Holy cow, I just registered for my first half marathon

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yowza! I’ve been unsatisfied with my fitness level for far too long (particularly with the fact that my fitness level is basically nonexistent. I am woefully out of shape. Toddlers have been known to rough me up. Coma patients have been known to leave me gasping in their wake.). I happened to come across a mention that Jeff Galloway is now consulting with Disney on their running programs, and forwarded it to a friend who is a Galloway fan. The next thing I know, she’s telling me about the Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon at the end of February and pushing me to participate! I pfffted at the idea at first, but then I got to thinking:

  1. I need to improve my fitness level (see above re: toddlers and coma patients)
  2. I want to lose weight
  3. I need to get and stay active through the winter; last winter was brutal and I don’t want to get sucked down into a spiral of low energy and low spirits again.
  4. I would get to wear a tiara in public.

So I talked it over with my best friend, who jumped on the idea, registered last night, and just got back from a good brisk 3-mile walk through the woods with my other friend, who will probably be doing this as well.

This is WAY out of character for me, but the whole thing came together with an almost audible click. Now to make a training plan, reserve flights and hotel, and do some serious thinking about that tiara!

2

Good luck! It is something I am considering ( not this particular one). I am already running 7 miles, so it seems the logical thing to do.

3

From doing nothing more than 3 mile runs in February I ran my first half marathon in June. You’ll do great!

4

My sister just ran a half-marathon on Saturday, and was very pleased with her achievement. She’s 39 in a couple of weeks. I am duly impressed by her commitment.

5

did you have a formal training plan Telemark?

6

Awesome, shantih! Good for you! To of my friends did the Disney full marathon acouple years ago (when one turned 40) and they had a blast! They got enormous over-sized medals at the end and Goofy was running wth them and stuff. They said it was a riot!

Just remember to start your training regimen nice and slow. If you try too much too fast, you could either hurt yourself (muscular injuries from muscles too out of shape to do their jobs right) or it can feel so sucky it’s really not fun and you’ll want to quit.

But I think it’s a great commitment you’re making! :cool:

7

I started with this - Novice 1 Half Marathon Training Program | Hal Higdon

I modified it a bit because I had more time and ramped up to my 10 mile runs ahead of schedule. After that I did a 10 mile run every other week until it was time to taper. I also didn’t do formal races during the training, just ran hard those days.

8

Note: that does say that you should have a basic fitness level. Given shantih’s fitness level as described in the OP, a three mile run might be a bit tough as a starting point. I’d recommend a run-walk combo, like jog for 10 minutes, walk for 2-5.

But it looks like a good plan. I’m doing something similar for a sprint triathlon I’m thinking of trying.

9

Good for you!

I’m doing a half marathon this coming Sunday. But make no mistake, I’m going to run/walk it. I ran my first 10K about a week ago (second time ever running 10K all at once), and I’ve walked a half marathon twice. I’m confident about finishing, just don’t know how much time I’ll spend running or what my total time will be. I’m just gonna get out there and earn my T-shirt and finisher medal. :slight_smile:

10

There is the Couch to 5Kprogram that has worked well for many Dopers.

11

That one’s much more appropriate for someone who is just starting. There is a couch to one mile for swimming too.

12

Thanks for the encouraging words! I’m not sure why I’m so jazzed about this, but I just totally am, and it feels extremely doable, too. The minimum pace of the race is a 16-minute mile, which I figure I can do at a walk with some light running. I’m going to start with three walks a week, one longer and two shorter, until I’m about 15 weeks out, at which point I’ll add more intensity and duration. I’m thinking to look over the C25K program and the training schedule Telemark linked to (thanks for that!) to get some guidelines, plus my one friend is an experienced marathoner and half-marathoner and I’m going to rely on her input. I’m definitely not aiming to set any new records here, just have a concrete goal for regular exercise, and look to get my loot for finishing, plus have a good time at the event!

Plus, you know, tiara.

13

Congratulations, Shantih! Stay focused, stay determined, and stay at it, and you’ll do fine.

I did something similar recently. I rode the DALMAC - the Dick Allen Lansing to MACkinaw bike ride - 340 miles in 5 days. I had never done more than 10-15 miles in one sitting on a bike before this (with one exception), but the ride has been on my bucket list for years. I met a guy in a class last fall who has done this ride 8-9 times, he said. So when registration came by, I paid my money and signed up.

I started out riding short trips - 3-6 miles at a time, after work. I got up to 15-20 without too much trouble. I had some 50 mile days by mid-summer, but they were like 30 miles in the morning, a few hours at home to rest, and 20 more that evening. A few weeks before The Big Ride, Pete (the buddy from class) and his riding buddies took me on a 60 mile ride. I did fine! The actual ride had some challenges - we had rain 4 out of the 5 days, with 2 days being practically all-day soakers; we had cold weather (in the 50’s and low 60’s); we had wind, and we had hills bigger than anything I had trained on. But I hit a point where I just decided that I could get through all of this, and I did!

I’ve never been a runner, so I can’t give you a good training regimen. What helped me was that I kept a log of all my training rides, even short ones. The miles added up, and I kept racking up more miles every month. Do it in a spreadsheet, and you can keep the total going quickly and easily.

The only other tip I can give you is get good equipment - ie, shoes. I started out training with an old, crappy bike, but was able to borrow a much better one. It made a great difference. I’m sure great shoes would help you be much more comfortable during and after your runs.

And maybe you could get a series of bigger and gaudier tiaras to wear after you pass each training milestone, too - ie, each 25 miles gets you more bling.

14

Wow! Good luck, let us know how you do.

15

Wow, RalfCoder, that’s tremendous! Good for you!

But this –

– it’s like you have a window into my soul! :slight_smile:

Thanks, Khadaji! I’m looking forward to having progress to report!