Can you Train for a Half Marathon in 7 days?

Blog 32

(How Not to Train for a Half Marathon)

 

So that’s the question. Can it be done? Is it any use at that point, or should one just “suck it up” and run without any training?

This is what I am going to try to answer.

If one were to read the previous Blog, (Blog 31) they would know that I signed up to run the BMO Half Marathon in Vancouver on January 5^th, 2019.

The run was May 5^th, 2019.

This should be plenty of time to prepare for such a challenge. It turns out that the biggest challenge for me was procrastination… and it definitely got the best of me.

In January, I gave up fried foods.

In February, I gave up alcohol.

In March, I think I gave up hope.

In April… I can’t remember April. It’s kind of a blur.

Then, along came May. It was time to get ready for the Big Race. I had 7 Days to prepare myself for a 13.1 Mile run (21.1 km) – exactly 1 week after returning from a vacation that involved plenty of late nights and debauchery.

Day 1

It was a nice day. Much cooler than San Diego was the week before, but I decided that I should formulate some sort of training plan and admit that I had failed to properly train for a half marathon.

Day 2

It was another nice day. I thought it was a good day to try out a long run and see how my fitness level was.

This was a leisure run of 16.3 km. It was far. It was hard. It took me a long time to do it and my legs began to hurt in places that I didn’t know existed. I also had to make an emergency pit stop to use the facilities…alas, these things happen.

Although the run was not very fast, I pushed through the best I could. I discovered something about running…all you have to do is take it one step at a time.

One foot in front of the other.

Running a Half Marathon is no easy task.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the short sprints in life. It’s easy to get caught up in the little battles that we face on a daily basis, but it’s the end game that counts. It’s the marathons, and the wars that matter at the end of the day.

One foot in front of the other.

Day 3

As one can imagine, my legs were pretty sore the next day.

I knew I had to do something, but I also knew that a run was out of the question.

Why not go for a bike ride? I haven’t gone for a bike ride in probably 30 plus years. That seemed like a great idea!

Well, headwinds and a sore butt were the biggest challenges. I knew I wasn’t going to set a land speed record, but I also knew that it was a good thing to work the legs and get those kinks out of my old, tired muscles.

Day 4

It wasn’t like I wanted to go for a run or anything, but it had to happen. The race was only days away, and I needed to give my lungs one more workout before I rested up.

I mapped out a quick 8.48 km circuit that I figured would take me an hour.

After battling a strong headwind through the first portion of my run, and another emergency pit stop, I could feel a rash developing in my nether regions. You know, my private parts?

Like a true pro, I pressed on.

Ouch!

It wasn’t as long as the long run I had done, but it felt good. Not great…just good. Maybe it was just “ok”.

One foot in front of the other.

Day 5

A day of rest.

I did just that. I stretched out my sore legs. I put cream on my rash. I basically spent the day licking my wounds and regretting not training like I had planned.

Day 6

Another day of rest. Actually, I believe the runner people call it a recovery day, or something like that.

We had to pick up our Race Bibs and shirts. We hung out at an Expo with a bunch of healthy runner types.

By the end of the evening, I was feeling pretty low. I knew the next day was going to be hard. I knew that I wasn’t going to get a personal best. I knew I didn’t look like a runner, or an athlete fit to participate in a Half Marathon.

I went to bed early that night filled with anxiety and regret.

Regret of my own procrastination and letting myself down.

Day 7
Race Day

I don’t know that it should actually be called “Race Day”, because I was only running against myself. I wasn’t competing with anybody. I just wanted to finish the damn thing.

The start is always exciting. Corralled like cattle being led to the slaughter, held in a pen colour coded to your anticipated finish time.

Surrounded by fit, athletic people.

Have I mentioned how many fit people there were?

Once I started, I found it very hard not to get caught up in the race pace that everybody was at. It was far too fast for me and I knew I would be in trouble later on in the run if I didn’t slow down.

Oh yeah, I slowed down all right.

It was somewhere around the halfway point that I began to run out of gas. I was getting tired. My legs were starting to hurt.

I just kept to my mantra:

One foot in front of the other.

Yes, it was hard. A half Marathon is supposed to be hard.

I crossed the finish line 2 hours and 51 minutes and 41 seconds after the start.

Not a Personal Best.

Not an amazing time.

I don’t care. I did it. I accomplished something that seemed so impossible at times. I did it with 7 days worth of training.

I did it for me.

I felt the exhilaration of crossing the finish line like a true champion. I had accomplished something that not everyone will do. Something that a lot of people feel is out of their reach, or too hard, or even impossible!

