Day 1 - The Decision to Marathon

Day 1.  Weight: 171.2

     I served in the Army. I know all about running, but when i got pregnant with my first child JUN 2012, I decided to leave the Army. My husband and I were dual military, and were already scheduled to deploy to different places in the world at the same time. The thought of leaving my baby without his mom AND dad disturbed me, so i decided I would get out. Before I joined the Army, I used to run a 2 mile track on the base I lived on. I was in High School and was never allowed to join any sports, so when i got home from school, i went for a run. I have always loved running. When I was little I dreamed of being an Olympic runner. I ran everywhere. Now, my son is 6 months old and I want to run again. I find it hard because I'm breast feeding and the ladies on my chest can't seem to stay put. For those that didn't know, having big breasts is painful when running. Not only that, but I have to stop every so often to breast feed. I can't exactly run a marathon while nursing.
     You don't just wake up one day and run 26.2 miles, Even if you have ran since High School or prior. You have to take baby steps. I'm itching to get back into running, so by the time I need to run the super long distances, the breastfeeding will have (hopefully) ended and I can ease into longer distances with no problems. This is only day 1 of my journey, but i hope every day you can come back and read the post I have from that day and be inspired. There's too many before and after pics floating around the internet with no journey in between.
     For today, I did some research. I made a "Marathons" board on Pinterest to bookmark what I find. I am researching when Marathons are scheduled for next year. I'm trying to give myself 8 months from today to do a marathon, so that puts me at Jun 3, 2014 or later marathon. Give or take a week or so, no big deal. I may be ready before then, but i'm trying to take my time. This is supposed to be fun and I will be running the whole time preparing for it, so i will still be doing some good for myself. I'm noticing that a lot of the Marathons are scheduled for the beginning of the year, but there are others out there that are later.
I am also going to look at some "couch to marathon" type work out plans to get me started. I'm going to find one that I think will work for me and save it to Pinterest, Print it, and hang it up on my fridge to get me started.
     Shoes are one of the biggest parts of running. I am going to have 2 pairs. I just bought a pair because my others were too small, but i plan to do some research to get one of the best pairs for long distance running. Down side of new shoes is that your feet blister when breaking them in. I learned that in the Army, but apparently wasnt thinking clearly when I walked 4.5 miles in brand new sneaks yesterday.
Lastly, Food. I find it hard to eat "health food" because to be blunt, it tastes like crap, and it's too expensive, but I have recently started gathering "health recipes" like a squirrel with nuts. When i see a recipe that's good for you that may look good, i pin it on Pinterest. I then actually make it, try it, and if i like it, it becomes part of my life.
     Another thing - I'm going to weigh myself every week to track my weight loss progress. For me, a "normal" weight is 140, but my goal is 130, which puts me where I was the week i found out I was pregnant. One of the things about weighing in, is that it needs to be at the same time of day every week. The best time is in the morning. Another tip is to make sure you're using the SAME scale every time! All weight scales are different and if you're using more than one you will not receive an accurate result of weight loss. I will also take a weekly photo. Since this is day 1 and it happens to fall on a Thursday, I will be taking a photo every Thursday.

Here is the 32 week training chart I found. Since i started Day one on a Thursday, i altered the days of the week to be where i needed them to be.

WEEK	THUR	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUES	WED	TOTAL
1	Rest	2	Rest	2	1-2	Rest	2	7-8
2	1	2	Rest	2	1	Rest	3	9
3	1	2	Rest	3	1	Rest	4	11
4	Rest	2	Rest	3	Rest	Rest	4	9
5	Rest	3	Rest	4	1-2	Rest	5	13-14
6	Rest	3	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	6	13-15
7	Rest	4	3	Rest	4	Rest	7	18
8	Rest	4	Rest	3	Rest	Rest	8	15
9	Rest	4	1-3	Rest	3	Rest	9	17-19
10	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	10	18-20
11	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	11	18-20
12	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	6	13-15
13	Rest	4	2	Rest	3	Rest	12	21
14	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	6	13-15
15	Rest	4	Rest	2	3	Rest	13	22
16	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	14	21-23
17	Rest	4	Rest	3	2	Rest	7	16
18	Rest	3	2	Rest	4	Rest	15	26
19	Rest	4	2	Rest	3	Rest	8	17
20	Rest	3	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	16	23-25
21	Rest	4	3	Rest	2	Rest	8	17
22	Rest	3	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	18	25-27
23	Rest	2	4	Rest	3	Rest	9	18
24	Rest	3	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	19	26-28
25	Rest	4	2	Rest	3	Rest	10	19
26	Rest	3	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	20	27-29
27	Rest	3	2	Rest	4	Rest	10	19
28	Rest	3	0-2	Rest	4	Rest	21	28-29
29	Rest	2	3	Rest	4	Rest	10	19
30	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	22-23	29-32
31	Rest	4	0-2	Rest	3	Rest	8	15-17
32	Rest	3	0-2	0-2	Rest	Rest	26.2!	29-33

http://www.all-about-marathon-training.com/32marathon-training-schedule.html

Please let me know in the comments below if you're following me on my journey!