March 7, 2010

Where I was after my 1st day running…

Day 1 of marathon training 12 weeks till half-marathon 8 weeks till final weigh-in (unless we extend)

I’ve become a runner. I’ve embraced this fact. (Much like I long ago embraced my ghetto booty. Hopefully by the end of all this I’ll be as proud of the former as I am of the latter=difficult & annoying at first, but eventually a source of pride.)

When my family announced we were running in the Fargo Marathon, I went out for reading material. Unless you want to spend a lot of money on a trainer (who are worth every penny!), or if your trainer lives across the country, you need “someone” else to tell you how to train for a marathon & how to schedule your runs. Crowdsourcing advice is great but can’t be counted on to be there for you all the time telling you what to do next/how to start.

I read a lot of advice from old books at the library on what to expect (blisters if your shoes are 10yrs old like mine), how to train, (intervals vs time vs miles vs a walk/run method). The one book Dan recommended, THE NON-RUNNER’S MARATHON TRAINER proved rather difficult to get my hands on. I couldn’t rely on borrowing a copy from Jim or Dan (the way our family usually handles books) because they are using it. So I figured I could read up on the training in lots of other books & then just get a training schedule from Jim or Dan. Whoo boy was I wrong. There’s a reason that’s the book Dan recommended. It’s way better than the running for Dummies, which was the winner of the choices at the library.

Another book worth mentioning is The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer for women. I bought it thinking it was in the same series as the real one, only specific to Me (a woman). Plus the diary-like entries were all funny as if Bridget Jones had decided to run a marathon. (Can you imagine? Really? Yeah, that’s how I feel a lot of the time. Bridget Moe) About 3 chapters in, though, I realized that although I can be sarcastic, self-depricating, & dare I say whiney? sometimes—I’m still a happy person. I find reasons to enjoy what I’m doing (even if it’s breaking up w my boyfriend, losing my dream job, & packing up ALL my shit to move away from my beloved NYC toward a frigid wasteland.) Through it all I can still laugh at myself because, hey, I’m a Moe! So while this book makes a lot of fun of her exercise buddy, dubbing her “Chipper Jen” I got super annoyed. I’M chipper jen. Always have been. I’m annoyingly positive in the face of exercise. Well…not while doing it myself, but when motivating others as a coach or exercise buddy I can be pretty damn annoying.

So I made a concious choice to not curse myself out, call myself crazy for doing this, or otherwise believe that this isn’t worth it. That’s not to say I haven’t done all those things publicly already, nor that I never will again…it’s just an intentional difference. This does not suck. This is COOL. Sure it sucks in the small upsets, but not in the long run. (pun not intended, but appreciated.)

RUNNING LOG

Yeah yeah, today I started training & all. But after the weekend I’ve had, I feel like I’ve been at exercise camp. Dan didn’t write out a new exercise plan or anything like I hoped…he did better.

He took me to the gym, kicked my ass, let me pick up the pieces then did something different. Then Deb stepped in & said let’s do something different. I had never guessed how vital yoga would be. But all the worsening aches & pains I was getting melted back to a dull feel-good muscle soreness instead. It’s obvious now that I haven’t been stretching enough, & I got to experience the benefits 1st hand.

I’ve done a LOT this weekend. But it’s like tapas: (which I get to eat tomorrow!) a little bit of everything. Now I can go home & make full meals out of each piece on my own. I haven’t figured out how to balance out everything I want to do on a regular basis—but it’s ok. (so much easier to have it all written out & handed to you & have someone tell you what to do than to try to choose from day to day.) I’ll figure it out. AND I’ll have fun doing it. Look out for Chipper Sue.

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