Non-Runners

Yesterday we went to a BBQ with friends.  One of them had just ran a marathon that morning!  I was SO JEALOUS!!!  Actually, when we first moved here I considered training up for it... until I realized it was on a Sunday.  BUMMER cause it would have been SO AWESOME!!  The finisher's medals were SWEET!!  I was TOTALLY living vicariously through him as he talked about it!  Obviously I'm not done running marathons!

But there was a certain someone present that I wanted to punch in the face.  He's in the Army.  He's fit.  He hates running.  He made no bones about it and was sure to tell the runners in the group how stupid they are for loving it and subjecting themselves to running TWENTY SIX point TWO miles {I was the only other one in attendance who had ran a marathon before}.

Now don't get me wrong, not everyone loves running and that is PERFECTLY fine with me.  I don't think any less of a person because they don't run.  But oh boy does it make my blood boil when people put others down because they DO!!!  Are you serious?!  You're really saying someone is STUPID because they love to RUN?!  Since WHEN is running STUPID?  And running 26.2 miles is something to be proud of, NOT something to mock someone about!

It convinced me that the dude doing the mocking was definitely more brawn than brain!  And proud that I'm in the marathon finisher crowd!  Excited to go running today!  Excited for my next marathon {next year maybe?}.  Excited for my next race {in JUNE}!  Excited to be a RUNNER!!!

My First Marathon!

One year ago I ran my first race in my adult life. Last September/October I started mapping out all the races I wanted to do in 2010. It wasn't long before I decided to run the a full marathon! I started training for it just after Thanksgiving.

Initially I was going to run this race with my man. It was going to be a very sentimental thing for us. Unfortunately in February he was set back by an ankle injury. He opted out of the race entirely and gave his spot to his brother. And luckily I found myself with a group of friends who all decided to run it as well! We started training together and soon dubbed ourselves the "Marathon Mamas"! What an awesome experience it has been to train with these women!

Last night we all got together for dinner! Here we all are! We had a blast!Last night I slept better than I usually do before a race! For that I was very grateful!! I woke up at 4:10, just before my alarm went off! I could not have done all this training without the support and help of my little family!! Travis gets up early for those long runs and makes me oatmeal, drives me to starting points, helps me get all my gear together... he's there 100%. He's my biggest fan! We met at the bus pick-up at 5:00! Nicole wasn't there quite yet but I had Travis get a picture before he hurried back home. Don't you love our matching shirts? We decided that we look like a pack of Skittles!I felt GREAT for the first 15 miles. My knees were sore {from the get go} but not unbearable. The weather was good for running and I was sure to stay hydrated and fuel with GU. When we came in to Sugar City Annie and I stopped at an Aid Station to see where the rest of our girls were. Stopping was the worst thing I could have done, my knees were incredibly sore after that and even slowing down made running very painful.

At mile 17 or so Annie and I made friends with a fellow runner, Jentry. We ran the next couple miles together. From 17.5-21.5 is a very difficult stretch of hills; one after the other with little to no relief! We had ran that stretch 3 times in our training though and I know that it helped us physically and mentally. The last 4 miles were slow going but I felt strong, as long as I didn't slow down or stop!

Travis met Annie and I with just about a mile to go. He was encouraging and took a few photos.
And then he ran back to wait...
Annie's husband met up with us with about a half a mile left so I let them run together and headed for the finish line! Rounding that corner and seeing my cheer section was so great! I was torn between finishing the race and just running over to them and giving them all big sweaty hugs!! It's hard to run and fight tears by the way!My little girl grabbed my hand and we finished it together! What a way to finish!!
There were some issued with my time but I'm pretty sure we worked out the kinks. I came in 5th in my age division with a time of 4:48:33.3!

We all made it! Nicole placed in her age division! Tiffany surprised us with a poster that said "Running for TWO Future Marathoner INSIDE"!!! She is 10 weeks pregnant!!! YAY!!! Love you girls!!!Overall this race was pretty emotional, sentimental and fabulous! I have a bone to pick with the lack of promised HammerGel {good thing I brought my own GU}, piddly awards & raffle afterward {last year ROCKED}, a lot of timing issues... but those things aside, I had an amazing time. It was all I hoped it would be. I'm already super stoked for my next marathon in July!

The Bare Necessities

The 17 miler went great. I listened to my body. I drank A LOT of water {emptied Max right at the end}. I went through 4 GU's {three during and one after}. I had a good cool down. I stretched really good. That night I jogged a couple miles and stretched really good again. ALL of those things made a HUGE difference. Today I feel like a million bucks!!

