Distance Dreamers Wednesday

An awesome fellow blogger named Abbi has organized a wonderful group called Distance Dreamers, this is a group for first time marathoners (or feels like first time) and half marathoners. I decided that I wanted to join this group because it has been so long since my first and only marathon (6 years ago) and I like the support and encouragement I get from others in the running community. On Wednesdays Abbi will be posting questions for all of us to respond to. Here are the questions for this week.

What made you decide you wanted to run a long distance race?/Why the full marathon as your distance of choice? Before I trained for and ran my first (and only) marathon 6 years ago I had never run before in my life, other than being forced to in gym class in high school (which I did not like). In 2003, I was 33 years old and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. My husband and I wanted to start a family and I knew that I needed to quit smoking first. I had tried to quit in the past to no avail. One day I just got it in my head that I'd quit smoking and start running. I knew you couldn't do both!

Really, my husband was my inspiration. I had seen him run several marathons in the past. The most inspirational one being in Paris where they played the Chariots of Fire song at the start of the marathon! He motivated me to get dressed in my running clothes and get out there...he coached me as I struggled to run/walk even a mile at first. After a couple of weeks it became a habit and I wasn't smoking anymore or even thinking about it. We both signed up for the Marine Corps marathon and ran it in 2004, less than a year after I had started running. After crossing the finish line I knew I could do anything I set my mind to. I also knew that someday I would run another marathon.

Very soon after we ran the marathon I got pregnant with our first son and although I ran for awhile after finding out I didn't keep up with it and once the baby was born I took even more time off. Well, to make a long story short I took a lot of time off from running to take care of my family and was happy doing it.

I really started to miss running though and wanted to start again, but after my 3rd son was born I was up a lot at night and still needed to get up and go to work the next day. I didn't feel like I had much energy to do anything other than what I was already doing. Once the baby started sleeping through the night I decided I needed to start doing something for myself again. I wanted to find the time to run. I started getting up at 5am and running and it felt great! I knew as soon as I started running again that I wanted to sign up for either a half or full marathon because it would give me a goal to focus on and it would get me out there each day working towards something and would also be a way for me to have time to myself!

Why was this the year to go for it? I decided to do the marathon this fall because I am turning 4o in September and thought it would be an awesome way to celebrate my birthday! I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like to run a marathon after having 3 kids. I know it's much harder to find the time to train but it will all be worth it when I cross the finish line!

To read more stories of why anyone would want to run a half marathon or a full marathon go check out Abbi's blog and if you're interested in joining our group let her know!

Great 10 Miler

This morning I made it out to the trail around 6am to run my 10 miler. It was a pretty good run. It was around 74 degrees and about 80% humidity. I started sweating shortly after I started, it felt really tropical and wet. I took my CamelBak with me and a couple Power Gels. As I was running on the trail I saw 2 bunnies, 1 dear, lots of bikers, many other runners and 1 man in a suit...maybe he was walking to work? I felt really good during the run and was happy that I remembered to use BodyGlide this time.I took a picture of the trail before I started. It's the W&OD Trail in Ashburn.
Me, before I started.

We're on vacation this week. It's more like a stay-cation...we're not really going anywhere, except for day trips. I plan to stick to my training schedule. Monday and Wednesday are spin classes, Tuesday is intervals, Thursday is my tempo run and Saturday is my long run (11 miles). I plan to do this early in the morning so I can spend the rest of the day with my family having fun!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Just Checking In

My week has been great so far. This is how my training looks for the week:

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Speedwork - 1/4 mile warm up, 3 x (1 mile fast then 1/4 mile easy)
Wednesday - Spin Class
Thursday - Tempo Run - 2 miles easy, 2 miles @ tempo pace, 1/2 mile easy
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 9 miles
Sunday - Rest day

My long run last weekend was 8 miles on the W&OD trail. The weather was pretty nice. I started at 6am and it was about 67 degrees. I decided to wear my Camelbak, the kind that goes around your waist with the long tube to drink out of. It wasn't bad after I got used to the swoosh, swoosh sound of the water sloshing around (I don't listen to music). I thought I might like the fuel belt, but then I found out how much they are and decided to stick with my Camelbak for now.

One major thing I forgot to do before I left was to put on some Body Glide...I need to remember that next time because my sports bra started rubbing my side after I started sweating and it kind of burned. The run was great all except for the guy sitting on the bench beside the trail smoking a cigar...yuck!

I've been really thankful for the gym membership that my husband got for the family. The new gym that we belong to is only blocks away from our house. I've been getting up between 5 -5:30 each day during the week to either run on the treadmill or go to a spin class. I do my long runs outside on the weekend.

I'm looking forward to my long run this weekend. Hubby is going to be one of the supporters setting up drinks for the runners in the group run. He's actually going to have all 3 boys with him. The place where he is going to set up is on the W&OD trail near a park where they can play.

