This is what I've been shooting for since I started on this journey. I wanted to be an athlete (again...?). I was always athletic. You know that fat kid on the playground that could shoot a basketball and knew how to throw a frisbee before a lot of his peers? That's me. I have good eye hand coordination. I have quick reactions, and I believe in my ability to feel where my body is in space. Along with that, I feel like I know where my body SHOULD be in space, so I get there. I can cut down angles. I can read a play. I don't mind laying out in the mud to stop a ball or catch a frisbee.
Having all of those abilities doesn't mean squat unless you have endurance. As a kid, I played soccer. I was the goalie. I didn't have to run much, but I could be active for about 10-15 seconds at a time, wind myself, then I'd get a break as I punted the ball down to the other end of the field. It worked well for me. I got to be a part of the team. I got to hang out with friends. I even got to have my dad coach me... so at least I knew I wouldn't be riding the bench for being the fat kid.
This week I'm coming to the realization that I am an athlete. Now, I'm not saying that I have ridiculous endurance or anything. I'm still not fast. What I do have going for me, though, is that I'm not afraid of going the distance.
When I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon a few weeks ago, I knew that I was getting myself into something that was going to test me physically and mentally. Honestly, it just seemed like the next logical step after running a half marathon. Why not a full?
I've found that when it comes to endurance sports, distance is all relative. If the farthest you've ever run is 2 miles and someone asked you to go run 5, you'd think they were crazy! 5 Miles? That's so much! It's over twice as many as you've ever done before. As I build to the half marathon I'm doing with my wife (and some of her family), I don't fear 10 mile runs anymore. I've done 5-10 runs over that distance already. Sure it hurts sometimes, but it's not bad, and I live. So when I think about running 13, it's just 3 more... and 3 miles is no big deal anymore. So when I think about doubling my half marathon to do a full... here's how I see it.
After my rest week, I have 29 weeks to build up to the 26.2. I could start at 0 and add 1 mile per week and I would get there. That's not scary to me. But I'm already at 13.1, so why start at 0? I won't. I'll start at 13.1. And then I'll build. My plan is to run 20 miles on July 20th. That gives me 14 weeks to maintain my endurance and build my speed.
Between now and the marathon in October, I'm planning on 3 bike rides (50 miles, 75 miles, and 100 miles) at least 5 foot races of varying distances (5k's to half marathons). I also want to do a Duathlon.
(run, bike, run). Not only does this stuff not scare me anymore. I'm excited for it.
As I go into my last week before the half marathon, I'm on the end of my taper, which means I'm totaling about 8 miles over three runs. I'm used to 20-26 miles per week right now (when the marathon training really picks up, I'm expecting 35-45 miles per week). The taper means I'm burning less calories which doesn't help with weight loss, but it does help with recovery which should allow me to run my best half marathon.
I want a sub 2:05:00 finish time. But more importantly, I want to finish with my wife.
All that stuff said, I'm already bored with my runs this week. I have two 3 milers and a 2 mile walk scheduled. I may or may not take the walk... if I do, Yahtzee can come.
I'm not happy about my weight loss as of late. I'm not completely sure what's going on with me. Regardless of if I'm eating too much or what, with the amount of running I had been doing, it shouldn't be a problem. I think I might have the appetite of someone running 25-30 miles a week but I'm only doing 15-20 over the last couple weeks because we're tapering for the half. What that means is that I'm burning 2000 calories in exercise instead of 2500, but I'm still eating like I would have when I was running more. I just need to get it under control.
With that in mind, I'm REALLY worried about this week and next week since I'm barely running this week and I'm taking a week off next week to let my body recover. My ankle has been screaming at me, so I'm gonna give it a break.
This week, my weight was 232.5. Again.
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