Could I Do This?: Encouragement Needed

[PlutoToo]

YES. And you're even making me think about getting out there and start running again. We'll have to see what my knees say. Go for it!

[azdisneymom]

You can do it!! I am much older and just started my own exercise program. Could barely get of bed the first morning. I started with a walking program from Prevention Magazine. I don't measure by distance, I measure by time, XX minutes out then turn around. My time is increasing as I get more fit.

Just keep the goal in mind and you can achieve anything. It may sound corny but you might try putting a picture of your race up in your bathroom so you can see it every morning with positive words all around it. Take it one day at a time, no excuses. Can't get a full run in? Who cares - go for 15 minutes. Don't ever beat yourself up if you skip or miss for any reason just don't miss 2 days in a row.

You can do this!! What a birthday celebration that will be!

[laprana]

I don't have any words of wisdom to offer, just lots of encouragement! I think you should definitely go for it. I've often wished that I could be a runner, but I have no idea how to even get started. You are inspiring me to just go for it! Best of luck to you in your training over the next year! I can't wait to hear back after you've accomplished your goal!!

[badkitty]

Good for you! As long as your doctor says it is okay, I would definitely go for it. There are a lot of walkers at the WDW races. As long as you can maintain the required pace, you will be fine. BrerNat's advice of getting in actual road work is great. The pavement at WDW is hard and you spend a lot of the race on the main road to/from the MK. I had a friend who was having joint problems by mile 6 because she had done all of her training on the treadmill.

A piece of advice I'd been given is to allow yourself a day off between workouts. You need that time to recover. I typically run/walk every other day and just walk or ride my bike on the off days.

Here is my story. I hope this encourages you:
I decided last year that I wanted to complete my first 1/2 marathon before I turned 50 and what better way to do it than at WDW? I was 80lbs over weight but I signed up for the 2012 race and started with the couch to 5K program. I then competed in the Halloween 5K at the Animal Kingdom in October. At the expo, I met Jeff and Barbara Galloway. What a thrill! I picked up a couple of his books and started his run-walk-run program to complete a 1/2 marathon. (If you go to the offical RunDisney site you can download the program.) I finished the race using the run-walk-run method! (I also lost weight in the process!) The race was so much fun. Lots of entertainment and characters cheering you on. I just signed up for the Disneyland 1/2 marathon in September. Now I'm hooked on Disney races.

Best of luck to you! Please keep us posted on your progress.

[garymacd]

I have lots of encouragement for you and wish you well. Remember: If you can dream it, you can do it.

I do have one word of warning: Don't kill yourself in the first week! Do it slowly. When you go to the gym, talk to a personal trainer and explain your situation and goals. Personal Trainers are professionals who will understand you and help you set up an individualised program to help you meet your goal. You can work with them to any extent your budget can handle: one initial assessment and program setup, once a week (yeah, I'm extremely wealthy, too) once a month, whatever works for you. Maybe even a couple of times until you get your bearings at the gym and with your workout routine.

They can also help with your new nutritional requirements. Sometimes changing your eating habits is the hardest part of the new regime. When I started mine a few years ago I remember thinking, "There's not enough food on this program. I'm going to be hungry all the time." Nope. A proper nutrition plan (NOT DIET! Diet means to die with tea.) should give you plenty of choices and lots of food. I found myself unable to eat all I had on my plate sometimes. After a month or two, I needed more than was on my plate when I started.

You won't be the first overweight person going to a gym, so don't worry about that. Tune just about everyone else out and stick to your goal. Take your iPod and listen to music as you work out to drown out any distractions. Depending on the gym, many of the people there were probably in a bad situation when they joined and will be nothing but encouraging and helpful. If they are not, ignore them. You are there for YOU, not them!

Another idea is to find a training partner, either in your close circle of friends or new friends at the gym. The hard part of this is to remember to separate the social aspect from the workout. You are there to focus on YOU and your goal, not to decorate the equipment.

You are going to do fine. Read all the posts and check out the Healthy Living 2012 thread that I will start today. Hopefully everyone will start posting their goals and healthy living tips there.

