Welcome and an Introduction
Hello there!
So, this is actually happening. The running, the blogging. All of it!
First things first I'm in no way an expert on any of this. I just really wanted to share my journey in hopes of inspiring others. The idea of this blog has been on my mind for a while and it got to the point where I could ignore it anymore. I'm grateful for those who have come before me. Those who have inspired me to get moving, to become healthier and to follow my dreams. Now I feel like it's my turn.
Before we get into it I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan but moved to Winnipeg, MB over 12 years ago. I'm married to my #1 fan and supporter who drives me to the brink of insanity on the regular. We have a daughter and son who are pretty cool and incredibly strong willed tiny humans with big personalities who also drive me to the brink of insanity regularly. Haha! I'm a professional photographer with my own business and I make handmade crochet items which I sell locally and globally. I'm also job sharing, working one week on/one week off, with a friend at a commercial refrigeration company. To say I'm busy is an understatement but I somehow make it all work. This isn't going to be a "my life is all rainbows and unicorns" blog, I promise. It's not and I will share the hard days along with the good days because that's LIFE!
Now that that's out of the way we can move on to the question that may be on your minds as you're sitting here reading a blog about running a half marathon...WHY?! At least it's the question I ask myself All. Of. The. Time.
It all started just over a year ago when I decided to get off of my butt and start using the TreadClimber (I'm in no way affiliated by them, just the equipment I used in the beginning) that my friend was storing at my place while she was in away working on her Master's degree. I had looked at this thing in my living room for months thinking I should really get on there and do something, but I kept putting it off. I kept thinking, there has to be an app that I can get for some kind of training. My searching for an app was likely part of the procrastination process LOL! While searching and researching I found an app called Walking for Weight Loss by RedRock Apps (I'm in no way affiliated with them, it's just what I downloaded and used). That app sat idle on my phone for a while. Eventually I found some motivation in November 2016 (I know this because I started keeping a log on my phone) but lost it by the end of that month. Though I stopped for whatever reason I really liked the way the app was laid out.
In the Spring of 2017 I decided to sign up for a 10K that was happening in the Fall. I felt like if I had something to work toward I'd be motivated to keep up with the training and working out. I started training for that sometime in April of 2017 but didn't start keeping a log until I was on Week 4 of training. Going to back it up a bit here. I really don't remember how I ended up with the Running App from RedRock Apps but I started using that one for training for the 10K. Again, not affiliated with them at all. I really like the way the app is set up, I like the way it looks, it's free (if you don't mind ads) and I find it super easy to use.
The training started off as interval training which I found worked out great. I believe it started off at around 30 minutes per day and is set up for 3 days per week. It starts with a warm up, intervals of running and walking in the middle and then a cool down to finish off the workout. To get an idea of where I started with that training my first entry was:
Week 4 Day 2 - May 07/17: 00:50 2.5m (4.02km).
I'm not going to lie, it was hard. It was hard, I hated it and I just could not wait for each run to be over. I struggled to keep going. There were so many times I wanted to quit, but I didn't and as I kept going I got stronger and it felt good.
I'm so happy that I kept that log because I got to see my progress. I got to beat my best time and my longest distance and that made me feel so good. Then in June I sustained a knee injury and I had to rest. I went to physiotherapy which helped immensely. I learned how to tape my knee, exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in my leg supporting my knee to prevent injuries and I was back at it in August! I ended up running the 10K at the 10&10 at Manyfest here in Winnipeg September 10, 2017 in an hour and 23 minutes. My goal before my injury was to run it in under an hour but after the injury I was just happy to be able to run the whole thing without having to walk any of it.
So I did a 10K! Go me!! I checked that off of my bucket list. Now what?
Sometime during this 10K training my sister mentioned that we should do a half marathon together. She said the Regina Police Service Half Marathon happens at the end of April so we should do that one together. Feeling pretty confident about this I agreed to do it. My plan after the 10K was to continue to run and then start formal training in December to be half marathon ready come the end of April. I did 4 runs after the 10K and then sat on my butt for 2 months. Oops. In my mind I wanted to keep doing something because not doing anything and then having to start over again would suck. But, 2 months of nothing went by and here we are.
Starting over after doing nothing does in fact suck. However, it doesn't suck as bad as the original start when I was training for the 10K. So there's that! Going to back it up again just a bit. I used the Running app for the 10K from start to finish. Before I finished I was concerned about not being able to find another awesome app to get me through the half marathon training. Then something really cool happened after that last day of 10K training, it unlocked half and full marathon training options which I was very happy about. Another thing I'd like to add is when I started the training I was using the TreadClimber but they only go to 4.0 mph which by the end of my training was just not cutting it anymore. My friend who was away for school came back, took her TreadClimber and now I'm using my treadmill which is working out way better.
