Countless "lose-weight-and-not-be-hungry" diets and 8-minute workout regimes stare and blare at me from magazines, internet banners, radio advertisements, and infomercials. The hard part is finding the one that fits me best, and that one, without fail, has been the "no action required" plan: I just keep doing what i do naturally, which is nothing. At least I'm consistent and don't wonder why my results are "greater" than anticipated. Due to the unfortunate fact that I'm not an athlete or a health nut, it's imperative for me to find exercise plans that match my mentality and fit my lifestyle. Notice I didn't mention diet and nutrition: I love beer, wine, sugar, and more wine, enough said.
I discovered that I needed bigger personal goals to motivate myself, so my best friend Lauren and I decided to train for the 10th Annual Oklahoma City Half Marathon that took place in April. Ideas are beautiful thingss. You can share them or keep them private, leave them as is or build on them, and they are non-perishable, no refrigeration necessary.
You also have the ability to materialize them or just always wonder what they could have been. I have serious commitment issues, so this was a big deal. Committing to something this big meant serious time and effort on my part, both of which I was afraid to sacrifice. But this was going to be good for me, and it was going to be good for my curve redistribution goal. Or so I thought . . .
We deemed Sundays our long run days, probably because we needed the entire weekend to psych ourselves up for them and wanted an excuse to take Mondays off. With me working full-time, and Lauren going to grad school full-time and working part-time, it was sometimes very difficult to find the energy to exercise after a long day. Training consisted of complaints pre- and post-run from either Lauren or myself, and occasionally from both of us. The stretching and warm-ups began with grumbles of "Why are we doing this?" and "I really don't want to do this. Can we just be fat?" Somehow we managed to run and painfully finish, usually nauseous and exhausted. These runs often took place on the unforgiving concrete indoor track at the University of Arkansas gym. Just under 1/8 of a mile around, running 24 plus laps at a time gave the laboratory illusion of a horizontal hamster wheel. Other winter training options were far too frigid for our taste, so the hamster wheel it was. But the monotonous track was less than inspiring which made it difficult to train on more than a couple of times per week. And, if you're any kind of athlete, you know that three to four days of training each week is less than adequate for a successful half marathon.
Adversity not only presented itself in the form of cold weather, but injury decided to join the party as well. Being a former soccer player, cross country veteran, and 5-time gold medalist in the knee surgery event, Lauren was no rookie when it came to pain on the trail. Mocking us through our aches, our injuries continued to worsen. Having already had 5 knee surgeries, Lauren wasn't even supposed to be running- doctor's orders. There would always be days when the bending of her knee would produce sounds almost identical to a crinkling plastic bag. Other days, her knees would pop out of place or hurt dreadfully from the most minimal pressure.
