As I mentioned in an earlier post (if I was blog savvy, I would link to that here, but I'm not, so look it up yourself), I started my weight loss journey by walking just 30 minutes a day. I slowly added running into parts of those walks, until I was finally able to run around my neighborhood nonstop. I ran my first 5K in November 2014! While I was still doing workout videos and other forms of cardio, I felt like I got the best workout when I ran. I kept increasing my mileage, then joined a friend who was training for a half marathon. Since I was doing all the training anyway, I signed up for and ran my first half marathon in November 2015. Definitely a huge thrill and accomplishment!
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| Finishing my first half marathon, November 2015 |
TIP #1...IF YOUR GOAL DOESN'T SCARE YOU, IT'S NOT BIG ENOUGH. When that half marathon was over, I was still running, but realized that I needed a new goal to be working towards to keep me motivated. One of my good friends from college, Erin (Cleveringa) Rylaarsdam, is a big runner and she posted that she was going to try and run 1000 miles in 2016. I did the math and realized that would be a little over 19 miles a week. I was already consistently running 18-20 a week, so I thought that would be a goal that was big, but achievable. For any goal you set, I think it's important to have it just big enough to scare you, but obviously be realistic and don't set a 1000 mile goal if you haven't run more than 5 miles a week before. (Sometime late this year, my husband and I figured out that 1000 miles is almost exactly the distance between our home in Rossville, GA and Orange City, IA, where I went to college. Crazy, huh?)
TIP #2...HAVE A GOOD PLACE TO LOG YOUR MILES. Right away, I started researching how to run 1000 miles in a year, and I found an awesome website that I used every day this past year: https://www.1000milechallenge.com/#!/ (Hey I figured out how to add a link after all!) What I loved most about this website was that after I logged my miles, it would update and tell me how many miles I needed to average to reach my goal. This was HUGE for me! I knew that there would be weeks that I wasn't able to get in as many miles as others, but I didn't want to get too far behind, so watching that average really helped keep me on track.
I also logged my miles on http://www.dailymile.com/. This site was better for keeping track of my training history -- I could sort and see how many miles I had run by week, month, etc. Erin also used this website, so we were able to see each other's workouts and comment/encourage each other. I'm going to keep using this website, so if any of you join, add me as a friend!
In addition to these two websites, I also made a countdown to check off once I hit 900 miles. I found so much satisfaction in adding those miles and crossing off those boxes!
TIP #3...ADD EXTRA MILES WHERE YOU CAN. When I first started out the year, I was still doing a lot of strength training and circuit workouts. But after I would finish a circuit, then I would do a couple of miles on the treadmill, just to get in some more miles. And there were many times throughout the year that I would tell myself that if I did one extra mile, then I would reward myself with something later.
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| 100 miles down, 900 to go. Shout out to Planet Fitness treadmills! |
TIP #4...ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY. So I'm probably "that girl" who overshares on Facebook. And I'm sure that many of my friends were tired of seeing my running posts over the past year. But it was really good for me to put that goal out there publicly, because more people would know if I didn't achieve it! I'm pretty sure that if it was just a goal that I had kept to myself, I never would have made it.
I also found some amazing women to run with, both for my regular weekday runs and my longer Saturday runs. Angie and I didn't know each other well at all when she first asked to go for a run with me in March, but we hit it off and now she's one of my closest friends. We would run together at 5:00AM about three days a week, and we would join the Christian Runners group at the battlefield on Saturday mornings. I don't mind running by myself, but it is definitely more enjoyable when running with these ladies! And Angie just did a great job of knowing my goal and adjusting her plans to make sure I got my miles in. I know I could not have achieved this goal without her!
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| Angie and me on an early morning run, after I hit 300 miles on May 11. |
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| My running group after we finished the Dalton Half Marathon in October. |
TIP #5...GET A FOAM ROLLER. Seriously, these things are amazing and can work wonders to loosen up your body and work out tight muscles.
TIP #6...SIGN UP FOR RACES. In 2016, I ran three different half marathons -- one in July, one in October and one in November. I love half marathons! I love the anticipation and preparation leading up to it, I love the physical and mental battles you have to fight when running, I love the feeling of crossing the finish line, and I even love the medals and free "swag" you get from the races. Running those half marathons kept me motivated to get in my long runs each week, while also giving me things to look forward to in my training.
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| Braving the cold to come cheer for Mommy at the Battlefield Half. (Kennedy didn't want her picture taken.) |
TIP #7...DON'T FORGET HOW TAPERING AFFECTS YOUR MILEAGE. One of the mistakes that I did make this year is that I didn't realize how tapering in prep for a half marathon would affect my weekly mileage. It was kind of frustrating to realize that even though I would be running 13 miles at the race on Saturday, I had an overall lower week of miles because of tapering. Similarly, I didn't get in as many miles the week before (more taper) and the week after (rest/recover). I remember not getting in as many miles back in February and March, thinking I'd easily make those up in the fall with my half marathons...but that was more difficult with those taper weeks.
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| Finishing the Burn Your Half Off in July |
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| Angie and me after the Chickamauga Battlefield Half in November |
TIP #8...REMEMBER THIS GOAL MAY COMPETE WITH OTHER GOALS. I was disappointed with my finish times at my half marathons this fall, but I realized that I had been so focused on the quantity of miles I was getting in that I hadn't been focusing on increasing my speed, adding extra hill workouts, keeping up with my strength training and making healthy eating choices. I was just so focused on the one goal of hitting 1000 miles for this year -- and that's okay, but now I want to set some new goals and adjust my workouts for the coming year. Time to bring back the burpees!
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| My selfie with a deer on one of my runs. Nothing to do with what I'm writing about, but it's one of my favorite pictures, so I had to include it. |
TIP #9...WORKING TOWARDS 1000 MILES IS A LOT LIKE RUNNING A HALF MARATHON. I realized that this year was very similar to some of my races. I started off very motivated and was adding extra miles and running a lot and started off at a faster "pace" than needed. Then there was a long stretch where things were just kind of mindless...I settled into a good rhythm and just kept running, letting my body do what it was trained to do. But then there was a stretch this fall where I felt like setting this 1000 mile goal was the dumbest thing I could have done. I hated running, my body was falling apart and I felt like giving up. I have felt that same thing around miles 10-12 in a half marathon race!
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| After I ran 11 miles on a morning when I REALLY didn't feel like it. |
But...if you just keep persevering in a race, mile 13 can be a lot of fun. And that's what December was like for me. I had only run 100 miles in a month one other time, but in December, I did 108 with a few days to spare. I was very motivated and just kept pushing myself to do more than I ever had. It was a great way to finish!
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| Super excited to hit 902 miles in early December! |
So what's next -- 2000 miles? NO. NO NO NO. My body needs a rest from running for a while -- I've had pain in my Achilles since July, my knees bother me on and off, and I need a mental break from running, too. But I do have plans to run a half marathon in April (with Erin coming down from Michigan to join me!), and I want to run that under 2 hours. So I'll be adding speed training, hill workouts, strength training and overall healthy eating back into my life. For now, though, I'm just going to enjoy a few days off and be proud of running 1000 miles in 2016. Thanks to everyone for your support!
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| 1000 miles in 2016. Boom. |