At the end of November I officially started running again using the Half Marathon training on the Running app. This training is 4 times per week and is not intervals, not yet anyway. I think it goes into sprints later on in the training but I haven't gotten there yet. Week 1 Day 1 started with 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes running and 5 minute cool down. I ran the first 15 minutes and then did a brisk walk for the rest of the running part. I really wanted to give up half way through but convinced myself to just keep going with a brisk walk. The first week sucked. The second week was a bit better and now I have a nasty cold so I haven't ran at all this week. I'm finally starting to feel better so it will be game on again soon! Hindsight I wish I would have at least did some brisk walking on the treadmill just to keep moving but I didn't. Not going to beat myself up about it, I'll just try to do that next time. :-)
December 1st was registration day for the half marathon which I did that day to really commit myself to this whole thing. Brings me back to the beginning of this entry. Why?! Why am I doing this? Honestly, I don't really have one answer for this. There are so many elements. There's something about setting a goal, preparing for it and then executing it that makes me happy and feel accomplished. Running and working out in general is not my favourite thing to do but seeing the pride and joy on my families face as I crossed that finish line during the 10K really made me want to do the Half. It's showing my kids that if you put your mind to something you can do it. It's about proving to myself that I can set goals and crush them. Knowing it's not going to be easy, but doing it anyway. It's about taking time each day to take care of myself, becoming healthier body and mind. I'm sure more answers will be added to this as I go along this journey. I think this is a pretty good start though.
Me after running my first 10K! I'm so not one of those people who look like they walked out of a fitness magazine after they work out. When I do any form of physical activity I turn into a tomato. It's just the way I've always been but people always think I'm in need of medical attention. LOL!
Just before I crossed the finish line my husband snapped this. He was at the finish line with the kids cheering me on. My emotions overcame me and I cried when I crossed that line. It was tears of happiness, of gratitude and just raw emotion. I had done it! My family was there and one of my best friends was running only a few minutes behind me so we got to cheer her on as she crossed the finish line too!
My hope with this blog is to do a short entry after each run and then at times in between if need be. I'll share photos, probably some videos too, the music I'm listening to when I run, inspirations and all of the crazy thoughts I have during my runs (believe me, those alone will be worth sticking around for). Please feel free to share your tips with me along the way. Thank you so much for coming along this ride with me, it's going to be fun!
Gina
So, this is actually happening. The running, the blogging. All of it!
First things first I'm in no way an expert on any of this. I just really wanted to share my journey in hopes of inspiring others. The idea of this blog has been on my mind for a while and it got to the point where I could ignore it anymore. I'm grateful for those who have come before me. Those who have inspired me to get moving, to become healthier and to follow my dreams. Now I feel like it's my turn.
Before we get into it I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan but moved to Winnipeg, MB over 12 years ago. I'm married to my #1 fan and supporter who drives me to the brink of insanity on the regular. We have a daughter and son who are pretty cool and incredibly strong willed tiny humans with big personalities who also drive me to the brink of insanity regularly. Haha! I'm a professional photographer with my own business and I make handmade crochet items which I sell locally and globally. I'm also job sharing, working one week on/one week off, with a friend at a commercial refrigeration company. To say I'm busy is an understatement but I somehow make it all work. This isn't going to be a "my life is all rainbows and unicorns" blog, I promise. It's not and I will share the hard days along with the good days because that's LIFE!
Now that that's out of the way we can move on to the question that may be on your minds as you're sitting here reading a blog about running a half marathon...WHY?! At least it's the question I ask myself All. Of. The. Time.
It all started just over a year ago when I decided to get off of my butt and start using the TreadClimber (I'm in no way affiliated by them, just the equipment I used in the beginning) that my friend was storing at my place while she was in away working on her Master's degree. I had looked at this thing in my living room for months thinking I should really get on there and do something, but I kept putting it off. I kept thinking, there has to be an app that I can get for some kind of training. My searching for an app was likely part of the procrastination process LOL! While searching and researching I found an app called Walking for Weight Loss by RedRock Apps (I'm in no way affiliated with them, it's just what I downloaded and used). That app sat idle on my phone for a while. Eventually I found some motivation in November 2016 (I know this because I started keeping a log on my phone) but lost it by the end of that month. Though I stopped for whatever reason I really liked the way the app was laid out.
