Well, this is it! Next weekend I'll be heading to Des Moines to participate in the Des Moine half-marathon, there is no turning back now!! I had a dream last night about the event, it was quite hilarious actually! I was running and I kept complaining that I've only been running for like 5 minutes and that there is no way that I'll ever get to the finish line before dark; but then someone showed me a clock which showed that I had been running for 6 hours and then I felt really proud of myself. I continued following everyone and the route was so confusing, at one point someone drove me across the interstate (?) and then when I saw the finish line I made them let me out so I could cross it (cheat much??). Anyway I crossed that finish line and found out I finished the 1/2 marathon in 12 hours...and I was EXCITED about that! If it takes me 12 hours to cross the finish line somebody please come pick me up and drive me across the interstate!!
Through out my training I have been able to hold a steady pace of somewhere between 11 to 12 minute miles, which is not fast at all BUT slow and steady is what I'm going for. So I would like to be done in like 2 hours and 30 minutes...my only goal is to cross the finish line so if I don't get there until 3 hours that is fine too.
I am remembering my very first athletic event that I did in 2002, it was an adventure race that I did with my friend Jon and his dad. It started out with a 15 mile bike ride, followed by a 5 mile canoeing trip, then a 5k at the end. I remember getting to the top of the hill on my bike and seeing nothing but country ahead of me and know that there was no turning back, I truly wanted my mom! It was a crazy feeling, I felt alone, scared, mad at myself! But I told myself to buck up and I did and I got through it...so "Buck up self, you'll be fine!" There, that's my pep talk!
October 11, 2013
July 24, 2013
Action!
It's been a little over three months since I last posted here about my journey toward completing a half-marathon; I will say that over the last three months I have been wrestling through the "contemplation" "preparation" and "action" stages (see my previous post titled Stages of Change) and I am just now sure that it is safe to say "ACTION" with no turning back. Whew, that's a scary idea, but an exciting one!!
Training for any kind of athletic event is naturally difficult and challenging even for the most seasoned athlete. I wouldn't say that I'm naturally athletic with tons of granola-like energy for these kinds of things, in fact I really like to sit on the couch and watch Lifetime movies while playing games on my Ipad-so the decision to complete a 13.1 mile athletic event is not something I would choose to do without a method behind the madness! That "method" is exactly what I want to write about today! About two years ago I caught this bug and most of you who know me have probably heard me talk about it at some point (or at several points) over the last couple of years, that "bug" is the organization "Girls on the Run" (GOTR). In short Girls on the Run is an afterschool program designed to encourage and inspire young girls, ages 8-11, to "recognize her inner strength...and to define her life on her own terms". I've been involved with this program for two official seasons-both as a GOTR board member and as a GOTR coach. What this means first of all is that I am in mad-crazy love with this organization (mad-crazy enough to run a half-marathon) and most importantly that I have seen first hand the impact this program has on the lives of the girls who are able to participate!
The longer I am a part of this organization the more passionate I become about it, and about inspiring young girls to DEFINE their lives on their OWN terms! One of the best things about Girls on the Run is that we, as an organization, want any girl to participate despite ability to pay the $150.00 registration fee (the registration fee covers the necessities for the season including curriculum, materials, medals, t-shirts, volunteer recruitment, coach training and certification, coach background checks, healthy snacks, water bottles, 5k race registration, program management, etc). In order to allow all girls to participate despite income level or ability to pay GOTR does fundraising through out the year to build a scholarship fund that can be utilized by any girl who wants to participate but cannot afford the fee. On our registration form the girls (and their families) are simply asked to pay what they can whether it be $5.00 or the entire $150.00; the scholarship fund then absorbs the remainder of the cost. According to the GOTREI annual report our chapter served over 600 girls in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area and provided over $44,000.00 in scholarships in FY2012...so as you can see the program itself, and the scholarships provided are kind of a big deal!
One of the fundraising programs that GOTREI launched in 2012 was the Solemates adult charity running program; according to the annual report this program raised $10,000.00 in it's first year! And that, my friends, brings us full circle in my explaination of the method behind my madness! I CAUGHT THE BUG! And through my journey with Girls on the Run and with the Solemates program I want to help you catch the bug too, whether it's helping me to raise money for local girls by donating for my race, or the decision to sign up to participate in your own Solemates event! You could also consider becomeing GOTR coach...the possibilities are endless and I want you to feel the energy and spread the word!!
My three main goals for participating in Solemates:
1. To spread the word about Girls on the Run and all the awesome work the organization does for girls in THIS community and around the world.
2. Complete the Des Moines half-marathon (13.1 miles) as an inspiration for the girls who participate in the program, locally and world-wide, to see what it means to set a goal in mind and work hard to achieve it, and to be inspired to do the same!
