Newbie California Girl

[CaliforniaLinz]

Hi everyone~ I don't know how I stumbled upon this forum, but I'm so glad I did because it combines my two primary passions in life - vegan lifestyle and fitness! I'm currently training for a half marathon in October and I just registered for the California International Marathon, Dec 5! While I prefer to run alone, I do want to be able to be part of an online community that values fitness and veganism like I do. I love to cook yummy vegan food and have found that transititioning from a vegetarian to vegan diet several years ago is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Completing the P90x workout plan was another decision that changed my life. I was always active, jogged, danced, and worked out, but this plan made me really push myself past my self-made limits. I realized I could do much more than I thought if I put my mind to it, set goals, and pushed myself. Since finishing a few rounds of that program, I have joined a taekwondo class and signed up for my first races!

[vegan hal]

welcome. you'll like this place.

i tried taekwondo a couple years ago. I didn't last long as I just don;t have the coordination skills to make it work. and trying to remember the moves. it frustrated me. However, I'm sure you'll have a better time with it.

[Lovely.Rita]

Hi there!
I just did my first half marathon in april and I'm doing my first marathon in october. Keep me posted about your training - I'll be curious to compare experiences

[CaliforniaLinz]

So- Lovely.Rita, how did your half marathon go? Were you prepared for it? And how did you transition from training for the half to training for the full marathon? It's great to be able to talk to people with a similar mindset about running and being veg. Regarding Taekwondo, I seem to catch on quickly because I have a background in dance (and pretty good coordination). Different sports for different folks, I guess. Nice to meetcha!

[xrodolfox]

Welcome!

[Lovely.Rita]

Hi CaliforniaLinz
the half marathon was ok. I made several mistakes:
1) I didn't really train for it. I just did a few long-ish runs a few weeks prior and figured I'd be fine. then on race day I realized I actually wanted to race... and wasn't quite ready for that
2) Instead of having an easy week before the race, I did some pretty strenuous hiking in the Dolomites
3) two nights before the race I got maybe 2 hours of sleep... on a bus
4) the night before the race I had some booze, although in a pretty small amount

now considering all that, I felt pretty good on the morning of the race; the weather was perfect (cool and cloudy), the crowd small (80ish people), the course was only mildly hilly, and my family was amazingly supportive (and very surprised I could run that far - apparently they had no idea).
so, all in all it was a good experience, i did an ok job pacing myself in the beginning, and there were only 15 women in the race, so I ended up finishing second, even though my time was far from great (just under 1:47). That was a great confidence booster, haha.

I try to be more disciplined on my marathon training, but I'm still kinda winging it. That's one of the reasons I'm on this forum now... hoping the community will help motivate me to stay on track

So, what phase of your training are you at now?

[CaliforniaLinz]

I'm in week 5 of a 12 week training (using Bart Yasso's beginner 1/2 marathon plan), so I'm up to a 9 mile long run. I had a rough start because I strained my hamstring trying to sprint. I learned my lesson on that one. I still have achiness there sometimes, so I'm trying to go slow. The Urban Cow Half is supposed to be a pretty flat, fun race, so I'm looking forward to it!

[MikayP]

another cali vegan on vf! welcome!

[DB]

I'm from CA, does that count? Welcome!