All they need to do is show up and put one foot in front of the other.

So, to answer the question… Can you run a Half Marathon with only 7 days of training?

Yes! Of course!

Will it be a stellar performance?

No.

Will you feel like you accomplished something?

Yes…. And you’ll probably wish that you had trained harder and prepared a little bit more before hand.

What’s even more amazing than my story?

My wife ran too…with No Training!!!!!!

She is absolutely amazing.

Until next time,

This is me!

 

A Long Term Program (with a Short Blog)

Blog 31

January is over. The 1 Crunch a Day Challenge is still on… and I also stopped eating Fried Food for the month. I celebrated on the 31^st with Chicken Wings! Yes, I know, they were deep fried.

Vlogging is not really working out as good as I’d hoped, but it’s a skill I will only get better at.

The running training for the BMO Half marathon, in May, is such a slow process for me.

Bottom line?

I suck at running. I still can’t go 3 km without stopping for a minute or two to catch my breath. Again, I know that I will only get better. Persistence will pay off.

I believe I said this in an earlier post, but it’s not the short term that I’m interested in. This is a long term program.

Did anybody else notice that February only has 28 days?

I think that’s great! It’s the perfect month to try something for a month, or give up something for a month. And I have…. Or I am….. But I’m not going to spill the beans yet on what that is. Not yet, anyway.

Everything is coming together nicely. It really is the little things that add up over time. Start slow. Build up.

I believe that applies to everything. It doesn’t matter if I’m talking about a diet change, or training to run, to just changing my lifestyle. The little things count.

This is an incredibly short Blog. I really thought I’d have more to say, but I’ve been busy with the YouTube channel and trying to keep my head afloat at work, as well as stick to the training plan. — and trust me…. There’s not much of a training plan.

Here’s a couple of video links you can watch what I’ve been up to. Click around… See some more.

I’ll be back in a while with an update.

Until then, Stay Motivated, Enjoy what you Have and…

Stay Positive!

Just Like 50 First Dates… Over and Over

Blog 30

I spent the earlier part of the day watching the movie 50 First Dates. It’s a great RomCom.

Lucy has a brain injury that affects her short-term memory. Every day she wakes up, she thinks it’s the same day that she got her injury. Every day is Groundhog Day – another great movie, by the way.

Henry falls in love with Lucy and every day he has to come up with a new way to get her to like him.

I find that every time I start a project, or a program like “getting in shape” or “learning how to play the banjo”, I start with good intentions and then slip up once…twice…well, you know me by now…and then kind of put the project on the back burner.

Eventually, I start up again. It’s not like every day, but it happens often enough that I can never achieve the results I’m looking for.

I often feel like every time I start… well, I feel like it’s the first time. I go in with gusto, and then it fizzles out.

Let’s see. We’re 3 weeks or so into the New Year and everything is going good.

What? Please, tell us your secret! Hahaha…..

Just like Henry trying to get Lucy to like him, the secret is simple.

Persistence.

Persistence pays off… so does starting slow. That’s my secret. It’s working good so far.

This is my first day out on a run. I’m not pushing it. I have to go slow. It’s not the short term that counts. It’s all about the Big Picture. It’s the Long Run. There’s 15 weeks to the BMO Half Marathon and, uh, I think, that counts as a long run. This is where I start. At the beginning. Slow.

I mentioned in my rambling last post about the importance of having a plan, seeing the Big Picture and Staying Positive.

It’s a beautiful day and I’d rather be sitting on a patio having a beer, but by starting small and slow I intend to show how the end goal can be reached.

Don’t worry, I’ll be on the patio with my reward soon enough.

Next Tuesday I want to talk about food. Who doesn’t like food?

Until then, I’m going to enjoy my run.

Oh, and about 50 First Dates… Spoiler Alert — Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore eventually get together. Surprise!

Oh, and Stay Positive….anything is possible.

Stay Positive

Blog 29

Stay Positive

It’s a theme; it’s a mantra; it’s a way of life.

I’m no expert, but whenever I let myself down, I always try to look at the bright side. I try to look at the things that I did right, and learn from the things that I did wrong. I try to stay positive.

From time to time, we all bite off a bit more than we can chew. There’s nothing wrong with that. My 1 sit-up a day challenge (now 1 crunch a day challenge) is going good. I hate to admit that I missed a coupe of days at the start, but I am committed to it now. I have to be. I’m already planning the December 31^st party!