3. Raise money (my goal is $500.00) to benefit girls locally and pave the way for them to be able to participate in the program despite household income or ability to pay the registration fee.
Will you consider helping me out and making a tax-deductible donation? It's super easy to donate, here is a link to my fundraising site: https://www.raceplanner.com/donate/Vicky_Wieben_GOTR. All funds that are donated go directly to Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa to benefit girls locally in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. I will continue to blog about my own journey and about this organization! Thanks for your help!
Training for any kind of athletic event is naturally difficult and challenging even for the most seasoned athlete. I wouldn't say that I'm naturally athletic with tons of granola-like energy for these kinds of things, in fact I really like to sit on the couch and watch Lifetime movies while playing games on my Ipad-so the decision to complete a 13.1 mile athletic event is not something I would choose to do without a method behind the madness! That "method" is exactly what I want to write about today! About two years ago I caught this bug and most of you who know me have probably heard me talk about it at some point (or at several points) over the last couple of years, that "bug" is the organization "Girls on the Run" (GOTR). In short Girls on the Run is an afterschool program designed to encourage and inspire young girls, ages 8-11, to "recognize her inner strength...and to define her life on her own terms". I've been involved with this program for two official seasons-both as a GOTR board member and as a GOTR coach. What this means first of all is that I am in mad-crazy love with this organization (mad-crazy enough to run a half-marathon) and most importantly that I have seen first hand the impact this program has on the lives of the girls who are able to participate!
The longer I am a part of this organization the more passionate I become about it, and about inspiring young girls to DEFINE their lives on their OWN terms! One of the best things about Girls on the Run is that we, as an organization, want any girl to participate despite ability to pay the $150.00 registration fee (the registration fee covers the necessities for the season including curriculum, materials, medals, t-shirts, volunteer recruitment, coach training and certification, coach background checks, healthy snacks, water bottles, 5k race registration, program management, etc). In order to allow all girls to participate despite income level or ability to pay GOTR does fundraising through out the year to build a scholarship fund that can be utilized by any girl who wants to participate but cannot afford the fee. On our registration form the girls (and their families) are simply asked to pay what they can whether it be $5.00 or the entire $150.00; the scholarship fund then absorbs the remainder of the cost. According to the GOTREI annual report our chapter served over 600 girls in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area and provided over $44,000.00 in scholarships in FY2012...so as you can see the program itself, and the scholarships provided are kind of a big deal!
One of the fundraising programs that GOTREI launched in 2012 was the Solemates adult charity running program; according to the annual report this program raised $10,000.00 in it's first year! And that, my friends, brings us full circle in my explaination of the method behind my madness! I CAUGHT THE BUG! And through my journey with Girls on the Run and with the Solemates program I want to help you catch the bug too, whether it's helping me to raise money for local girls by donating for my race, or the decision to sign up to participate in your own Solemates event! You could also consider becomeing GOTR coach...the possibilities are endless and I want you to feel the energy and spread the word!!
My three main goals for participating in Solemates:
1. To spread the word about Girls on the Run and all the awesome work the organization does for girls in THIS community and around the world.
2. Complete the Des Moines half-marathon (13.1 miles) as an inspiration for the girls who participate in the program, locally and world-wide, to see what it means to set a goal in mind and work hard to achieve it, and to be inspired to do the same!
3. Raise money (my goal is $500.00) to benefit girls locally and pave the way for them to be able to participate in the program despite household income or ability to pay the registration fee.
Will you consider helping me out and making a tax-deductible donation? It's super easy to donate, here is a link to my fundraising site: https://www.raceplanner.com/donate/Vicky_Wieben_GOTR. All funds that are donated go directly to Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa to benefit girls locally in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. I will continue to blog about my own journey and about this organization! Thanks for your help!
April 3, 2013
Stages of Change
There is a model for behavioral change that smart people in the 80's used research to come up with to assess a person's readiness for change. This is called the Transtheoretical model and there are 5 stages: Precontemplation (either completely unaware of the issue or just unwilling to do anything about it), Contemplation ( Aware of the issue and thinking about overcoming it but mostly uncommited to taking any action), Preparation ( Aware of the problem and having good intentions about taking action within the next month or so but have unsuccessfully done so for more than a year or so), Action (actually committing time and energy to change the behavior), and Maintenance (preventing relapse from occurring).
