Posted Marathon Photos

Hi all....for those who were rooting for me in my Feb. 5th marathon, I've posted two photos in my profile of my running. I really like these two pictures.

Thanks for all the support! I couldn't have done it without losing so much weight! Only 4 pounds left!

great pics!!!!! I envy you for that~!

Wow great job......I am so proud of you!!! Looking good keep up the great work...

Hi neeners,
Congratulations on the marathon.

I'm a nubie here, but it'd be nice to get the background on the 'losing so much weight' since you say you only have 4 pounds to go.

Good idea...I'll amend my profile. Thanks for remarking on it.

natalie...profile updated and it gives you a better idea of where I was.

Congratulations! I'm down to 139 too, having jumped out of my plateau. I was 140/141 for the longest time. I know it's only a pound lower, but the tape measure has moved a little as well so I'm very excited too. Keep up the great work!

It is so awesome that you ran a marathon!!!

What kind of training did you do for it? Also, what was your time? i would love to run a marathon, but so far only 5Ks for me!

My marathon time was 4:11.38. It was a personal best for me...each mile run at a 9:35 pace. My 5K personal best was 23:30...7:35 minute mile. I'd like to get back to that, but you can't train well for both short and long distance running.

I ran a lot to get there. Now, I'm working on Ironman Lake Placid training. My first love is triathlon. I'll be swimming, cycling and running my butt off...which is good, because it's the largest part of my body!!!!

Anyone can train for these....90 percent of it is mental willingness. The rest is physical training. And, that's the easy part once you get the mental part down. It's the same with losing weight. Once you really commit...I mean REALLY commit...the nutrition, eating healthy, exercise seems easy, right?

Hi neeners,
thanks for updating your file, that's an awesome story and you must be so proud of your accomplishment. Congratulations!!! I'm even proud of you and I don't even know you. LOL

In any case, maybe you could give me some pointers. I've been jogging 3 days a week since the beginning of January. I'm almost at 5K in half an hour. (3.09 miles in 30 minutes). I'm so close, yet so far and it's really fustrating. I'm 5'2" (113lbs.) and I feel like my short little legs just can't go as fast as I want them to. LOL

You might think that 113lbs is not that much but I have 3 pounds to go. I started at 125lbs. in October/05 and through eating healthy (with the help of a nutritionist) and exercising 5 days a week, I got my weight down to 113.

However, now I've noticed that my shin muscle on my right leg has started to hurt. I'm afraid of actually getting shin splints which are really painful. Would you have any helpful hints? And by the way, I totally agree with you when you say it's all in your head, that's where your power is, if you want it, you can achieve it. Congrats again.!!!!

natalie_s....I've known some pretty fast runners with short legs. They just work on speed. If you can find a trainer, that would be helpful. I do track workouts for speed. I've never figured out my times as I've always worked with a trainer. You could go to www.coolrunnings.com and check out ther forums and workouts. That's where I keep my running log. They have tons of good ideas for races of all lengths.

Congrats on only 3 to go. I've got 4 left. Race ya!!! (lol...kidding)

Race ya. LOL

I'll check out the site, thanks a lot.

Oh wow...you are awesome...I've thought about doing a 5k to just get myself going...or moving towards a goal...you are an inspiration.
Shana

Hey natalie,

My sister and I got shin-splints running track in junior high. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms besides "pain", so our coaches didn't believe us. The pain would keep us awake at night and we would walk on the outer part of our feet to lessen the pain. Now, 15 years later, I realize that we have no arches (I think it's called over-pronation) which made our feet cave inward.
The only shoes I wear are New Balance. I'm not marketing for them, but they have shoes made especially for over-pronation. I'm sure other shoe makers also have shoes especially for this problem, so go to a good sporting good store and ask their advice.

Good luck!!

aclayton, thanks so much for that advise, I'm definately going to go to a specialty store like you suggested. Thanks so much.

Hey Natalie, we're only 20 days apart in age!

My first 5K was 28:08 even though my fastest in training was about 29:00. I think most people have faster times during the actual race. Also, when I was training for my first 5K (I only had 3 weeks), I would run mile splits. I would run a mile (about 9:10), rest a few minutes, run another mile (9:30), rest, run (9:50). Each mile should be faster than your 5K mile split time (mine was 10:00 at the time). I'm not sure why this works, but I was able to lower my mile splits. I think my body was using oxygen more efficiently. I don't know if this will work for you, but it was advice from a friend (male) who ran a marathon with 6-minute miles. Before the marathon he had never run more than 15 miles at one time. He just ran shorter distances, but at at a faster pace. Hope this helps.

aclayton,
you know, I only run on the treadmill, it's freezing here in Canada and by the time I leave work, it's almost dark out, so I'm only used to running on the treadmill which is fine with me 'cause I have my miles and time right there in front of me.
Just wanted to let you know that last night, I FINALLY achieved running 5K in half hour. It was a tough workout, but FINALLY, so I was pretty proud. I will try your suggestion though, sounds good.

So you're a libra too? We can be difficult hey? LOL

You are soooo awesome! That's under a 10-minute mile, ya know?? I'm very proud of you. When are you gonna take that 5K off the treadmill and onto the road? as in a race?

Signing up for a 5K is the best motivation ever. Like I said, I only had about 3 weeks to train and I didn't want to look like a fool. When I started, I couldn't even run 3 miles at one time, but I was not going to walk during the race. I was going to bed at 8:30 every night so I could get up at 4:45 and run. It paid off though. Even though 28:08 is pretty slow, I was first in my age group and got a little medal. Sign up for a 5k. You won't regret it!!!

Forgot to tell you: Congrats!!! Now your time will be in the 29s. Exciting!!!

GIRLS, GIRLS, I just reached my goal, let's take it easy. LOL LOL

I guess I don't want to let myself down, I'm kinda afraid to join a race because I'm pretty hard on myself I don't take well to my own let-downs, but I'm really concidering it since you've both mentioned it. Maybe by the summer and when it starts to warm up outside, I'll be taking my runs outside.

What speed is considered 'running' and what speed is 'jogging'?