If at first you kind of succeed...sign up again and try harder!

Hi everyone!

If you're reading this, you most likely not only know me, but probably know a few things about me, my family, my life etc.  Some of you may have known me long enough to be completely flabbergasted that I run at all...let alone am attempting my second FULL MARATHON! So for anyone that isn't familiar with the pre-running Lacy, I'll give you a synopsis on how this whole thing started.

I was NEVER athletic.  Never played a team sport in high school (does freshman cheerleading really count?), never worked out regularly, never ate healthy, never ran a mile before the age of 26 that I can remember.  My siblings were athletic, both played and excelled at their respective sports.  My sister was actually the runner in the family.  Both my parents ran, and were pretty quick from what I hear.
I, however, was never interested.  Usually, I was dubbed "the smart one," or even more commonly, I was known as the Landry child that sang.  I was a choir nerd that went to college as a Vocal Performance Major and tried out for American Idol.  I can't think of a single time when anyone ever accused me of being athletic, although, I love to watch sports. So, as you can imagine, this major life change shocked many!

4 years ago, I met my husband, Kristofor.  2 years ago, Kristofor, my then fiance, started training for his first half marathon.  He asked me to do it with him.  I said hell no, absolutely not. NOT interested.  But I was supportive, and I showed up reeeeallllyyy early on the morning of his race and got a good spot right at the finish line.  After being there for 2 hours, I watched Elite runners finish, I watched cancer survivors finish, I watched people as old as my grandparents finish.  I saw all shapes, ages, genders, and sizes finish that race.  When Kristofor finished at about 2 hrs and 18 minutes, I was hooked!  It was so exciting to see the joy on everyone's faces, so happy for their individual accomplishment.  They all proudly received their medal and most I overheard saying "let's do it again!"  I was more than curious.
2 hours later, my friend, Kate Durant, finished her second full marathon.  I was inspired!  That night I picked my race, the Austin 3M Half Marathon on January 24, 2010.  That Monday, I ran my first training run.  And just shy of a month before our wedding, Kristofor and I finished our half marathon together in 2:14, holding hands.  I cried.  I was so excited!  I did it!  I continued to train throughout 2010 and we decided, together, to attempt the much more daunting task of running a full marathon.

Training for 26.2 miles was much more time consuming.  It took a lot more days per week, and overall was a much larger commitment.  I did "okay" with my training.  It was a little all over the place, 95% on the treadmill, and I'd run and crash.  I did no strength training, no cross training, no meal planning, just running.  We ran the half marathon in San Antonio last November 14th, and had a great race!  We both finished in our goal of under 2 hours, and we both felt very strong going into our full marathon on December 12th, 2010.

Two weeks before the big day, Kristofor got sick.  Fever, chills, sinusitis, cough, the whole bit.  He was out for a week.  3 days later, I got sick.  The week of the race, I had double ear infections, a sinus infection, and was put on antibiotics by a Dr. that was not excited about me running 4 days later.  I began drinking my weight in Emer-gen-C and hoping for the best.  Race day came, it was 39 degrees at start time with 25 mph head wind for the first 15 miles.  Cold, windy, sick, and dealing with the total unpreparedness of the race event...
**(NO, and I mean NO crowd or course support...no water at mile 23?...how about we dodge oncoming traffic for the last 6 miles and finish into a busy shopping center at Christmas time without the lane being blocked off? WHERE IS THE FINISH LINE???)**
We finished in 4:47.  Under our goal of 5 hours, but a little worse for wear.  I had trouble walking the next week, and my shin splints were BAAAAADDDD!

Almost 8 months after the race, I've still had some trouble with my knee, but I've completed a few 5k and 10k races and did well.  I've not run over 10 miles straight in 2011.  That is all about to change!  Tonight I signed up for the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon on November 13, 2011.  I've vowed to do it a little different this time!  Don't get me wrong, I am so proud of myself for accomplishing the finish last year.  What an amazing feeling!  The look on my parent's face was priceless! But, this time, I want to do it the right way.  I've got a healthy meal plan, a great training plan, and an amazing trainer that is helping me strength train this time to hopefully help reduce injury and improve my time!

In short, (and I realize that many of you may never read this because you were bored to tears reading all the boring-ness above) I hope to be more organized, healthier, and a little less haphazard this time around!  I decided to start this blog to keep myself honest over the next several weeks.  If I know that somebody (even if it's one person) is going to check this periodically to see where I am, I will be more accountable.  Also, if anyone ever thinks that this can't be done or that you have to be super human to try it, hopefully, this will shed a little light on exactly what goes into something like this!

Soooooo if anyone is really bored and wants to check this periodically, I'm going to update regularly with stories about my training, how it's working for me, and how it is all mixing in with my social life, work, etc.  If you see me out and about, feel free to tell me to run more.  AND if you see my car in the Whataburger line...please feel free to call my trainer, Renea her number is 956-just kidding :), but you can honk loudly at me...that's ok!

Here is a link to my training plan...
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244--6946-2-3X5X7-4,00.html

**Note:  Days I run are most likely going to be different according to what my schedule is like week to week.  And although it has 3 "rest" days...2 of those I will be cross training with Renea and or doing other cardio...like swimming!  I'll have 1 day to rest each week!

Thanks for cheering me on!

Lacy Shea

**I promise this is by far going to be the longest post!