That Girl Sure is a Runnin' Fool

     Well, it's been almost a week, and I'm still feeling my marathon high. And yes, I still feel that I'm allowed to talk about it, which I really haven't done that much. I want to shout it to the world, but I didn't really do it for recognition, I did it because I set out to do it. Isn't that crazy? Abigail made a goal and actually accomplished it. Do you know how that was possible? I didn't tell anyone!!! I'm pretty sure everyone can see that I have a pattern that if I say I'm going to do something, I'm not actually going to do it. "Hey, y'all, look at me all fat in bathing suit; I'm gonna lose weight!!!...just kidding, I found cake." It's like saying it out loud or making a bold declaration jinxes me; it creates failure. If someone asked if I was training for the upcoming marathon, I would literally say, "I'm running. I'm not saying that I'm going to do it so that when I don't do it, it won't be such a big deal." And that worked beautifully.
      Anyway, I did take a series of pictures along the way to track my training because let me tell you something, you need to train. You may not need to train to complete it, but the recovery time needed after the race was close to none. I was sore this past week, but I could have been hospitalized had I not trained. I was able to teach all my classes this week and do a Crossfit class. My first step was to find a training schedule, which I did. I found this great four month training schedule, but please note that everyone has their own training preference. What worked for me may not work for you. In fact, runners I know argued this schedule and said there were too many long runs back to back. For my long run on Saturdays, I always chose the higher number. I found the schedule and committed to it.
     Soooo...do you know what it's like running during winter in Korea? I feel like I can endure anything after two months of that nonsense. The cold kept me on the treadmill a lot, but I made sure to hit the pavement as often as I could. I'll never forget completing my nine mile run in six inches of snow. For the eleven mile run, Reuben and I were practically ice skating for the first four miles. As I said, I took some photos of my progress. Not all of my runs are listed or documented. Here's a walk through of "here and there" moments in my training.

February 12: Completed 6 miles before 6 a.m.

February 12: Yeah, that's frost/ice on the headband. Absurd! My eyelashes would be crystalized!

February 16: Completed 9 miles and a round of HITT

February 18: Completed 3 miles and a round of Turbo Fire

February 19: Completed 6 miles on the treadmill

February 23: Completed 11 miles with my happy, happy husband

February 28: Completed 6 miles before 6 a.m. Yes, that's ice in my hair. Flippin' freezin'!

March 4

March 5: Completed 7 miles after school; I was smiling because we had a random day of warmth.

March 10: Completed 12 miles after church

March 14: Complete 14 miles and cried from happiness of reaching a new milestone

(This run also caused me to hurt my foot, forcing me to take the weeks off from running)

March 23: 10K on post with the ladies!!

March 26: Completed 4.8 miles

March 30: Zumba Jam...woot woot!!

Haha...a perfect summary of April!

April 27: Completed 26.2!

April 27: At the starting line

April 27: Wrappin' up 13 miles

April 27: Crossing the finish line with the best man in the world

I DID IT!!!!

Rollin' with the hommies

Yay for me beating four other girls!!!

Yay for my husband, too!!!

Boo for my toe splitting in half

     I know there are people out there who run marathons in half the time that we did and other people who run four times the mileage we did, but you know what? We did it for us. I wanted this as badly as I wanted a college degree. For some reason, I kept this goal on a pedestal, and I can't believe I actually did it. 

     What's next you ask? Well, I am really looking forward to getting other workouts completed now. I miss Spinning, Yoga, and weight lifting something fierce. All of my time has gone to running and homework. I still taught my Zumba classes, which proved to be a nice vacation. And as you can see in the picture progression, my weight has packed back on. Crap! That's because I was eating like I was training for an ultra marathon. I was literally eating other people's food off of their plates. I justified it because I "needed the fuel". Whatever, Abigail, you needed a muzzle. Tonight I had a number 4 meal from McDonalds (double quarter pounder...yep, that happened). I guess I'm gonna be working on that whole mess, but again, I'm not going to say it out loud...we all know what happens then...nothing!

Tips for Training:

Find a schedule you like

Document your progress

Find a fun marathon to keep your mind busy (this was the most ridiculously boring race in the world; seriously, the workers were so bored that they packed up the finish line and dumped the water before everyone was finished...how awful is that?)

Do not eat off of your students' lunch trays

Don't worry about getting faster

However, do speed drills during the week to build endurance

Download Spice Girls

Have multiple pairs of running shoes that are comfortable (same style, same brand)

Have an amazing husband

Invest in a free app that documents your runs

Wear powder deodorant (armpits can chafe like a mother)

Just do it, even when you don't feel like it

Do not eat number 4 from McDonalds; it's delicious 

Don't be scared of treadmills; they make speed training easier

Power gels are essential for long runs

Watch Duck Dynasty

Run hills (I made the mistake of not doing that)

Find a friend and run with them 

Stare at my bathing suit picture and use that as motivation to never let your body look like that

Don't get too educated on the subject; spend more time running, less time reading

Don't sign up for a grad class that requires you writing a thesis (dang it!)

Adopt a cat

(Please believe me when I say that I do not ever take this many selfies. I started a group where we post pictures of ourselves after our workouts; I promise I'm not that full of myself. I mean, I'm full, like packed to the gills, but that's of greasy unknown Korean McyDee's meat...not of my arrogance.)