tbs garlic
10 dashes of salt, pepper, and chili powder
10 dashes of tobasco
10 dashes of cajun seasoning
1 diced onion
2 cans chili beans (cause it is too liquidy and still not enough flavor but you went to the store so now you have more beans)
2 cans diced tomatos (rinsed thoroughly because you accidentally bought the ones with italian seasoning)
Boil vigorously because it is still too liquidy and the onion needs to be softer and the guests are here now so you don't have time to make anymore adjustments.
enjoy!
185 days to marathon.
Last night, I forgot to mention that I came home after my run to a loud hissing coming from the wall above the refrigerator. I looked everywhere for the source of the noise, but to no avail. I was totally pooped so I downed a beer (will expand later on the benefits of beer and running) and took a shower. I was high on endorphans and feeling a little bit tipsy. It was the perfect mood for making love to My Dear Boyfriend (MDB). Fantasm! (TMI? IDC!)
I forgot all about the hissing until this morning.
Thanks to my Navy training in trouble shooting, and a little common sense, Thing 2 and I were able to determine that there was a water leak INSIDE THE WALL. I called MDB at work and he called his friend who came over to fix the leak. With Thing 1 at my sister's house and Thing 2 in school, this WOULD have been the PERFECT day for my second run. But NOOOOOOO. I had to stick around while leak got fixed. After the leak was fixed, we discovered ANOTHER leak. This took almost all day.
Oh shit, I'm supposed to be making a chili dinner for 11 tonight! The kitchen is a mess! I need more ingredients! I need to take a shower! I need to make myself pretty! I need to run 2 miles!!!
Ugh, I was able to make most of the chili before I left to pick up the Things, my sister insisted that I leave early because she needed to go to work so I skipped out on the shower but still managed to make myself look presentable. '
Picked up the Things, went to the store and got last minute items and arived home in just enough time for the first guests to arrive.
I finished cleaning up while others socialised, finished the chili, and proceded to get myself very tipsy on yummy yummy wine.
The chili was a hit but I had to skip the run. :(
Atalanta Chili
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 can black beans
3 burger patties from Sunday's cook out (crumbled)
3 cans tomato soup
2 packets Mcormick Chili flavoring
3 cups of water because it all tastes like sweet tomato soup and you feel like it is too thick
half a bottle of beer because the chilli has NO flavor so you looked up award winning chili recipes
1 tbs garlic
10 dashes of salt, pepper, and chili powder
10 dashes of tobasco
10 dashes of cajun seasoning
1 diced onion
2 cans chili beans (cause it is too liquidy and still not enough flavor but you went to the store so now you have more beans)
2 cans diced tomatos (rinsed thoroughly because you accidentally bought the ones with italian seasoning)
Boil vigorously because it is still too liquidy and the onion needs to be softer and the guests are here now so you don't have time to make anymore adjustments.
enjoy!
Day 2
Monday May 10, 2010
I woke up this morning feeling very enthusiastic about yesterday's purchases. The shoes have a pocket under the padding to put a sensor. The sensor talks to the sport band. The sport band plugs into the internet and tracks my progress. I couldn't wait to go out and run! Issue: My Dear Boyfriend (MDB) was at work and Thing 1 isn't in school yet. I would have to wait until he is home so he can watch the kids while I go running. Okay, I can deal with that. In my anxious state, I signed up for a marathon.... yes, the girl who smokes and hasn't gotten up off her ass for about 6 months just signed up for the most strenuous physical activity known to man. But I'm a fucking Goddess. I can do it!
Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon- November 13. 26 miles.
I spent $60 for registration and another $48 to reserve a hotel room minutes away from the starting line.
Talk about commitment. Now I don't have a choice but workout. Luckilly I have my Nike marathon training program! The site was pretty easy to navigate. It will take the data gleamed from my sports band to create a log that tracks my milage, calories burned, speed, and chance of zombie attacks. I had to set the start of the program back a week to make it end on the 13th of November. It told me that I had to run 4 miles today.
HOLY SHIT. 4 miles? That's almost like, 5 miles... oh shit oh shit oh shit.
NONONO, none of that negativity. I can DO this. I've run 5 miles before. It was 6 years ago, but I still did it. I can do it again.
I used the handy-dandy "map-it" feature to find a great 4 mile rout around my neighborhood.
WOOHOO! I am now fully prepared to run 4 miles whenever MDB gets home! I was psyched!
Then reminderfox (a program that acts as a calander/schedule on my comp) popped up and reminded me about my secret meeting tonight at 7:00pm. Alright, I can handle this. I make dinner for MDB and the Things then go out and run.
Mother nature had other plans. It rained for the remainder of the day. My elevated mood just turned into mush. I REALLY wanted to test out my new gear.
It wasn't raining when I got back home at 9pm so I got dressed, re-read my instructions, and went out into the night to fulfill my destiny!
