Sarah the Blogger

I walked a half marathon!! There was a time not so very long ago if you told me that I would be able to do this, I would not have believed you. But I set this goal for myself, I trained for 17 weeks and I did it! 

The course isn't an easy one. There are some tough hills. But our training took place on different parts of the course, so I knew what to expect. I think that was a big part of my success. I also knew the importance of keeping on pace. Not going to fast early on. You have to keep in mind that you have 13.1 miles to walk, and you can't burn up all your energy in the beginning. You won't have anything left to pull you through to the end.

I think the biggest thing that got me through was training with a group. I had lots of support to help me achieve my goal. I seriously doubt I would've been able to stay on target if I had tried to do this all by myself.  Knowing that there are other people who were striving to reach the same goal that I was, that they were expecting me to show up every week, that they believed in me, it was a great motivator.

I'm really proud of myself. I did something I didn't think I could do. If you are thinking about trying something like this, I really urge you to do it. You will feel GREAT when you reach your goal!

I've built my way up to 9 miles. I honestly am pretty amazed how far I have come! I am continuing to walk with my group as well as on my own. Our long Saturday walks our now up to 9-10 miles. Wow!

My race is only a month away. I am definitely more confident that I can do this! I walked 9 miles this weekend, with a few more weeks training I can walk 13 miles for my race!

Our training group has been very helpful and offered a lot of good info on many different topics.  Recently we had a these great tips on performance foods for runners and walkers:

Complex Carbohydrates:  for muscle energy and endurance
Cereal:  especially Oat Squares, Oatmeal, Raisin Bran
Bread:  whole grain is best;  anything with added wheat, oats is ok
Pasta:  macaroni, spaghetti, any other; cooked al dente will retain more nutrients
Potatoes:  not fried or chips!
Other:  waffles, pancakes, bagels, pretzels, Power Bars, cereal bars

Fruits and Vegetables:  for healing, recovery, and repair
Bananas, Broccoli, Watermelon
Oranges or OJ, Blueberries, Apples
Carrots, Strawberries, Red Grapes
Salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce are great ways to get tomatoes, peppers, onions

Protein:  for structure, repair, recovery, prevention of injury
Egg whites        Low fat yogurt
Peanut butter        Fat free milk
Baked beans        Skinless white turkey or chicken

Fat:  for long-term energy, vitamin absorption, hormonal regulation
Tuna            Nuts, sunflower seeds        Lean cuts of beef and pork
Salmon        Olives and olive oil        Skinless white poultry

Other Fun Foods
Pizza made with lower fat cheese
Jell-o            Raisins, even chocolate covered
Fig Cookies         Oatmeal & Peanut Butter cookies
Licorice        Gummy Bears
Yogurt            Pudding


Foods that will hurt performance
All fried foods:  chicken nuggets/any breaded and fried chicken, french fries, doughnuts, fried fish

Foods high in saturated fats:  all fried foods, fatty cuts of meat and poultry, most cheeses (go for the cheese made with skim or 2% milk), butter, whole milk, coconut and coconut oil, palm oil, ice cream (choose frozen yogurt or the lower fat kind instead)

Carbonated, sugary drinks:
The phosphorous in the carbonation depletes the bones of calcium:  an especially important mineral for females.
The amount of soft drink many athletes drink keeps them from drinking enough water, which is truly what the muscles need to perform.
While caffeine may give them a boost for awhile, too much can cause jitteriness and decrease performance.
Sports drinks are a much better choice.  They have the sugar, but the muscles can use it.  They replace fluid and are more easily absorbed than soft drinks.
 

I'm still walking. Our walks are getting longer. We're at about 7 miles. And its tough. But I am doing it. I am walking twice a week with my group. And I am supposed to walk twice a week on my own. Its tough, as its always been for me, to find time and motivation to get to the gym or just get out and walk on those other two days. But now that I am working towards this big goal, the half marathon, I realize  that I have to get the extra days of training in. The two days a week isn't enough to keep up. If I'm going to do this, I really have to DO it!!

After work I'm tired and I miss my daughter and its hard to get to the gym. So, I think what I need to do is go in the morning. I got up yesterday and went at 6:30. I took my stuff and got ready there and came straight to work.  Getting up wasn't so easy, but once I got there I was really glad I did it. I need to make this a regular part of my week. Once during the week and once on the weekends and I'd be all set.

I need to look at these two days as a part of my training commitment and make sure to keep the appointments with myself! I want to reach this goal and this is an important part of getting there.