Challenge Yourself!

This year I am setting new goals for myself in several different areas of life, but especially health wise. I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies, and amp up my exercise routine more than ever before. My fiance and I, along with my friend, decided to sign up for a 10 mile run this October. Since I've never run more than 4 miles, as I mentioned in my previous post, this is definitely a new thing for me. My friend and I were talking and we were thinking... wow usually we do a 30 minute run, and we are done exercising. This 10 mile run will be 2 hours or more of running! That's a lot, and so I am trying to get in running shape, even though it's still only March. 

The run we are doing is actually at Disney World again (my friend and I just ran a 5K at Epcot during the Disney Princess half marathon), and this one will be a "Villain Run" that will be at Hollywood Studios. 

Here's my plan:

April & May: Get comfortable running 5 1/2 miles. I'll plan to run 3 days a week- Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday (just because that works best with my schedule). The other 2 days of working out, I will focus on doing some light weight training and not so intense 30 minutes of cardio. 

June & July: 6.5 miles will be my goal. I think I will be impressed with myself if I can run even that!

July & August: 8.5 miles

September: 10 miles. I want to make sure I can run a full 10 miles at least 2 times before the race. 

In the meantime I will be working on eating lower fat meals and whole grain sources of carbs, along with a moderate portion of protein- especially the day before a run. 

Does anyone have any tips on training for a big run like this? If so let me know. I'm excited for this challenge!