Princess in Training

OK here it is. Another dreaded exercise post.  I think the reason I hate writing these is because I really hate reading them. I have NOTHING against you awesome people who are totally motivated and really into working out. I’m just….. not.  I try really hard but the bottom line is that I grew up going to dance class 7 days a week, so going to a gym and running in place or lifting heavy things just isn’t appealing to me.   

A few years ago I got really into running.  I totally suck at running. Like I said- I never played any sports.  None. Zero. Like, I never even played tee-ball.  I was THAT GIRL in gym class (although I wasn’t the fat girl) but I was the girl who hid in the back and didn’t want to play and wasn’t competitive.  I came in nearly last on the mile run and I only excelled on the flexibility part of the physical fitness test.  But ask me to do 32 fouette turns and I’ll bust em out.

Anyway, I got into running. I ran a lot of races.  I decided I wanted to run a half marathon.  Terrible idea. But you know what sucks about half marathons? They are horribly addicting.  I’ve run 3.  And I am scheduled for a 4^th on February 26^th in Walt Disney World. (Duh. Cause where else would I go?) I’m running (for the second time) the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  And I’ve decided I’m going to actually, -forreal forreal- TRAIN for this one. 

I don’t ever follow training schedules.  They are either too hard or too hard.  I can’t magically bust out 3 miles out of nowhere.  I also have a busy life, a husband, a dog, a house, it’s cold out and it gets dark before I get home from work.  None of these factors really help in the whole training department.  So I made my own schedule. And I started it 100 days before my race. 

I started with 1 mile runs twice per week and a “long” run of 2 or 2.5 miles on Saturdays.  I did that for a few weeks and now I’m at 1.5 mile runs twice per week and a 5k this Saturday.  To those of you who are really athletic or marathon runners, this might sound totally lame. But it’s been amazing to see the progress I’ve made in just 3 weeks of training. My mile has improved by almost 2 entire minutes.  I’m not dying at the end of the run, and since it’s only 3 times per week, I can re-arrange my runs to fit in happy hours… ;)

I also treated myself to 2 new pairs of running shoes.  I hadn’t bought new shoes since like 2009 and my Nikes had run probably 2 half marathonss and way too many miscellaneous miles to be effective.  I got a new pair of Nikes at DSW and those were working just fine. But then I saw that Brooks had a ½ off deal on their Glycerin shoe, and I jumped at it. These are $130 running shoes people!! They arrived on Tuesday and when I took them out of the box I felt like I was looking at alien spaceships.  These are what REAL runners wear! And they made my run magical! I’m really happy to have good shoes, a good GPS watch, and a training plan that I MADE (with the help of several websites/training plans). 

Now that this post is way too long, I just want to write about my goals.  I made a pact with my friend Jess that we would each reach 3 goals and then get to reward ourselves with a winery tour or something equally alcoholic ;)

Goal 1: 5 miles, December 17^th

Goal 2: 8 miles, January 21^st

Goal 3: 10 miles, February 18^th

Race Day: February 26^th

Think I can do it?? I’d love some encouragement. I feel pretty good so far J

~SG