And So It Begins....

Day One of training for the 1/2 Marathon!

Well, its day one of my 14 week official training program for the 1/2 marathon. Today's run was 30 minutes long and I did 2.11 miles. I really need to work on getting faster. I mean, really. Right now I'm at a 14:12 min/mile which is much too slow. Sigh. Tomorrow morning I get up waaaaay to early and go to the gym for my strength training and then after work is pilates.

My schedule is going to be off this week due to Dragon Con. I ran today, tomorrow is x-train and strength, Wed will be run, Thur strength, Friday off, Sat 2 Mile run at the con, Sunday off, Monday will be a run when I get home. :)

That's my plan. You people need to keep me accountable! I can't slack for the next 14 weeks. If I do, I'm screwed come December and I want this stupid race to be fun, not horrible.

On another note, Gatorade "Recover" is nasty, nasty stuff but its a good way to get a quick shot of protein into the system after a run. Ick.

Next Week!

So next Monday starts my actual 14 week training program. OMG. Its hard to imagine that next week means that it is only 14 weeks away. I think I've got a good base built up for the training tho.

Saying that, I must also admit that the last two days I haven't run. Monday my hip was hurting me all day so I said no, and yesterday I met up with a girlfriend of mine so I didn't get home till after 9:30pm which was too late for me to run.

Today is an amazing day though... High is only 88 and by 8pm it should only be about 80 outside. You know what that means, right? Going to the park! I'm gonna go do my 28 minute run at the park on the 1.2 mile loop. It will be good for me and it will give me a realistic idea of my current pace. The treadmill is okay to build up stamina I think, but you have to run at an enforced pace, not at what you naturally run at.

I'm very curious to see how I will do with the hills and running under my own steam instead of the treadmill. Wish me luck and I'll post on here how I do. :)

Last night was 1.86 miles in 26 minutes. I really didn't want to do it, but I knew I needed to so I gritted my teeth and got it done.

Today I had meant to go to pilates, but I got to work and realized that not only did I forget my cell phone, I also walked out without my workout clothing. Sigh. My right hip has also been bothering me on and off all day. I guess I must have slept funny last night or something.

So now I've got to figure out another day to do pilates this week. . . Tomorrow is out because I am meeting a girlfriend of mine for dinner. I haven't really looked at the schedule yet to see what the times for the other classes are. I'll do that this afternoon and get it locked down.

Sigh.

Yesterday I only did a mile. At that point I was uncomfortable and my heart rate was really high so I called it quits.

Today was much better tho! Did 25 minutes and 1.8 miles. It was good, but my calves were sore after. I stretched really well and that seemed to help some, but they are still uncomfortable. :(

I'm trying to decide if tomorrow should be a rest day to let my legs heal and rest or if I should go ahead and do the 26 minutes. Monday is a pilates day for me so if I take tomorrow off I will not run for 2 days... I guess I'll see how I feel tomorrow. If I'm still sore I'm leaning toward not running, but if I feel super motivated then I'll go ahead and do it. :)

23 minutes and 1.63 miles. :) Slowly adding time and distance. I will admit the run today wore me out! I'm glad I'm taking off tomorrow (we're going to a Redbirds game tomorrow evening) and that will give my body a chance to catch up to my work out.

I have been stretching after every work out too, as per my physical therapist's recommendation. Its helping with my flexibility and my recovery I think. That and it just feels really good. :)

I also ordered a new pair of running shoes today. I found out that Nike is going to be replacing the style of shoe I like so I was looking at getting another pair before they become hard to find. I found a place online that I ordered from that was $20 less than at Nike.com and with free shipping. So I went ahead and ordered them and that way when my current shoes get half way worn out I can slowly start breaking in the new ones so they will be nice and broken in for the big race in December.

I did get them in blue and white so they will look different than my current ones (which are purple and white) and I won't get confused and mix them up.

Yay for new shoes! :)

Keeping on, Keeping on

So I have been running, I swear! LOL

Last week I ran MTWF and Sun. This week I started out right and ran last night (even tho we went to the Shelby County Libertarian meeting - Danny's party of choice - and had lots of Mexican food for dinner) and am going to run again tonight.

As I've stated earlier in this blog, my REAL training doesn't start until the first week of September, but that first long run is 2 miles straight. So I'm taking this time and slowly adding distance and speed onto my runs. I'm adding a minute a run and adding 1/10 of a mile a week to my speed. I'm up to 21 minutes (tonight will be 22) and I did 1.49 miles last night. Not a lot, and still slow as molasses, but I'm going and doing it. Its still all inside on the treadmill (that 116 degree heat index makes running outside dangerous) but I'm hoping by the second weekend of September I will be able to run outside for my "long" runs. (That one will be a 3 mile run...gonna see if I can beat my 5k time by a good amount!)

