You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Marathon Training' category.
I felt compelled to write my entire story of my relationship with food this morning because some people don’t buy that there is a psychology to eating….so here I go.
When I was a very little girl, I could eat whatever I wanted and I was always about average. I ate doughnuts and twinkies for snacks and in my lunch. Mom made spaghetti and tacos for dinner, and I could eat until I was full. When I was about 11, things started to change. All of a sudden, I started to go through puberty, and I got chubby in places I didn’t like. I always thought my thighs were fat. They spread out and covered the entire desk chair at school.
I joined the track team and started to run. I sucked as a runner, and I hated it, but I did it so I could lose weight. I was about 15 years old. Then, I heard that if you smoked you could stay thin, so I started smoking. That is a habit that took me almost 25 years to break. When I was 17, my mom decided to lose weight, so she went on a diet called PermaSlim. It was part of the big low-fat craze of the 1970’s. I probably weighed about 125 pounds at the time. She started it, so I started it too. I hid Dexatrim in my dresser, I lived on soda crackers and diet coke, and at 5′7″ tall, I ended up at 113 pounds. My clothes were falling off of me. I would do sit ups in bed in order to burn calories. I was battling an eating disorder, but they didn’t call it that then. Eventually, luckily, I started to eat again and then I left for college.
When I got to college, I weighed 113, by Christmas break I weighed 129 and by the time I got married the end of my 2nd year of college, I was at 143. In less than 2 years, I had gained 30 pounds, all while working full-time and attending school full-time. I got pregnant the next year, and went from 143 to 211 in 9 months. After my daughter was born in March of 1986, I went on one of my more extreme diets. I skipped breakfast, had an 8 ounce yogurt for lunch, and a salad with fat-free dressing for dinner. I took a high impact aerobics class at the college. The rest of the day I drank Diet Coke and smoked cigarettes. I was going to be thin again if it killed me. I got back to about 140 pounds by her second birthday.
Then my husband lost his job and we moved. I got pregnant with my second daughter. This pregnancy went pretty well, I only ended up getting back up around 190 with her, and most of it I lost right away. Of course, I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and didn’t give up the Diet coke. I was so afraid of getting fat again. After she was born, I went to TOPS (Take off Pounds Sensibly). The day of the meetings, I wouldn’t eat all day. I would barely drink water because I was going to get weighed in. I got back again to about 140 or so by her first birthday.
When she was 2, I found out I was pregnant again. This was kind of a stressful time, as we had only planned on two kids, but God had other plans for us. With this third pregnancy, I climbed back up to about 220. After I gave birth to a beautiful 9 pound boy, I went home to care for three children under 7 of my own, plus I provided child care. I had 8 children all under 7 in my house. I wasn’t overeating, I was cooking very well and I was running non-stop for about 10 hours a day. By the time my son was 1, I was still over 200 pounds. I tried starving myself, but would give up after a week or so. I bought a Nordic Track, but when you weight 200 pounds and smoke a pack or more of cigarettes a day, the frustration of that was just to much, so I didn’t stay with it. I tried lots of things, nothing worked, so for many years I gave up. Plus, I firmly believe that in the back of my mind, I was afraid that if I lost weight again, I would get pregnant again…a mental block that kept me from being successful.
When my son was 9, I decided to quit smoking. Cigarettes had just gone to $21 a carton, and I couldn’t rationalize spending that. Plus, I was up to 2 packs a day. I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs without losing my breath. I quit cold turkey in May of 2001. On that day, I started walking instead of smoking. I traded one addiction for another. At first I was walking a mile or so a day, but soon it headed up into 3, 4 then 7 or 8 miles per day as the addiction grew. This was also about the time that I discovered yoga. I started practicing yoga daily to help me to stay calm and reduce stress.
I decided in mid- 2002 that I wanted to run a marathon before I turned 40. I didn’t have much time, so I started training. The diet addiction hit again at this time. In order to run a marathon, I would have to be thin, right? I dropped my daily intake of calories to about 1200 and was running 30 miles or so a week, plus lifting weights or doing some kind of resistance training 4-5 times per week as well. I was working out about 2 hours a day on 1200 calories. I was only losing about 1- 1 1/2 lbs a week because my body had kicked into starvation mode. It was holding onto whatever it could to keep me alive. I passed out one day, when my blood pressure got to low. I didn’t stop my quest though. I was doing a daily run and a daily workout video, no matter what. When we got to the race, I weighed 143 pounds. This was after almost a year of eating nothing and working out excessively. My hair was falling out, I had dark circles under my eyes and I was pale. My blood pressure was so low, I got dizzy alot, but God help me I was thin!!
