More Torture? Sure! Where Do I Sign Up?

So I know you're all out there wondering how the 5k went this weekend (just humor me OK?). We only got a couple pictures because somebody forgot they brought a camera and didn't take any pictures of the post-race. (Sorry Annie, you can wear your race outfit with bib number on Sunday when we come over and I'll take a picture of you and you can pretend it was from race day).

This is Seth showing off his muscles.

This is my "hurry up and take the picture, I'm freezing" smile.

Seth took off like a rocket as soon as they blew the start whistle. He got a new PR out of it though. He wondered why he felt so crappy the whole time and it was because he was running way faster than he normally does. Looks like he's just a fierce competitor! His time was 25:17 and he took 4th in his age group.

I also got a new PR (27:46) and finished 4th in my age group. I'm getting better! I know this is going to sound terrible, but the best part of this race was passing all the little elementary school kids. I can run longer and faster than a kid! HA! Just kidding. But those kids are funny though. They'd get tired and walk and as soon as you came up next to them they'd start running again for a few steps and then stop after you got ahead of them a few paces. Don't worry, I kept the taunting to a minimum.

Seth and I decided we should do another practice race before we do our 1/2 marathon in September. So, we signed up for the Scenic River Classic 10K in Idaho Falls next month. They also have a 5K run, a 5k walk and a kids run which I believe is a mile, so feel free to choose the race that suits you best and come join us!

Thirteen Point One Miles

First Seth got this crazy idea. Then I started to like that crazy idea. Now I think we're going to actually act on the crazy idea. We're going to run a half-marathon. That's 13.1 miles. Or, more than three times farther than I've ever run.

There's a part of me that's really excited. Then there's another part of me that's scared and terrified beyond belief. We've got about 20 weeks to train, a training plan, and enough fear to motivate us. I figure if I run at a slightly slower than normal pace, I can do it in 02:10:00. Since this thing is mostly downhill and I'll be full of adrenaline, I think I might have a chance of doing it in 2 hours even. TWO HOURS. Two full hours of running. Somehow two hours sounds easier than 13.1 miles. I think I'm gonna throw up.

The good news is, we'll be running in a very scenic area. We're doing the Little Grand Canyon Half-Marathon which goes right through Buckhorn Wash, an area where we camped just last year. It's home to many pictographs and petroglyphs and towering canyon walls that seem to be alive. So long as I don't get eaten by a coyote, I may have a chance at this.

My Plan to Take Over the World

My goal this year isn't to lose weight. If that's an added bonus to everything else I do this year, fine, but I'm pretty happy where I'm at. I did all my weight loss last year (about 20 pounds! wahoo!) so this year is the year to get really fit. I want to be strong. I want to be INVINCIBLE!! {insert evil laugh here}

In order to keep up and improve my level of fitness, I've decided on a handful of fitness goals I can work towards. Here they are in no certain order:

1. Continuously be able to run at least 3 miles.

2. Be able to run at least 6 miles without stopping by the end of the running season.

3. Do 15 full pushups at a time by the end of the year, with a constant progression of 1 per month (I can currently do 4).

4. Be able to do 4 chin-ups by the end of the year (1 every 3 months).

5. Hike up to the waterfall in Adam's Canyon without having to stop and rest.

which naturally leads me to...

6. Take over the world by Christmas. How hard could it be?

Race Details

So Seth and I finally chose the 5k race we want to do. It's the Ogden Family Fitness Day 5k on Saturday, August 29th at 9:00am. This race is along the Ogden River Parkway where Seth and I have been fishing many times. It's a beautiful spot!

We've already got my sister, Annie on board to run with us and I thought it would be fun to invite all my devoted blog readers to join us too! So if you want to try it, go ahead and go to the Ogden Family Fitness Day website and sign up (they'll send you an email with the address of where to send your $15 registration fee... and you'll be guaranteed a t-shirt!)

I posted this as a comment on one of my other posts, but I liked the training schedule I used so much, I'm gonna put it here too. I swear it works really good. And it's not complicated. For me, running for one minute when I'm just starting out is really hard. But the cool thing is that you can see results and improvement really fast so it motivates you to keep doing it! I'm already running for two whole minutes! WOW! Plus this 5k schedule says it will train you in 8 weeks and if you start training today, you'll have 13 whole weeks! Also, I learned the hard way last time I tried this that having good running shoes makes a huge difference. Having crappy shoes is a good way to hurt yourself. If you live in the general Ogden area, go to Striders. They will do a foot analysis and tell you what shoes work the best for your arches and "stride." Made a huge difference for me. Ok, here's the training schedule:

How to Get Started With Running

By: Christine Luff at About.com

Week one: Walk for 6 minutes, then jog at an easy pace for 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for three sessions with that same sequence for week one.

Week two: Walk for 5 minutes, then jog for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim to do three sessions in week two.

Week three: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 4 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Aim for four sessions in week three.

Week four: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 5 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Shoot for four of those sessions in week four.

Week five: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 8 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Do four of those sessions in week five.

Week six: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 9 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Try to do four sessions for week six.

Week seven: Walk for 1 minute, then jog for 11 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Do four sessions this week.

Week eight: Congratulations on making it to week eight! For your first run this week, try walking for 5 minutes to begin and end the workout, and run for 20 minutes in between. By the end of the week, try to run for 30 minutes without stopping.

Aim to run for 30 minutes four times a week, and you'll notice that your stamina and fitness will continue to improve. Soon you'll be ready to run your first 5k!