I've been doing a lot of running lately, including the full 13.1 mile half marathon distance last Saturday (it was a lovely run through Provo Canyon and only painful the last three miles). And yes, I'm going to use this post as a shameless way to brag about what I've been able to do the last few months, so be prepared with helpful and supportive comments (Did I mention that I ran 13.1 miles last week? And maybe this is a good place to note that I'm down 28 lbs. as well.).
My first half marathon race is two weeks from tomorrow, then I've got one more half marathon at the end of the summer and the St. George Marathon on October 1st!
A couple of my favorite marathon training books so far:
Marathon: You Can Do it! by Jeff Galloway. You can read my review here. Basically, this is THE book for Marathon beginners.
The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer is another awesome one, especially for the mental suggestions and in-depth discussion of basics like nutrition, injuries, and so forth. My review is here.
My favorite (free) app that turns my Blackberry into a GPS, records a map of my runs and gives me detailed information about elevation, pace, and maps: IMapMyRun. (But every once in a while it does some wonky things -- anyone know of a good alternative?)
And my new favorite training log website is Dailymile.com. I've entered in my data since January and I love being able to track it.
and by month:
It keeps track of my fastest time (a still-very-slow almost 11-minute-mile pace), my furthest run, and how I've felt through the runs I track.
But my favorite part is this "lifetime stats" part of the page, where I can scroll down and see this little gem:
Yep -- I've run 210 miles this year! Not bad for a mom of eight who still isn't sure what do do about a title like "runner."
Oh, and remember those 28 lbs. I mentioned? I went from my heaviest ever (Katie added about 15-20 of those pounds, but who's counting?)
To this in about 10 weeks:
Marathon: You Can Do it! by Jeff Galloway. You can read my review here. Basically, this is THE book for Marathon beginners.
The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer is another awesome one, especially for the mental suggestions and in-depth discussion of basics like nutrition, injuries, and so forth. My review is here.
My favorite (free) app that turns my Blackberry into a GPS, records a map of my runs and gives me detailed information about elevation, pace, and maps: IMapMyRun. (But every once in a while it does some wonky things -- anyone know of a good alternative?)
And my new favorite training log website is Dailymile.com. I've entered in my data since January and I love being able to track it.
I love that I can see my training by day:
by week:
by week:
and by month:
It keeps track of my fastest time (a still-very-slow almost 11-minute-mile pace), my furthest run, and how I've felt through the runs I track.
But my favorite part is this "lifetime stats" part of the page, where I can scroll down and see this little gem:
Yep -- I've run 210 miles this year! Not bad for a mom of eight who still isn't sure what do do about a title like "runner."
Oh, and remember those 28 lbs. I mentioned? I went from my heaviest ever (Katie added about 15-20 of those pounds, but who's counting?)
To this in about 10 weeks:
I've still got another 30 lbs or so to lose, but I've also got a ton of mileage on my training plan, so I'm quite hopeful, and I'm very proud of myself.
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