Hello Fellow Followers!
I want to bring you up to speed. I have been training for the Phoenix Marathon with my husband for over 5 weeks now. Here is the number one thing that I have learned:
Train with a buddy!
If you are new to marathon training, like myself, I can not stress to you enough the importance of having someone that can be part of that process. Our personal training schedule was designed to be 20 weeks long prior to game day with 5 days of active walking or running, and two days of rest (i.e Tuesdays and Fridays) each week. This means that if you follow a similar training schedule you will be putting in a lot of miles over time, so take advantage of having 1 person, 2 people, 3 dogs, or dang, your whole possy, to join in on this adventure.
From my experience already, there will be times when the going gets tough; feet will hurt, muscles will ache. Your desire to follow through will not be there or your spirit might feel below average. Despite the urge to give up, having each other helps us to stay accountable and lift each other up. We remind each other of our long term goals, and how it will feel when we successfully cross that finish line at the 26.2 mile marker together.
You get to choose how you spend your walks. Some people may choose to listen to music or podcasts, or to walk in silence, but when we can, we choose conversation and comedy. This can be so therapeutic in this process. Let me tell you a story. Ryan is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and so one day he decides we are going to attempt to sing cadences as we run down the road to help improve our lung capacity. There was nothing better than to die of laughter from the thought of a prospective person seeing us as we yell back to each other at the top of our voices “Left, left, lo-righty lay-o” or “C-130 rolling down the strip…,” and some other questionable cadences.
Until next time, Ooh-Rah!
Live long, live strong.
Dr. Danielle Vogler, NMD
