Monday, March 24, 2008

I'm still alive

Well, I was able to finish my 23 miler on Saturday. It was probably more like 22.5 but who's really counting at that point? It was hard. REALLY hard. It didn't seem like I could even walk another mile much less run another three, but hopefully the day of the marathon my adrenaline will kick in and I'll finish without any major problems. I'm sore but not as sore as I thought I might be, so that's also a good sign. For any of you out there who have wanted to run a marathon but feel like there is no way in H#@* that you could do it, I would definitely recommend Jeff Galloway's website. His run-walk-run method makes running so much more enjoyable to me. I run for 4 minutes and then walk for 30 seconds but you can use whatever combination of time you want. When I started using his method I could run straight for about 3 miles so I chose to do a 3:1 ratio of running to walking. After my run on Saturday, I think I might increase my walking time to 40-45 seconds to try to save my legs a little for the end. Jeff gives very good guidelines on what run-walk ratio to use and there are training schedules for 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and marathon on the website. I highly recommend it for any aspiring runners out there. If you are already a runner than my guess is that you won't want to try this method and I don't really blame you. If what you're doing works, then why change it? As for me, I don't think there is anyway that I would be running a marathon in April if it weren't for this system of running.

5 comments:

Not quite the Bradys said...

Ok, now I'm inspired. When I came here last week and read about your silver medal, etc., I was a little intimidated. My life-long dream was to finish an Ironman. I used to run and bike ALL the time. Then I got married, got sick with a heart condition, got better from said heart condition, and got pregnant 12 times in 10 years. Yep, it's true. Just lately, I've been thinking that I want to start running again but the idea of actually being able to finish a race (even a short one) just seems so impossible at this point. I'm excited to go to Jeff Galloway's site and check it out. Thanks for the encouragment.
NotquitetheBradys

Kim said...

That's such a great ambition, to finish an Ironman. I'm afraid that is way beyond me because I just can't swim very well. I hope Jeff Galloway's website helps. I know it's done wonders for me.

Not quite the Bradys said...

Hey, are you still up for Thursday? 10:15? I'm game if you are. : )

Kim said...

Yeah, sounds great. I'll see you there.

Shelley said...

I checked out Galloway's site and it was very helpful for me. I have been doing kind of the same thing, only on a much smaller scale! I was so excited on Friday, I was able to run more than a mile at once, which is like a miracle for me! It's so exciting to see some progress! I think that's what can make it addictive--I just want to go out and do it again and keep getting better. I am also 30+ pounds overweight--if I could just lose that it seems like jogging would be easier. Too bad food is so good!
Good luck on your training!