She's Back

I'm back and I'm not very happy. The truth is that I have been going crazy off the wagon, sort of, and have gotten out of my routine. I finally realized that it was actually helping me by blogging, because it was holding me accountable pretty much. I have been living in denial for about two weeks.

I was doing okay, but then I went on a business trip for four days and it completely knocked me out of my schedule. I tried one day while on the business trip to go the gym, but I just had no energy. I tried to eat well, but there wasn't much of a healthy selection in the hotel that I was staying. Then I just got really tired and I've been in a funk for over a week.

Over the past week I have walked a couple of times, but I seem to have regressed a bit. I'm beginning to think that there is no way that I will be able to walk in a marathon in December and maybe I should just try for the marathon in January here in California in Carlsbad. It's hard work to train as a marathon and I don't want to not be ready and then let myself down and get depressed if I quite after a couple of hours. I don't want to pay all the money to go to Hawaii if I am not going to complete the marathon.

So I'm back and I'm ready to get my ass in gear again. Wish me luck.

My Weekly Marathon Walking Training Schedule

I'm really confused about which marathon walking schedule I should be using to train for my Honolulu marathon in December. So I'll just blend a couple of them together and make up my own. And I'm a bit worried that it's only 12 weeks away and I am not in shape to finish it! But I figure I will still try to walk as long as I can on the marathon.

This week my training schedule will be the following:

Monday: Rest (although I went to a yoga class)
Tuesday: Walk 3 miles (although I didn't walk at all because I was too relaxed from acupuncture-which I still need to blog about)
Wednesday: cross-training for 20 minutes (but I actually walked an hour and a half)
Thursday: Walk 4 miles (but I am also thinking of possibly squeezing in a gentle yoga session as well)
Friday: It's supposed to be a cross-training day, but I am going to the beach and am going to walk for 2 hours-that'll be give or take 5 or 6 miles. If I feel up to it in the evening, maybe I will take the restorative yoga class
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: Haven't figured it out yet. Either I'll take a yoga class or I'll take a slow hike in a hilly mountain area.

I am trying to exercise as much as I can this week, because next week I go back to my hectic work schedule. Wish me luck!

Self Doubt

Uh-oh, Houston..we have a problem. Red alert! Red alert! Red alert! Well, a potential problem!

I just looked online and I counted the weeks to go until the Honolulu marathon and I just realized that there are only 14 weeks left! Oh no! I need to get my butt in gear!

Now I know why my doctor sort of looked at me funny when I said that I would send him a post card if I finished the marathon in Honolulu and he said, "Just send me one even if you walk ten miles of the marathon".

I looked online at the Avon training schedule that I have been using and I just realized that although their marathon is 26.2 miles, that the Avon marathon is spread out over two days! Now I am freaking out, wondering if the training schedule is not appropriate for me since I will be doing the marathon in one day.

I am going to have to investigate a little more. I am now sooo nervous that I don't have enough time for training! I am over 100 pounds over weight, have not exercised in years, and I can't even get my ass in gear enough to walk consistently four days a week! Am I really going to be able to pull this off in fourteen weeks!?! My body already aches just from walking four miles on the weekends. How the hell am I going to be able to pull off 26.2?!

To add to my nervousness, one of the participants at my training today told me that she had a personal trainer from October to March in order to get her ready to walk the Los Angeles marathon. Imagine that-the skinny little thing trained for six months, yet I'm attempting to do it in four months. Even with all her training, she told me that she almost gave up at the 22nd mile.

Then she told me that her friend had walked the Honolulu marathon and said that it was extremely hard to do because of all of the humidity. So what did I do? Well, I just looked up and searched on youtube "honolulu marathon" and lo and behold, there are tons of videos of marathon walkers and runners trekking through the pouring rain. Ahhh! I am freaking out! I HATE HATE HATE humidity, and I most definitely don't want to walk in the rain!

In addition to all the freakiness mentioned before, she also told me that I will get a little tracker on my foot that will monitor me at the marathon and my family and friends will be able to track me online. I am not sure if that applies to all marathons, but that sounds really inspiring to me!

So for the next couple of days I will be getting my butt in gear and researching some additional training schedules to ensure that I am going to set myself for success.

Besides-who really cares if I don't finish, right? All that really matters is that I am going to try.

Should I or Shouldn't I?

It's been a rough week for me and my energy levels have been pretty low due to PMS. I'm not sure if I am imagining this, but I don't think that I was as bitchy this month as I have been the other months. Maybe it's the exercise! Nonetheless, I had low energy levels and I over ate every fatty and salty thing in sight.

I conducted a three-day presentation and it was excruciatingly difficult for me to to exercise after an entire day of standing in front of forty people all day long. Monday I did nothing. Last night I managed to walk only 30 min, although my marathon walking schedule stipulates that I am supposed to walk 3 miles at a brisk pace. Tonight I am supposed to have 2o-30 minutes of cross-training, which I haven't done.

Now I can feel that my period is coming on, and the cramps are starting to kick in. Should I go outside for 20 minutes and take a quick stroll to try to dissipate the cramps? Should I risk walking outside alone at dark? What about the wildfires-is it even healthy for me to be outside walking? This morning I came outside of my house and there was a fine coat of ash on my car, although the fires are 30 miles away to the east and 60 miles to the west of me.

