I am not generally an ambitious person, but I am very goal oriented. That is, without a goal I have endless ability to procrastinate, make excuses, and otherwise drift along without accomplishing much of anything.
To combat that tendency, I knew I needed to find myself a tangible goal to keep me honest in my training. Not the vague "someday" goal of not only training for but also finding the money to add another trip for a Disney race before my annual pass expires in March of next year, but something that is right in front of me, looming on my calendar as a constant reminder to keep me focused.
Today, my daughter found that goal for me.
The 10th annual running of the Save the Manatee 5K.
Mommy brag time: My daughter is a brilliant, driven girl, active in so many things and with a clear goal for her future that she's had in her mind since she was very young. She wants to major in biology with an emphasis on marine biology and conservation. She absolutely fell in love with the manatees in The Living Seas pavilion at Epcot on one of our first Disney trips. Even before that she knew she wanted to work with animals when she grew up, but that was the start of a great fascination with the plight of marine mammals as their habitats see ever increasing human traffic. On our last trip to Florida, we even braved an unseasonably frigid 40° morning to kayak along a spring-fed river and see manatees in their natural habitat.
So when she came across the Save the Manatee 5K in doing research for a school presentation I knew we were going to have to register. I mean, what are the odds that we'd find a manatee conservation fundraiser that is held in Michigan, 1100 miles from the nearest manatee? And that it would be a 5K, scheduled for just about 2 months from now... more than enough time to train but still near enough to keep the pressure on. It is the perfect first race for us.
On Saturday, May 18 I'll be running my first 5K. It isn't timed but I'm shooting for a 15 minute mile pace, since that's what I need to achieve for a Disney race. The course is through a very pretty and entirely flat park, so it really is ideal for a first event, and I am very much looking forward to it.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Zombies!
Twice I have started the Couch to 5K program, and twice I've dropped out. The first time I did it the old fashioned way, with my watch as a timer, because that was the best tech I had at the time. The second time, I tried the C25K Free app for my shiny new Android phone. But still I lost interest by week two or three.
Over this past winter I didn't walk or run. I hate the winter and I have that whole "not coordinated enough for land sports" thing working against me when it comes to running on ice and snow. Between the cold and my conviction that I'd somehow fall and break my neck, it was easy enough to make excuses and stick to half-hearted indoor workout sessions on the Wii.
Now spring is starting to peek in, tentatively and a little overdue but enough to banish the snow and ice and with them my excuses. So I've started training outside again. And just like the past two springs, I started thinking about the Couch to 5K program and setting race goals to keep me motivated.
Then I stumbled across a message board post - DisBoards to the rescue again! - about an app I knew I just had to try: Zombies, Run! 5K. It is the same basic idea as C25K - interval training to develop both speed and endurance - but it has a zombie apocalypse storyline that makes the time pass far more quickly and an internet game connected to the app that I can't wait to get further into.
I'm only through the first week so far but I can already say that I like it so much better than any other C25K-type program I've tried in the past. I actually look forward to each 'mission'. It even makes something I used to consider an annoyance - the fact that I often can't get out for a workout until the kids are in bed - into something I look forward to. There's something about running at night, on an unlit track, with only the sounds of your own footfalls and the frogs in the ditches, that fits perfectly with a training program that has zombies moaning through your headphones.
Oh, did I mention that something I love just as much as I love Disney is post-apocalyptic fiction? Or that I'm absolutely enthralled by The Walking Dead at the moment? No? Well, I do, I am, and that's probably why this app is such a perfect tool.
Today was supposed to be an off day for me, but I was feeling okay, not too sore and very well rested since it is the first day of spring break so I didn't have to get up early to haul kids to school. So I went out to do the final workout of week one around 10pm. My 11 year old joined me, which was really cute because she is using the same app but found it too creepy at night. She put on a playlist and followed my lead for the interval timing! Together we only covered a hair over two miles, quite a bit less than the four I logged on my own yesterday, but it was still a good workout.