That’s all it takes sometimes – an end goal, the Big Picture, to help you with the challenges along the way.

I could have hid the fact that I missed a couple of days. I could have told myself, and everyone else, that I’m doing an excellent job of meeting the challenge every day. But I won’t, and I didn’t. The only person I’d be lying to would be me. The only person I let down is me… but that’s not a bad thing.

Yes, I was disheartened. I started thinking that there is no way I can keep up this challenge. Negative thoughts can grow inside my head and fester like an infected wound and if left untreated, they can start to spread and cause more problems than if the problem was dealt with from the beginning.

This is a long challenge; a year long challenge; a 365 day challenge! Perfection can’t be expected. Persistence and perseverance will get me through to the finish line… and that’s really what my goal is. Finish strong at the finish line.

I happen to live in a great little neighbourhood. There used to be about 8 young families that lived on our street. In the summer time, the kids ruled our street. Passing cars would have to give way to a street hockey game, or drive around bikes that were abandoned in the middle of the road, as the children rushed inside for a quick lunch break. Halloween would see the street virtually blocked off from traffic as there would be 200+ kids trick-or-treating with parents in tow.

I happen to live in a great neighbourhood. One summer’s day, the kids had decided to redecorate the road with chalk drawings and graffiti.

Yes, that sounds weird.

Scrawled across the road was a banner that has become my mantra. It simply stated, “Stay Positive”. Actually, the “S” had sort of been rubbed away by passing cars, or pedestrians, so the banner actually said, “tay Positive”. That is what has become my mantra.

So simple, and yet so powerful.

I can’t imagine the reason a 10 year old might scribble this across the middle of a road, but there it was, written by someone who was clearly more intelligent and self aware than me.

So, I don’t look at a couple of missed days of Crunches as a failure. Will I miss more days in the coming months? Yes. Yes, I will. It’s a long way to the finish line and if I start playing head games now, negativity will win, and it will spread like a cancer to all my other goals.

If I keep the Big Picture in mind, all will be good.

So, if you’re driving down my street, be sure to watch out for the little ones. They rule the road. Be patient as they dart to-and-fro from yard to yard jumping through sprinklers and leaving their skateboards and bicycles in the middle of the street. Be sure to keep a look out for signs of motivation, and most importantly, Stay Positive.

Or as I like to say, “tay Positive”.

This is me.

1 Sit Up a Day Challenge

Blog 28

So…. of all the bright ideas…..I thought it would be fun to create a challenge.  I am doing One sit up a day for the whole year!

That might sound silly.  1 Sit up every day?  Surely anybody can do that!

No….  well yes….. anybody probably can do that…. but this is a little bit more involved…..

On January first, the first day of the year, I did 1 sit up.  On the second, I did Two.  By the end of the year, December 31st, I will do 365 sit ups.

At this point, it seems impossible.  All I can say is it’s a Good thing it’s not a Leap Year!

Watch the video to see how it’s going, so far.

And to answer the question….. No….. I will not post a video every day of this Challenge!

Check back, though, there will be updates.

This is me!

Beat the Rush (back to the gym)

Blog 26

It’s December. Everybody is busy with “Holiday Parties” and visiting family and friends. I’m not saying, “Bah Humbug,” but why not hit the old gym and get a head start on everybody that will be there in January.

Today, for some unknown reason, I was cold. I initially thought I was tired and hungry, but I ate and I didn’t feel like taking a nap, (contrary to popular belief, I don’t always take naps), so I decided to get moving forward.

Any visit by me to the gym is not my favourite thing. We do not like each other. We do not even tolerate each other. I don’t know why I thought today would be any different.

First of all, I made the mistake of thinking that I’d beat the New Years Resolution Crowds. I thought I’d show up to an empty room with all the equipment to myself. This was not to be true. Although, it was not packed, it was much busier than I thought.

I am shy. I don’t want other people to see me fail at lifting weight, or stumble on the treadmill. I don’t want others to judge me as I drip with sweat, and maybe cry a little.

Yes, I know, nobody is actually there watching me. It’s foolish to think that anybody would care what my struggles are…. especially in the gym!

All I needed to do was show up.

I did a 15 minute light jog on the “mill” and did some upper body stuff. Don’t ask me what they’re called… but it’s various exercises involving lifting weights and killing my arms and shoulders.

This was more difficult than I remember doing. In fact, I had to trade in the trusty 20 pounders for something lighter. I believe they were 8 lb dumbells. I’m just going to call it downsizing.

Yeah, that’s fun.

