Lola's Run To A Marathon

[JackTraveler]

Okay so I was looking on the DisBoards a few weeks ago and saw people posting about the Disney Marathon. Well I love Disney and the Marathon in 2010 is only 2 weeks before my 21st birthday. So I figured that would be an awesome thing to do. I researched it some and thought about doing the Goofy Challenge, but figured that was a terrible idea for my first marathon. So I kept researching for a couple of days. Then I heard about the Marine Corps Marathon (which is huge here at my school) and thought that would be a great thing to do as a precursor to see if I'm up for the Goofy Challenge. Even that would be rushing it because of signing up and everything, so I found a 30 week program on the Hal Higdon site, found a marathon here in MD in May. I was only considering it and thinking about how cool it would be to show myself that I can do this and I mentioned it to my mom. She kept going on about how that the average person can't do a marathon and I have a hard time passing the PRT and I have never run more than 10 mi and that was only once. She's not mean she's just honest. So I'm going to prove her and myself wrong and do at least the Frederick Marathon on May 2 and maybe the Marine Corps Marathon in October of next year and then the Goofy Challenge in 2010!

About Me:
I'm a 19 yr old sophomore at USNA and I like it as much as someone can. I'm a chem major and I want to become a doctor eventually. I have a hard time with running at least for speed. I need to run a 1.5 in 12:40 pretty soon. My best has been a 13:20 and that was a week ago. I like swimming a lot more but I need to get out of my comfort zone and get into the habit of doing this which will be great no matter my age or where I'm living.
I also need to lose weight. I'm not sure of my exact weight, it's in the 170's (I'm 5'8") and I think I could lose about 30 lbs to get where I should be. This is going to be my progress journal to see how well I do.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to weigh myself and do measurements to see where I am. I'll just check my progress on measurements every week but weigh myself every morning. I hope this works.

PLAN of THE WEEK:
Monday - PRT
Tuesday - 1.5 mi Run
Wednesday - 3 mi Run
Thursday - 1.5 mi Run
Friday - Rest
Saturday - PRT (1.5), 3 mi Run
Sunday - 30 min walk

Wish me luck!

 

[postesf]

Good luck on your journey!

Check out the Events and Comp thread. Quite a few of the WISHers just did the Marine Corp Marathon this past Sunday.

Also...as an FYI... Goofy fills up FAST!!! You will have to be prepared to register for it in Jan/Feb of next year. It's extrememly popular. Keep an eye on the Events/Comp board of WISH and also check out Disneyrunning.com

Good luck!

Stacie

 

[JackTraveler]

Stacie - thanks! I wouldn't think that it would fill up that fast. I guess a lot of people are pretty crazy to try it!
Another day down. Tomorrow starts my first planned workout. I was going to run a PRT today, but we have one on Wednesday as well, so I didn't want to run three in a week.
I weighed myself this morning. 176.2. Could have been worse I guess. But could get much better. I ate around 1400 cals. I just had to have a little bit of hot chocolate. To justify it somewhat I was told I need to drink more milk by my dr and the only way I can stomach milk if it's in very small quantities and very watered down.

 

[corinnak]

Hi Lola - my mom is the same way. She thinks she's being helpful with her negative thinking, but when it comes to running, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

Wow, that's FAST to run 1.5 miles! You can do it, though, I bet. The distance and speedwork in marathon training will help you with that a lot. Do you have a plan picked out?

A little hot chocolate should be easy enough to fit into a sensible food plan.

Oh, and I think the Goofy fills up fast for a few reasons: 1. The bonus "Goofy" medal attracts those bling-seeking runners. 2. There are a limited number of slots - they increased it last year and it is still a small portion of the total number of runners in either event. 3. Yeah, there are a lot of Goofy people in the running community. 4. It seems like the distance runners I know have all gotten into the sport BECAUSE it involves doing things that seem impossible. The Goofy is maybe not the ultimate challenge, but it is a BIG challenge even for a marathoner.

Good luck this week!

