Advice please!

Ok, so.

I think I might have found a new goal, but I don't know if I'm being over ambitious.  There is a Verona marathon in February that I want to participate in.  Now don't get too crazy, I'm going to run the marathon.  They are offering a half marathon as well.  

That's 13.1 miles.  More than quadruple my huge goal I just accomplished last month.

It's going to take a lot of hard work.  No one is disputing that.  But, I do have more than 4 months to work toward this goal.  That's something, right? 

Please, if you know anything about running tell me now if I'm being an over anxious beginner or if I really have a shot at finishing this thing.  I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a 10k, which would have been my next race or preference.  Maybe if I find one I can get rid of this crazy idea.

I was checking out Runner's World online and they had a training schedule for half marathons for beginners.  It was an 8 week schedule.  Surely I can stretch that over double the time for a slow increase to what I want to accomplish?  This way there's no injuries or heartache over a missed run.  

I'm not going to lie, when I saw that in week 1 I'd be running 19-21 miles instead of my usual 6-10 I had a little panic attack.  But as soon as I calmed down and stopped hyperventilating I realized I had more time than the average bear.

Here I go, getting excited again.  

Bloggers, either talk me off the ledge or encourage me to take the leap.  I'd love your feedback.

The Fitness of Nikki to Date

After completing my 5k (and the biggest athletic accomplishment of my adult life), I kinda went into a fitness funk.  There wasn't really a need to get those 2 miles in before work in the morning.  So in my mind there wasn't much of a need to get any miles in that day.  It might have had something to do with going on this to see this:



But!  There was a gym on the boat and I worked out twice.  On vacation even!  When did I become one of those people?  One day I ran for 25 minutes on the treadmill.  Another day the gym was full so I ran up and down the 10 flights of stairs on the ship for 20 minutes.

Which, by the way, if you ever get the chance to do that while you're on a cruise?  Don't.  Especially not on the first day of the cruise when you have days and days of sight seeing to do after.  Your calves will hate you and be very vocal in letting you know their sudden want to be liberated from the rest of your silly legs.

Despite the 6 course meals every night and all-you-can-eat all-day-long buffets I managed not to gain any weight.  I did not, however, manage to find a new goal to replace my 5k goal.  Not yet anyway.

This new found strength in my body is so invigorating.  I no longer find eating healthy a chore, but a way to get my body the best fuel possible to run in its most efficient state.  I don't think of exercise as something to do to loose weight but to get stronger and faster.

Now I feel like I need to put a disclaimer here: I still eat lots of chocolate and burritos.  I still talk myself out of going for runs sometimes.  I still get disappointed when I can't quite button my skinny jeans and have to go for a size up that day.  I am still my fantastically flawed self.

But I'm stronger too.

Company Kindness

On Monday I ordered over $75 dollars worth of sports bras from my favorite sports bra store, title nine.  Yesterday I got an email about the $5 shipping.  So I was a little upset about having a missed discount opportunity since I ordered promptly after I got the sale announcement.  

Quick digression: It's a great sale.  The bras are really much cheaper than normal and are excellent quality.  All my running bras are from title nine.  And since I'm not a girl with a "runners build" as my husband says (aka I have been asked by two different women if they could take a picture of my chest to show their plastic surgens what they want their implants to look like) a good bra is a must have.  I have 3 bras from title nine.  When they say no bounce, they MEAN no bounce.  End digression.

So I wrote the folks there asking if I could take advantage of the discount after the fact.  No harm in asking, right?

I got back the kindest response:

Normally we don't give refunds on shipping since it was a day after the sale, but since you ordered so much and was for the bra sale, I can adjust the shipping for you as a one-time courtesy. :)

Cheers,

Jackie

title nine / customer service

1-800-342-4448  9a -5p M-F PST

So nice!  

If you are in the market for a new sports bra, or any of their beautiful apparel, you should really check them out. 

Goal Achieved! I'm awesome!

Today I did something I never thought possible.  I ran my first 5K.  The donut dash.  A deployment goal.  Something I've wanted to do ever since I saw the 1996 Olympics when I was a kid and I saw the American women's team kicking some butt.  They were wearing the cutest track outfits and gold necklaces and had long manicured nails and I wanted to look just like that in body and style.

It was pouring and has been all day.  So at least the weather was nice enough not to rub my face in it by stopping the rain after I was done running.



