Week one down! Week two is here!

"The first thing I had to do was learn that I can do it" Sue Stricklin runner

I love that saying and it is so true! You have to learn to run the right way, learn to believe that this dream is possible and learn to NOT over do it! You really have to have faith in others when completing something this major! I have to put a lot of faith in my coaches, the guy that sold me my shoes and my running partners.  Everyone thinks running is a event that you do alone, but without everyones support I wouldn't be able to complete this!  So the first thing I have to do is learn .. learn to lean on them and learn to dream big! 

Week one is now over! Its was a great week and I ended up skipping a run.  I need to really figure out my schedule and if that means waking up at 5 AM to do my runs then that is what I am going to have to do.  We ran with the running group saturday.  It was a great run, but I have noticed that my left knee has slight pain from it.  It sort of feels like I need to crack it! Nothing I can't handle but need to make sure that I ice it and make sure I don't over do it! It may have been because I didn't walk the whole time for the 6 miles or from adding another leg day in my Strength training program? Overall, the run really felt great! 

This week-I am running a 10 mile race on the 4th! I have always wanted to run a 4th of July race and I finally get to do it this year! I just pray to god it isn't smoking not out there, since we will not be running in shade.  But I can deal with it if its hot! Wednesday is speed work day! I hate speed work, reminds me of track and I hated track! But I think it is important for me to get some speed work in, so I better just deal with it!  I also have to throw in another 2 runs in the schedule. I ran 2 miles yesterday with a friend so I may cut out a run to give this knee a rest.  Not to sure yet what I will do... 

I have decided to join weight watchers, or at least follow the program.  I have been doing really terrible with the food and I know that it is just going to get harder as the miles pack on! So I want to get control now because I will not gain weight over this marathon journey not going to let it happen! 

First training run

"We all have dreams.  In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort." Jesse Owens

The above quote is so true! You can dream something, but dreams can't come true without the hard work! This is something I will need to read before each run and reread after each long run.  I can't reach that finish line without the work that has to happen to get there.  

Today, June 20th was my first group run!  I was super nervous, excited and couldn't wait to get started all in one.  The group was a lot bigger than what I expected, I would say there was at least 30 runners there!  The thing I was nervous was about people looking at me and saying can't believe she is going to run/walk 4 miles.  Its just that weird feeling I get sometimes, which totally is me trying to put myself down.  All the runners there were there for one reason only. To run together and train for a race that is coming up in the future.  This group is going to be my support system, this group will end up being family at the end I am sure! So I just needed to feel bad about running/walking for a second and am now over it! 

The run was a 4 mile run, cake is what I call it! My foot did have a slight pain in the arch, just wishing it is my feet getting use to the new shoes!  It wasn't to hot, which is nice!  We ran with a pacer, he was really nice and shared a ton of knowledge! He usually does 30 races a year, Wow!!! It was nice of him to slow way down for us, but I think he enjoyed all our questions we asked! 

Then a girl from the 11 minute mile group slowed down and joined our group.  She was really sweet and I can say I would enjoy running with her every week!  This will be her first marathon as well!  We probably ran about a 11 minutes 30 second mile.. sometimes faster and sometimes slower!  Good pace is what I call it! I remember when I ran without walking, I was doing around a 10 minute mile for long runs.  The walk break is so worth the extra time added on to my finish time, it will help me recover so much faster!

Anyways-nothing really major to say besides it is great to have one run down and a million and one to go! 

Coming up this week is one 4 mile run, two 3 mile runs and one 6 mile run! I have to really nail down this schedule! I need to decided if I am running in the morning or at night.  What I want to do is stay away from the heat, the heat kills me and makes me hate running! So I may run at 5 AM so i can beat the heat, I can always go back to bed!!! 

Till next time! 

