MADE in Milan: Marathon Edition
February 3, 2011 § 2 Comments
Age 12: I remember having to run around MLK Middle School in 7th Grade and hating every second of it. I would be out of breath, have pain in my legs, and despise the kids that kept shooting by me. I hated finding out that I didn’t meet the time requirement, and that I would be one of the unfortunate kids having to repeat it the next day.
Age 22: I still hate it. The act of running. What I do love-it relieves tension and stress from practicing. It makes me feel strong. It also makes my skinny jeans fit nicely-more fitted, less snug (meaning my lower half will explode out if my button breaks)
Rehearsals and research take up most of my time and I need a stress relieving outlet-running is the perfect answer
Pros:
- It’s FREE
- Relieves Stress
- Pushes your mental and physical strength
- You can do it ANYWHERE
- Again, it’s FREE
- Achieve a lean, mean, STRONG physique
My research will be taking me to several different cities over the next few months. Therefore, I crossed out the idea of a membership at the nearby luxurious gym/spa/PALACE. The last thing I need after being indoors with all things flute and Fulbright related, the last thing I need is to go into yet ANOTHER building to workout.
I enjoy the show MADE (on MTV). Laugh all you want. It’s the only show broadcast in English with Italian subtitles (minus Jersey Shore). I learn a lot of Italian watching (and reading simultaneously). So far, I’ve seen obese girls MADE into ballerinas and figure skaters, nerds MADE into jocks, and shy kids MADE into popular kids.
I’m going to be MADE. Into a Marathoner. My coach will be my own stubbornness and muscle tension from my daily lifestyle in Italy. Running a marathon has been on my BUCKET LIST for life (along with building orphanages in Uganda). Something I planned on doing in the future (not sure when the future is-just not now) What I learned when I moved to Italy, is that to accomplish something (like learning to live in a foreign country) it requires one (or all) of the following:
- Money
- Blood/Sweat/Tears
- Willpower
I’m not willing to sacrifice money for this goal (perhaps because I have none), but I can definitely afford to sweat a bit and push my willpower to it’s limit.
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the breakdown:
Goal: 16 weeks of training in Italy. Running my first marathon when I get back home to the States. I am not going to try and discourage myself with a time-goal. I want to finish. Simple. Just cross the finish line with my legs in tact and maybe a little bit of grace?
Current Level: I can run 3-4 miles easily. I define “easily” as non-stop running without getting the “jello leg” feeling. The furthest I’ve ever run is 9 miles and it took me days to recover.
5Ker to Marathoner?
I will blog about my fitness journey of training for my first marathon!
xOxo Michelle
SkinnyItaly's Blog 
If you are at a reasonable weight, the goal of running a marathon in 4 months if doable. I ran my first marathon in 1981 in 4 hours and 11 minutes. At age 46 I ran 3:07. Running is a good habit to have for life. You are wise to set your first goal as finishing. All the best!
[…] My husband started running in his early twenties and ran his first marathon a few years later, using a Runner’s World, Three-Months to a Marathon plan. I was in my mid-twenties and had been running a few weeks, when I decided to train for a marathon using the same plan which Runner’s World recycles yearly. So I feel some nostalgia in reading about this woman’s ambition to run a marathon when she returns to the U.S. She is calling it the SkinnyItaly Project. Go, go, young one, you CAN do it. YES, you can. […]