I am now into the second month of my official twenty-week marathon training. It's been going pretty well, though there are still days when I wonder why I am putting myself through this torture!
No, it's not really torture. There are some out there that run, and hate every minute of it. I actually love running, and don't know why someone might push themselves to do an activity they hate. Now mind you, there are days when the challenge of warming up through that first, second, even third mile, makes me think of giving up. But I still love it. I would encourage anyone who hasn't tried running, not to be scared to try. I would also encourage anyone wanting to fit exercise into their lives, to find an activity they actually enjoy.
I finally feel like my old self again. After several years off of exercise, it feels great to be getting back into a fitness routine. Even though it's only been a couple months since I have consistently been running and exercising, my energy level has increased so much from where I began. I am still a slow poke, but that doesn't bother me...and I have actually improved my time as I rack up the miles.
Back in the early days in college, some of my friends affectionately (I hope!) called me She-Ra. Most days I would spend hours in the gym, and was semi-obsessed with all things exercise. I don't think I ever went to any extremes back then, but I certainly took for granted that I would always maintain the high-energy high-motivation fitness lifestyle.
I am not quite back to those day, but it doesn't seem so far out of reach anymore.
I will talk more about my training methods on another day, but I will say that I'm definitely a believer in the Galloway Method*, which is a run-walk method. It is very different for me to take short walk breaks at regular intervals, than just running until I cannot run anymore, then taking a break (my previous training method). My longest run thus far has been a ten-miler, and with this method, I was able to maintain a steady pace through the entire run and not feel like I was dying at the end! My recovery was also incredible. (I will also talk more about recovery methods later).
I have lost some weight, nothing extreme...and as exciting as that is, I have to remind myself that weight loss is NOT my main goal. It is a part of achieving my fitness goals, but I don't want to fall into old habits of becoming obsessed with the numbers on the scale and sabotaging all the good that I've done. Do I still get on the scale more often than I should...probably. But I'm working on it.
I also continue to remind myself that achieving these goals is a long-term, lifetime commitment. I don't need rush...I need to take time and develop lasting changes. And I WILL get there!
*Learn more about the Galloway Method here: Galloway Run/Walk
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