So being a therapist, working in a mental health clinic, and being constantly surrounded by therapists of whom you consider your friends it's a little difficult to try and make changes without having to truly conceptualize what it means to make a change and the most effective ways to go about making that change. This is how I get to a blog post about the Trantheoretical Model of Change. So it's been a joke between one of my friends (and coworker) that I have been slipping in and out of the precontemplation, comtemplation and preparation stages. So I'm aware theres an issue and some days I'm unwilling to do anything about it, other days I just think about overcoming it and the rest of the days I do have good intentions about taking action, but they are not always carried out. I do think over the past month or so I've moved completely out of the precontemplation stage and have even dabble in the action phase because I have gone for a run a handful of times.
But now, spring has arrived and the time has come to announce that I am IN the action phase. No more dabbling around to the stages I find most comfortable for my mood that day...action it is!! Ugh. Just typing that kind of sends me straight back to precontemplation. Sigh.
This weekend Team Vic is gearing up for Season 3!! We will be running the Live Healthy Linn 5k in Hiawatha. Considering it's Wednesday and I'm just NOW declaring ACTION...I guarantee this race will be have to be a "get through it without throwing up" kind of run! :)
Wish me luck and considering donating to my cause! I'm currently attempting to raise money as part of a fundraising group called "Sole Mates". I will be running a half-marathon in Des Moines in October and all the money I raise will go to our local chapter--Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa! Check out the website for more information on this awesome program and learn how to donate!! www.girlsontherun.org or girlsontheruniowa.org
So being a therapist, working in a mental health clinic, and being constantly surrounded by therapists of whom you consider your friends it's a little difficult to try and make changes without having to truly conceptualize what it means to make a change and the most effective ways to go about making that change. This is how I get to a blog post about the Trantheoretical Model of Change. So it's been a joke between one of my friends (and coworker) that I have been slipping in and out of the precontemplation, comtemplation and preparation stages. So I'm aware theres an issue and some days I'm unwilling to do anything about it, other days I just think about overcoming it and the rest of the days I do have good intentions about taking action, but they are not always carried out. I do think over the past month or so I've moved completely out of the precontemplation stage and have even dabble in the action phase because I have gone for a run a handful of times.
But now, spring has arrived and the time has come to announce that I am IN the action phase. No more dabbling around to the stages I find most comfortable for my mood that day...action it is!! Ugh. Just typing that kind of sends me straight back to precontemplation. Sigh.
This weekend Team Vic is gearing up for Season 3!! We will be running the Live Healthy Linn 5k in Hiawatha. Considering it's Wednesday and I'm just NOW declaring ACTION...I guarantee this race will be have to be a "get through it without throwing up" kind of run! :)
Wish me luck and considering donating to my cause! I'm currently attempting to raise money as part of a fundraising group called "Sole Mates". I will be running a half-marathon in Des Moines in October and all the money I raise will go to our local chapter--Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa! Check out the website for more information on this awesome program and learn how to donate!! www.girlsontherun.org or girlsontheruniowa.org
February 9, 2013
"You.Cannot.WING.A.Half-Marathon."
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| College-Age Me |
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| Adventure Racing |
After I graduated and moved to Cedar Rapids I was that much more exited about working out because I had a lot of extra time on my hands since I no longer had homework to worry about. One of my friends convinced me to participate in two adventure races one summer. One was four hours and one was eight. So I rowed my own canoe for 4 miles, biked 19 miles and then ran 3.1 miles all in a matter of 4 hours...by choice!
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| This is one of my very favorite wedding pictures of Matt fluffing my dress! :) |
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| The day before I delievered my baby boy |
And then I decided to go to graduate school which was stressful!! I think I'm still stressed from grad school! Oh, and this happened...
But really, who could complain with a baby this adorable?
Team Vic was established in 2011, when my bestie Vicki and I decided to participate in some events together...
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| April 2011 |
The summer of 2012 was our biggest year yet with five 5k's completed and a 90 mile bike ride from Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids!! It was a fun summer!
In 2012 running took on a more philanthropic reason specifically last fall when a lot of hard work paid off and Linn County hosted their first season of Girls on the Run in 4 area schools. Watching the girls who participated grow, change, and realize their internal worth changed ME. Here is a post I wrote about Girls on the Run and what it means to me to be a part of it. I'm proud to serve on the Board of Directors for Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa and will be coaching a team of middle school girls at Tanager Place later this month. I have wanted to participate in Solemates since I've heard about it but wasn't sure if I was ready for the commitment of anything more than a 5k because running is difficult and I am not in as good of shape as I used to be. But after completing a day of Ragbrai without training prior to the event (Huge mistake!) I've decided that I have the mental power to complete at least a half-marathon, I can raise money for a good cause AND cross it off my bucket list!! I'll try and keep up to date with my training on here, if for nothing more than to keep myself accountable BECAUSE I tend to suck at training for these kind of events but I must make my mantra "You.Cannot.WING.A.Half-Marathon." :) Stay tuned!
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