Countdown to Disney 1/2 Marathon

It has admittedly been far too long since posting on my "training blog"...mea culpa. This week I was in San Francisco and went on several runs up and down the hills there (Embarcadero along the water is a great running spot), and it really wreaked havoc with my knees. I recognize that running around with a bunch of extra lbs takes it's toll on a body...but nothing hammers that point home faster than running hills. So far I've lost 10lbs, but I really need to shed another 30 or so (so easy to pack on...such a pain to take off).

For this weeks "long run" my wife suggested that I run with her (she has been training for the 1/2 using a Run/Walk plan). I was torn - a part of me seems to adhere to the "no pain no gain" school of training, the other part just wanted to avoid tearing up my knees anymore than necessary. So we ran 5mi this morning doing a 3/2 split, and it was the easiest 5mi I've done, the average mins per mile were about the same as when I shuffle along the whole time, and I felt great the whole time (a little knee soreness at the very end, but nothing bad). So I'm now a convert! My thinking is I'll use my first run of the week (30mins) to run the whole time and work on getting faster, the second run (30 min) to run/walk and work on pacing, and the long run on the weekend to run/walk and get in my milage...which with 2 months to go until the 1/2 marathon needs some serious attention.

If you see my wife, give her a high five for how well she is doing with training, and for keeping me going as well!

Week 1 Results

Week 1 is now smoothly in the books. Sure, there was the requite shortness of breath and minor muscle aches, but on the whole I’m happy with how things are going...I felt better, stronger, more capable with every run.  The C25k program seems simplistic at first glance, but really works well for fat, lazy, out-of-shape guys like myself. My wife has gotten motivated to train with me, which is a pleasant surprise. I think the salutary benefits of running transcend the physical and push us to grow mentally (self-disciple), and emotionally (our view of ourselves)…so I’m excited that, as a family, we can take this part of the journey together (for if mom and dad are setting the tone with a healthy lifestyle, the kids will follow).

Bring on Week 2!

I’m Back!

It’s been roughly 6 months since my abrupt halt to training, but after a green light from the med staff I am back with a vengeance! I’ve signed up for the Disney half-marathon in January 2012, joined a running/support/charity fundraising group and plotted out my first benchmark/milestone…the 5k (which I’m looking at doing on Father’s Day). I hit the asphalt today for the first time (Couch potato to 5k plan, week one day one)…slow going…no endurance…out of shape, etc. but I’m psyched to be back out there. If you find yourself in the Boston area and see a fat white guy huffin and puffin down the road…give me a honk!