I am actually looking at doing a 5k September 23rd (https://wetnose5k.racesonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=site.display&page_id=2411) and then on Nov 13th I'm looking at doing a 15k in Olive Branch, MS (http://www.countrystore15k.com/). I should be to this point by then in my training and that will give me a realistic idea of which starting corral I need to be in at the 1/2 marathon. :)

All in all, I think it will be a great time the next few months!

Keep on Waddling...I mean Running!

Ran last night instead of going to Pilates. I just didn't feel like going last night, but at least I ran instead! I did 1.10 miles at 4.1 mile/hour pace. Tonight I plan on doing 1.25 miles at a 4.1 mile pace on the treadmill. Then the rest of the week I'll keep doing that 1.25 miles but at slightly higher speeds each time.

I plan on upping my distance 1/4 a mile every week over the course of August and then by the first weekend of September (which is Dragon Con btw!) I'll be able to do the 2 mile run that the training routine requires of me that Saturday. Yes, I am planning on running at D*Con, the hotel has a gym that I can hop on the treadmill and do two miles first thing that morning. :)

After the first week of September I'm gonna be required to up my mileage by about a mile a week. Which is gonna be fun and exciting. But there are 'low mileage' weeks thrown in there too. Which if I run at least 3 times a week that will be upping the mileage 1/3 of a mile each run. Thinking of it like that, it isn't so bad... LOL

Back At It

Ran 1.12 miles in 14:46 for a pace of 13:07 minutes/mile. I did it on the treadmill and it felt great. :)

The reason for the recent break is that I had LASIK done and I was cleared to run again starting today. (Or do any kind of physical exertion for that matter - didn't want to raise the blood pressure while my eyes were in the early stages of healing.) But I'm back now and am going to be getting back into my schedule. Today was my short run and tomorrow I'll be going to my Pilates class again. haven't done that in two weeks.

Need to stretch really well now so that nothing cramps up on me. I just wanted to check in here and let the few (if any) people who read this that I am still doing this. I'm not gonna stop till I drag myself across that finish line in December.

<3 you all!

Ran 1.26 miles in 16:55 @ 13:26 min/miles pace, weather was mostly cloudy, temperature around 87 degrees. Also walked 1.67 miles with Brittany this morning.

So I've run/walked a total of 2.93 miles today. Not all at once unfortunately, but at least I'm moving and training my legs and everything in them to support me as I waddle along. And that is very much what I'm feeling like these days - waddling. I feel big as a horse the more I try and exercise. I think this would be so much easier if I weren't lugging around the 50+ extra pounds that I am right now. I really wish I hadn't let myself get to this point.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Sigh.

Ran 1.01 miles in 13:02 @ 12:54 min/miles pace, weather was partly cloudy, temperature around 73 degrees. No air at work and a heavy dinner kept me from doing the 1.5 I wanted to run today. :(

I'm not happy with myself that I couldn't do the full 1.5 miles. The air was out at work all day today and so I worked for 8 hours in 80% humidity and sweating all the time. And then for dinner we went to Cracker Barrel and while it was super tasty, it was not at all good for me. It felt like a brick sitting in my tummy while trying to run.

I guess its a lesson that to be successful at this I MUST eat well. Sigh.

Cross-training

So today I did strength training at my local circuit gym and then did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. Yes, you read that right, just 15 minutes. It totally kicked my butt! I had it set on a 30 minutes workout that varied difficulty as I went. And at 15 minutes my body said, ok, that's enough. I'm sure part of it was that I just finished 30 minutes of circuit training so my body was already fatigued, but it was a little disheartening to only last 15 minutes. I did go 3.24 miles in 15 mins tho, so I was going at a pretty good clip.

They also have an elliptical machine and a row machine so when the bike becomes too much or too boring on the cross-train days I can switch to one of those.

Tomorrow is a 1.5 mile run scheduled. Should be a piece of cake. :)

Wii Fit Rocks!

So today after dinner I did 30 minutes of Wii Fit Plus. I had a meeting from 10am - 4pm today (including a working lunch) and so I needed to do some kind of movement this evening. I hadn't done Wii Fit in over 100 days (so says the little talking board) and I had forgotten how it can actually make you break a little bit of a sweat.

I also made sure to stretch my legs out really well after. I did hamstrings and IT bands and everything in between. My legs feel really good now. Loose and limber. Got to remember to stretch daily. The more limber the legs the better and more stable the stride.

Tomorrow will be 30 minutes of strength training (circuit training) and 30 minutes of recumbent bike. Must remember to take a book to read while on the bike...