 

[JackTraveler]

Corinna - Thanks for stopping by! About my mom, she doesn't mean it. She just doesn't really get it I don't think. Who knows?
I guess people like really big challenges and running a marathon and a half is definetly that. I'm kind of worried about having to sign up before my first marathon, but I think this is something that I can do. Hopefully by then I will have run my first and then the MCM. And then I'll be ready for it.

Today was average. We didn't have formation so I slept in until 9:30 which is a rarity for a weekday. I probably should have gotten up and studied, oh well. And after lunch I went to the library with the intentions of studying, but mostly read. I hope I do okay on my Russian test tomorrow even though I didn't really study.
I spent $70 today. Ugh it was awful handing over my credit card. But I got a pair of under armour compression cold weather pants and a cheap timex watch because I don't own a watch, haha. I test both of them out during my awful run today. I ran 1.6 mi in 15:34 which isn't good for me. I usually run a sub 9 mile, but it was incredibly windy with gusts up to 30 and I had to stop to figure out my watch. Hopefully I'll run much better tomorrow because I have a PRT. I also have one on Saturday at 0630. I also have a 3 mi run on that day and there's a 5k but I don't think I'm going to run in it, because it's at 0900 and I would rather go running at like noon, give my legs a few hours rest at least.
My calves were killing me today and they still kind of hurt. That's not good, but I do have 800 mg ibuprofen. that really helps.
I ate too much today, around 1700 cals. I like to stay under 1400. It was at my bible study. There were the carrot cake things that were just so damn good, I couldn't help myself. I had like three of them. And then I had 2 of thsoe fun sized kit-kats. Did you know those have 133 cals in them?!?! I could have had a full kit kat for 230 calories, that's 30 less calories and it seems like those are bigger. I thought they had like 50-90. I'm not eating more than one of those ever again. My new food goal is to have 4 pieces of fruit a day. It's so filling and you're supposed to get 5 but that's a lot, 4 is going to be hard for me. We only have apple, oranges, and bananas here at school and I HATE bananas. So that's 2 apples and 2 oranges a day. Maybe that will fill me up so I don't eat so many sweets after dinner anymore.
Today: 1.6/1.5
Weekly: 1.6/12 (15:34)
Tomorrow: 4.5 mi run and strength

 

[mom2faith]

Hi! I found you!!

I did a marathon and I am not at all athletic. It really is mind over matter and you definitly have determination. I am a walker so to complete the Honolulu marathon in 2006 it took me 9 hours 11 minutes. You are probably thinking WHAT!! But, I did it!! And it was one of my prouder moments!!

I can't wait to read more of your updates.

Congrats on making this step!!

Amy

 

[JackTraveler]

Amy - Hey I'm glad you found me!!
Wow, that is really inspirational. Moving for nine hours takes a lot more determination, stamina, and patience than I could ever have! That's crazy but so awesome. You should be very proud of yourself. Keep up the great work!

So today was okay. I had 6 classes today, and these days always feel like high school. I had two midterms, one in german and one in russian that I did okay on. I didn't do so hot on my physics test, I got a C. With my take home portion I should get bumped up to a B. I'm probably looking at a 3.1 for 12 weeks. I really wish I could get it higher though!! I guess I just need to work harder.
I ate around 1700 cals. Still too much. After I went running I was absolutely starving, which NEVER happens to me. So I devoured a rice pudding and an apple in less than a minute I think. I had two things of hot chocolate, which I should not have eaten. Too late now... At least I burned around 500 calories or so. AND I only had two pieces of fruit as opposed to 4. Tomorrow is a new day, I guess.
Working out today was average. I had a PRT. I did 48 pushups, 88 situps, and a 13:15 run. I still need to drop 35 seconds on my run. We'll see if I can do that by Saturday. My splits were approximately .25 - 2:00, .5 - 4:10, .75 - 6:20, 1 - 8:35, 1.25 - 10:55, 1.5 - 13:15. My first 3/4 of a mile were great, but it was those last little bit that slowed me down a lot. Hopefully on Saturday I can drop all of that extra ness.
Afterwards I went on a 3 m run. I went really really slowly. I think I finished at 34:27. But I wasn't going for time, just trying to finish, because I had run a PRT and that had worn my legs down a lot.

