Training: Day 1

Walking down the stairs... pre run

6:00 am July 30, 2013

Consider this the "before" shot!

After run/walking our first 30 minutes

We used the app Couch to 5K as our interval trainer to start with

My husband helped me out with a post run weight training exercises

What I learned today:  I don't know how to properly stretch.  I need to seek the advice of more seasoned runners.  Today I am going to talk to my teacher-neighbor who is a workoutaholic.  Hopefully she can point me in the right direction with stretches.  My husband and I also talked about utilizing our WiiFit for workout stretches or maybe an additional cooldown (like wii tennis).  I like that the Wiifit monitors what your body is doing and provides you with feedback.  I want to also do more research online.

Other things that we need to know more about: nutrition, workout gear, stretches, a good 5K (sign up).

Our next workout will be cardio- back to the elliptical tomorrow and our next run will be on Thursday.

Stay tuned!

Planning

As a doctoral student of Pepperdine University, one of our first assignments was "learn something new".  This is a daunting task assigned to both us and our spouse/significant other of some sort.  After much deliberation, we settled on a goal of learning to run a half marathon.
This was an exciting but nerve wracking undertaking!  My dad ran a marathon when I was in high school, and I volunteered as a "water girl".  It was an exciting opportunity to cheer him on.  The atmosphere at the marathon was high energy and a lot of fun!  I was intrigued, but not quite motivated enough to try it on my own.  I also suffered from exercised-induced asthma (I'm not making this up!), so running was not high on my priority list.

Fast forward to 2013, and here we are!  My first step was to do research and find out more about the topic.  I started to pursue the internet for a few half marathon training calendars, and I looked into races.  I was extremely disappointed that all of the Disney events were either: a.) sold out, or, b.) during a time when I have class.  Aw.
However, we live in Music City, USA!  We have a current goal of running the half marathon at the Country Music Marathon in April, 2014.  We also need to find a 5K to do before then.

One other thing that I did to prepare is talk to people who have completed half marathons.  Yesterday I met with a local professor, and she said she has (power)walked many half marathons.  It was also encouraging to talk to my learning partner, who has completed many half marathons, including the coveted Princess half marathon (I'm so jealous!)  She gave me lots of advice, including:

• Go to a running store and get fitted for a good pair of shoes.  Possibly buy them online.
• Stretch!
• Start off slow
• Walk a full 13 miles at the start of your training to get a feel for what you are doing