I can't wait to see what my next mission brings. Week two is when I get to start collecting supplies to use in the online world-building aspect of the game.
Over this past winter I didn't walk or run. I hate the winter and I have that whole "not coordinated enough for land sports" thing working against me when it comes to running on ice and snow. Between the cold and my conviction that I'd somehow fall and break my neck, it was easy enough to make excuses and stick to half-hearted indoor workout sessions on the Wii.
Now spring is starting to peek in, tentatively and a little overdue but enough to banish the snow and ice and with them my excuses. So I've started training outside again. And just like the past two springs, I started thinking about the Couch to 5K program and setting race goals to keep me motivated.
Then I stumbled across a message board post - DisBoards to the rescue again! - about an app I knew I just had to try: Zombies, Run! 5K. It is the same basic idea as C25K - interval training to develop both speed and endurance - but it has a zombie apocalypse storyline that makes the time pass far more quickly and an internet game connected to the app that I can't wait to get further into.
I'm only through the first week so far but I can already say that I like it so much better than any other C25K-type program I've tried in the past. I actually look forward to each 'mission'. It even makes something I used to consider an annoyance - the fact that I often can't get out for a workout until the kids are in bed - into something I look forward to. There's something about running at night, on an unlit track, with only the sounds of your own footfalls and the frogs in the ditches, that fits perfectly with a training program that has zombies moaning through your headphones.
Oh, did I mention that something I love just as much as I love Disney is post-apocalyptic fiction? Or that I'm absolutely enthralled by The Walking Dead at the moment? No? Well, I do, I am, and that's probably why this app is such a perfect tool.
Today was supposed to be an off day for me, but I was feeling okay, not too sore and very well rested since it is the first day of spring break so I didn't have to get up early to haul kids to school. So I went out to do the final workout of week one around 10pm. My 11 year old joined me, which was really cute because she is using the same app but found it too creepy at night. She put on a playlist and followed my lead for the interval timing! Together we only covered a hair over two miles, quite a bit less than the four I logged on my own yesterday, but it was still a good workout.
I can't wait to see what my next mission brings. Week two is when I get to start collecting supplies to use in the online world-building aspect of the game.
Monday, March 25, 2013
I Am Not A Runner.
I feel like I need to make that clear from the start: I am not a runner.
As a teenager I jokingly told people I swam because I wasn't coordinated enough for land sports. But really, I was only half-joking. I'm not what you'd call graceful and I wasn't even when I was young and thin. I'm not especially injury prone either, thank goodness, but I am prone to embarrassing spills, tripping over my own feet, and generally collecting a rather impressive array of scrapes and bruises.
I was, however, one heck of a swimmer. But that is neither here nor there.
For too long, I've let my general aversion to the types of exercise most practically available to a 30something stay-at-home-mother on a budget be my excuse for a total lack of physical activity. Oh, I walk and bike, but only as transportation. That isn't enough to stay in shape and over the years a few pounds here and there have added up to a major problem.
Last summer, for reasons I can't entirely pin down, I finally reached a point where I was uncomfortable enough with being so heavy that I decided to make some real changes. Since May of 2012 I've lost 29 pounds, but I haven't seen any loss so far in 2013. Watching what I eat can only take me so far, mostly because I'm unwilling to be as vigilant and restrictive as it takes to lose serious amounts of weight without developing good exercise habits, but my efforts on the exercise side of the weight-loss equation have been half-hearted at best.
Spring is almost here and I'm ready to face it head on with a plan to get myself moving.
But why running?
Honestly, the biggest thing is that it is simple. I live in a small town with nice trails, bike paths, and scenery, and I don't have the money for a gym membership or the space for a treadmill. I do walk quite a lot and have even done a couple of un-timed 5Ks in the past, but meandering around town is never going to be enough to help me reach my goals. Running is the logical next step.
There is something else too, something that has floated around at the back of my mind for years just waiting for the right moment to shift from a vague notion to a plan of action.
Run Disney.
