60 days till marathon

It is official as of tonight I am registered for the Colfax marathon! I am excited but I also know that I have 60 days more of training. Sunday is the day that I do my long run and this weekend it will be 15 miles. I think I will be ok just take it easy and one foot in front of another. May 1st 2006 was when I truly feel that I started running and I could barely run 2 miles with out stopping! I am living proof that perserverance pays off! I truly believe in following your dreams they can come true.

I keep thinking that come May 17 on that day all my hard training will have paid off. It is hard to believe all the time I am putting into my training and that one single day I will run 26.2 miles! I am hoping that my love for running will be strong after the marathon. This is an incredible journey that I am on.

75 DAYS & COUNTING

I what into work early today actually been into work early a lot lately, it is a busy time of year for my job. I started to think this morning when and how did I decide to do a marathon? I really started thinking about how this call came to be. I really do not have all the answers yet, if you would of asked me 2 yrs ago if I ever thought of running a marathon I would of said, "what are you on drugs! LOL. I am on a journey one that is going to last a long time. I decided to run a marathon because I know I can! The hardest part is the training day in and day out for a total of 18 weeks. It is the getting up on Sun am and knowing I have a long run on Sundays and can't sleep in to much. It is the daily runs at lunch getting up from my desk and getting changed and out the door I go.

I truly honestly say that I feel that the marathon is going to change my in more ways than one. It is about helping me become a stronger woman mentally and physically! It is about doing something that I never thought I could!

I have been thinking that in one day 5-6 hrs it will be all done. The marathon will be the icing on the cake! It will be a pivital point in my life. What a way to put a close to this last year for me. I will be 42 yrs old when I finish my marathon and dam proud.

I hope that someday I can assit other people in following their dreams! I trully believe that dreams can come true!

91 DAYS TILL MY FIRST MARATHON

WOW time is flying bye. I am 91 days away from running 26.2 miles. So far the training plan that I am using is going well. I do feel at times it is consuming my life but I know I have to put in the miles to be able to come across that finish line with a smile on my face!

I lately think about how will I feel once it is all done? Will I want to do another marathon in the future? Will I possibly want to do a ultra run someday? Then the big thought is will I ever consider a full iron man triathlon? YIKES that sounds so scarey to even say that LOL.

It has really amazed me how my athletic adventures have not only changed my phsically but how it has also changed other areas of my life and has helped my self esteem get much better and stronger. To be honest all I ever wanted to do was get in shape I did not realize how it would change other areas of my life. Some of it in the future will be scarey but I know I have to do what is best for Rebecca

CONVERSATIONS OVERHEARD AT WORK

OK I am going to get on a soap box here so just wanted to say that up front! The young girls I work with in their mid 20's are doing weight watchers program. That is one of the better programs if someone asked me my opinion. But these girls just do not get it you also need to exercise and stick with it!

These girls are not seriously fat but I know their fitness level is not that good. If they would just exercise and do it on a regular bases they might see a difference in how they feel. A many of the young people I work with also drink WAY TO MUCH ALCOHOL! I like my wine but on special occasions and that is about it, I do not have much room in my eating plan for those calories.

I do not talk about my running or triathlons much at work unless someone approaches me and ask me. I just some how wish that people would realise that you can do anything you set your mind too. It takes some hard work and determination but it can be done if you want something bad enough. Maybe someday I can help others follow their dreams and desires.

a New Year

Well hard to believe another year is upon us. I will be joining the CWW triatlon group here in Denver we kick off another season Jan 24th YAHOO. I am looking forward to it and this season I will do spring distance and do my first olympic distance.



The first big event for me is May 17 as I will be running my first marathon. This week kicks off my 18 week training plan I am using a plan that is by Hal Higdon a famous coach and runner and has written many books on marathon running. I feel very comfortable with the plan I am using.



I sometimes think WOW I am really going to do a marathon A FULL MARATHON? I reflect back at times how running has changed my life and that maybe someday I can do some motivational speaking and teach others how to follow their dreams! It is very interesting with co-workers or friends hear me talking on occassion about running and how they think I am a bit nuts for wanting to do the running that I do. I love what I do for keeping in shape and also love the challenge of seeing what my body can do. Setting up events to participate in also keeps me motivated and working hard.



Dream it............ believe it........

LAS VEGAS HALF MARATHON

Dec 7th was the running of the Las Vegas Marathon and the half marathon. It was my first time in LV and it was a great time. My friend Becky who was suppose to to be running her first mararthon but due to injury she was there to cheer me and our barefoot marathon friend Byron who ran 26.2 miles dressed as Elvis and did it in 5 hrs! This man is awesome.



The event started on time at 6 am with fireworks going off at the start. I had my brand new garmin 305 but did not start it properly so that mentally frustrated me. I learned that you do not take new toys with you on a big event race unless you have worked the bugs out of them LOL. Overall it was a fun time I had also been on my legs to much the day before seeing the sites of the strip.



I cannot complain to bad my time was better than my first half marathon here in Denver back in May. Las Vegas time was 2 hr 39 min. There were people from 47 countires doing the LV event so met lots of neat people while out on the course. One shirt I will always remember said pain is temporary pride is forever! GOT LOVE IT.



Becky and Kelvin met up with me in the family reunion area it took a little bit to find them but when I did it was a great site to see them, I was a bit tired LOL. Overall a fun time and if you would of asked me 5 years ago what I would be doing Dec 7th 2008 it would of not been running a half marathon down the Las Vegas strip LOL. Now it makes me think were else would I like to travel to someday to do another half marathon or better yet a full marathon.



May 17 will be my first full marathon here in Denver if all goes well with my running this winter and into spring. I am also working out at the gym more this winter to get more core strength and just overall stronger

Thanksgiving 2008 Wash Park Turkey Trot

The weather turned out warmer than last year! YAHOO it was a large turn out as always for this run. I had just found out the night before that my friend Becky Marzano who has been training to run the Las Vegas marathon will not be able to run it! She has a left quad that is pretty messed up and a MRI proved that. She will be coming to LV still to scream for me on my hlaf marathon!

I ran hard at the turkey trot and pleased to report 4.0 miles in 38:42 which is about 9:44 per mile time! So I am getting faster! that was 5 min off last years time. I am also happy since I had to navigate a large crowd of walkers, kids, etc etc so learning how to do that is great experience for me at large runs.

Next Sunday at this time I will have run my 2 half marathon ever! I am hoping to do it in 2:30 or less. I know it will be better than my first half marathon which was in May 2008 and it was a time of about 2hr 45min and it was really hard! Since then I have increased weekly mileage and done more hill training which is helping me. My lonest run to day is 20 miles in about 4hr 14 min. I will back down my mileage in Jan and then come Feb-April bring it back up and on May 17 2009 I will return to the Colfax Marathon this time to do the full 26.2

I am also currently 183 miles away from reaching 1000 miles for running this year. My goals is to reach it by the end of December. I am wanting to do the Denver resolution run which is a 5K and have that round out my 1000 miles for the year! Last year I did 300 and some miles for the whole year. At the beginning of 2008 I had told myself all that I wanted to do was more miles than last year I NEVER set the goal of 1000 miles it just sort a happened LOL.

I am hoping to get my running times down and would like to become a 9 min per mile runner and also keep running long distances.

Hope you all have a great holiday season! I will report in after Las Vegas Marathon.