MCM Training Starts Today!

Today is my first official day training for the Marine Corps Marathon.  I had my coach design out a plan for the next 7 months to get me to the starting line healthy and hopefully feeling pretty confident.  I certainly don't have any lofty goals for this marathon.  Finishing = Winning. 

I started off with a 3 mile run today.  It's been about 3 weeks since I last ran so it felt good to get back out there again.  I've missed it.  Evan was so excited when I got home and he immediately started asking me if I was going to have some Nuun.  The boys love that stuff.

Mike decided to photobomb us in the background.
 

Yoga

I went to a yoga class this morning.  It's been a few weeks since my last class.  I've really missed it.  My body has as well.  I've noticed my hip feeling tight again and I definitely noticed a decrease in my flexibility. 

Today's class kicked my butt in the best possible way. I've got to get back into the habit of going 2-3 times a week again.

Like Mommy & Daddy!

The boys and I were waiting for Mike to pick us up outside a Fleet Feet store (my favorite running shoe store) and Lucas pointed to the pictures of the runners on the window.  He then exclaimed, "Those are runners like Mommy & Daddy!"

I love how he associates running with us.  Hopefully by us modeling running to him, he'll grow up to be a runner someday as well.

Back at it

I've fallen off the wagon.  Life got in the way yet again and it seems like I've been sick 3 weeks out of March.  Plus I've also come to realize that I just don't run regularly when I'm not training for something.  I need the accountability of knowing my runs are working towards a bigger goal.  I've decided to change that. 

I signed up for two races in May.  I'm a huge fan of Brazen Racing and decided to sign up for two of their races.  I'm doing the Western Pacific 10K on May 3 and the Nitro Trail 5K on May 31.  But that's not all I've got on my race calendar.  I've got something else.  Something BIG. 

For awhile now I've thought that a half marathon was probably the max distance I would run in a race.  I don't think I'm cut out for anything longer.  But then again, a marathon has always been on my bucket list.  It's something I'd love to say I did.  Because I never, ever thought I would run one before (hell, I never even thought I'd run at all!).  I've always said that if I were to run a marathon it would have to be a big race.  A race with a lot of spectators to boost my spirits when I hit the wall.  A race with a lot of participants so I never feel like I'm running all by myself. 

The Marine Corps Marathon is one of those races.  I happened to look at their website and saw that they were accepting entrants for their lottery.  I entered feeling fairly confident I wouldn't get selected. 

But then I did.  I got into Marine Corps.  Holy crap.  I'm going to run a marathon.  I'm just a bit frightened...

Spectating at Oakland Running Festival's Marathon & Half Marathon

Today was Oakland Running Festival's race.  Last year this was my first half marathon.  In addition, I managed to convince 21 of my students to run the half marathon as well!  We were so grateful to be part of Running for a Better Oakland which helped train the runners on Saturday mornings.  There were quite a few of our former students who were running the half marathon again so Mike and I wanted to be there to cheer them on (they didn't know we were coming so surprising them was fun).  In addition our good friend Moir was running the full marathon (his first!) so we wanted to be sure to cheer him on.  A coworker of ours was also running her first marathon so we were hoping to see her as well.

We made it a fun outing for the boys by taking BART.  They love riding on BART.
 
 
 
 
 

We took BART to West Oakland because it was around the halfway point for the half marathon runners and close to mile 20 for the marathoners.  Within a few minutes of arriving we saw Junior run by (in the yellow shirt). 

 Then came Jonathan (also in yellow - all of the students wore yellow RBO shirts).

I was happy to see Jefferson coming by as well.  Last year Mike ran the half marathon with him.

After Jefferson we saw Alejandra running with a smile on her face!
 
 Jasmine came running by as well looking really strong!

Then I looked around the corner and saw David and Vanessa.  They looked like they were struggling and walking a bit.  I definitely know that feeling.  I think I scared them when I jumped out in front of them and told them to start running again!  I ran a bit with them and was so proud of them for digging deep and continuing on. 
 
 I'm so proud of all of my students from last year.  It was really good to see them and cheer them on as they ran 13.1 miles! 

We were all really excited when we saw Moir come around the corner!  

 
We also saw our coworker Lacy run by.  I didn't get a picture because she was running faster than I anticipated (she rocked that marathon!) so I didn't have my camera ready.  But I gave her a high five!  
It was really inspiring to see all of the runners.  I love cheering on at races.  I know how much it means to me when I run a race to have people cheer me on.  It was also a bit intimidating to see the runners who were struggling because this is probably going to be me.  I've signed up for my first marathon - October 26th.  Time to get training!

