Marathon Training in #the60's. We seem to be compatible.

We've been together for almost 4 decades! He's my dearest friend. But I wasn't sure we could train for a marathon together! It's safe for me to say over the years we have been through every kind of stressful situation there is! And then some. We have had some major blowouts! We have worked it out! We think alike, we think completely opposite!  We agree about everything, we disagree about everything! We have kids & grandkids together!  Life has been busy! We're married!  Bottom Line, I love him and he loves me! but a marathon????  

My husband, Johnny, aka the hubs hit the big 6-0 almost 5 years ago. He retired from work on his 60th birthday. He's an active guy though, plays the guitar, plays golf, babysits grandkids, takes a lot of walks. He's busy. I have finally caught up with his age group! I hit the big 6-0 about 3 months ago. I haven't had the opportunity yet to retire from work, & I haven't had the chance to slow down yet!  I'm a runner! It seems I'm always on the go & most of the time, he's on the go with me! But I can already see, being in #the60's is different! It's a different part of life. 

As we enter our 60's together, we decided to make some healthy changes in our marriage. We are keeping what has been good over the years and changing some of the negative things. Rekindling the flame in several areas I guess you could say! We're finally realizing we are certainly not teenagers anymore!  We are going to grow old-er together and we want to stretch it out for as long as we can! And be as healthy as we can be together! We are still going to keep doing the stuff we love to do that keeps us who we are as individuals. But we needed a hobby or a project, something that we could commit to together! We talked about all kinds of things, like a puppy or a remodeling project or a garden or another big trip. We have done all that. We needed something new. Something challenging. 

I registered us both for a marathon! How about that for a challenge! The Walt Disneyworld Marathon, January 2015. Why not I told him! We love Disney, we love to run, we can do it, it will be fun! I admit it, I love all those things. (I was going to register for the marathon anyway.)  I told him it would be great for me to have a partner to run with me and I wanted him to be my partner! He does love Disneyworld, but he has never had a desire to run a marathon. Never. He doesn't really love to run! He doesn't care if I do, but he's not a huge fan of running if he is the one running! I pointed out how much fun we will have training and getting healthy and I even tried to convince him this will be the best thing we will ever do together. We can eat right and get in shape and have soooo much fun! And we can run and run and train and......  And for some reason he thought it was a great idea! A great idea! I was shocked! 

Up until now, we have only actually ran 5 miles together, and that was in 2009. My running partners are my daughters & my girlfriends now! I don't run with husbands! How in the world were we going to train together for a marathon? I have ran 2 marathons. The same one I'll be running in January 2015. Walt Disneyworld Marathon. Just because it says Disneyworld, it is still 26.2 miles! There are no magical short cuts to the finish line!  I already know how hard the training is. Every single week. Every single weekend. Mile after mile after mile. How in the world will be able to spend that much time together? We don't really hang out that much together! We hang out with other people together! How in the world will we do it?  What was I thinking?! 

But again, back to the lets get healthy together thing in #the60's. We're registered! We needed to get busy training so I labored over a training schedule. We somehow had to start out equal and build up distance and speed. Together!  Johnny hasn't been doing too much running in the last few years!  I'm miles and miles ahead of him, so to speak.  But we're in this together and it won't hurt me to back up and start over! All the way back to mile 1 if  that's what it's going to take! 

So that's what we're doing! We are 8 weeks into training now! 8 weeks into running together! 8 weeks or so into #the60's! It's working! It seems that we are compatible!  We are running partners! Who knew we could be running partners! We have a walk run type schedule. Running 60-70% of the distance. We have a ratio that I don't really understand. He is setting the pace. I can't keep up with timers! I get mixed up if it's time to walk or run! Johnny is great with keeping us on pace! He's really good with intervals! Who knew?!

It's been really nice to have such a committed running partner! I've missed a few middle of the week runs due to work & weather. He hasn't missed any! We have not missed a single long run together! It's been great to have him out there with me! I asked him last week at mile 6 in the rain if I was getting on his nerves. He said, Nope, not yet! I believed him! He hasn't made me crazy yet either!

The gate opens early at Lakeside Park!  8 miles on the run schedule!

During a walk interval. My running girlfriend snapped this one!

At the end of 8 miles! It was a great run! And look we are smiling!

I'm really proud of him! He's losing a little weight and getting stronger with every run. I am too. Maybe my old lady fat will finally go away! We are eating much healthier. We are paying attention to proteins, carbs & calories and staying away from the sugars & fats.  When we talk about our runs, it's obvious we have our own goals and are in our own little worlds but we are doing it together!  I really think we can do it! I really think we are compatible! Who knew?!

Peace, love & Grandmary

Wordless Wednesday #TrainingToBeAwesome

Marathon training is in full swing. I've been staying pretty true blue to the training schedule lately. It's hard. But that schedule hanging on the fridge with the red chip clip magnet screams & nags at me every time I walk by it! I hear it...3 miles, 4 miles, 5 miles, 8 on Saturday. Loud & clear! And when I don't hear it yelling at me, its crazy but it haunts me!

So this morning, I slept late! I'm off today! Take that training schedule! I drank 2 peaceful cups of coffee, ate some Rice Krispies, snap, crackle, pop! read all my devotional stuff, beat the next level on Frozen Free Fall, & got ready to hit the pavement. HaHa! I'm the real deal! I know, right!