Now I'm stuck in a dilemma. I know that I probably shouldn't walk outside alone at night. Last night I walked around the park at 8 at night, but I was with my boyfriend and it is in more of a rural area as opposed to my urban area. I also suspect that I shouldn't be walking outside with the poor air quality.

So I suppose I just won't exercise, because I am one of those people who hates exercising inside my house, and I haven't renewed my gym membership yet.

Oh well, I won't fret. At least I walked 30 minutes yesterday as opposed to nothing at all. I'll just have to make sure that tomorrow I walk the three miles that I am supposed to walk on Thursdays.

It's a lot harder than I thought to jump into a six days a week walking schedule, when I am not accustomed to walking on a consistent basis in the first place. So, I am going to be okay with not completely following the six day schedule, and I'll just try to work on being more consistent with walking for four days a week. When I have that under my belt, I can conquer the two days of cross-training!!

Maybe instead of doing my cross-training tonight I should actually register for the Honolulu marathon online!!

Marathon Walking Training and All That Jazz

Today I was able to walk 4.5 miles!! It actually does seem to be getting easier because this is the first week that I have walked on Sunday and I am not completely knocked out from exhaustion. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact that I slept seven hours last night and the other weekends I had only slept about 5 miles. Nonetheless, it was easier for me.

It seems that I am a little ahead of the schedule for the marathon walking! I am not supposed to walk the 4 miles on the weekends until week 2, but I was able to do it today. It looks as if I am going to be heading into the second week of marathon walking training after all.

This week my walking schedule will be the following:

Monday: 15 minutes walk or rest (I will try to walk the 15 min)
Tuesday: 3 mile brisk walk
Wednesday: yoga
Thursday: 3 mile moderate walk
Friday: yoga
Saturday: 4 miles endurance walk
Sunday: 4 miles endurance walk

I haven't yet figured out the difference between what is a brisk walk versus a moderate walk?! Beats me. I also haven't figured out anything else to do for the cross-training except yoga.

One thing that I did today while I was out on my walk was take a couple of pictures of me, which I will upload to the blog as soon as possible. I want a visual of what I look like now and maybe I will upload another midway and after the marathon. Sometime this week I would also like to take a few measurements of my body and upload them here so that I can keep track of my weight loss.

It appears that any day now I might possibly have to buy some new walking shoes. I'm going to investigate some of the brands. This blog is also really motivating me, because I want to walk and take pictures so that I can blog about it. Whatever works, right?

P.S. I haven't had to take an excedrin since Friday, so maybe my walking is helping with my headaches and my energy levels after all!
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Training to Walk a Marathon

I'd like to walk the Honolulu marathon in the beginning of December, and this week I TRIED to get myself started on a training schedule in order to prepare myself for the event. I went onto the Avon three-day breast cancer walk-a-thon and downloaded a couple of training schedules. I decided to get started on the 16 week training schedule.

Last week I attempted the week one schedule, which is:

Monday: Day off or 15 minute walk
Tuesday: Brisk 3 mile walk
Wednesday: Cross-train 20-30 minutes
Thursday: Moderate 3 mile walk
Friday: Cross-train 20-30 minutes
Saturday: Endurance 3 mile walk
Sunday: Endurance 3 mile walk

The idea is that trainees will work once a week on their speed during the brisk walk. The moderate walk is basically for conditioning and cardio. The two endurance walks train walkers to walk long distances and will progressively increase in miles each week. The reason why there is rest or a light walk on Monday is in order for rest and recovery from the endurance walks on the weekend.

How Did I Do This Week?
I walked two miles on Tuesday, which was very hard to do because I had been on my feet all day during a presentation for teachers and I hadn't slept well the night before. I probably could have walked a bit longer, but it was very dark outside and I couldn't see very well.

Unfortunately I didn't do any cross-training on Wednesday or Friday because I didn't know WHAT to do, and I was also very tired from my presentation and very long work hours during the week. The next time I have a presentation that lasts a couple of days, maybe I will walk in the morning because I am often too tired to do it after work or I get home when it is already dark. Next week I am going to try to go to yoga class for my cross-training sessions.

Today I walked a little less than 3 miles, primarily because I walked at 9:00 at night and my boyfriend didn't want to walk another ten minutes to complete the 3 miles.

Tomorrow we are going to walk 90 minutes as we have been doing for the past three Sundays, which might be more than 3 miles. I am going to pull back on the power walking that I have been doing during the other weeks because the speed and the distance during the 90 minutes have literally knocked me out for the rest of the day. Literally.

Week two of the training schedule suggests that I walk the same amount of miles on Tuesday and Thursday, as well as cross-train for the same amount of time on Wednesday and Friday. The week two schedule also calls for 4 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. So the only real difference is an extra mile on each day during the weekend.

So, this week I am going to try to walk both days during the week and do the cross-training through yoga. I will wait until Saturday to determine whether or not I want to stay with the week one training schedule for another week, or if I feel ready to move to week two.

One major reflection that I have is that it is easier for me to walk when I have someone to walk with. Fortunately my boyfriend has been walking with me on the weekends, but I am going to either have to train myself to walk alone on the weekdays or find another walking buddy.

Wish me luck for the training schedule this week!
walking, marathon walking, marathon training, walk for health, weight loss, women's health