STATS as of 29OCT2008:
Today: 4.5/4.5 (49:42)
Weekly: 6.1/12
Tomorrow: 1.5 m Run

 

[momof2minnies]

Looking great Lola keep it up!

Linda

 

[JackTraveler]

Thanks for coming by Linda!

Today wasn't that great eating wise. I had these organic poptarts for lunch then again as a snack... whoops. And then tonight was Halloween here at school so I ate too much sugar and now my stomach hurts. But we had a good time. I went as a Hippie. (actually I looked a lot like that) I'm pretty much a hippie when I'm not in uniform so I had my own clothes to wear. I'm glad I had civilian clothes here at school.. haha. It was a cute costume though, if I do say so myself.
Also guys at this school have incredible bodies... OH man, I love when they walk around shirtless. Especially when it's the entire water polo team...
I weighed 174 this morning. I was 176.2 on Monday and 175.6 yesterday, but we'll see where I am tomorrow. Probably not so great because of the candy, but oh well, I'll run it off this weekend.
Speaking of running, I ran 1.6 in 16:10. Woo, that's terrible!! I don't know why my times can vary so much. I was out of breath, just not breathless and I guess that's a big difference. My slow runs need to be more on par with what I usually run.
I have a russian skit that I'm performing tomorrow, so I'm nervous about that.
OH! I just read something that I would put on here for any Christians around: "Train yourself in godliness for, while physical training has some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:7-8. Just something for me (and anyone else to think about).
And another awesome thing (not as great, but pretty darn good) - I got Boma's for Thanksgiving! YAyyY! Me and my mom are going down to WDW for Wednesday through Friday and we were going to eat at Jiko, but we wanted more variety for Thanksgiving. This was a really last minute trip, we decided on it only a couple of weeks ago. So I called on a whim today during my lunch break and they had had a cancellation at a great time just a few hours before and I got it!

STATS as of 30OCT2008:
Today: 1.6/1.5 (16:10)
Weekly: 7.7/12 (1:21:26)
Tomorrow: Rest!

 

[JackTraveler]

So my computer has been going crazy the past few days. I didn't update on Halloween, that was a rest day for me, we had a parade and I just relaxed a lot.
Yesterday I had a PRT at 0700. I only did 30 pushups, 81 situps, and I ran a 13:03 1.5 mi. I did my first 1/2 mi in 4:20, my mile in 8:40. I was happy that I beat my Wednesday time by 12 seconds but I was dissapointed I haven't run a 12:40 yet... I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't have to run my 3 mi after the PRT but I didn't pass so I had to run it. I did 3.0 mi in 32:58 which was better than last week, so that's good I guess.
That put my Oct 27-Nov 1 miles to 12.1 miles in 2:05:27. I'm pretty happy with that. My main problem with this weekend was eating too much sweetness, but I let my weekends go a little more relaxed. When football games end it will be a little better because I won't have tailgaters to go to afterwards with lots of really good food. Speaking of football, the game yesterday against Temple was pretty amazing. The last 3 minutes and then OT that is. The other 5 million hours were terribly boring. Then again I'm not a football fan.
Today was pretty relaxing. I actually woke up early for a Sunday and folded clothes nad cleaned my closet out. I'm procrastinating homework a lot though. I'll do it pretty soon, I think. I had a pretty bad week grade wise, so I was pretty upset about that. Hopefully this week will be a lot better. I got on the elliptical after dinner and went for 30 min and did 2.09 mi on it. It was a nice day not to run. Tomorrow I think I'm going swimming in morning. I really need to work on my breathing and upper body strength so I think this is the best way to do that.
Right now watching amazing race. I've loved this show for years and I really hope Dallas and Toni (the mom and son) win. They're my favorite. Okay time for physics.
OH! BIG NEWS! I paid for my marathon yesterday!!!! So I have to do it, because I'm the biggest scrooge ever and I HATE wasting money. I also got three months subscription to runner's world, women's running, and self for FREE. And a $15 gift certificate to a running store. That's pretty exciting too.

