Lincoln Half Marathon

Well, it's official. This past week, I committed myself to doing the Lincoln Half Marathon, which is coming up the first weekend in May. That's 14 weeks away, more than enough time to begin training, and be race ready. My wife (and a few of her coworkers) have already registered, and I'll be registering this weekend.

I've never really run before. While I did do track in high school my freshmen year, I was never competitive. My goals for this first half marathon will be to complete it, not compete in it. What's the point of doing it if I have no intention of competing? Just to prove to myself that I was able to accept the challenge, face my fears, push myself beyond my abilities, and actually succeed! Plus, I think it will be an incredible accomplishment that I'll never forget.

I'm actually just completing my second week of training. I have to admit, I don't really enjoy running yet, but am finding I feel really good after the run is over, and feel a sense of accomplishment. I've found that I really need to run with headphones, but supposedly during the race, headphones are explicitly banned. Ugh. But, I've also found that I can't really run without them, and I think that may be somewhat dangerous if I do all my training runs with my Ipod, but then can't use it in the race. Will have to sort that one out very soon.

So, within the coming weeks, I intend to blog quite frequently about my experiences. Yesterday, I ran/walked a total of 4.2 miles, which culminated in my 8th day of solid running. While that's a lot of miles for so early in the training program, I really just wanted to push myself past my comfort zone. I am following a plan, mostly, and do understand how important recovery is, and that you have to allow time for your body to heal. In fact, I intend to start following the training program fairly rigorously, (as much as possible at least). I intend on using Hal Higdon's novice half marathon training program. He is apparently fairly well known in the running community, and he does have several training plans to choose from, and a lot of people have had a great amount of success following his program.

13.1 miles. Can I really do this? A month ago, the thought of running 4.2 miles in one session seemed laughable. But, I did it yesterday, and felt like I could have done more. So, with 13 more weeks of training, I truly believe that 13.1 miles is doable! I've also found that if you keep telling yourself that you can't do something, either because it's too hard, or it's beyond your abilities, then you probably never will accomplish it. But, if you keep telling yourself you can, you eventually will!

More Milestones...And Injuries

When I woke up this morning (after a hard workout yesterday), I was pretty sore. Took awhile to get my body moving again. After dropping my daughter off at school, then doing some Internet browsing on Geocaching, I headed back to the gym this morning for round two. Today, I was able to run for 25 minutes nonstop, running about 2.5 miles, at a constant 5.3 mph pace! I felt a sense of accomplishment after completing the workout. In fact, I finished strong, and felt I could have gone longer, but decided to not push it.

However, about 3 minutes into the run, I had an immediate, sharp, stabbing pain in my mid/lower right abdomen, right under my ribcage. The sharp pain faded to a low dull ache through the remainder of the run, and is still tender this evening. In fact, had another attack about 2 hours after that too. Not sure what I did, but it sure hurt for awhile, but I was able to run through it. Probably pulled a small muscle in my abdomen, not totally sure. It's not my appendix since I've already had it removed. I've had this type of pain before, and often thought it might be a mild form of gall bladder attack based on Internet searches.

Anyhow, after a 30 minute period of relaxation in the sauna, I stepped on the scale to reveal 155lbs! That's the lowest weight I've ever been (not accounting for when I grew up and went past this weight the first time). Granted, that's after sweating out a lot of water in the sauna so it's probably just a little one the low side, but I did wake up at home this morning at 157. Sure wish I'd lose the fat in my belly roll though, instead of everyplace else, since as it is, my ribs really starting to show, and I still have this belly roll that makes me feel (and look), well fat. Duh.

So, it was a day of milestones. I ran for 25 minutes straight (2.5 miles), weighed 155lbs at the end of my workout, but also experienced some kind of injury and mild pain in my abdomen, and it still hurts this evening. And why exactly am I doing this?

Back in the Saddle

Well, a few days ago, I started to work out again with vigor, in hopes of possibly completing a half marathon along with my wife in May. Note, we had this same enthusiasm last year in 2008 after our Biggest Loser competition, but we didn't follow through on it. But this year, my wife is determined to see this challenge through till the end. I'm getting on-board to not only provide moral support for her, but for my own personal benefit too.

The only problem, I don't really care for running, at least running on a treadmill that is. A few days ago, I pushed myself to my limit, doing intervals of running/walking, and got my heart rate up to 170 bpm. It was really moving. Today, I pushed myself again to the limit, and ran for 20 minutes straight without stopping! Heart rate was 177. Is it possible to be lean (except for this spare tire around my waist) and still be out of shape? Absolutely.

I've got 3 months. After today, I feel that I just might be able to accomplish this goal. I just have to keep this up, and have to keep pushing myself near or beyond my limits every day. Unfortunately, I like to train with music, and you are not allowed to use headphones during the race. I haven't yet decided what the ideal training path should be, but don't want to get into a zone of running with music, but then can't fall back in that zone during the race.

It seems like a long, hard battle, but I know I'll be better for it in the end.

And So It Begins

I've decided that I need to start a strict exercise regimen again. I've gained a couple of pounds over the holidays (it's not that hard to do), and just need to get toned back up again. My wife is also musing (once again) about wanting to start training for a half marathon coming up in Lincoln in May. We thought we'd do that last year in 2008 after our biggest loser competition ended, but it never happened. She seems to be more pumped for it this year, so perhaps I need to get on the band wagon to give her some moral support.  But, I'm not a runner.  I don't really like running, can't necessarily do it, and don't think I'll enjoy it.  We'll see.