Advice!

Hey guys!

Sorry I have not written for about a week, we had some sad news this weekend. My grandma died on Saturday evening, and I was home earlier this week for the funeral. She was loved and will be deeply missed, and I have decided to dedicate this marathon to grandmas everywhere. I personally have 2 amazing grandmothers who are an inspiration to me. Their strength and dedication are amazing to me, and when I grow up I want to be them! Team sassy grandma is born!!

Anyway, about the whole training thing, it has been going well. I had to use a treadmill this morning because (due to the 3 degree temp) and that sucked, but I did 3 miles. Does anyone else think running on the treadmill is way harder than running outside? Boo and hiss. Im waiting for the thaw. I got a lot of great advice while I was home from all the crazy people who I know who like to run marathons. Some of the best points are as follows:

-Dont be afraid to set high goals and push yourself, because you never know what you can accomplish -Kurt
-Its good training in Madison for a race like Chicago because its so hilly here, and chicago is extremely flat. -Sue
-Its good to do short, sprint workouts as well as long training runs. -Kurt
-Chicago is a great first marathon place because it is so crowded along the whole course, and has a lot of energy. -Aunt Katie

So thats that for now. It was great seeing so many awesome runners while I was home, I came back really energized and ready to get training hard. I can't wait.

-Katie

Difficulties

Today, I realized another tough part about training for a marathon. The physical will be tough but hopefully managable, the mental will be even harder, but then there was one other aspect that I hadn't taken into consideration: Real Life. I first started training about 3.5/4 weeks ago. I was on winter break, had all the time in the world to sleep in, go for a run, stretch, shower, eat, be a couch potato, it was great. School started back up again last week, but it wasn't so bad. I still ran everyday after class, because I had nothing to do-->it was only the first week back. But today, oh lovely Monday, I was hit hard. I have readings in 3 different classes and 2 different photo assignments (which obviously sound fun, but there's a definite time aspect to them) and other drawing assignments. I'm beginning to realize that this is going to be a tough semester, and working out, nonetheless for a marathon, is going to be extremely hard to fit in. If I'm already having a hard time making time for a 3 mile run, what am I going to do when I get up to 10 and 12 during finals? Am I allowed to split them up during the day, like 6 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon? That's still 2 separate hours to fit in between class, eating, work, potty breaks, and homework. I'm geeking out. I know I can do the dang thang physically and mentally (since I'll have Katie right next to me :) ), but I have to be able to do the work beforehand in order to run the full thing. Ay yi yi. However, something else I found out after forcing myself to run the 3 stupid miles is that running is an incredible stress reliever. I just pop in my headphones and crank up the tunes, run to the rhythm, and dodge cars like Frogger and I'm all set! I can come back refreshed with a clear mind. So I know that when my days get busier and crazier, I can go out for a run and come back ready to tackle any beast. I think that's what will save me.

~A

Spandex

I love spandex.
Spandex spandex spandex!
You know what I love about running in the cold?

I get to wear spandex.

Oops, sorry I forgot to post something yesterday. Man, I had a pretty sucky run yesterday. You know those ones where you just wanna stop, not because you're in pain or can't breathe or anything important, but just because? Yea, it was one of those. I was going so slow I probably could have walked the same pace...but I did 40 minutes! So I was happy I finished what I wanted to. And I realized that running alone with no iPod sucks too (mine was out of juice when I turned it on for my run...perfect timing). Good thing I've had that puppy plugged in all night.
Today's goal is 3. Well, I should rephrase that to 30 minutes. I'm just assuming I'm running 10-minute-miles, which is what we're aiming for the marathon. -->4 hours and 20 minutes. I think it'll be doable, it's a nice and comfortable pace. I'm no Kenyan...

Ttfn
~A

Confessions...

To the 3 regular readers of this fine blog:

I have a horrible confession...
I am in terrible shape.

