Training Stopped, Continued Again

Some of you might think that I haven't ran for the past couple of weeks (it's really been that long?--YIKES!) due to my shin splint issue, but that is actually not the case. I got really sick and didn't want to spread around my sickness (I'd been doing the elliptical at my school's gym) to everyone, so I took the time to rest and fully recover. The good news is that I'm 100% better; the bad news is that I'm significantly out of shape. So here we go again.

Me and a friend of mine are going to start working out at the local fitness center, so that will definitely help me get back into shape and have a stronger upper body, which'll in turn help me run stronger and better. We're starting today, and he's pretty intense about it--he figured out a workout regimen as well as an eating plan, so I'm guessing that means no more McDonald's for me. Dang it! :P

It'll be good though. I'm glad that I will have someone to help keep me motivated, not only with working out but eating well as well. I know that it is going to take a lot of discipline on my part, but it will be well worth it--I can hardly imagine what it will feel like to cross the finish line of that marathon. That will probably be one of the greatest days of my life. If finishing your first marathon isn't a significant lifetime accomplishment, I don't know what is.

So here goes. As my readers, you can keep me accountable too. I'll continue to write every so often, and you'll be the first to know whether I've been doing well or not. This is what makes training for a marathon kind of scary--everything you do building up to that day all adds up, and affects what your marathon looks like. So no pressure, right?!

It's Official.

About a week ago I finally paid for my entrance fee into the Wildwood Trail Run Marathon in Portland on July 30th. So... it's official.

In all honesty, I'm excited for it. A little freaked out. But probably more excited than anything. I know I'm ready to challenge myself, to push myself past my limit (even more than I have done before), and above all, I'm ready for adventure. Ready to have fun.

If any of you have any marathon advice, I'm all ears. If you've never ran a marathon before, then, well... pray for me. Ha. And you think I'm kidding.

Unfortunately, I haven't ran for well over a week because I have been really sick, so that has been a huge bummer. I'm pretty much over the sickness though, and my shin splints should be long gone. As long as I ease back into running correctly, I should be fine. Or so I hope. Guess I'll find out here soon enough...

Marathon--here I come!

Shin Splints--Ouch!

Of any injury I've ever incurred due to running, shin splints are by far the worst. During the fall of my junior year, I got shin splints because I'd been running too much, too hard, too fast. It pretty much ruined my cross country season that year, and people I'd been neck-and-neck with on the team surpassed me by far.

Unfortunately, shin splints have come back again. I ran around the hill near my house two days in a row, which probably was not a good idea. The following day, I barely made it three miles without being in a lot of pain. Fortunately I was going out of town for a few days, so I took a couple days off... or three... or four. But I ran again on the fifth day. And yet again, I barely made it three miles without hurting pretty bad. It's a runner's worst nightmare to walk during a run, let alone to cut back on training. And that's what I've had to do.

At this point I'm just taking it slow. Stretching well, running shorter distances, and hoping I'll recover here soon. I haven't been icing my shins, which I know I need to do. So hopefully I'll come back around here shortly; it's a little scary training for a marathon when you can barely run three miles without your shins bothering you.

So, here we go. Yet another obstacle to overcome--not that that's anything new to me. I've conquered a lot of obstacles my lifetime, from physical and emotional issues to mental and spiritual obstacles. I think a case of shin splints won't be stopping me anytime soon.

The journey begins...

After cross country ended this last October, running wasn't a very easy thing for me to do on my own. I ran maybe six times or so during November and December, so I ran about as much as snow fell on the ground (not often, just to clear that one up).

At the beginning of January, things finally got back into gear for me. I've been running pretty regularly, increasing my mileage, and preparing for a pretty big event this summer. Back in the second week of January, I went running with a friend and somehow the idea of running a marathon came to mind. Not only would it give me something to train for (no offense to the Hood to Coast, but... that's a whole 'nother story), but it would drive me to run more, period.

I looked into the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon which would be at the end of June, but with the marathon being two weeks short of my 18th birthday, that definitely wasn't going to happen (that and there were all these other restrictions). After searching around on the Runner's World website, I stumbled upon the "Wildwood Trail Run" Marathon in Portland, Oregon, which will be on July 30th (I believe). From its lowest point to its highest, there's an elevation gain of over 2,000 feet. And trust me, this scares me. I definitely do not like hills, at all. But hey--it'll make completing the marathon that much more of an amazing feat, right?!

Thus, my training has begun. 26.2 miles, over 2,000 feet in elevation gain... here I come.

Get ready to be conquered.