A few things I learned from this one that I better remember for those next few log runs; especially the BIG one... 26.2!

*Bring Chapstick {putting it on before leaving isn't enough}
*Wear Sunscreen {even if it's still "winter" and chilly, the sun will still fry me... he did}
*Body Glide {or SOMETHING}

I have a couple weeks before the next big one. I am going to add hills into these shorter runs to prepare myself for the hills on the marathon. I think it's going to make a big difference!

The Long Run

Every runner has a different number in their head as to what is considered a long run. I have been reading "How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon" by Gordon Bakoulis Bloch. He has some interesting points on all aspects of training but with a 17 miler looming tomorrow I was going over what he had to say about Long Runs. He talks about what goes on with your body when you run long and hard. I'll try to sum up:

There are two main types of fuel that muscles use during physical activity: carbohydrate and fat. He says that in general, the more intense an activity is, the greater is the proportion of carbohydrate used to fuel it. Those activities that are performed at a very low intensity use fat as fuel.

Every pound of fat contains about 3,500 calories worth of energy. Given that, and the fact that running consumes about 100 calories per mile, you could run more than a marathon on the energy that is contained in just one pound of fat.

Carbs are different though. They are stored in two different forms: glucose in the bloodstream and glycogen in the working muscles. The body can only hoard enough carbs to power about 1,500 calories worth of activity.

What does that have to do with the long run? Well Gordon says that the "long run" is running for a time beyond which the body runs out of carbohydrate and must burn primarily fat. For the average aerobically fit person who is NOT training for a marathon that is done between 90 minutes and 2 1/2 hours. When you run out of carbohydrate your pace slows dramatically or you "hit the wall".

Long run help train your body to spare carbohydrate. Burning carbohydrate stores over a long period trains the body to postpone the point at which these stores are exhausted. So with each long run, the body will use more fat and less carbohydrate. Ideally the runner will be able to run the entire marathon without hitting the wall, or at least postpone that point until late in the race.

When ever possible, do those long runs with friends. It makes it so much EASIER MENTALLY! It is beneficial to occasionally run them alone though. It turns the run into more of an exercise in mental concentration.

A few of Gordon's tips for those long runs:
* Eat properly the day before and the morning of {high carb dinner, drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids}
* Get up early
* Make sure you have water available for the entire run
* Know your route in advance
* Wear the right clothes
* You MUST cool down, stretch, shower, change, fuel and hydrate {take 15-20 minutes and lie down}
* Check weather conditions
* Avoid heavy duty activities for right after a long run
* Go to bed EARLY

Looking forward to this 17 miler tomorrow. I little nervous; it is 17 MILES afterall!! But I ended up having a tooth get infected {from a root canal a year ago}; Wednesday the dentist re-drilled the poor tooth to death and I have been MISERABLE since. I'm going to run it either way though!!

Hills

I've got a 14 miler tomorrow morning. I am meeting up with my girls and we're going to tackle THE hill!! I found a little video on proper running form for hills and HAD to share!! Wish me luck tomorrow!!!

Tread to the Mill

I wish I had a route that actually went from Tread Rd. to Mill Ln. but unfortunately that’s just my snarky way of saying a treadmill run. This last week I spent a good share of my fitness time on this particular route because it’s been so cold outside. Here’s my update for last week.

Marathon Training Week 8: Yeah! Finally a longer run. I never thought I would say that but by the time Saturday rolled around my legs were absolutely aching for a hard run. Monday and Wednesday were good runs. I’m approaching four miles in a 30 min. time frame but not quite there, at least on the treadmill. On Saturday I really asked a lot of myself though and I’m so glad that I did. I completed the 7.5 miles in 1:03:54. My legs thanked me all day.

100 Push Ups Week 2: This routine is just starting to get really tough. I’m approaching it with a no fail attitude but if I need to repeat a week I’ll do it. On the Saturday push I didn’t maximize like I had hoped. I had to get 20 and I got in 23 but after four sets already with a minimum of 14 I’ll take a measly 23.

200 Sit Ups Week 3: It’s always nice when your workout carries over to your real life isn’t it? This week on Tuesday I went snowboarding and after maxing my sit ups that morning at 36 I felt it all day as I was trying to bust through the powder. It was such a good ache! By Saturday I only maxed at 32 but there was an extra set thrown in there by the routine. Sneaky sneaky.

Hawkeye over. Line secure.