I also spent some quality time stretching my wounded leg, just like my therapist said I should. It was neither fun, nor easy. I have not been as diligent as I should be with these stretches.

Like most people, I don’t want to put the work in, I just want to get better.

Let me tell you, nobody is ever going to do the work for you, but if you show up, you’re more likely to do it yourself. Yeah. That sucks, but it’s the way it is.

I found a nice quiet spot in the “Stretching Room”.  There was nobody around, so I could do my thing.

I was lying on the floor when someone walked into the room. It was everything I could do not to laugh out loud at the situation. It wasn’t the huffing or puffing, it was the fact that I was signing along to a song on the iPod (headphones in) when they walked in. I was singing loud and proud, and way out of key, and I only knew every other word. I can’t imagine what they thought of that performance!

I’m not cold anymore.

I showed up.

I survived.

I will do it again.

This is me.

Time for Renewal

Blog 22

 

My last Blog was November 13^th, 2017. Well, it’s time for Renewal – including this blog. Last summer, I was training hard for the Rock n Roll Vegas Half Marathon. In all honesty, I personally haven’t done much since then. Well, now, I’m back… for awhile, at least.

 

This Blog is not an “Advice Blog”, or a “Preaching Blog”. It’s not even a “How To” blog. It’s a “Personal Blog”.

 

Last week, I decided that I was going to work towards getting healthier, (yes, again), and hopefully running another Half Marathon in the spring of next year. It’s not that I want to run a Half Marathon, it’s the journey of getting there. Without looking up the exact date, I basically have 6 months to get myself ready. That’s more than enough time for me.

 

Like I stated, I haven’t done much of anything since last year’s Half Marathon. My weight is basically the same. My health is probably the same. My mental state is about the same. I’m just a year older. I’ve done some reading of various Blogs and information web sites and haven’t learned a whole lot. They’re either too scientific for me, or to “preachy” or too much of a “sales pitch” or they’re from people that are just too “Fit” for me.

 

I believe that I am not at a stage where there is a difference between me eating Organic Veggies, or Regular Veggies. I just need to eat more Veggies. The same is true with Yogurt. I don’t need special yogurt to be healthy. Regular, normal, store bought yogurt is good enough.

 

Where is my Motivation coming from?

 

So many places. The fact that my last Half Marathon was hampered by having a cold is definitely part of it, but for the most part, I wake up in the morning with aches and pains and generally feeling like “ick”. It’s part of getting older. Arthritis is a part of life. I want to feel better.

 

My thinking is that I am wearing myself out quicker because I am carrying extra weight. Extra weight adds more stress on the joints, wearing them out sooner. It also puts extra stress on the internal organs too. I am very conscious of my blood sugars because of type II diabetes being in my family.

 

So here is my plan for the next month or so. There might be a little bit of actual exercise, but it will be mostly about diet. Eating healthy. Being Healthy. Getting sleep.

 

Last week I started eating healthy. I started paying attention. Two Simple rules at this point: No Fried Foods. No drinking during the week.

 

What kind of results did I get?

Monday
205.0 lbs

Tuesday
204.6 lbs

Wednesday
203.2 lbs

Thursday
202.0 lbs

Friday
201.6 lbs

Saturday
202.0 lbs
Friday night had a couple of beers

Sunday
202.4 lbs
Saturday night I had a couple of drinks with a nice Turkey Dinner

Monday
203.5 lbs
Hey! Guess What? Sunday night I had a couple of drinks with another Turkey Dinner

(Editor’s Note: This weekend was Thanksgiving in my part of the world… Turkey dinner is a big deal)

 

So let’s do a quick analysis on the first week. In the end, I lost 1.5 lbs. Yeah! But I could have lost more if I stuck with the plan. It’s obvious, to me, cheat days don’t do any favours this early in the program. The numbers don’t lie.

 

This week is not going to be very productive, simply because I’m going out of town. But that being said, I am looking forward to weighing in on Friday or Saturday simply because I like watching the numbers go up and down. Any predictions on how it will go?

 

If there’s a question as to how I felt during the week, it was the same. There is no way anybody is going to feel “better” during the first week of anything. Period. Just simply being healthy for a week isn’t going to change much. I might have said it before, in a previous Blog: You can’t cram for health. It is a lifestyle choice.

 

So, this is my first Blog entry for a NEW me. It will serve as a benchmark to how I progress and if it works, maybe it will show that Anybody can do it.

 

Until next time,

This is me.

 

w

 

 

 

 

The Race is On!