In the Spring of 2017 I decided to sign up for a 10K that was happening in the Fall. I felt like if I had something to work toward I'd be motivated to keep up with the training and working out. I started training for that sometime in April of 2017 but didn't start keeping a log until I was on Week 4 of training. Going to back it up a bit here. I really don't remember how I ended up with the Running App from RedRock Apps but I started using that one for training for the 10K. Again, not affiliated with them at all. I really like the way the app is set up, I like the way it looks, it's free (if you don't mind ads) and I find it super easy to use.
The training started off as interval training which I found worked out great. I believe it started off at around 30 minutes per day and is set up for 3 days per week. It starts with a warm up, intervals of running and walking in the middle and then a cool down to finish off the workout. To get an idea of where I started with that training my first entry was:
Week 4 Day 2 - May 07/17: 00:50 2.5m (4.02km).
I'm not going to lie, it was hard. It was hard, I hated it and I just could not wait for each run to be over. I struggled to keep going. There were so many times I wanted to quit, but I didn't and as I kept going I got stronger and it felt good.
I'm so happy that I kept that log because I got to see my progress. I got to beat my best time and my longest distance and that made me feel so good. Then in June I sustained a knee injury and I had to rest. I went to physiotherapy which helped immensely. I learned how to tape my knee, exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in my leg supporting my knee to prevent injuries and I was back at it in August! I ended up running the 10K at the 10&10 at Manyfest here in Winnipeg September 10, 2017 in an hour and 23 minutes. My goal before my injury was to run it in under an hour but after the injury I was just happy to be able to run the whole thing without having to walk any of it.
So I did a 10K! Go me!! I checked that off of my bucket list. Now what?
Sometime during this 10K training my sister mentioned that we should do a half marathon together. She said the Regina Police Service Half Marathon happens at the end of April so we should do that one together. Feeling pretty confident about this I agreed to do it. My plan after the 10K was to continue to run and then start formal training in December to be half marathon ready come the end of April. I did 4 runs after the 10K and then sat on my butt for 2 months. Oops. In my mind I wanted to keep doing something because not doing anything and then having to start over again would suck. But, 2 months of nothing went by and here we are.
Starting over after doing nothing does in fact suck. However, it doesn't suck as bad as the original start when I was training for the 10K. So there's that! Going to back it up again just a bit. I used the Running app for the 10K from start to finish. Before I finished I was concerned about not being able to find another awesome app to get me through the half marathon training. Then something really cool happened after that last day of 10K training, it unlocked half and full marathon training options which I was very happy about. Another thing I'd like to add is when I started the training I was using the TreadClimber but they only go to 4.0 mph which by the end of my training was just not cutting it anymore. My friend who was away for school came back, took her TreadClimber and now I'm using my treadmill which is working out way better.
At the end of November I officially started running again using the Half Marathon training on the Running app. This training is 4 times per week and is not intervals, not yet anyway. I think it goes into sprints later on in the training but I haven't gotten there yet. Week 1 Day 1 started with 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes running and 5 minute cool down. I ran the first 15 minutes and then did a brisk walk for the rest of the running part. I really wanted to give up half way through but convinced myself to just keep going with a brisk walk. The first week sucked. The second week was a bit better and now I have a nasty cold so I haven't ran at all this week. I'm finally starting to feel better so it will be game on again soon! Hindsight I wish I would have at least did some brisk walking on the treadmill just to keep moving but I didn't. Not going to beat myself up about it, I'll just try to do that next time. :-)
December 1st was registration day for the half marathon which I did that day to really commit myself to this whole thing. Brings me back to the beginning of this entry. Why?! Why am I doing this? Honestly, I don't really have one answer for this. There are so many elements. There's something about setting a goal, preparing for it and then executing it that makes me happy and feel accomplished. Running and working out in general is not my favourite thing to do but seeing the pride and joy on my families face as I crossed that finish line during the 10K really made me want to do the Half. It's showing my kids that if you put your mind to something you can do it. It's about proving to myself that I can set goals and crush them. Knowing it's not going to be easy, but doing it anyway. It's about taking time each day to take care of myself, becoming healthier body and mind. I'm sure more answers will be added to this as I go along this journey. I think this is a pretty good start though.
My hope with this blog is to do a short entry after each run and then at times in between if need be. I'll share photos, probably some videos too, the music I'm listening to when I run, inspirations and all of the crazy thoughts I have during my runs (believe me, those alone will be worth sticking around for). Please feel free to share your tips with me along the way. Thank you so much for coming along this ride with me, it's going to be fun!
Gina
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