Thursday, October 21, 2010

Nice Calves Do Not a Runner Make


More often than I am asked if I am a swimmer (another story for another day), I am told I have nice legs. Specifically my calves. In Law School, a classmate even had a calf crush on me. I would post a picture of them but taking a picture of your own calves is harder than you might think.

So having muscular/athletic calves not only makes boot shopping hard, it also gives you a false sense of in-shapeness. Why I am talking about this? Well, a couple of weeks ago after reading Legs's post about completing the Disney Half-Marathon, I sent a email out to my fam and some close friends about training and completing (notice NOT competing in) the January 2011 Disney Half. I needed something to motivate me to get into shape and also into a too small bridesmaid's dress. I also knew that this is something my dad has talked about doing for awhile and I knew that if he didn't do it soon his body might not let him later on (my dad is basically falling apart). So I got an enthusiastic yes from Cris and my dad and here we are -training for a half marathon that is a little over ten weeks away. Thankfully Cris found a great training plan for just this situation. (She and I are doing different ones from the challenge.)

To motivate me, I have even made a schedule that I put on the wall right across from my bed.

This week I have started to do some preliminary running, just to see how my fitness level is these days. HOLY RUSTED METAL, BATMAN. I am so out of shape. I literally almost DIED on the treadmill. I could see the headlines for the next day "Girl Sweats and Slips to Death on Treadmill" In other news, that same day my dad ran 7 miles, just for fun.

Warning to all those who are thinking about going to law school: You not only come away with a massive amount of debt but also about 50 extra lbs. Although your calves may remain shapely, you are not even close to being in shape. Sitting in a chair for the last three years really takes a toll on your fitness- go figure.

Any and all encouragement is welcome!


5 comments:

  1. Congratulations!! I'm so excited for you!! :D Yea, our goal was to just finish, so we weren't exactly competing either. ;) But anyways, I will be training for another 1/2 in Feb, so my schedule will be a few weeks behind yours but if you ever need a running buddy let me know! :D

    See you tomorrow my dear!! Good luck on your first couple of workouts (they're the hardest, it just keeps getting easier the more you do it). :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks for the encouragement! can't wait to see you!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh I didn't realize it was the disney half! You are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! When I did the full (yes, I have to say that, it's the rules that you have to say full once you've done it!) I was even out of training for 2 weeks and never did the longest training run, and it was fine! It's just so fun, all the characters are there and tons of people cheering you on!!! My recommendation- carry a disposable camera! It's not that annoying (I did it for 6 hours!) and it's totally worth it. Enjoy it, don't rush through it, stop and take pictures, just have fun, because it really is fun!!!! you can do it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so proud of you train! Your first day is probably the hardest but that's over now - remember to just enjoy it! I'm so excited about doing this together!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ahhhh!!! A half marathon! I'm so excited/nervous for you. You've inspried me, though. Now I am going to start thinking about maybe doing some sort of running activity :)

    ReplyDelete