My Adventure Revealed

Well, if you know me, you know I'm really bad at keeping secrets. Especially ones about myself. And even more so about things I'm excited to share (Christmas is a mighty tough time for me to live through!)

So - since I've told my family AND gotten the go-ahead from the hubby AND my kids are pushing me out the door pretty much every day to do this AND I've already "let it slip" to a lot of people at my job, I guess there's not a lot of reason to keep it a secret anymore. Besides, you all can encourage me in my journey as is the point of this blog. :-)

I'm training to run a marathon!

There's several reasons why I've decided to do this (some more personal and abstract then others) but regardless it's a huge thing for me to say I'm going to do. I was a sprinter in high school track (not a GOOD sprinter, but definitely not a long-distance runner) and I played tennis and soccer. So - lots of up-on-the-toes running and not really long stamina needed. Basically the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of a marathon runner.

I have a 31-week training grid that started tonight. Just a 20-minute walk to start with, but it was surprising how tight my legs were and how hard it was for me to breath. All those years as a smoker are doing me in a little I think. But, the grid is very gradual and I don't even get to tracking distance versus time until week 12 or so - until then it's just building up walk/run time until I can get to 30-minutes of solid running only. (I've modified the 26-week grid from http://www.marathonrookie.com/)

I've probably also gone a little over the top in getting "ready" for this. Like new running clothes. And a sports watch (cheap and pink, but still, did I really need one?). An armband for my iPod. And of course the Nike+ sensor for my iPod (I don't have Nike+ shoes, but the sensor behaves just fine in my free New Balance shoes).

The Nike+ is probably my favorite little gadget EVER. I don't have to look at my new sports watch to track my time or calculate my speed - it does it for me! During my 20-minute walk today, the guy told me when I had gone 5, 10, 15,16,17,18,19 and 20 minutes. At any time I could push my button and find out how far I'd gone (and OK - it took me the full 20 minutes to go 1 mile. Realizing it takes me longer to do a mile outside than on my treadmill. For the record though, I went up a REALLY STEEP hill beside my house - like the first 10 minutes were uphill and the second half was back DOWN the hill).

Anyway...

The marathon I'm aiming for right now is the Olathe Marathon on March 29, 2009. Yes, exciting I know. But, if I survive that then I'll probably do the Kansas City Marathon in October 2009. Before the marathon I'm hoping to get in a few 5k and 10k, but because of when I'm starting training there won't be a lot of races to pick in the winter. If you know of any in the greater KC area between October and February, please pass them on.

But, let's just do this one step at a time... :-)