Well - I created a blog back in April and never did anything with it. Today I was thinking about my plan to train for a marathon that's happening about a year from now, and realised that this would be a great place to document how it goes. Along with whatever else I feel like documenting along the way, I suppose.
Where to start with the running thing?
Growing up, except for a couple of brief stints of cross country running in high school, I was the most unathletic person on the planet. Team sports were a nightmare (think small, klutzy, not very fast person) and in any event I would much rather read than do any kind of physical activity. Perhaps not surprisingly, at ages 16 and 17 I gained a lot of weight and started university weighing about 40 pounds too much. Not sure what happened then, but my resolution to lose it stuck, and with a combination of Weight Watchers, fad diets, no junk food and walking everywhere, I got to a "normal" weight for my height and have stayed there for over 20 years. Of course, somewhere inside me still lurks that "fat girl" and there are times that I get obsessive about my weight. It doesn't help that at my age, a couple of extra pounds gained on vacation or at Christmas are much harder to lose than they used to be.
Anyway, I took up jogging on a steady basis somewhere around 1992 or 1993. For various reasons I stopped for most of 1994, but after that it became a regular part of my life. Outside in the spring, summer, fall, inside on the treadmill in winter. Eventually I did my first official event, a 10 K, in the spring of 1997, and was pleased with my time of about 57 minutes.
1997 was an eventful year. I ended a relationship, moved to a different city and went back to school. The university has a wonderful 200 m cushioned track in the athletic centre. With such a convenient facility, I could run all year round, and was soon putting in hour-long sessions, three or four days a week. Occasionally I would count laps and figure my distance, but never did speed work or any kind of serious training to a specific goal.
In 1998 I met DH, and through him met his friends F1 and F1's wife. F1 is (IMO) a natural-born runner, and almost every Spring would do a half marathon run. The idea of running this was raised occasionally, and finally in 2001 I gave it a try (ironically enough, that was a year that F1 skipped it). The run was a challenge - no doubt about that - but I amazed myself by finishing in about an hour and 44 minutes. It was a fantastic way to celebrate my 40th birthday. And from that point, the idea of an actual marathon took root.
Since 2001, I have done the Spring half marathon every year, and then about a week ago did the Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon. It was great - my best time since 2003, my third-best time ever, and it set off that back-of-the-mind marathon dream again. Also, with F1 talking about doing the marathon in 2007, there was an extra incentive to make that mental commitment.
This would be a good time to note that DH runs as well. When we first met, he was doing about 3 km at a time, at quite a slow pace. Over the years he has worked up to the point of doing the Spring half marathon and the Scotiabank half marathon this year. He runs at a slower pace than me, so unfortunately we can't really run together, but the big thing is that he does it.
And so ends the broad brush explanation. Further posts will get more specific about times, training, etc.
Oh - and the Jogger Barbie name? I recently bought a new running shirt that's pink and has flowers on it, and it occurred to me later that it looked like something Barbie would wear. Since I loved Barbies when I was a kid, well, it just kind of fit :)
Where to start with the running thing?
Growing up, except for a couple of brief stints of cross country running in high school, I was the most unathletic person on the planet. Team sports were a nightmare (think small, klutzy, not very fast person) and in any event I would much rather read than do any kind of physical activity. Perhaps not surprisingly, at ages 16 and 17 I gained a lot of weight and started university weighing about 40 pounds too much. Not sure what happened then, but my resolution to lose it stuck, and with a combination of Weight Watchers, fad diets, no junk food and walking everywhere, I got to a "normal" weight for my height and have stayed there for over 20 years. Of course, somewhere inside me still lurks that "fat girl" and there are times that I get obsessive about my weight. It doesn't help that at my age, a couple of extra pounds gained on vacation or at Christmas are much harder to lose than they used to be.
Anyway, I took up jogging on a steady basis somewhere around 1992 or 1993. For various reasons I stopped for most of 1994, but after that it became a regular part of my life. Outside in the spring, summer, fall, inside on the treadmill in winter. Eventually I did my first official event, a 10 K, in the spring of 1997, and was pleased with my time of about 57 minutes.
1997 was an eventful year. I ended a relationship, moved to a different city and went back to school. The university has a wonderful 200 m cushioned track in the athletic centre. With such a convenient facility, I could run all year round, and was soon putting in hour-long sessions, three or four days a week. Occasionally I would count laps and figure my distance, but never did speed work or any kind of serious training to a specific goal.
In 1998 I met DH, and through him met his friends F1 and F1's wife. F1 is (IMO) a natural-born runner, and almost every Spring would do a half marathon run. The idea of running this was raised occasionally, and finally in 2001 I gave it a try (ironically enough, that was a year that F1 skipped it). The run was a challenge - no doubt about that - but I amazed myself by finishing in about an hour and 44 minutes. It was a fantastic way to celebrate my 40th birthday. And from that point, the idea of an actual marathon took root.
Since 2001, I have done the Spring half marathon every year, and then about a week ago did the Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon. It was great - my best time since 2003, my third-best time ever, and it set off that back-of-the-mind marathon dream again. Also, with F1 talking about doing the marathon in 2007, there was an extra incentive to make that mental commitment.
This would be a good time to note that DH runs as well. When we first met, he was doing about 3 km at a time, at quite a slow pace. Over the years he has worked up to the point of doing the Spring half marathon and the Scotiabank half marathon this year. He runs at a slower pace than me, so unfortunately we can't really run together, but the big thing is that he does it.
And so ends the broad brush explanation. Further posts will get more specific about times, training, etc.
Oh - and the Jogger Barbie name? I recently bought a new running shirt that's pink and has flowers on it, and it occurred to me later that it looked like something Barbie would wear. Since I loved Barbies when I was a kid, well, it just kind of fit :)
posted by Jogger Barbie | 8:02 PM
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