For over two years I've found myself dreaming of properly training for and happily finishing a marathon. I even thought that I'd attempt a half marathon on October 8, 2008 just to see if I had it in me. During training for said half, I got myself within 2 weeks of the race and up to 11 miles of distance only for my knees to give up and wave a surrender flag. I sheepishly gave in and approached the race officials the day of the race to explain my situation and thus I was placed in the 5 mile race. Not all was lost, however, I was able to run this race at an average pace of about 9.8 min/mile. This was a huge accomplishment to me and showed me that the training I had already done was still paying off even if I didn't go the whole distance. You might argue that my time is not at all worth bragging about but if you knew that in the beginning of my training I had struggled with completing a mile within 12 minutes...yea, I was proud.
So here I am, over two years later wanting to revive my desire for completion of a marathon. After hours of staring at the registration page for the Portland Marathon (and even filling out the entire registration form only to shut down my computer when it came time to commit), Tuesday, February 15th found me confidently committing. I pushed the 'ok' button and after the biggest entry fee I'd ever paid, I am now registered to participate in the Portland Marathon, October 9, 2011.
I've already taken the appropriate steps needed to start getting ready for this endeavor. I've chatted about it with Bobby to make sure he knows what is in store... I've taken action against my bulging belly and bum and told my flabby arms to take a hike...I've lined up some supporters and even two gals who are ready and willing to physically go through this with me...and I've studied training schedule after training schedule to find what might work best for me. Today, I even started the mental preparation I will need to finish...I visualized myself, my hair, my outfit and even the surroundings at the start of the race. And then, I got a mini adrenaline rush so I decided to go make breakfast.
Training for the marathon will hopefully bring me back to my old 160lb self in 'no time'. I know it has been less than a week since I've signed up but I've been staging a plan of attack on this bulge since I joined the YMCA a few weeks ago. I can work out all I want but until I get my eating under control, all of me will remain.
That said, I am following a food plan and have done so since Monday, Feb 14 (V-Day, nice) and have lost 3.2 lbs in this one week. This is the first loss I've seen since I joined the gym in January and I am so totally stoked. My favorite part of the plan is that I am convinced it is healthy and it is such a no-brainer! Weight Watchers was great but I was always sooooo confused about when/what/where to eat all the time. When all I wanted in life was to not think about food, WW made food a constant in my mind. But with this new plan made up by a good friend of mine, I simply go shopping for the good-for-you things on the list and when it's time to eat, I check the meal plan and PRESTO I know what to make and when to make it.
I feel good, I feel confident and I've got my husband and some great friends backing me.
I am happy.
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