Couch to Marathon
January 1st of 2015 I woke up with the usual New Year's Day hangover and had this brilliant idea to run a marathon. The Disney Marathon was January 10th of 2016 and I decided this was my goal. Crazy, I know.
At this point in my life, I had worked out maybe 15-20 times in my entire 23 years of living and I could not run more than a minute straight. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating but I'm not. Putting it all out there, I'll admit it, I was blessed with a decent metabolism and then, like many others, my body hit the breaks I swear immediately after I walked across the stage at graduation. But setting a goal to run a marathon wasn't about losing weight or getting into shape. For me, it was about proving I could do it.
As you will see in my plan below, I did the minimum on training for a marathon. Some days I look back and wish I would have done more in the summer and toward the end but I didn't want to miss out on time with family and friends. And that is the main key when it comes to running, time. Your body can do it, it's just a matter of taking the time out of your day to run, taking the time in the beginning to walk so you don't injure yourself, taking the time to plan out when and where your next run will be. It's tough. There will be times, and I mean a lot of times, where you think you can't do it but that is what makes crossing the finish line in the end worth it.
I don't know exactly what brought you to this post, whether you're a friend, a stranger, a coworker, a friend of my moms, or someone who is actually interested in running but regardless I encourage you to set a goal. Even if its a 5k. You don't have to enjoy running, I still cannot say that I "enjoy" it but I can say the joy you get from crossing a finish line is indescribable.
So here it is, my year in training. I used a lot of different training plans along the way: Nike app for running, Hal Higdon training program, Jeff Galloway RunDisney program, and so many others I found on Google. My Garmin Forerunner watch was a huge help allowing me to go for a run wherever I wanted and it tracked my mileage and pace. I used a couple of different websites to find races either in the state (ArkansasRunner), or out of state to make things more exciting (RunningintheUSA). All of these things allowed me to keep on track. But there were still times when I strayed, because I'm only human (and I can only go so long without a netflix marathon.) But you will see there are times where I go an entire week without running, in some cases two! Life happens but you cannot let that get in the way of your goal!
I would love to share more about my journey if anyone is interested! Many people have asked how I trained so here it is. Now go out there and do it!
You can download the training plan here as well!
