My Running Wish List

It occurred to me today that this is going to be an expensive hobby at first. So, I started a wish-list of everything I want/need by race day. The list is, in no particular order, as follows:

1. A few wicking tank tops and a few new pairs of shorts
2. More sports bras
3. Running Socks
4. An arm-band for my iPod
5. New headphones that don't fall out of my ears when running. (Seriously Apple...who designed the standard ear buds? You fail, Steve Jobs.)
6. Registration for the race
7. Registration for The Runner's Edge training classes.


That's all for now. I'm sure the list will get longer as I start running farther. Whoever said running is free is a liar. LIAR.

Cross Training, Day 1

Last night was the first time since I decided to become a runner that I've done something besides, well, run. I went to one of my favorite classes at The Women's Club, The Lift Plus. According to www.thewomensclub.com, The Lift is an "exciting weight training class utilizing a specially designed barbell, steps and dumbbells. No fancy footwork, just simple and intense resistance training set to motivating music." Since the class on Tuesday nights is The Lift Plus, the instructor usually throws in a minutes of jumping jacks, jogging in place, or other super-fun (that was sarcasm) things here and there to get our hearts pumping.

I like this class for a number of reasons. 1. The instructor, Stephanie, is cool. 2. You don't have to be very coordinated, which keeps my flailing to a minimum. 3. I'll be honest here. If I try to weight lift on my own, I look like a fool. Or a tool. Whichever noun you're more comfortable with. 4. I just am not dedicated enough to force myself to do squats and lunges outside of a peer-pressure setting. (I HATE lunges. Hate them. I could get into all the things I would rather do than lunges, but it might get graphic, so I'll spare you.) Anyway, going to this class makes me feel like I've done a bit of resistance training, so I don't feel bad about skipping it the rest of the week. (I know one day a week of resistance training is not enough. I'll get there. I promise.)

During the class, I was excited to find that I was able to hold the plank position for 3 sets of 30 seconds. (Modified plank, of course.) If you don't know what "plank" is, get in the push-up position, with your arms extended all the way. Suck in your stomach. Now stay like that for a while. If you can't do that, do it in the modified push-up position, with your knees on the ground. Fun stuff, huh? Before Christmas, I could hold the plank for about 3 seconds. (I'm not exaggerating.) I'm really excited to find that my core has gotten a lot stronger from running!

I'm hoping to get in some swimming this weekend for my next round of cross training.

A Little Inspiration

Monday night, Anders Brookers, the owner of Missoula's premier running store, The Runner's Edge, gave a talk at the Good Food Store regarding training for the full- and half- Missoula Marathon. I was excited to go and dragged Ryan along. (It turns out we will not be participating as a couple in this year's Valentine's Day Scrumpy Jack Scramble 5k run. I got the "don't even ask" head shake when it was brought up during the talk.)

Side Note: If you ever have the opportunity to try the GFS's Sweet Potato Soup, DO IT. It has peanut butter in it. It's incredible.

Anyway, Anders is also the coach of the Hellgate High School track and cross-country teams, so he knows his stuff. He didn't say much that I hadn't already read on the website, but he did answer some questions on things like the advantages of caffienated vs de-caffienated power gels. He also reiterated that the half-marathon is a very acheivable goal from where I'm at now. Apparently, one could even conceivably make it through the whole marathon at this point, but I'm not crazy enough to make myself that miserable for the next 23 weeks. I do need to be able to do my job without falling asleep at my desk, after all!

We were also told to expect to be hungry all the time. Uh, I already am hungry all the time. What the flip is going to happen when I start running long distances? I will definitely be investing in almonds and other proteins! I should also expect to be tired all the time. Sounds awesome!

In all seriousness, I'm very excited about the marathon and I'm definitely going to shell out the $80 to do the Runner's Edge training classes.

More on my training and progress in the next post!

A Day of Skiing

So this post is not directly about running, but it's about physical activity so I figure I'm close enough. Maybe it will all come back to running in the end, maybe it won't. It's hard to tell with me sometimes.

Today was "Media Day" at Lookout Pass, so Ryan and I got to ski, eat lunch, and rent gear for free. Lookout Pass sits right on the Montana/Idaho border, so we're able to say we skied in two states in one day!