I am a Disney fanatic. I love all things Disney, but Walt Disney World most of all. If I'm not planning a trip for my own family, I'm probably helping someone else plan one. And when there's no trip in the works I still hang out on Disney forums, keeping up with the latest news and visiting vicariously through the trip reports of fellow fanatics. Even the URL of this blog is Disney inspired, taken from the cutesy euphemism for "fat" that is popular on forums like the DisBoards.
And what is the ultimate in motivation for a Disney-obsessed woman looking to get healthy?
Running a Disney race, of course!
My goal race is still uncomfortably vague. I'd originally set my sights on the Princess Half-Marathon and I plan to train as though that is still the objective, but the minimum age excludes my 11yo daughter and now training buddy. Ideally, we'll make the trip down in October for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. Not only is it a good distance, it is also a night race with an all-night after party which suits this night owl perfectly. However, two children in private school and a summer packed full of travel plans might not leave room in the budget to make another trip down so soon. If that turns out to be the case, I do have a backup plan... The 10K that was recently added to the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend in January.
Only time will tell which race we're able to run, but the training is on. Some time in the next year I will earn a finisher medal from a Walt Disney World race!
As a teenager I jokingly told people I swam because I wasn't coordinated enough for land sports. But really, I was only half-joking. I'm not what you'd call graceful and I wasn't even when I was young and thin. I'm not especially injury prone either, thank goodness, but I am prone to embarrassing spills, tripping over my own feet, and generally collecting a rather impressive array of scrapes and bruises.
I was, however, one heck of a swimmer. But that is neither here nor there.
For too long, I've let my general aversion to the types of exercise most practically available to a 30something stay-at-home-mother on a budget be my excuse for a total lack of physical activity. Oh, I walk and bike, but only as transportation. That isn't enough to stay in shape and over the years a few pounds here and there have added up to a major problem.
Last summer, for reasons I can't entirely pin down, I finally reached a point where I was uncomfortable enough with being so heavy that I decided to make some real changes. Since May of 2012 I've lost 29 pounds, but I haven't seen any loss so far in 2013. Watching what I eat can only take me so far, mostly because I'm unwilling to be as vigilant and restrictive as it takes to lose serious amounts of weight without developing good exercise habits, but my efforts on the exercise side of the weight-loss equation have been half-hearted at best.
Spring is almost here and I'm ready to face it head on with a plan to get myself moving.
But why running?
Honestly, the biggest thing is that it is simple. I live in a small town with nice trails, bike paths, and scenery, and I don't have the money for a gym membership or the space for a treadmill. I do walk quite a lot and have even done a couple of un-timed 5Ks in the past, but meandering around town is never going to be enough to help me reach my goals. Running is the logical next step.
There is something else too, something that has floated around at the back of my mind for years just waiting for the right moment to shift from a vague notion to a plan of action.
Run Disney.
I am a Disney fanatic. I love all things Disney, but Walt Disney World most of all. If I'm not planning a trip for my own family, I'm probably helping someone else plan one. And when there's no trip in the works I still hang out on Disney forums, keeping up with the latest news and visiting vicariously through the trip reports of fellow fanatics. Even the URL of this blog is Disney inspired, taken from the cutesy euphemism for "fat" that is popular on forums like the DisBoards.
And what is the ultimate in motivation for a Disney-obsessed woman looking to get healthy?
Running a Disney race, of course!
My goal race is still uncomfortably vague. I'd originally set my sights on the Princess Half-Marathon and I plan to train as though that is still the objective, but the minimum age excludes my 11yo daughter and now training buddy. Ideally, we'll make the trip down in October for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. Not only is it a good distance, it is also a night race with an all-night after party which suits this night owl perfectly. However, two children in private school and a summer packed full of travel plans might not leave room in the budget to make another trip down so soon. If that turns out to be the case, I do have a backup plan... The 10K that was recently added to the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend in January.
Only time will tell which race we're able to run, but the training is on. Some time in the next year I will earn a finisher medal from a Walt Disney World race!
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