Blog 20

It’s less than a week away. The day that I’ve been training for. The Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon. Well, it’s the half marathon for me, but it’s fast approaching and I thought I should drop an update.

The Race is on!

The bad guys aren’t going to win.

Everything was going great up until about three weeks ago. I got a bit of a cold. That was inconvenient. Then work had me go away for a week. In the dry Kansas air, my cold developed into an annoying cough. I did manage to get a run in, but I quickly realized that it didn’t help the cough at all. Then back at home, I managed to tweak my back, somehow. You know, the kind that takes your breath away when you move the wrong way?   Yesterday, I went for a short 5k run to see how I felt. Unfortunately, I walked the last 2k home. Setbacks for sure, but I’m confident that by the time next Sunday rolls around, I will be Run Ready.

Injuries and setbacks during training are not uncommon. I’ve read so many stories where people get injured in the last few weeks before their big race and they still manage to get the run in, even if they feel unprepared.

I am hopeful I will be able to run at the pace that I trained at, but at this point, I am focused on just being able to run the whole thing. I was told a long time ago that when your body is speaking to you, you should listen. There is no reason to further injure myself.

My next video will be from the race. I am so looking forward to giving that report. It’s going to be awesome! There are still some videos I am looking forward to doing as well. A follow up to the 10 minute mile video. A follow up to the weigh in. Perhaps a little something on food. All things I wanted to do, but just haven’t had time for.

Regardless of how the run goes, I am so proud of myself. I have seen my progress and I have seen my hard work paying off.

This is it. The Time is Now. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

This is me

Don’t Let The Bad Guys Win

Blog 19

Last Sunday, October 1st, 2017, an unthinkable and horrible event unfolded in Las Vegas.  My heart goes out to everyone involved.  I am at a loss to add anything to the commentary that has already taken place over the last week.

It is 32 days until the Rock n Roll Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon.  The organizers at Competitor Group have issued a statement that basically says the event may not go on as planned.

I completely understand.  Ensuring the safety of all the participants is of the highest priority, and the requirement to secure such a large area is not an easy task.  If there is one city in the world that can rise to the occasion, I’d put my money on Vegas.

Wether or not the event goes on, I will be in Las Vegas on November 12th.  I will honour , and pay my respects, those who were involved in the tragic event of October 1st.

I will not live in a world of fear.  I will not let the Bad Guys Win.

Until next time,

-This is Me.

An Honest Introspective Retrospective

The WayneReport

An Honest Introspective Retrospective

Blog 12

It’s been a little over a year since I started this blog. The original purpose was to chronicle a 3 month journey into improving my own, personal, Health and Wellness. A lot has happened in a year, and reading back through Blogs 1 to 11, I felt it was worthy of some sort of update.

Bottom line: did I accomplish what I set out to do? No.

Reading through the blogs, I noticed that I had a common theme of pointing out that I wasn’t making excuses. Guess what? They read like I’m making excuses. Almost every post mentioned some sort of struggle and a promise to rectify it for next time. I never did.

I bought 18 sessions with a trainer, and used 16 of them. I have no excuse why I didn’t complete the last 2. The gym has been a distant memory since mid spring and healthy eating…. well, that’s reserved for workdays only.

My road to good Health and Wellness hasn’t been completely full of failures though. Earlier this month, I ran a Half Marathon in Las Vegas. Yeah. That’s right. I ran a Half Marathon! Sure, I was hoping for a better time than 2:45, but I don’t care. I ran a Half Marathon! That’s fecking Nutz!

My training started honestly. The Missus and a couple of friends trained with me in the early stages, but in the end, I trained by myself… Very sporadically…. But I did it.

I can’t make excuses why I didn’t train more consistently. My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. All summer we feared our landlords we’re going to sell our house… And they are. My work schedule has changed and the hours are even longer than before which makes for a much needed rest on a day off. They seem like good excuses, but I won’t use any of them.

My accomplishments and failures are my own.

Something else that showed up as a theme in the blogs was: whatever my journey, no matter what it is, it is MY journey. No one can make me do it. No one can do it for me. In the end, it’s just me.

I can’t say that I’m going to reboot and try the same thing over. I can’t even say that I’m going to keep this blog going. What I can say is that I’m going to enjoy the people, and things around me. The roller coaster isn’t over. Not even close. But I think with this particular roller coaster, I will enjoy it on my own, instead of trying to describe the ride every step of the way. The most amazing things are always right around the corner. I’d hate to miss something because I was too busy talking.

By the way… Did I mention that I ran a fecking Half Marathon?!!??!!

Stay safe and be well.