Pi-Lo

So today was one of my cross-train days of the week. On Tuesdays I go to a local pilates studio called Push Pilates and do the class called Pi-Lo. This is a combination of pilates and yoga which is fantastic. Today was my third week going. What I love about this studio is that, even tho I just paid the group class fee, today no one else showed up so it turned into a private lesson. Even when its not a private lesson there has only ever been one other student in the class.

Let me tell you, its a work out! I'm sweating and trembling by the end of the hour. Of course, since the idea of pilates is to use your own body weight, were I lighter I guess it would be somewhat easier, but since I've got a good number of extra pounds, it makes it quite a challenge. Some of the moves I can't hold as long as I should or I'm not flexible enough to get fully into position. But, never fear, I will get there! Once a week I will go, twist, bend and contort till I force my body into the position I want it to be in! :)

Sweet Freedom

Ran 1.26 miles in 16:39 @ 13:13 min/miles pace, weather was cloudy, temperature around 81 degrees.

And oh how nice it was! :) I could have easily gone longer, but per doc's orders I am taking it slowly getting back to running. I figure if I take it nice and easy for the next month, the the first week of September I will be ready and able to really start training for distance and speed.

I also did a full circuit, strength training today as well. That felt good too. The only machine I had issues with was the leg press and it didn't hurt - more discomfort. I have a feeling once my leg/knee gets stronger and more stable that will subside.

The Doc cleared me to resume normal activities (if you didn't catch that), but he does want me to take it easy for the next 3 weeks while I go through one more round of anti-inflammatory meds just to make sure its all knocked out of my knee. I'll start that round on Saturday (for reasons I won't go into here) and it will last 3 weeks.

Tomorrow will be an hour of Pi-Lo (pilates/yoga mix) and the studio. I like it a lot, but its wicked hard sometimes. My body just isn't made to bend like that I don't think! LOL

Failure!

Tried to go buy a bike today at Target. They had a super cute comfort bike (one that you don't have to hunch forward to use) with 7 gears for a price I wanted to pay. Well, Danny and I got it down and started wheeling it through the store and one of the tires was screwed up. I get a helpful associate to take it to the bike man who happens to be there that day. Turns out it was a defective tire.

So I go, with Danny, to another Target. This time the bike is on the top rack, so I have to get an associate to get it down for me. Well, I'm all excited, but this time when I start to wheel it around, when I go backwards it squeals. I mean, super loud, something wrong kinda squeal. Needless to say that one was a no go as well.

The problem is, Walmart doesn't carry a "comfort" style bike with any kind of gears, and its been 2 for 2 on problem bikes at Target. The bike stores all start at over $300 (way outta my price range). Where's a happy medium?? I really wanted bike riding to be my second form of cross training since its such a wonderfully low impact sport, but its looking like that is a no go. I can not use a mountain bike or a road bike anymore, the hunching over bothers my back way too much. Sigh. I'll have to figure something else out I guess.

I'm Free!

So, today I got cleared from Physical Therapy! Huzzah and happy day! I go back to Dr. Phillips on Monday at 1:30pm and hopefully he will clear me to go back to my regular running program. I know I'm gonna have to ease into it again to make sure the knee holds like it should. Today they got me up to a 5% incline on the treadmill (granted, walking fast, not running) but there was no discomfort or pain! I looked at my training schedule closer last night and the schedule I am gonna go with is as follows:

Monday: strength training and running
Tuesday: cross training
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: cross training and strength training
Friday: running
Saturday: long run
Sunday: rest

I know my Tuesday cross-training will be Pi-Lo (Pilates/Yoga mix) and I think on Thursdays I will be doing bike riding. My plan for this weekend is to get a new bike (a comfort one that I don't have to hunch over on) and Danny said he would ride with me once a week. Its great having such a supportive b/f. He has not once said I can't do something, but instead stood by me and given me the kick to the behind that I need when I need it.

So for the next month and a half, I will focus more on the strength training and cross training - but still run on my assigned days - so when my training starts in earnest the first week of September I will be strong and healed and ready to kick some asphalt! :)

Not Dead Yet

But am taking a break from running on Doctor's orders. I managed to strain my hamstring in my left knee right before the 10k race, and while they said I could go ahead and race it would hurt (and boy did it). So I'm in the middle of a two week hiatus from running which should (hopefully) end on Monday, July 12th when I go back to the orthopedic doctor.

I have my training schedule picked out for the 1/2 marathon training. I am going to be following John "The Penguin" Bingham's Run/Walk 1/2 marathon schedule. I think that will be the most realistic choice for me and I won't kill myself trying to do it. :)

I will be doing 4 days of running, two days of resting and then two days of strength training and x-training weekly. I think. I don't have the schedule in front of my right at this moment tho. I'll post my schedule weekly. My two kinds of cross training I'm going to be doing are Pilates/Yoga and bike riding. I'll be doing strength training at my circuit gym I already am a member of.