Days 2 and 3

I really love incorporating regular exercise into my life.  I like how my clothes fit better.  I have more patience and energy with my kids.  I think good thoughts about myself.  It's awesome.  The one thing though that I don't like is how busy it makes our weekdays.  I have to sacrifice some time with my boys in the afternoon in order to get a run in while it's still light outside (I'm so looking forward to the time change this weekend!).  But overall it is worth it.  I need to keep telling myself that when I'm tired from being out of the house for 12 hours or I'm feeling frazzled by the nonstop nature of my day from 4:45am until usually 7pm. 

Tuesday I went to my favorite yoga class.  I was disappointed though that my favorite teacher wasn't there and instead a substitute was teaching the class.  She's a newly trained teacher and I didn't care for her style too much but it did feel good to open up my hips and stretch. 

Wednesday I did hill repeats.  I ran one mile to warm up and then headed to a hill that my students refer to as Little Mama.  I ran up 3 times (needed to stop once in the middle where it levels out a bit) and down 3 times before running a mile back to my car.  It felt good to get my heart rate up and feel my legs power through the repeats.  I also was reminded why whenever I sign up for a run I usually pick a flat one.  :-)

Today I plan on running after work.  I'm not sure if I'll do an easy run or some type of tempo run.  We'll see how my legs feel. 

Day One

Today is day one of getting back on the wagon.  My goal of running 4 times a week, yoga/pilates 2-3 times, and strength training once is starting today.  When I work I get up early (4:40am).  I shower and get ready and then head into the kitchen.  Mike and the boys are still sleeping.  I have usually 20 minutes of quiet to drink a cup of coffee, check email, and have some downtime to myself before Lucas is up. 

I've been so hungry in the morning lately and doesn't seem to matter what I eat for breakfast I'm still starving a few hours later.  Today I tried having a bowl of oatmeal with strawberries and blueberries.  It kept me full until noon - win!

Once the day gets going it is so busy.  The job of a teacher is pretty demanding and I feel like I'm going nonstop until I leave at 3:45.  I packed lunches for the week yesterday (mixed greens with grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, and balsamic vinegar.  Made it really easy to eat in my classroom while helping some students. 
 
It's a good thing I love doing what I do.  Mike was running home from work today (the beauty of living so close to work!) and I was picking up the boys.  Even though we live less than a mile and a half from work the pick up of both boys at two different locations takes about 45 minutes. 

I'm so happy when I see them in the afternoon.  I usually get Evan first and love hearing about how day while we drive to pick up Lucas.
 
When I got home I made the boys a snack and then changed to go for my run.  It's been a few weeks since I've run so I wasn't sure how my hip would feel.  I decided to just do a short, easy 2.5 miles to ease into it again.  It felt good to be running again.  I've missed it. 

I came home and played with the boys a bit while I did some ab work and Mike made dinner. 


The boys are finishing their shower with daddy then it will be time to read books with them before they go to sleep. I've got big plans of a hot cup of tea (still nursing that awful sore throat and cold - going on day 11 now!) and The Bachelor on TV. 

March 1st

It's March today.  Two months already into 2014.  I'm no where near where I'd thought I'd be when I thought up my goals for 2014.  But that's OK.  I need to be kind to myself and remember I was injured.  I was feeling burnt out on always being in the training mode for some race.  It's good to take some time off, to actually miss running for running. 

My hip is finally feeling better but then I got hit with a horrible cold.  My chest felt tight like I couldn't get a full breath in.  Running didn't seem like a good option.  But Monday I'm going to try again. 

My goal for the next 4 weeks is to run 4 days a week.  One "long" run - I say long in quotes because I know I've lost some running fitness.  I'm going to start with 4 miles and increase by a mile each week.  One run will be hill repeats - something I've never done before.  I know which hill I'm going to run up and down but I'm not yet sure how many times.  I think I'll start by doing as many as I can and then add one more.  Each week I'll increase from there.  One run will be easy.  My last one will be a tempo run or some type of speed intervals. 

In addition to running 4 times a week I want to go to my yoga studio ideally 3 times a week but I'd settle for 2.  I also want to do one day a week of strength training with weights (since yoga can count as strength training as well I figured once is good).  This means some days I may need to double up since I will want at least one day off a week.  I plan on checking in here each week to recap what I've done.  I'm hoping this helps me get back to a regular routine of running and taking care of my body.