It's Wordless Wednesday, so I figured I'd spare my hubs the complaining & just get out there. No complaining about the schedule!  He got up early & beat the heat! I already know what he will say, it's my own fault its hot! He's right, but I won't tell him that!

Sometimes I just like to run to think about stuff. Theres a good bit of quiet time when you go for a run! I've been thinking that I need to get better. Apparently, better happens around age 62! I have a few friends already retired, writing books, modeling, cranking out 10K's, running Triathlons, or biking from here to kingdom come!  I'm not there yet. Still working.  I'm just training for a marathon. With my husband. No books. No modeling jobs.

But I can be better right here, right where I'm at. Today I worked on increasing speed & distance for time! I did a run/walk pattern, mostly running, with a time to beat with every interval.  And I beat it.  Everytime. 4.2 miles. I'm already better than I was a little while ago!

Running down my street! I hope I don't get a ticket for speeding! 

Somebody told me I was awesome this week, because I ran 10 miles last Saturday in the rain with my husband. I thought about that today during my speed intervals. I thought about that a lot. No, I'm not really awesome. I'm like everybody else. I have old lady fat that won't go away! I need to lose 6 pounds. OK not a whole lot to some people, but I still need to lose it! I am slower than I wish I was. I really wish I was faster. I'm working on it. I caved in & ate a PB&J crustable yesterday, all right, I really ate two, but who can resist those? PB&J heaven, with  the middle just a little bit still frozen. I like to be lazy in the mornings. As in why does my training schedule not have official Lazy Day Today penciled in!! My house is a mess, my laundry is pile up high. Let's not even discuss dusting! So, no I'm not really that awesome.

But I'm motivated to being better than I am. I thought about that today too. What motivates me? What motivates you? What makes you more awesome than you already are? One of these days, when I'm 62, I'll have my book published, I'll laugh at my skin tight wetsuit, I'll ride with my feet up on the handle bars! But right now, I'm where I'm at. Not arguing today with my training schedule, #TrainingToBeAwesome. Running a few miles a little faster. I'm OK with it.  Life is Better.

Peace, Love  & Grandmary!

Princess Running Season! It's that time again!

I run better during Princess Season! Today I registered for my 7th Princess Half Marathon! I'll still be 'perfect' in 2015! It's Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Registration time again! It's a registration frenzy! Today was early registration for Annual Passholders & Disney Vacation Club Members. The trick is to be online first & hurry up & fill out the registration form. Then click Submit as fast as you can! After that, it's OK to resume breathing! You're in! Whew. Or at least that's how it is for me! I'm in. I can breathe again!

Pink New Balance Minnie running shoes & a Tiara! That's how I roll during Princess Season!

It all started in 2009. My daughters convinced me to register for the Inaugural Disney Princess Half Marathon. My first half marathon. Actually, my first run longer than 3 miles! I had about 5 weeks to 'train' for it. Until then, I had only run a few 5K's and had no idea how to run anything longer than 3 miles, much less train for a half marathon. How far was a half marathon anyway? But I have to admit, they had me at Disney Princess! So, absolutely, of course I was in. And don't ask me how, but I did it! It was brutal, I was a mental case, I was exhausted, I was way out of my league, but I did it! I ran a half marathon! I surprised myself at how much I actually ran, not just walked! I was slow as Christmas but I finished. And I got my first beautiful Gold Tiara Princess medal! Oh my goodness, it was a life altering moment for me! My daughters were waiting for me & proud of me & that too was life altering!  I'll share the whole story in another blogpost soon!

I learned something very valuable out there on the Inaugural Disney Princess 13.1 mile course. I was all by myself! It was up to me. No one said I had to run 13.1 miles. No one would be devastated if I had not finished.  Deep down I knew that. At mile 10, I had a complete mental come apart! By myself. What if I couldn't do it? What if I couldn't finish? What if I just needed to quit? I had enough self doubt to stop the whole race at that point. But somehow, somewhere I found what it took to finish. I just kept going & didn't quit. My legs were aching, my feet burned with every step! I was pretty positive my hips would never ever ever speak to me again! Every single step hurt hurt hurt. Mentally, I was just not prepared for the physical pain! And I felt myself start to crumble, as in I was so frustrated I started to cry! I remember thinking, Oh Great! Now I'm really having a fun time! Crying. In a half marathon. A Princess Half Marathon! With no Kleenex either. Wonderful. My only option was to get on the bus & quit. That's when I came out of my pity party & stumbled up on mile 12!  Seriously?? ONE mile left? That was less than a 5K!

I started to RUN! The whole last mile. I felt like I was flying! I'm sure it was a snails pace in reality! I was oblivious to the pain!  I heard the finish line before I saw it & cried all over again! I crossed the finish line like I had just won the Olympics! I was a half marathoner! I was a finisher! I was a Princess!

This event taught me more about my little self than I knew! I can do more than I think I can. I am very competitive with myself! There  is no quitting! The truth is, you must Set your own goals. Run your own race! It's your finish line. I will run this race every year. I will revisit my weaknesses out there and my self doubts. And I'll tip my tiara to them along the way. All the way to the finish line!  Because that's what a Princess does! 

My favorite Princess Half Marathon Picture!