Today: Cross Train (elliptical, 30 min, 2.09 mi)
Weekly: 0/9.5
Tomorrow: Swimming/Rest

 

[JackTraveler]

Today was the start of another not so great day. I got some not hot grades back and struggled with physics for a few hours last night. I was tired all day, but stayed pretty much awake, that was a struggle though. Haha.
I went to workouts today even though today was a rest day. i didn't really have a choice though. We did strength for about 45 min, it was pretty tough and then I did 3 mi in 40 min. It was a slooooow run with one of my friends. Now I'm watching The Departed and it's awesome. So the end of an average day. The end.

STATS AS OF 03NOV2008
Today: 3 mi Run (40 min) (45 min strength)
Weekly: 3/9.5
Tomorrow: 1.5 mi run

 

[JackTraveler]

Wow this has been a BUSY week. I had tests all week and meetings and all sorts of stuff. And I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow. Thank goodness I don't have school on Tuesday so I can get alot of my orgo problems done then. I only got 15 or so done tonight which is bad because I have about 100 to do. AND I have 3 labs on tuesday that I haven't started yet. I think I'm going to try and do the first one tonight. We'll see how far I get.
I went on my run today. I went at 2220 or so. I was going to run earlier but I forgot to bring my socks to my sponsors house so I couldn't run there. Well, I could of but I"m not a fan of running without socks. So I went in the dark but it was perfect temperature out and I only saw 2 people. My pace was really slow, I really need to learn to pick it up on these long runs but oh well.

STATS as of 08NOV2008:
Today: 3.57 mi (44:37)
Week: 9.38/9.5 (1:48:31)
Tomorrow: 35 min Elliptical

Lola

 

[mom2faith]

Wow this has been a BUSY week. I had tests all week and meetings and all sorts of stuff. And I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow. Thank goodness I don't have school on Tuesday so I can get alot of my orgo problems done then. I only got 15 or so done tonight which is bad because I have about 100 to do. AND I have 3 labs on tuesday that I haven't started yet. I think I'm going to try and do the first one tonight. We'll see how far I get.
I went on my run today. I went at 2220 or so. I was going to run earlier but I forgot to bring my socks to my sponsors house so I couldn't run there. Well, I could of but I"m not a fan of running without socks. So I went in the dark but it was perfect temperature out and I only saw 2 people. My pace was really slow, I really need to learn to pick it up on these long runs but oh well.

STATS as of 08NOV2008:
Today: 3.57 mi (44:37)
Week: 9.38/9.5 (1:48:31)
Tomorrow: 35 min Elliptical

Lola

Do not stress yourself out so much!! School does have to come first. I know your health and well being is very improtant, but do not be afraid to focus on the small things. Remember, this is a lifestyle change, not a crash diet. You have to work these changes into your new lifestyle, and you are doing a great job.

Keep up the great work!!

Amy

 

[JackTraveler]

Busy past few days as always. I'm applying to this trip to Poland and the application is hard. I'm not a very good writer so it took me forever to do that, and now I have to mail it tomorrow and it's still not done. I'm having a hard time not making my answers all sound cliched. Oh well.
I had BSU tonight which always makes my day a little bit better, but I'm about to go get a red bull or a monster to go on a homeowrk rampage. Wish me luck!!


Stats as of 11NOV08:

Today: 2.11 mi (21:48)
Week: 2.11/10.5 (21:48)
Tomorrow: 3 mi Run

 

[JackTraveler]

Still really sleepy. I had a long day with no rest. Now I'm just going to watch Grey's Anatomy and then go to bed.
Today was pretty good. My roommate woke up at 0545 and I couldn't go back to sleep, so I just laid there for an hour until I had to get up. Then I had classes and stuff. My phone died and my charger is at my sponsors so I can't charge it until sunday so I couldn't take a nap. And then I had more classes. And then I had to go running. That wasn't too bad. We also had about half an hour of pushups, situps, jumping jacks, pretty intense. The girl I've been running with is leaving at the end of the semester so I don't know what I'll do after that...
Then all the religious activities put on a root beer float night for the brigade, so I helped run that. It was a lot of fun. I got really messy though. I had some ice ceam anda piece of pizza. Then I had my bible study and we talked about how important prayer is and finished the book of James. And I had a veggie sandwich and 3 oreos.
Now I'm up in my room, trying to get this stupid player to work. If it doesn't then I'm just going to bed. I'm too tired to deal with this.
The real conundrum is when will I run tomorrow? I have the Navy v. Notre Dam (GO NAVY!) game tomorrow and that will take ALLLLLLL day. I hate football by the way... So I'll probably around 11 again.
Have a good night!