A year ago at this time, I ran 4 miles in 27 minutes. And it was not that bad. Less than a year ago, a 10k in under an hour was considered a "recovery day" for me. However, as soon as I was done with my last crew practice, I got quite lazy. I was so sick of working out until I puked that I just stopped working out. I started back up at the end of last semester, because I realized that eating college food and not working out were detremental to my health, but my winter break workouts generally conisted of me playing the game on Wii fit where you flap your arms like a chicken. Soooo when Alyssa asked if I wanted to go run 3 miles the other night, I just about peed my pants. I got through that run, but the first half was about the worst I have felt in a long long time. Ive repeated that same route these last 2 days, and Im starting to freak out...

I can hardly run 3 miles without just about dying. I can not imagine running 26.2 any time soon. Or ever. I know that I have to take baby steps, and not think about it like that, so Im trying very hard not too. Im going to sign up for the Madison half marathon in may, so that gives me an easier goal to get to much sooner. And I KNOW that I am physically capable of running this damn thing. Its the mental part thats going to be tough. I guess I'll just have to take it one run at a time.

By the way, since this is a marathon training blog, I guess I should tell you how far I ran today eh? ~3 miles, 28 minutes. (I contribute my better time to the fact that I was running at 7:30am and no cars were out...)

Hasta Luego for now!
Katie

"Number 2"

Ran ~4 miles today (41 minutes). Was it cold out? Yea, it was cold out. Was my butt sore? Yea, my butt was sore. But other than that it was fine. It keeps getting easier and easier, hopefully I'll feel the same way tomorrow when I go for 5.

Speaking of butts, during my run today I thought about something my boyfriend's aunt (who runs marathons and ironmans) told me at Christmas: "You're going to have to train your bowels to go to the bathroom before you run the marathon."

......excuse me?

I never even thought about that! I mean, sure I've had those runs where I go out and 2 minutes in I realize I need to find the nearest Starbucks or Walgreens asap so I can use their bathroom, but I can't exactly do that in the Chicago marathon can I? I mean, they do have Starbucks on every corner which is convenient. But to train my bowels?? I'm not sure how to go about this...Maybe I'll pretend I'm Pavlov's dog and ring a bell every time I gotta go #2. Then when the horn goes off for the start of the race I'll remember to find the nearest port-a-potty. But if it's a horn, then I'm going to have to train myself with something other than a bell...Like an air horn! Yea! I think that's a brilliant plan! When I'm sitting in my Art History lecture and feel mother nature coming on I'll just whip out my air horn and "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" it's potty time! I'm sure Professor J won't mind. Or when I wake up in the middle of the night, I'll just grab my air horn at the side of my bed and "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" run down the hall to the bathroom. I'm sure Sami will get used to it after the 3rd or 12th time. Maybe...or maybe I should just use my Jedi mind tricks and tell myself to go. Or as Michael would say, my Spidey senses.

Ta ta for now!
~Alyssa

Genesis

So here's the story:
Once upon a time, two beautiful and talented girls named Katie and Alyssa were rowers their freshmen year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They quit. Then they figured if they could row 3x6k (Over 11 miles of full body death on a machine called an erg) why couldn't they run a marathon, right? After watching many inspirational people we know (Katie's cousin Lauren) and dont know (people on "Biggest Loser") run marathons, then shit...they could. I mean...they were D1 athletes...right?? We'll see.

And so the journey begins...

Today, we ran around the capitol and back, (exactly 30 minutes), so we figure that's about 3 miles. GOAL ATTAINED. Not a bad start if we do say so ourselves. This blog is to update you, our friends and family, on our success, and possible failures...and funny stories we are bound to get ourselves into (like running into each other and almost getting hit by 2 separate cars). We hope you enjoy. We know the Chicago marathon is a long way away, but lets be honest...we need all that time to get our lazy crew-less asses into marathon running shape.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please feel free to let us know! We're open to those guys. Plus a large motivating factor will be how many people actually read our blog...so feel free to share!!

T-264 days..lets get it going.

xoxo (just kidding)
Katie and Alyssa