The Very Beginning

Sunday, Day 1:

I ran for the "first" time today.  I write it like that because I have ran quite a few times before today, but today is the first day of my training schedule.  I have to say that I was overly excited about the run and I think that is because I was more looking forward to posting on here than I was the actual run.  

As promised, here are pictures of me:

I can't say that I am super proud of the pictures; however, they are not too terrible considering what I used to look like.  Plus, this is just the beginning of my training so I wouldn't expect that I would look flawless either.

While I was running today I decided to add a few other notes to the categories that I thought would be interesting to note in the long run.  I am going to add the time of day that I am running and my song of choice.  I think it would be interesting to see if I tend to use the same songs for running or if it varies over time and if the time of day makes a difference in how quickly I run.  We will have to see!

So here is my notes for today:

Distance: 2 Miles

Time: 23 minutes 25 seconds

Average Speed: 5.3 mph

Winded (scale 1-10): 6

Any Painful Spots: My right rib cage, left knee, stomach (to the right of my belly button) and a headache that developed about a quarter mile in

Calories Burned: 243.8

Song of Choice: Rumor Has It by Adele

Time of Day: 11:30am

Goals for This Week: I have been stuck at 170lbs for about 3 weeks now at Weight Watchers and I would really like to break that barrier.

Additional Notes: I believe I was extremely dehydrated when I was running today which could have caused the headache.  It should also be noted that I feel like I am developing a little bit of a cold, which could have contributed to me feeling more out of breath.  

Tomorrow is a day of rest for me so I probably wont have a post, so until then have a wonderful start to your week!

Over and out.

What Started It All

Oh, the Places You'll Go......Dr. Seuss had it right.  He understood that life brings about all different kinds of opportunities and situations that can take us every which way.  I titled this blog, "Oh, the Places You'll Go" because I thought it was fitting for what I am trying to achieve.

The main purpose of this blog is to document my progress as I begin training for a 1/2 Marathon this upcoming September.  Five months from now.  Five months of complete and utter dedication to running (something I have never been all that great at), yet here I am. 

Many people run marathons for different reasons: just because, to raise money for a cause, to support another person running, to lose weight, or for the satisfaction of knowing they completed a race.

I definitely fall under the "lose weight" and "satisfaction" categories.  Oh, and I am definitely in it for the sticker :) I always think it is so cool when I see someone with a 13.1 or 26.2 sticker stuck on their car. 

So what is the plan you ask? Well, I did some research and it looks like there are a plethora of options on how to train, and this is the one I am going with:

http://www.fitsugar.com/Half-Marathon-Training-Schedule-Beginners-2845222

I chose this particular schedule because it is more fitting for someone that has never really ran a race before, and I most definitely fit under that category.  And the "CT" days allow for me to do something other than run (which I will most definitely need). On those days I can do a class, or go for a bike ride or use the elliptical, ANYTHING other than running.  This schedule is set up for 12 weeks, and even though the race isn't for 20 weeks, I am going to start training on Sunday.  My ultimate goal is to be able to run the full 1/2 in under 3 hours.  That is about a 13:30 mile.  Which I think is a realistic goal.

So here is the plan.  Every day I am going to blog how my run was, how far I ran, how long it took, the average speed, how winded I was, and so forth.  And every week (on Sunday) I am going to take a picture of myself to see if my body is changing (which I am hoping it does).  Also, once a week (on Wednesday) I will log what my current weight is.  I chose Wednesday because that is the day that I weigh in at Weight Watchers (www.weightwatchers.com) and that way the weigh in is consistent in time and location. 

So here is what it will look like:

Distance:

Time:

Average Speed:

Winded (scale 1-10):

Any Painful Spots:

Wednesday Weigh In:

Goals for This Week: 

Additional Notes: 

Hopefully at the end of the 20 weeks I will have reached my goal of running the 1/2 marathon in under 3 hours and have reached my goal weight.  I am not sure what the weight number is right now, but all I can say is I want to look something like this:

Thanks for checking in and I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Over and out.