Stats as of 14NOV2008:
Today: 2.1 (22:05)
Week: 9.01/10.5 (1:34:44)

 

[JackTraveler]

So anyone who saw the Navy v ND game would have been on the edge of their seats... It was really boring fo rthe first 3 quarters (so boring I fell asleep) until it started raining. ANd then I was like, oh crap. This sucks. And then it started MONSOONING! Pretty ridiculous. Well the score was 7-27 and all of a sudden we made a touchdown! So we started going crazy and the rain started getting harder! And I heard someone go, "okay, we only need to make an interception, another touchdown, another interception, then another touchdown." I was like, pssh. That'll never happen we only made 1 interception and one touchdown the entire game and there are less than 4 minutes less! Well next thing I know, they made an interception. 10 s later, they made a touchdown! 30 s later, they made another interception! We tried really hard but we couldn't make that last touchdown. WE knew we had to pass the ball , but we just couldn't make it. It was really exciting though. I didn't even know what onsides were before today. And I didn't know you could call a Time out and get away with it so your team could regroup.
When I got back I was starving so I got Moes then some starbucks. I still had my 4 mi run but I couldn't go until I digested my food. And then it started raining so I kept putting it off and finally I said I had to leave before 10 pm. It was another monsoon. Not as bad as earlier, but the puddles were huge and it was pretty hard rain. But I had a lot of fun in it and I ran pretty well for me at least. This is getting easier and easier! And I'm not dreading it anymore. I look forward to going running as long as it's not sprints. I HATE those a lot.
But I have to go to bed so I can get up early and study for my organic chemistry test.
NIght!

Stats as of 15NOV2008:
Today: 4.16 mi (43:56)
Week: 13.17/10.5 (2:18:40) total - 34.77
Tomorrow: 30 min elliptical

 

[momof2minnies]

Hi Lola,
It is a great feeling when the miles become easier and easier.Please be careful out there.I am assuming you are running on campus right?Too much has gone on lately.Don't go alone at night.Yes I am a Mom of a 17 yr old DD.

Good luck on your Chem test.

Are you gearing up for the Disney marathon 2010-I don't remember from your older posts?

Thanks for checking in on my journal.I have to do 12 today in the wind of about 20 mph!Ugh!

Linda

 

[JackTraveler]

Ugh so I know that I've been AWOL these past couple of weeks but no more! I ended up in the hospital the week before thanksgiving with a migraine but I had the symptoms of bacterial meningitis. It was pretty scary! But after a few days and lots of meds the migraine went away. Well then I had Thanksgiving week and gearing up for that. I went to Disney World with my mom! We went to Animal Kingdom thanksgiving day and to Boma's for dinner. Seriously, that was probably the best meal I have ever had. It was incredible... Especially the butternut squash soup. OMG AMAZING! ONe of the best things I have ever tasted. I was a little disapointed with the desserts though. They were good but not incredible like I was hoping. Unfortunately we're not going back because my mom had lap band almost 2 years ago and it's really not worth it for her to go to buffets. She usually ends up eating too much for her stomach and then get sick. But Boma's was incredible and we made an exception haha.
This week is pretty crazy around here. Finals are coming up starting next week and all my profs are throwing last minute tests at me. But I'm back to the running. The week I got sick I only ran 3 miles, Thanksgiving week I only ran 4. But I'm on a roll, I've already ran 1 mile over what had to so far this week.
Well, if anyone is still reading this I hope everyone is doing awesome. It's almost Christmas!!!

STATS as of 03DEC08
Today: 3 mi (29:46)
This Week: 6.06 mi (1:00:12)
Tomorrow: 2 mi