Couch to 5K

Wow, I have to say for a girl who ran a 1/2 marathon 1 month before taking her surprise pregnancy test, that title is NOT music to my ears! I have an OB who truly believes in not running while you are pregnant, sooo, I was a good little patient but now it's time to get back to it! Last week, I started a couch to 5K program on my treadmill. So far so good. I just have to take it one day at a time and not get discouraged thinking about how easy 3 miles was for me just 10 short months ago! My time is so limited right now but this only takes 30 minutes, 3 days a week. If you are considering getting into running or getting back into it for that matter, I strongly suggest printing out a plan, checking off your accomplishments, and most of all sticking to it. It definitely gives you a boost of energy and a brighter outlook on the day. Wish me luck :)

Accomplished Goals

Well, it seems my brain is still functioning on low the past few weeks and I haven't had much extra time to post, but I had to share a little about the Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon before I forget. My friend Sarah Buck and I ran it together and when I say ran, I mean never walked one step! We did it in 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 51 seconds, which was well below our goal of 2:10 so we were pumped. This was her first half marathon and we trained together for the past 4 months. She did great and it was so fun because each week when we added a mile to our long run, it was the longest distance she had ever run. That being said, we had never gone above 12. So race day comes and we are ready to go! The horn blows and we are off. We wore water belts and zoomed through the water stations without getting trampled by the thousands of other runners vying for a little H2O. There were people shouting encouraging words around each corner it seemed and even once we saw city garbage trucks pulled over and the workers were actually standing there cheering for all of us. It made me so proud to be a Savannian. Now I do want to mention the dreaded mile #12. It wasn't either one of our most shining moments, that is for sure. She started telling me that she couldn't make it one more step and needed to walk. I knew it was mind over matter at that point so I did the only thing I knew to do...YELL! I was literally screaming "throw up if you need to but you are NOT walking...we are almost there" and pulling her arm as we trudged towards the glorious finish line. I warned you it wasn't pretty. Thankfully, she saw her husband and little girl and that gave her just the umph she needed to sprint to the finish. She quickly forgave my butt busting tirade and we enjoyed the feeling of victory. I loved getting to see her accomplish her goal and am so thankful that we could do this together. It is something I will never forget. Now for all of you who don't know her, Sarah is a FABULOUS photographer around here whose business happens to be one of my favs. I have been able to see Sarah Buck Photography grow from day one to what it is today and I couldn't be more proud of her. She will probably kill me for this but I absolutely must share. First the posed and poised after picture:

But this is the awesome picture my hubby took moments before we crossed the finish line!! Have you ever seen joy like this on human beings faces????

It just makes me smile!! Sarah took some pictures of our family this past Sunday and I wanted to share the link. Enjoy her talent!

Sarah Buck Photography Witherington Photos

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Running to the finish line!

I totally forgot that I hadn't posted about what we decided to do for our training for the Rock-N-Roll half marathon. So far, its been a lot of fun. I have 4 really good friends who are doing it too and we have tried to coordinate a couple of the long runs to do them as a group which makes it WAY more enjoyable. If anyone ever wants to tag along, just let me know! This is the schedule I'm planning to follow. I got it from Hal Higdon's website. It is the intermediate half marathon training schedule and then I just tweaked it a little to meet my needs. I am shocked to be training for my 3rd half marathon yet very proud too. I can honestly say I never thought I would be doing this. I truly believe God has given me this drive for running as an outlet to help channel my crazy need to "perform." Wish I could say it was helping with the "crazies" but so far not so much! :)

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	3 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	5 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	3 mi run	5 mi	Rest Day!
2	3 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	30 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	3 mi pace	6 mi	Rest Day!
3	3.5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	6 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	Rest	5K race!	Rest Day!
4	3.5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	35 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	3 mi run	7 mi	Rest Day!
5	4 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	7 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	3 mi pace	8 mi	Rest Day!
6	4 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	40 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	Rest	10k race!	Rest Day!
7	4.5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	8 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	4 mi pace	9 mi	Rest Day!
8	4.5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	40 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	5 mi pace	10 mi	Rest Day!
9	5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	9 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	Rest	15K race!	Rest Day!
10	5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	45 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	5 mi pace	11 mi	Rest Day!
11	5 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	10 x 400       5-K pace	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	3 mi pace	12 mi	Rest Day!
12	4 mi + weights	45 min Xtrain	30 min      tempo run	3 mi or Xtrain     + Weights	Rest	Race Day!!

Rock-N-Roll

Well, I did it...I signed up for the Rock-N-Roll Half Marathon being held here in Savannah in November. Sarah and Emily and I are going to trudge through the 13.1 miles together. We will begin our "official training" in July, so in the meantime, I have been enjoying some "down time." I have discovered Motion Traxx which has FREE downloads that you put on your Ipod. Now the tunes are not all that grand or anything, but they are set to certain beats per minute (bpm) which is awesome for training and/or cross-training. I am obsessed! They have a section called G Series Fit Mixes which have personal trainers coaching you through different types of workouts. I have tried the running and elliptical ones which both kicked my butt. I also tried the Treadmill Interval workout which was craziness that at one point had me running at a 12% incline!! Funny thing is they said these were "moderate intensity." I can't even imagine what "advanced" would be like! Anyway, go check it out and enjoy. We haven't decided what training schedule we are going to use yet but I will share as soon as we decide. This is Sarah's 1st half, Emily's 2nd and my 3rd so we are all meeting in the middle somewhere because we all want to cross the finish together. I think the goal time will be around 2 hours and 10 minutes of pure fun, sweat, and tears! Haha, well lets hope no tears!

Goals...10K Victory!

One thing is for certain about me and that is that I'm goal oriented! I'm also a perfectionistic planner which can definitely be a huge pain in the beehind when working towards a goal. I recently decided I wanted to run a 10K in under 52 minutes. My friend Alyssa helped me come up with a plan.
First she used this pace chart to help me to see what my per mile pace would need to be to reach my goal. Then I used this 8 week Advanced 10K training plan and went to work. I have to train inside a lot on a treadmill so i used a chart like this one to be able to know how fast on the treadmill to go. Okay so enough details. I trained, Alyssa ran it with me, and I finished in 51:24!!!!!! Chris brought the boys down to cheer me on at the finish. I don't think there is a better feeling than coming around a corner and seeing them all shouting and smiling. I absolutely love reaching goals. Sometimes to reach a goal, you have to go outside the box, choose a different path or scratch your entire plan all together and establish a new one. I love running because it has been something that I can set a goal, and with the help of a well laid out plan, follow it, and reach the goal. I wish more things in my life were that black and white! In my devotional the other day it said, "Your failures can be a source of blessing, humbling you and giving you empathy for other people in their weaknesses." What an eye opener for me. I truly HATE to fail or feel like I have let anyone down, but it is so true that in our moments of defeat, we are humbled to ourselves and drawn to the feet of our Master. This world is getting so "gray" and I am so saddened sometimes when i turn on the news, open a paper, or even walk around downtown Savannah...but then I hear these words clanging in my ears:
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
 I pray you all have a great weekend and that our focus would be on Him and His desires instead of our own!

One more thing..........Chris got us a Cannon Rebel camera and boy oh boy am I excited to have a new hobby. I promise lots and lots of pictures to come! :) Plus I am starting a blog for my grandmother's organic farm Heritage Organic Farm and will have more on that too very soon.