After the race, the only thing I wanted was a Big Mac at McDonalds. I ate it, and when we got home I weighed 148. I had gained 5 pounds after running a marathon, and eating nothing else bad the entire weekend except a Big Mac. This was disheartening to me. I wouldn’t even drink Gatorade at the water stops because I didn’t want to take in the extra calories. I had a problem and I needed to face it.
When we got back from the race, I started to eat a bit more and eased off the exercise a bit. I was still getting in at least an hour a day, but some days it was just teaching yoga, other days running, and other days resistance. I started to gain back weight. This scared me.
I have over the years evened out between 160 and 175 pounds for the most part. I can gain 5 pounds in a weekend if we travel somewhere. It takes me a month or better to lose it again. It is a constant and lifelong battle that I need to face. Coming from “heavy German and Scandinavian stock”, I work hard to maintain where I am at. I will not say it is easy and it never will be for me, but it is worth the effort. I can run a half marathon without thinking about it much. I can do push-ups and sit-ups with the best of them. I am strong and fit, even if I am not stick thin, and you can’t see my 6-pack abs.
I teach 7-10 yoga classes a week, with most of them being either sculpt or power classes. I run 3 or 4 times a week too and do some BeachBody workouts in between. It is truly my passion to help others find their own level of fitness. It isn’t the same for everyone, and I don’t want anyone to get discouraged because they don’t look like the people in the DVD’s or the models in the magazine. Be you, find your place and be happy with yourself. This is the lesson I want you to take from this story of mine.
Yes, I still need to keep track of what I eat. I have to make conscious choices about my food, I need to spend time everyday being a bit hungry. I fight myself to not obsess over food and exercise, but it is a battle everyday.
You can accomplish your goals, just know that once you get there, you will need to work hard to maintain it. It can’t be a diet, it has to be a lifestyle change. You can never go back to the old ways or you will gain back the weight you worked so hard to lose. The satisfaction you will get is knowing that you can keep up with your kids, you can climb stairs without losing your breath and you will be comfortable in your own skin! Ok, I do eat a doughnut every once in a while now because I really like them, but then I pay attention the next day.
If you are ready to take the next step, I would love to help you! I want to help you to become the best you you can be…I want to help you learn to love yourself, find a healthy relationship with food and fitness…
Are you ready??
email me at simplicityquest@gmail.com or visit my website at http://www.yogafitnesswellness.com
I hate to swim. I REALLY hate to swim. But I do it. Why? Because it is good for me, and because in order to complete a triathlon I have to swim.
I take a vitamin every morning. I really HATE the taste of it, but I do it…why? Because it is good for me and it will make me healthier in the long run.
Running is not my favorite activity, but I do it. Why? Again, in order to finish a triathlon, I have to run, and running is good for me. It helps to keep me fit, keeps my heart healthy and helps to control my weight.
Competing in events many weekends in the summer keeps me doing something physical the rest of the week. I don’t train like crazy, but I do get out almost every day and bike, run or swim. Most days I practice yoga as well, in order to stay flexible and create strength.
You don’t have to like to exercise to do it, you just have to do it. This may sound harsh, but I am sick of excuses. I hear excuses almost every day. I don’t have time, my knees hurt, it was cold out, it was raining, I can’t afford a membership to a gym, I didn’t have a babysitter….etc…on they go.
You make time to watch some TV everyday (don’t say you don’t, I can almost guarantee it!), your knees will stop hurting if you get out and do something physical, dress warmer, wear a raincoat, you don’t need a membership to a gym, you have the whole outside world, take the kids in a jogging stroller, or have them ride their bike along side of you if they are older….there, I debunked every excuse you have….( if you have another excuse, email it to me and I will figure out a way to make it go away.)
You can start a resistance training workout with a $10 resistance band from Target, all you need to start walking or running is a good pair of shoes, and of course, I recommend a weekly yoga class, which is about the same cost as dinner at McDonald’s (which one is better for you???).
So, I finished the triathlon on Saturday. I ran 2 miles, biked 10 miles and swam 350 yards. Did I enjoy every minute of it? Nope. Did I enjoy the training leading up to it? Nope. Do I feel a great sense of accomplishment for having done it? Yup. Do I like the way the training makes me feel when I am done? Yup. Will I do it again? Of course!!