Mile 1
This was tough. My calves were screaming at me after only a couple minutes, but I managed to keep going. Around the end of the mile, my ears were in pain from the wind. I had the choice between going a couple yards back to the house or turning the other way and go on a 3 mile loop. It was tough, but I remembered the amount I spent and went the more challenging route.
Mile 2
I walked a lot of this mile. It was a lot of uphill but I reminded myself that what goes up must come down.... I decided to almost sprint down the hills... gravity was on my side afterall...
Mile 3
I was actually feeling really good about myself. I was doing a lot more walking than I had originally planned, but my heart rate was up and I knew that if nothing else I was burning some calories!
Oh Shit! It's raining!!! And I don't have a phone, I don't have any identification, I am stupid. STUPID. It's the middle of the night and I could get mugged, raped, or worse and nobody would know who I am. I punched a couple times into the air to test my ability to fend off the baddies. hmmm, maybe a couple pushups are in order..... shit it's raining!
Mile 4
This is the home stretch! Nothing can stop me now! I sprinted down the last hill and made it back inside in only 56 minutes!
My stats thanks to Nike+ (I promise I'm not getting paid to endorce their products, but that would be sweet!)
Day 1
Sunday May 9, 2010
Today is Mother's day! I woke up with breakfast in bed and a couple beautiful cards from Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was a chore having to sleep in, but I accomplished the task with no real effort. After breakfast, I was informed that My Dear Boyfriend (MDB)'s mother would be joining us for dinner so he would be grilling burgers and hot dogs. No problem, I just needed to go to the store for meat and buns, maybe a side. Then came the phone call. In a matter of seconds, my day went from relaxed to OMG, there's gonna be a gajillion guests?
I gathered up Thing 1 and Thing 2 to do some shopping. I actually made a list! We got to the store and Thing 1 and Thing 2 Would. Not. Calm. Down. Did MDB feed them sugar intraveinously this morning? I silently regretted not participating in the breakfast ritual and threw The Things into the shopping cart. Bad. Idea. They argued non-stop about who got to sit in which spot and turned my buns into smooched buns. hmmm, maybe it'll be a hit.
By the time I got back to the domicile, I was frazzled out of my mind. I had lost the list and ended up spending way too much on unnecessary items and not enough on the essentials. I dropped the kids off, put up the food, an defiantly declared that I would be going back out.... alone.Thing 1 and Thing 2 were instantly in panic mode. Amidst their screams and worried looks from MDB, I managed to escape the madness.
I thought for a bit and with my recent failure at pil
ates, I decided that I would reward myself with running shoes. The logic worked out fine in my mind. I went to the Nike store at the mall. Here is a sample of my spoils:
And then I got 3 technicolor sports-bras.
Oh shit! I just spent a shit load of money on gear, now I'm going to have to run?!?!
I haven't run in over 3 years!
I managed to cope by pretending the whole episode didn't happen while I socialized the evening away. The barbecue went off with no major snafus and I went to bed early forgetting about my mother's day purchases.
Today is Mother's day! I woke up with breakfast in bed and a couple beautiful cards from Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was a chore having to sleep in, but I accomplished the task with no real effort. After breakfast, I was informed that My Dear Boyfriend (MDB)'s mother would be joining us for dinner so he would be grilling burgers and hot dogs. No problem, I just needed to go to the store for meat and buns, maybe a side. Then came the phone call. In a matter of seconds, my day went from relaxed to OMG, there's gonna be a gajillion guests?
I gathered up Thing 1 and Thing 2 to do some shopping. I actually made a list! We got to the store and Thing 1 and Thing 2 Would. Not. Calm. Down. Did MDB feed them sugar intraveinously this morning? I silently regretted not participating in the breakfast ritual and threw The Things into the shopping cart. Bad. Idea. They argued non-stop about who got to sit in which spot and turned my buns into smooched buns. hmmm, maybe it'll be a hit.
By the time I got back to the domicile, I was frazzled out of my mind. I had lost the list and ended up spending way too much on unnecessary items and not enough on the essentials. I dropped the kids off, put up the food, an defiantly declared that I would be going back out.... alone.Thing 1 and Thing 2 were instantly in panic mode. Amidst their screams and worried looks from MDB, I managed to escape the madness.
I thought for a bit and with my recent failure at pil
ates, I decided that I would reward myself with running shoes. The logic worked out fine in my mind. I went to the Nike store at the mall. Here is a sample of my spoils:
And then I got 3 technicolor sports-bras. Oh shit! I just spent a shit load of money on gear, now I'm going to have to run?!?!
I haven't run in over 3 years!
I managed to cope by pretending the whole episode didn't happen while I socialized the evening away. The barbecue went off with no major snafus and I went to bed early forgetting about my mother's day purchases.
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