Wednesday was the day. After weeks of little exercise and a lot of Halloween candy, I finally started to run again.
I’m beginning to train for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January and I really want to do better than I did for the Disneyland Half Marathon (which was just slightly faster than walking).
Wednesday was the perfect day to start training because I had time and the weather was beautiful. I ran for 45 minutes and felt great. Iwas sure that I was ahead of the game as far as training.
But then I actually looked at the Tinkerbell online training manual from marathoner Jeff Galloway that’s on the Disney Wild World of Sports website. The training manual had runners start training in September. Uggh. I’m behind again.
But I am ahead on one way. The woman I always turn to when I have nutrition/dieting/weight loss questions, Amelia of Eating Made Easy, said that if I want to lose the weight I gained doing the LA Marathon earlier I have to make a change. She said that after a woman turns 40, it’s crucial that she include strength training into her exercise routine.
So I started a weight routine this past weekend that is really challenging (I hope the kids don’t want anything from the high shelf in the pantry because I can’t lift my arms). I’m hoping that losing that 10 pounds will help my running time improve.Ten extra pounds is a lot for a 40-year-old woman to carry around while trying not to trip over Tinkerbell. And a lot to lose, but I have 80 days to do it!
Do you have a strength training routine you love? Bar classes, power lifting, yoga?
Good for you for starting already, Yvonne! Studies have shown that resistance training 2X/week (this can be using your own body weight – aka squats, push-ups, dips, etc – or weight training) is enough to maintain the lean muscle mass that's often replaced by body fat as we age. So you're doing the right thing – and btw can't believe you're training for another race – you're much more motivated than me!