So quit the excuses and get your butt up off the couch, right now, and get outside for a walk or drag your bike out of the basement, pump up the tires and head out for a ride…you will thank yourself for it in the long run….
see you at yoga!!
yogajen
My passion is helping people to find fitness and wellness in their lives. I was once quite overweight, I smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and woke up with a Diet Coke and 2 Excedrin. I felt like crap most days, struggling just to meet the basic demands of life. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was at that point. I would stop at Culver’s to have lunch, and I couldn’t quite understand why someone would go there and eat a salad. What the heck, a Butter Burger is much better, and don’t forget the fries! Since the pop refills are free, might as well have a couple of those also.
So when did my path change? It occured due to a very stressful time in my life in 2001. I had a business that was thriving, but a partner who figured it might be a good idea to take advantage of that. I was working 50+ hours per week, my kids were young, I was exhausted and stressed out. One day, I sat in my car in front of a client’s business, pretty sure I was having a nervous breakdown. Something had to give.
I got rid of the partner…let him go with whatever cash he wanted, and took over the business on my own. I quit the job I was working at the same time, moved into a smaller office space and began to develop my business on my terms. I decided to quit smoking about this time, and had lost some weight due to the stresses I had been under.
About the same time, I decided to purchase some yoga videos. The first time I did one, I almost passed out. I hadn’t done anything fitness related for years, so just stretching was strenuous. I pressed on….I started walking when I quit smoking as well. I had to trade a bad addiction for a good one, so decided to walk every time I wanted a cigarette. It worked really well, and I actually lost more weight during the quitting process.
I started to feel awesome!! I had energy, I fit into smaller jeans, I could walk up steps without having to stop to catch my breath! It was around this time that I found Beachbody videos and did Slim-in-6. Everything in life was looking up. I emailed my husband at work and said “I am going to run a marathon before I turn 40….wanna train with me???” And so goes the story. I completed my first marathon in 2003, and have been running, walking, doing yoga and eating well every since!
I have had my ups and downs weight-wise, which after years of yoyo dieting is to be expected. I just get back on the bandwagon, pick myself up and go on….
So, if you want to feel better, lose some weight, get fit and get your head around the whole deal, I would love to help you! You have to be ready to do it….you have to commit to it….but you will be glad in the long run…..
Send me an email at simplicityquest@gmail.com or call me at 608-797-1990….Visit www.yogafitnesswellness.com and pick out a yoga class…..start today…don’t wait…your life and your happiness depend on you making the decision to be healthy!! No one can do it for you…only you can do it!! Let me help you set up a plan, stay accountable, and find your way to health!!
yogajen….
I trained this summer for a marathon. I planned on it since May and got to the starting line of the Whistlestop Marathon yesterday feeling good and ready to run…..The first 1/2 went really well. I was at 2:35 at the half, which was right on pace. I was going for 12 minute miles, so all was well!
At about mile 14, my right knee started to hurt. I couldn’t even jog by mile 15 or so. I figured I would just walk the remaining 11 miles, as I would still finish under the 6 hour time limit, so no worries. By mile 16, walking was becoming painful. It seemed to take forever to get to mile 17…still, I figured I would work through the pain, and walk to the end…..at mile 18, I was crying from the shooting pain which at this point was radiating from the outside of my right knee, up the side of my leg into my sciatic nerve. I had to stop, I had no options at this point.
I cried all the way back to town, and when I saw Dan in the first aid tent it started all over again. People kept asking me if I was ok, and I kept saying “yes, I am just pissed”. I was so mad at myself for not finishing….I always finish….I never quit, and here I was quitting the biggest event of the summer.
Sometimes, we have to give in and say “I can’t do it.” For some of us this is very difficult. Yes, I am human…I can only do what I can do, and I need to keep that in mind….
Congratulations to Dan and Kathy for their great times in the marathon!!
yogajen
No worries, I am still doing a marathon this year. I have been training all summer, and have no intention of skipping out on it!! We will be doing the Whistlestop Marathon in Ashland, Wisconsin on October 11th, rather than the Des Moines marathon. The Whistlestop has a special place in our hearts as it was the first one that both Dan and I completed. It is an awesome route, easy on the knees. It is on an old railroad bed and it goes downhill for the most of the route. One year, it was snowing and the bridges were snow covered and icy. That was pretty interesting…
The first year we did the marathon, it was around 50 degrees and drizzling at the start. I stripped down to a tank and shorts, wondering if I had lost my mind. About one mile in, I was truly glad that I was wearing very little. At around the 18 mile mark, I was confused as to why all of the volunteers at the water stations were wearing winter coats and shivering!! It is amazing how warm you get when you are racing!