From the Front Lines (kinda)

Hello Fitness Blogger World! Hawkeye checking in with my weekly (at least that’s the assignment I’ve been given) progress update. A little about me before I begin- I’m a physically active father of four in my early thirties preparing for the adventure of joining the Army. I’m fortunate enough to be married to your ever gracious and (if I do say so) incredibly attractive hostess. In preparation for boot camp I’m training for a marathon and doing some muscle building routines. Here’s the skinny on how it’s going so far.

Jeff Galloway Marathon Training Week 7- I love this schedule. By the time I’m done with my run on Mondays and Wednesdays I’m still aching for more. I’ve been trying to push myself to really maximize the thirty minutes. Sometimes I imagine a Drill Sergeant screaming in my ear ‘YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD FROM THE FRONT HAWKEYE?’ and then I bump the treadmill up a notch or two. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks when the Saturday runs are longer. My legs are begging for it.

100 Push Ups Week 1- Let me just say that I hate push ups. Always have. I have been blessed with a slender build that easily keeps weight off but the downside is that my shoulders are built like those of a middle school girl’s. At the beginning of the week (I’m following a 6 week program even though I could begin in the middle {I can knock out 45 if I really push it}) the sets seemed really easy. By Saturday I was really having to dig deep to knock them all out. Little did I know that I had looked at the wrong set of numbers and was doing what I should have been doing for the sit ups routine- Doh! Next week should seem easy now ;)

200 Sit Ups Week 1- Great week for my abs. Because of how the 200 sit ups routine is set up you shoot for a max each day after a taxing group of sets. Each day I exceeded the recommended number for the max! Wahoo! I know it won’t always be so ‘easy’ but it’s nice to start strong. I’ll keep you updated

Hawkeye over and out.

Sentimental

Okay, I admit it. I am a sentimental sap! This year is going to be FULL of sentimental events and I can't wait!! Here are a few of the things I am looking forward to this year:

February - 10 years ago I got engaged to my best friend at Grand Targhee Ski Resort. We will be going back to celebrate. Two/three days of snowboarding, snowshoeing, sitting in the hot tub, relaxing at the spa... It's going to be AWESOME!

March - My sweet little girl will be turning 8 years old and will be getting baptized! It's going to be a very special day for our family! Click HERE if you'd like to learn more about what we believe.

June - 10 year anniversary with said man of my dreams! Not sure exactly what we're doing but I'm sure we'll be going to Benihana's SOMEWHERE. We ate there on our honeymoon and go there for a lot of special occasions.

June - First marathon EVER. I will be running with my man. It is just a couple weeks before he leaves for boot camp. It's going to be a COOL experience for us.

July - Marathon #2. Me and my sister-in-law will be running this one together. It's a race that winds around my old stomping grounds. I am SO excited for this race. It's going to be beautiful. Two mom's getting back in shape and having a great time.

August - I will be running in the Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon. I have a cousin who I am hoping to run with. She is my HERO!! She's been working hard to be healthy and get in shape. I can not begin to tell you how proud I am of this girl!!! I am trying to work my magic on a few other cousins too.

December - A brief reunion with Stonewall for Christmas. I am planning on an Army Christmas. Lots of projects and crafts will need to be done. It's going to be SWEET!

When it comes to running and races, I am NOT focusing on time AT ALL. I am in it for the experience and the sentimentality of it all. AND I am looking forward to toning up this hot bod and enjoying the ride. This is going to be a GREAT year!!

The Countdown Begins

So my Sister-In-Law did it. She convinced me to run a marathon. GASP! I've had my reasons for putting it off. And despite the fact that the requirements I've given myself haven't all been met, I'm going to go for it anyway. This is going to be my "MARATHON Year!" Stonewall and I are going to run one together before he leaves too. It will help him be tip top shape before heading in to Basic.

SO... I am starting Jeff Galloway's Marathon Training Schedule TODAY!! On the rest days I will be doing a variety of strength training workouts... pulling from P90X, Wii Fit, Jillian Michaels workout DVD's and the like. I like to mix things up, keep my body {and mind} guessing!

I have already identified my BIGGEST HURDLE: the darn treadmill! I hate the thing. I hate that I'm not outside. I hate that the speed isn't the same as running outside. I hate that time & distance seem to EEK by. I hate how it's so noisy {I don't like to listen to ANYTHING while I run, well except for my feet hitting the street & other outdoor noises!}. UGH! There is more BUT I have GOT to change my attitude.

I picked myself up a couple books on tape: Hitler Youth {I am a WWII geek} and my M-I-L brought over The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Nieme. I am REALLY hoping that they keep me occupied enough that I forget I'm on the treadmill or at least make it bearable.

Got any pointers for my first marathon?