There were kids there from my center with their moms.  This soaking wet cutie is Danielle.  Please notice my Bondi Band I'm rocking.  It's the one I got from Wannabe Athlete to support her aunt's fight against breast cancer.



I ran the whole race.  Not one second of walking.



35 minutes and 27 seconds of running.  Longest non-stop run time to date.  My goal was to come in under 40 minutes and I totally beat that.  I'm so amazing!  I didn't stop smiling the whole way home.  I also didn't stop cranking the heat.

When's the next race?  I'm hooked.

Goals!

I did it, bloggers.  I signed up for my first ever 5k today.  I've been training for the last few months for it and yesterday ran for 20 minutes without stopping.  The front of my calves can tell you all about it today.

I'm feeling really good about it.  I think it's an excellent sign that this particular 5k is donut related.  Y'all, I feel so strongly about donuts.  Everytime I go to Germany I find the Dunkin Donuts there and buy at least half a dozen.  Then at least three more for the plane ride home.  Everytime I visit my parents in the States one of the first stops is the Krispy Kreme.  I don't even want to go unless the "Hot and Fresh" sign is on for donuts straight out of the fryer.  Dirty.  And I love it.

Wait, this post was supposed to be about running and fitness.  Oops.  No can do when donuts are involved.

5/23 Check-In

Hello! Did you think I was joking about getting fit? I did too! But it's really happening. Here are some stats from the past week:

• 5 workouts
• 4 days without sugar
• 0 pounds lost
• 1 new Polar heart rate monitor watch in the mail
• 1 blogger who realized that she needs more forreal stats

Here's hoping next week is full of some actual stats.

It seems like it's one or the other

This is an art journal page I made today. It's how I feel. Like I can't stop stuffing my face.

I'm trying to strike some balance in my life. It seems when I do an excellent job of working out I have a hard time controlling what I eat. But if I know I can't workout, then I eat perfectly. I just need these powers combined to form Captain Fitness!

Captain Planet.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Podcasts

Ok, so. I don’t know if I’m really behind the curve because I live in Italy or if it’s because I just recently got upgraded to NOT dial-up or if it’s because I only USE the internets for Facebook checking or blog reading or using the Google on my best friends names. Either way, I had no idea about the world of podcasts.

Did you know you can get podcasts for FREE from iTunes about books? Or cooking? Or learning Italian? Or sports?

I didn’t either!

It’s super fantastic. The other thing I put together is that my discovery of podcasts correlates directly with my success at the gym. I’m not really a music lover. I like music. I can sing along with most hits and all of my husband’s favorite bands. But if someone were to ask me what kind of music I like I don’t think I’d really have an answer. I’m just not that into music. Books? Yes. Food? Yes. My hub’s butt in gym shorts? Yes. Gilmore Girls (God rest their souls)? Yes.

Podcasts are NOT music. It’s people talking about many of the things I love. And I can workout for the duration of a 45 minute podcast without getting bored of listening to music!

Please join me in the podcast revolution.

Convert please?

Remember when I blogged about doing 800 squats? Remember when I wanted to kill my husband for thinking it was a good idea for us to work out together? Remember when I whined and complained and was generally acting like a big baby?

One of the main reasons I didn’t want to work out with him was because I didn’t want him to see how far I had to go. I was embarrassed. Ashamed. Unreasonable. My husband coerced me because he’s cute and he wants what’s best for me. That and I like to look at his butt in gym shorts. Anyway, I didn’t give myself any credit. I never thought that I’d go to the gym and impress my husband with how strong I am (thanks Papa for making me cut the grass all those years and not listening to my excuses to not cut it because I’m a girl. I’m a much stronger person now. Ask Hubs.) I knew that I was stronger than I looked from all those years of martial arts. I knew I had muscles somewhere dormant in my body. And oh, OH. My husband woke them up.

I am writing this today as a new woman. Not a smaller woman (yet), but a new one. After those first few work outs with the Hubs I started to feel a lot better. Energized, strong, capable. Now, as I write this I WANT to go to the gym. I haven’t been in a few days due to allergies getting me down. I’m itching to move. I’m ready to get out there and MOVE IT MOVE IT as the song says.

Am I converted?

(PLEASE GOD SAY I’M CONVERTED!)

Ahem. Maybe.