Anyway, tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to make an attempt at 3 times around the lake. That will be my long run at about 15 miles. We do a marathon relay next weekend, with me doing the first half and Dan doing the second half. That will be our training test to make sure we are set to go for the marathon!! Then I suppose we will both start to taper off our distances preparing for the long one on October 11th.
Will keep you posted!!
yogajen….
At least I think it is week three! I missed writing last week I do believe as it was a pretty crazy week! We did the Catfish Days race in Trempealeau Wisconsin last Sunday. I did the 5K and had a reasonable time of 33:24 considering the hills and the wind. My schedule last Sunday called for 8 miles, so when we got home, I went out for another 5.6, since that is an easy route for me…from home, around the big lake and back home. We had some pretty crazy wind gusts, so I don’t even think I kept track of my time in that training run/walk as it was pretty cruddy.
Today, I went out for 11 miles. From home, I go around the entire Lake Winona once, then around just the East Lake once and then back home…it is pretty close to 11 miles anyway. It wasn’t to bad, other than being a little hot. I really don’t mind the hot weather, it is the humidity that is the problem. I feel pretty good right now, after a nice shower. I think we will go out and get a good dinner tonight. After 11 miles I deserve it don’t I??
yogajen
Well, the week started off kind of bleak. I injured my back, right up between my shoulder blades on the right side. I couldn’t even take a deep breath without wanting to cry. I had to forego the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday planned run/walks in order to get back to healthy. After a trip to the chiropractor and a one hour deep tissue massage, by this morning I felt ready to face the world!
My animals woke me up at 6am. They were hungry and really wanted to have breakfast. The sun was shining, so why was I lying in bed? Anyway, I got up, fed everyone and by then was unusually awake for me. Typically, I can crawl back into bed, but today, I started doing things right away. After getting the clothes off the line, I decided to do a short yoga workout from www.corepoweryoga.com This is an awesome site, and offers YOGA ON DEMAND. I have done a bunch of the classes in my one week trial and plan to sign up for a year of use. Those of you who come to my classes will benefit greatly from this subscription. The classes are AWESOME and I will be incorporating much of what I am learning into my power yoga class. They even have one called YogaSculpt, which uses weights. That is the one I did this morning.
I was then meeting Kasha at the lake at 10am to do a 7 miler, which was on my schedule for today. I biked down there (less than 2 miles from home) because why take the care out on such a great day? We met up, got started and had a great time talking. It was hot, but we kept up a pretty good pace, and did the run/walk as we are planning to do through the entire training. Kasha’s shoes have been bothering her for a while, rubbing against her toes, so she had ordered a new pair. They hadn’t arrived yet, so by the end of one trip around Lake Winona her toes were yelling at her. She bid me farewell and headed for home…barefoot I am sure!
I finished the last 1.8 miles (one more time around the small part of the lake) myself, and actually did it in less than 22 minutes! Then I hopped back on the granny trek and headed home.
When I got home, I still had a bit of energy in me, so I ate a cookie, and loaded up another yoga workout. This one was a vinyasa class with hip openers. Again, awesome class, with great instructors! I really need to sit down and just write down the sequences to use in class!
So, it was a good thing to take a few days off and let my back heal. It gave me a renewed energy. It also helped me to realize how much I missed working out everyday! It almost felt as if something was missing from my day. I will do another 7 miler tomorrow. It is on my schedule, which I really need to stick to! It looks like the plan I am using has a bit longer run on each of the weekend days, I think to help to build endurance.
I am still looking for a good marathon diet plan, so if anyone knows of one, let me know! I am one of those unfortunate people who doesn’t lose weight when I train, so even though I am putting in a ton more miles, I still need to restrict my calories in order to get down to marathon weight. I am hoping to lose 20-25 pounds before the big event in October.
Until later!
yogajen
Yesterday, I began my official training for the Des Moines Marathon in October. We are 16 weeks out, so it is time to start tacking on to my long run/walks. I have decided to use a training program that I found at www.sweat365.com for intermediate runners. I figure that even though I am not fast, I would consider myself after 5 years of working out almost everyday to me an intermediate. I am also using a run/walk system of training. RIght now I am running for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. Sometimes I run a little longer, especially at the beginning, but from what I have read, this method of training helps to cut down on injuries.
I plan to do an all out run/walk 3 times per week, with just walking all the other days. I am also going to strength train 2-3 days per week, just for 20 minutes or so each day. I will be back to teaching yoga in a couple of weeks, so I will get in 4-6 hours of yoga per week also. It is really to bad that I have to go to work, or I could really get in shape. Oh, well….
