It's S'winter!

I had a boss at Thomas Nelson that once observed that all of the Thomas Nelson emails were first initial, last name, and that some of them made for cool names. Mine, for instance, was "Swinter" (said all at once). He talked about it all the time, even joking at our quarterly sales conferences and the nickname stuck. There was a woman who worked at Nelson whose name is Pam Stein (pronounced "stane"). So, her email was pstein. Think about it for a sec and you will get it. Anyway...

A co-worker familiar with the joke just sent me this YouTube video and I had to share it. Who would have thought that out of a little office joke I would end up with my own theme song! Enjoy!

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How NOT to Train for a Half Marathon

Ok, I totally slacked off last week and only walked once. What's worse is the one time I did walk I really didn't want to, but when I started I felt really good so I kicked it up a notch (BAM!) and felt horrible at the end of the 3+ miles that I half jogged/half walked. I was out of town Thursday-Saturday and even brought workout clothes, but didn't make it to the treadmill at the hotel. What has surprised me the most is how much my legs have stiffened up and hurt so bad! You could play the bongos on my hamstrings right now.

Melinda and I are planning on hitting the Y tonight. I'm supposed to do six miles, but I'm not sure if I should. I'll see how it goes, but if I do six I will do it flat (no incline) and just maintain the 4 mph pace rather than trying to jog any of it. Hopefully this will get my legs stretched out without hurting anything.

The lesson I learned? Wow this is really hard. I still know that I can finish the Half, but the reality of the difficulty is setting in. Rather than discouraging me though, it has steeled my resolve. I am looking forward to the challenge of getting back into training and the challenge of the actual race. This little set-back will only make finishing that much sweeter!

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Longest Walk Yet

We walked three miles today. It was a beautiful, sunny, dark blue sky out with mild temps, so we decided to head to the park. Jessica and Anna played on the playground while Melinda and I walked the track. It was great! As we completed the first mile, I remembered that the iPod had a stopwatch feature, so I switched it on. I'm pretty sure our first mile was around fourteen minutes (based on my watch), and the next two miles went like this:

• Mile 2 - 14:18.192
• Mile 3 - 14:18.143

So, our pace is pretty consistent, and right where we need it to be to finish the half in under four hours. I could have gone one more mile at least, but Melinda was a little winded. I told her that this shows we can do it! We went three today, and all we have to do is do the same thing for ten more miles!

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Training Update

Training has started slow, but we are encourged. We have both been able to maintain a 15 minute/mile pace for the duration of 30 minute sessions, which is well ahead of the four hour time limit to complete the 1/2 marathon. As we continue our training the walks will get longer, so we'll see if we can keep up the pace! Otherwise it has been great! We have walked outside, but the last couple of times have gone to the Y to use the treadmill. It's nice to have all your stats in front of you on the treadmill. Another bonus is the humidity indoors so you sweat more. I love a good sweat! I also like being around other people. There just seems to be an energy in there with everyone else on treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc.

We are still taking it easy to start off with. Since we feel better than we thought we would, we have had a tendency to step it up a little, but have tried to keep things just under the level of extreme for us. We don't want to burn out, or worse, injure anything before we really even get started.

The best part? Other than some mild soreness, we feel great! Our energy levels are up and overall we just feel better. I can only imagine that this will get better as we go along. nothing noticiable on the weight side, but I'm sure that will come as we get more consistent with our walks. We'll keep you posted!

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