My Decision to Run Calgary Marathon

Yesterday I made the decision to run the Calgary Marathon and not the BMO Marathon in Vancouver. I was kind of sad but had to make the decision.

One reason I decided on this is because Calgary in also a Boston Qualifying run and it is where I live. I figure if I can BQ anywhere it is going to be at my home. I’ll have my friends and family to cheer me on. Support is important. Also I tend to get stomach issues when I go away, I think it is from the change in water and I learned in San Fran that you can drink bottled water all you want but you cannot control what type of water is on the course and sadly for me it was tap water on the course and it turned out to be disasters for me at mile 15. I am used to the tap water in Calgary so I shouldn't end up with the same stomach issues as last time.

I was really looking forward to running the BMO marathon but maybe next year. I was looking forward to running in the crisp ocean air and having that feeling of my lungs opening right up but I think I will do amazing here in Calgary.

Since I don’t actually start training until the 9^th of February now I have created a calendar in word to hold myself accountable to my workouts. As a group of #SistersInNike along with Brandi and The Nike San Fran Runway Crew we are aiming for 23,000 NTC minutes in 2013 and I have 22,835 more to go, but the year has just started. Since I don’t have a whole lot of NTC incorporated into my marathon training schedule I have decided that I need to get a good head start this month. After I am done my Calgary Marathon I start training for the Nike Women’s Marathon shortly after. I would really like to make my goal. Hopefully this can hold me accountable and be able to track the minutes I am doing each month.

What is your favorite part of training? What is your favorite marathon? I am creating a bucket list of marathons I want to do. Leave them in my comments I’ll look them up and consider them.

Remember to keep rolling out your muscles, especially those IT bands!! They will keep your muscles and knees healthy. I found this and have printed it and put it at home to remind me to roll my muscles out often. The foam roller should be your best friend when training.

Happy Training!

16 Days Until I Start Training for Boston Qualifier

In 16 days I start chasing my Boston Marathon Dream. Some say it isn't a dream until you have thought about it for a long period of time. 

I say it is a dream as long as you are determined to reach it.

I am not one of those people that have dreamed of running Boston their entire lives. I have only dreamed of running Boston since I realized I could run a marathon, but Boston is a race I want to run more than any race out there. Boston is the elite races of races, my idols have all ran Boston and I want to push to be like those I look up to.

I start chasing my Boston goals in 16 days. In 16 days I start training for the first of at least 2 marathons maybe 3. How do I feel? Excited!! I love running, I get a rush of endorphin from it and it makes me feel AMAZING, but I am also super nervous too because I know I am putting myself under a lot of pressure to perform. I know where I went wrong in my first marathon and so I am going to take those weaknesses and turn them into strengths I need to work on my pace and on focusing not on the distance I have left but rather making each mile count.

Will I be unhappy with myself if I don’t make it, of course, but knowing that I don’t like to be disappointed it gives me even more of a reason to push harder in my training, so I can push harder in my marathon.

I have given myself two qualifying courses to go off of, the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May and the Nike Women’s Marathon in October. Hopefully if I don’t make one I can make the other.

I found a great plan on the Nike Running Facebook page and plan to use this, incorporate NTC for weights and keep up with my Kinect Training. I also have a pretty strict diet that I am sticking too along the way and not allowing cheat days until my marathons are over. Hopefully all of this combined will help me reach my Boston goal. 

With Nike's new Make it Count Campaign it is really getting me out there to push and make this year count. 

Setting New Goals and Starting New Journey's

I can’t believe I have been back in Calgary for a week. It has been a week since I ran my very first marathon in San Francisco. With no goal in mind in the near future my life has seemed a little empty.

Even thought my Journey to the Nike Women’s Marathon is over it doesn't mean that my Running journey is over, I believe it has just started and NWM just made me even more excited to run and fueled my love for the sport.

I actually spent my first two days home sleeping. After a weekend of not getting very good sleep and running a marathon I needed a lot of sleep. My first day home I slept for 9 hours and the next day I slept close to 11 hours, crazy. Even this weekend I ended up getting a lot of sleep. I guess my body is still kind of recovering.

I have finally gotten over the fact that I didn't even come close to making my Boston Qualifying time. For a few days there every time someone asked me how I did I would get really sad.  Now I realize that I accomplished something really great and I am ready to take on a new challenge.

I have decided that I will be running the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May of 2013. It is a Boston Qualifying course and doesn't have the same crazy hills as San Fran. With my first marathon out of the way I can focus more on my speed rather than just on finishing. I honestly think I put too much pressure on myself to qualify during my first marathon. I plan on focusing a lot on hills and speed this time around. Of course I will still have a distance focus and my Saturdays will still be my long run days but my goal is to get through all my long runs without having to take any walk breaks. My only challenge this time is the fact that I will be running through winter and winter in Calgary can get very cold. Hopefully we won’t have a cold winter and I won’t have too many treadmill runs.

For right now I have set some mini goals for myself. In the month of November I plan on running 100 miles and doing 1,440 NTC minutes. That works out to 5 runs at 4 miles each week and 90 minutes of NTC 4 times a week. I am totally game for this challenge. I have also made November a no sugar month and I am starting that today. I am determined to get myself down to 18% body fat by Christmas. I want abs for Christmas. If you want to join me in either these challenges or just one let me know in the comments. We can keep each other motivated.

I just celebrated my 27^th birthday. I really can’t believe it and what a week I had. It kicked off with running the Nike Women’s Marathon and ended with having supper with Meho’s dad and step-mom. I got some amazing gifts one of them being a “Yonana’s” ice cream maker. This thing is cool!! All you put in it is frozen fruit. You stick it in the machine and it makes it into ice cream. It’s super healthy and only requires frozen fruit. I am super excited to use it especially with No Sugar November coming up.