[bleukarma]

Of course you can do it!!! You can do anything you want to do, as long as you want it bad enough. And in order to run a half marathon you are going to really need to want it. It’s not easy, I won’t lie. Here’s my story:


Last summer I signed up for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training program to run the half marathon at Disney this past January. It is an excellent program that teaches you how to run (which I had no clue how to run properly before I signed up) while you raise funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I had a training program that I stuck to and had a GREAT coach (who was even on the cover of Runners World magazine!). Unfortunately I just couldn’t raise the amount of money needed for them to send me to the half marathon. But that didn’t stop me, I was determined to do it on my own. I raised a significant amount for charity, which I was proud of, it just wasn’t enough and I didn’t have the finances to pay the rest on my own.



Once November hit things went downhill. I got a sinus infection, then a respiratory infection, and then the flu back-to-back-to-back. I was sick for about 6 weeks straight and fell off the training. I’m just now getting back into running again and I feel like I’m starting my training over from the beginning. However I have my sights set on the Wine and Dine Half in October. Don’t beat yourself up over setbacks, it happens. Honestly when I couldn’t raise the funds and had to drop out of the Team in Training program I got really depressed. That was about 2 weeks before I got sick and I didn’t run because I was mad at myself. Don’t do that to yourself, all that matters is you get back out there!!!

One thing I can recommend is training on pavement instead of treadmill. They are 2 totally different feelings and the WDW marathon is on pavement. It’s better to train on pavement. And cheaper!!!

Also, make sure you get good running shoes from a running store. If you just pick up any old pair of sneakers and start running long distances then you can hurt yourself. These shoes aren’t cheap (my pair is about $130 and I had to replace them halfway through my training) but they are fitted for your foot and running style. This isn’t a splurge, this is something you NEED if you are going to run long distances.

Check out the book The Nonrunner’s Marathon Guide for Woman by Dawn Dias. It is HILARIOUS and is true about what you will go through. It help answer some questions you may have.

If you need anything feel free to PM me. I still have my coach’s emails with tips and tricks that I will be happy to share. It’s a LOT of information that came weekly over months of training, but good to know.



Good luck and get out there!!!

[ImagiAsh]

I'm super nervous about going to the gym because I don't want people laughing at me since I'm a bit bigger and I'll be huffing and puffing on the tread mill and other machines!

Don't be nervous about that at all. Put on some headphones with a few great tunes and stay in the zone working towards your goals. If it is intimidating to you, you can always try for the late evening hours at the gym. The gym by me closes at 11PM. By 9:30 it starts to clear out and it's no longer packed with sweaty body builders. You can just do your own thing and not worry about anybody around you.

[Wolf]

Heck no your not crazy!! Good luck I totally believe in you!!!

[laprana]

Hey everyone!

I just got back from a great vacation at WDW and celebrated my 24th birthday while we were there. I've decided, though, since I'm turning 25 next year, I sort of want to do something to mark the occasion. All of my friends from college are going to come down in January of 2013 and we're going to do a 10 day extravaganza of sorts to celebrate my 25th birthday. In order to celebrate, I've decided I really want to run the Half Marathon next January. My only issue? I weight 240 lbs (at 5ft, 2in) and I've never run a day in my life.

Am I crazy for wanting to do this? I figure I need about a year to train and I do want to lose some weight this year. I figure running the marathon would give me a concrete goal to work towards losing the weight. I also have a gym membership, so I have access to tread mills and some equipment.

Basically, I'm looking for some encouragement and some advice on how to begin training. Two of my friends are runners and are also interested in running the half marathon with me next year and have offered to help me. Does anybody else have any tips?

Thanks so much!

I just wanted to thank you for starting this thread with your post! I was very inspired by it and decided to start running myself. I started the couch to 5K program last week, and actually got through the first week! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, either! I am by no means a runner or in great physical shape, so I never thought I would actually be able to run, let alone run a 5K. But I am determined to follow through with the program and hopefully beyond! So I just wanted to give you some encouragement again that you CAN do it! And all your fellow Intercotees will be here cheering you on!

[White Rose]

Thanks so much everyone! I've got my food diary and all ready to go, along with a calorie counter to keep track of things. You all are inspiring ME to go for this!