I also wanted to mention that I've really enjoyed reading other runner's blogs this week. I've gotten so much inspiration from them! I've also felt a bit of camaraderie. I never realized how hard runners really are on themselves...I mean I know that I am hard on myself sometimes, but I didn't realize how many others were like me.

I hope that everyone enjoys their weekend, I know I will be having fun running and playing with my boys!!

*side note: I need some pictures of me running...I have none (no recent ones). I'm usually the one behind the camera. I will try to remember to take the camera on Saturday and have hubby take photos.

Review of Training

Training has been going well. I am loving the Spin classes that I go to each week and I find them to be very motivating. I did my first long run last weekend (7 miles) and it was a good one. I decided to run with a group of people that my husband works with. They run on the W&OD Trail each weekend. They have a volunteer set up at different points on the trail to give out drinks and at the end of the run they have a cooler with drinks and snacks. The other cool thing about this group is that a lot of them are training for the Marine Corps Marathon too; they will have support during the marathon as well as their own tent with massages afterwards! I am glad to be a part of the group.

This is what my training looks like this week:
Monday - 1 hour Spin Class
Tuesday - Speedwork: Half mile warm up, 3 x (1 mile fast then .25 easy)
Wednesday - 1 hour Spin Class
Thursday - Tempo run: 2 miles easy, 2 miles @ Tempo pace then 2 miles easy
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 8 miles
Sunday - Rest

On Sunday I got a new pair of running shorts and I love them

Now all I need is a head band to keep the sweat out of my eyes and my bangs out of my face. I was thinking of getting a Sweaty Band.

On the homefront - Yesterday was Will's first day of daycare and he did great! He didn't cry when I dropped him off and he was happy to see my when i picked him up. I thought today may not go as well since it was the second day, but I am happy to report he did well again. I love my daycare provider and she is so great with kids. I know that he is taken care of well when he is there. That eases my mind a lot.

Charlie is on big adventures with his Grammy and Pappy and my cousin's daughter Olivia in Pennsylvania. He is having lots of fun and I am glad.

James is on grand adventures with his Nana and Grandad at Colonial Beach. He's been to the pool everyday and riding his scooter. I am glad to know that he is having fun too!

Everything is good in my life! We are looking forward to celebrating Will's first birthday this weekend.

Changes

One of the most obvious changes was to my blog. I decided to change the title from "Crazy World of Toddlers" to "Crazy World of a Running Mom". Why the change? Because I've started running again and taking time for myself and it feels great. Previously I was writing mostly about my boys and what they've been up to and I didn't really have much to say about myself. Now, I'd like to write about ME and what I'm up to as well as the rest of my family.

Other changes going on around here? Will is going to start daycare next week and he's turning 1 on July 7th!! I can't believe he's almost a year old already!

I made it through my first week of training successfully. I got up every morning between 5 and 5:30 and made it to the gym. Today was my first Spin Class and it was great. I really liked the instructor, she was very motivating!! Every time we'd go up a hill (stand up on the bike and pedal hard) she'd say, "Attack" and then when we were working on speed work and going really fast she'd say, "They're coming up behind you, GO, GO, GO!" I also like the music that she picked out to go with the workout. I definitely plan on going to this class each week.

Hurry Up and Wait

My training has been going well. I've decided to do all of my workouts in the morning before the rest of the family wakes up. This morning I was up at 5am and off to the gym for some cross training. I rode the bike for 50 minutes and was home by 6. This was a great decision because I feel great after my workout and I still have the whole day ahead of me. I arrive to work in a good mood and I get home ready to spend quality time with my family.

Mike is training for his 5th Marine Corps Marathon in Ocotober and so we've had to schedule our workouts and long runs at different hours and on opposite days. So far this plan is working.

I decided to go with a new training plan this time. For my first marathon I went with a plan by Jeff Galloway. This time I'm using the FIRST training program from the book Run Less, Run Faster. These programs are based on results from FIRST training research studies that showed runners are able to run successful road races by incorporating three quality runs a week into their overall training program. They also recommend that runners cross-train (bike, swim, cycle, etc.) two or three days a week. My husband has been using these plans for his training as well and he's shaved a lot of time off of his marathons.

Overall...I've realized after my second week of runnning that I need to invest in a couple of neccessities...I need a sleeveless running shirt and some type of headband to keep my hair out of my face and the sweat from runnning down.

I feel good and I'm happy to get up early and get out the door to train. The reason my post title is "Hurry Up and Wait" is because I just want to be faster! and run farther! which is really funny considering that just a couple of weeks ago I was making excuses as to why I couldn't work out! But that's how it is with me, once I've made my mind up, it's GO time!!