Anyway, here's a little background on my skiing history: I skied almost every weekend as a kid. By 7th grade or so, my favorite run was Mad Wolf at Big Sky. I was pretty good, if I do say so. But by high school, skiing with your parents every weekend was obviously way less fun than working at the local SCUBA shop (?), so I let my skiing skills fall by the wayside. Fast forward to college: new part of Montana, new ski hills, new boyfriend. Ryan LOVES to ski. Loves it. It took two years of persuading, but he finally got me up on a mountain. That year (2007), we skied at Snowbowl and I made it through about 2 runs and had to be done. Last year, I made it through three at Whitefish, but the rumor is that there were tears on the last one. After that debacle, I promised Ryan and myself that I would go to the gym throughout the off-season and work for stronger legs so that this year I would be at least able to make it through a solid half-day of skiing.

Well folks, I did it. I made it through a number of runs (the jury is still out on exactly how many) and...I actually had fun. I'm really excited and proud because this is the first time I've put myself to the test to see if my gym time has actually produced any results. My upper legs didn't hurt at all the whole time, and my lower legs got tired fast, but it was bearable. Hooray! All those squats and lunges and spinning classes paid off.

So I guess how this all ties in to the running is that after accomplishing my goal of becoming a better skier, I am more motivated and confident in my ability to reach my next goal: 13.1 miles on July 11th!

Tomorrow night, Anders Brooker, the owner of The Runner's Edge, is putting on a talk at The Good Food Store about starting from zero and training for the Missoula half- and full marathon. I'm definitely going, so I'll be posting about what he has to say on Tuesday!!

P.S. I still love my new shoes!!

Ahhh, New Shoes....

Well, $105 later, I am the proud new owner of Brooks "Adrenaline" running shoes. Though my bank account is definitely hurting, I can happily say after my morning run/walk today that this was a very good purchase. My calves, ankles, and shins hardly hurt at all, and I was actually able to feel my muscles working, instead of just my lower legs crying out in pain. (Though at the moment I'm not sure which is worse.)

I'm currently run/walking about 2 miles, and adding more running and less walking every day. It's tough to push myself and even tougher to roll out of bed at 5:45 in the morning, but once I make it through the doors of the gym I know I made the right choice and my attitude improves immensely. Next week I'm planning on adding in a cardio-lifting class on Tuesday nights to build muscle in my lower body and ensure that my upper body doesn't get neglected in all of this. Once I make some more progress with the running, I'll add swimming one day a week as well.

A very special thank you to the lady at The Runner's Edge who patiently guided me through the many choices in running shoes without trying to upsell me. I'm a Runner's Edge shopper for life! (Also, thanks for the free socks!)

Shin Splints, Anyone?

"Get good shoes." "Spend money on good shoes." "Seriously, Emily, you need to get new shoes." I've heard these and many more variations on this phrase from just about everyone I've talked to about running. For the record, the shoes I'm using are NOT just some Target-brand cross trainers. They are, or were, good, expensive, Brooks running shoes. Unfortunately, they were also purchased about three-and-a-half years ago. I knew I did need to get new shoes sooner than later. But last night on the treadmill, I found out I needed to get shoes "NOW" not "SOON".

Um, OW. Seriously. I will never run in old, broken-down shoes again. If someone had drawn a cartoon of me on the treadmill, there would be red lightening bolts shooting from my calves, shins and ankles. So, alas, immediately after work tonight Ryan and I will be heading down to the Runner's Edge to get NEW SHOES.

Goodbye, paycheck that was just deposited into my account today. It was nice knowing you.

What in the hell am I thinking?

I am not a runner. I'm just not. I work out 4-5 times a week and I'm in pretty decent shape at this point. I can do a 45-minute spinning class with no problems. I can swim for hours. (Ok, maybe not hours, but a long time.) I own the elliptical machine. But when it comes to running, I just can't do it.

Up until this point, I've been pretty ok with my inability to run. Yet for some reason, I just woke up one day last week and said "I think I'm going to try to become a runner." My dad went through a stage like this at one point too, I think, so I guess maybe it runs in the family. It might also be peer pressure: many of my friends ran the Missoula Marathon last year. While I admired their dedication and skill, I had absolutely no desire to join them. Until now.

So I've set a fairly lofty yet reachable goal for myself. I want to finish the half-marathon in this year's Missoula Marathon. The race is on July 11th. I have up until May 31st to register and pay the cheapest price. I think by then I'll know if this is an accomplishable goal or not. If I realize it's not, that's ok with me. I'm not going to force myself to do something that could cause an injury or other damage to my body or my psyche. But really, 13.1 miles isn't THAT far, is it?

So why am I blogging about my experiences? There's a myriad of reasons, really. I've been wanting to start a blog for a while but didn't feel like I had anything to talk about. But probably the biggest reason is that if I know my friends and family are reading this and cheering me on, it will hold me accountable to KEEP GOING!

So wish me luck, everyone, and keep checking back for updates on my progress and my thoughts about why anyone would ever want to do this.