Yesterday I did 7 miles. If I leave my house, go the lake, around the entire lake and back home, it is almost exactly 7 miles. I did it at a 12:42 pace. Today I went 5.6 miles at almost exactly the same pace. My goal is to do the marathon at an 11 minute per mile pace which would be about 4:48 marathon. If it goes to 5 hours I would be fine with that too. My first one in 2003 was 5:20, so I just would like to do it a little faster than that.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, so I will walk to work and back. I have to show one of our rentals which is within walking distance, so I should get in a leisurely 3 or 4 miles over the course of the day. I will also do the first day of strength training with some yoga thrown in.
So, there we go!! We are off and running, counting down to October! And I have a training partner! Kasha will be joining me on this journey and hopefully doing a few 1/2 marathons with me over the summer as well. I will keep you posted on our progress!!
yogajen
For years I have been going out on my own, either running, walking or a combination of both. When I am out by myself, it seems as if I tend to go slow…just plodding along at whatever pace seems easy.
On Wednesday, at our weekly group run, four of us fell into pace with each other. Two of us would pull ahead for a bit, then the others would catch up, but for the most part, we did the 3.6 mile loop around Lake Winona together. Kasha, Sarah, Lisa and I had great conversations and an excellent workout! Lisa and I have known each other for a long time, and I walked with Sarah a couple of weeks ago, but for the most part, we were “new” friends who had a great deal to share with and learn about each other! What a great experience!
What I noticed most, was that I pushed myself harder in a group. I felt more compelled to run more, and to keep up speed. We all stopped to walk when needed, and honored how our bodies felt, just as we should. But we also pushed it a bit harder and got a much better workout.
Now I am not saying that we should always run in groups, but I think it will be nice to have a group who are similar paces, who can help each other to train. Perhaps it will make it easier to train for certain distances also! I hope so….
A while ago, I had put out a request for a marathon training partner, and no one has stepped up to the plate yet!! Anyone out there who would like to do a 5-6 hour marathon training plan with me for an October Marathon????
So any other of you 12 minute milers out there in Winona, won’t you join us next week?? We would love to run the lake with you!
yogajen
This morning, Dan and I competed (I use that term loosely) in the Lutefiskman Triathlon in Osseo, Wisconsin. We had driven to our cabin in Wisconsin yesterday, as with the Winona Bridge closed down, we would have had to travel over 2 hours this morning to get to Osseo. We decided it best, since neither of us likes to get up in the morning, to get most of the drive out of the way yesterday. Our cabin is located in a beautiful valley in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. It is in pretty rough shape and doesn’t have indoor plumbing, but there is really no place I would rather be that at that cabin!
Anyway, back to the triathlon! This was another one like the Root River Tri, where we canoed, then biked and ran. I wasn’t actually supposed to do this one, as Dan had secured a new partner,who ended up needing to back out due to health reasons, so Ifilled in. The first leg of the race was two laps around Lake Martha in a canoe. We were in third to last place in the canoe portion, so Dan had a lot of ground to make up when we embarked on the biking section of the race. I, on the other hand, just do what I can do! So the canoe portion was what it was…..
The brochure stated that the biking was a “mostly flat 11 mile country road course”. I am not sure who decided it was mostly flat, as it was clearly mostly rolling hills! I did not get off my bike and and walk at any time, so that was an improvement over Root River.
By the time the biking was finished, I was in 5th to last place out of roughly 100 people, closely followed by two girls wearing “Girls on the Run” shirts. They quickly caught up with me on the run, since by that time, I had decided that walking was plenty good for me today. I did do a bit of running, but wasn’t pushing myself. So, I finished in 3rd to last place after those two girls passed me, with only a couple who were doing it together behind me yet. Still, I had finished 2 mile of canoeing, 11 miles of biking and a 2 mile walk in less than 2 hours. So it really wasn’t that bad. I could have kicked up the pace a bit though, as I wasn’t even breathing hard at the end, and my heart rate was barely in the “fat burning” zone!!
We wandered around a bit, and Dan said we might as well wait for the results. Well imagine my surprise, when I was third in the Women’s Solo division and received not only a nice medal, but a coupon for a free piece of pie at the Norske Nook!! Of course, we don’t need to mention that there were only three women in the Women’s Solo division now do we??? I guess the way I look at it is there are thousands of women who COULD have been in the division, but only three who actually chose to put themselves out there and finish the darn race…..So really, even if I had come in last, I would have only been last among the 100 people brave enough to sign up for and do a triathlon. I was way ahead of the ones who didn’t try…..It isn’t that I was the fastest, but that I had the courage to do it in the first place….yeah, let’s go with that….
yogajen….