Shoes 101

Running Shoes are the single most imporant piece of equipment for a runner. A good running shoe should fit like a glove and should feel like your running on clouds! Shopping for a good quality running shoe is like shopping for a diamond ring. I want the best fit, the best look (sorry i am a girl!) and the best shoe out there.
There is no perfect shoe out there for all of us, because every runner is different, every shoe is different. The challenge is to find a shoe that fits you in every perfect way! That is why heading to a running store is worth it! Running stores are educated in this area, they can tell just by you walking which shoe can help with your runs! I highly suggest finding the nearest running store in your area and get fitted for your diamond shoe!

I learned the hard way why running stores are important and why having a good shoe is worth every penny. My first 10K I ran in Nike shocks, I believe they were size 8's. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Nike shocks-LOVE THEM! They look amazing, they feel amazing when I am not running in them but they did not work when i ran in them. I trained with them but only ran 3 miles at a time. Doubling the miles to 6 made my feet bleed and get some nasty blisters. The last mile of that race was like death to me, I hated it. I valued after that 10K that I would never run again. After the race I was unable to wear shoes for 2 weeks, kind of hard for a PE teacher flip flops saved me!
Shortly after my first 10K I decided that NO bloody feet was going to stop me in my dream of being a runner. So I joined team in training and valued to run a 1/2 marathon. I was told by the coach that I should go to a running store to get a shoe that works for me. Lesson one-ALWAYS go to a running store when buying running shoes! The guys at the store were amazing! I told them my issues with my 10K and they explained that my shoes were to tight and that the toe box was causing my feet to bleed. He came out with size 10's and I about fell over. I was wearing 2 sizes to small my first race. I tried on about 10 pairs of shoes and found the perfect fit, I honestly felt like I was running on clouds! Lesson two-Always get your running shoes one size bigger!

So anyways-I got my running shoes last night from the columbus running company. My main worries about this race is my feet. Every race I have ran in my feet have been the injury. 10k bloody feet, first 1/2 numb toes, second half pain in the ankle area and last half pain in the left arch. I just want to get thru a race without wishing I had a new pair of feet! So i got a new pair of shoes, I usually run in saucony's so it was hard for me to stray away from them. After trying on a million shoes, i decided the best show was Nike structure 12. They fit great, feel great and hopefully when I am done running 10 miles I will still love them!

So hopefully what you get from this post is---Shoes are so imporant! So go get a pair from the running store! Even if you think they are to much money, buy them its totally worth it!

Believe in yourself

Running... 5K check! 10K check! 1/2 marathon check! 26.2 miles my GOAL, my DREAM! People say that running a full marathon is a crazy, insane and plain stupid idea! I say bring it on! I don't care if I am one of those crazy people, in fact I want to be one of those crazy people.  I want people to look at me and say WOW you have completely lost your mind! But really those people are saying, I wish I hand the courage to do something like that, I wish I had the motivation to get off the couch and complete something I know most of america only dream of!  I want to see that finish line after running 26 miles and say your right everyone I am crazy but I DID IT!  

I have been running now for 4 years! Each year the desire to run a full marathon gets bigger and bigger! 5K's are like warm ups for me now! 1/2 marathon a little hard but no big deal! So I need something to challenge me again, to beat me up mentally and physically!  I know your thinking why would you want that? And I say to you, why wouldn't I want that!  I am an athlete, been since the day I was born.  I was born to do crazy things, born to train and born to believe that anything is possible if I just believe in myself!  The fact is this crazy dream of mine is soon going to be a reality of mine and I can't wait to say to all those people that didn't believe in me-to kiss it! 

This journey I am about to begin gives me new hope, gives me the idea that big dreams can come true!  What I need to do is put one foot in front of the other and believe that when it gets tough, I get tough! When it gets boring, I find something new to think and talk about! When I believe I can't do it, I search inside myself and find a piece of me to believe in again! This road is going to be a long road, its going to hurt and it probably will suck a ton! I just know that with all that hurt and all that time that it does suck, its totally worth it when I finish! I hope you join me in this journey!  I hope you find my journey one that makes you reach inside yourself to believe in YOU!  I hope that with my hard work, my pain and sweat that I can get you encourage to not only dream big, but make those dreams facts!! Believe in yourself and reach for the stars, YOU too can have crazy dreams come true!