Just wanted to let you know (the few that read this) that I am still alive and I am still doing the 1/2 Marathon.

I've paid for it, dang it! ;)

4 Miler Tonight

So today at 6:30 pm is the 4 mile Zoom Through the Zoo race.

I do not feel ready at all, but my goal time will be 52 minutes which will give me an average pace of 13:00 minutes/mile. Hopefully I can keep that up in the awful hot that is the outside right now. It'll be in the mid-80's when the race starts. Ugh. I'll post the results on here tonight. Hopefully I don't die or anything. ;)

Who's idea was this anyway? LOL

4 miler Coming Quick!

Ran 1.15 miles in 14:10 @ 12:19 min/miles pace, weather was partly cloudy, temperature around 66 degrees, done on my super cool new treadmill. :)

It felt pretty good. I really had to get myself motivated to do it though... I was all set and ready to run on my way home from work, but when I got here I found out my crockpot dinner was half ruined. Sigh. So that took a lot of wind out of my sails today. But I did it and am very glad I did.

The 4 Mile "Zoom Through the Zoo" is next Thursday evening. And then I get up Friday morning to be at the airport by 5:30am to go to Las Vegas for a long weekend with Danny. And then its just one month till my 10k! EEP!!

Gotta get more regular about this running thing again. Will be doing another mile tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a better day and will get out onto the street for it. :) Got to do it. Gonna do it.

Ran 1.06 miles in 13:25 @ 12:39 min/miles pace, weather was partly cloudy, temperature around 79 degrees, I realized today that I MUST have music while I run. My mood and recovery depends on it.

I think part of Wednesday's problem was that I didn't have music going. I also think its not just music that I need, I think I have trained myself to run to Cruxshadows. LOL That's what I ran to while training for the 5k and I think I have trained myself to react positively to that music when I run.

My mood and recovery was much, much improved today and I think that is mainly due to the music. I also have recovered from the Nashville stress which helped a lot too. :)

Date: 05/04/2010 5:56 PM
Type: Run (Interval run)
Distance: 0.69 miles
Time: 0 hr 08 min 55 secs
Pace: 12:55 min/miles
Shoes: Nike Zoom Elite+ 4

Ugh. Not good. I blame it on the hell that was the last two days trapped in Nashville floods. I got to that point and my body was done. I just could not go any further. Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.

I have offically signed up for the "Zoom Through The Zoo" 4 mile run that will be taking place on May 26th, "UPS Ultimate 10K" at the end of June, and the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon in December. Oh boy. The money is paid and non-refundable on all of these races so I'm stuck. Can't back out now!!!

10k Day 1 (again)

Ran 1 miles in 12:18 @ 12:18 min/miles pace, weather was misty, temperature around 68 degrees, first time running in a while. Signed up for my first 10k at the end of June.

I haven't run in a month. (Hides.) But today I signed up for and paid for my first 10k. Unfortunately the one I wanted to do at the end of May seems to have been canceled...at least its disappeared from the Memphis Runners calendar. The next 10k that I could find in the area is Saturday, June 26, 2010. http://www.ultimate10k.racesonline.com/ Just gotta get back into running.

Danny's sister took back her treadmill so now if I want to run it'll have to be outside. I do want to get another one to have, but this way I'll be forced to run on the pavement. I actually ran the whole mile outside with out stopping or walking. I'm kinda proud of myself to be honest. Just gotta keep it up.

10k Day 1

Didn't quite manage the full 3 miles today....

Instead I did do a total of 2.1 miles. The first mile was outside in the neighborhood - 1 mile in 11:49. The second run was 1.1 miles on the treadmill in 14:22 (for a pace of 12:57). Neither were that great of runs though. The first I stopped after a mile because I started feeling dizzy and the second I stopped after 1.1 (I had hoped to do 2 on the second run) because I started feeling sick.

Tomorrow is a gym day tho, so hopefully I'll go and work out there and Wednesday I'll do the full three miles between outside in the neighborhood and the treadmill. (I don't want to run in the neighborhood in the dark, but right now by the time I get home and changed I really only have time for maximum of 2 laps before it really starts to get dark. As the days get longer and the weather nicer the hope is to do all of each run outside. :) That's the plan anyway...)

Ran 3.1 miles in 39:50 @ 12:51 min/miles pace, weather was clear, temperature around 45 degrees, completed my first 5k ever!

Not quite to that level, but crossing that finish line with the announcer saying my name, my family cheering me at the side lines and Danny running beside me, it sure felt like it.

Don't get me wrong, during the race I wanted to quit a couple of times (not that it would have done much good - still have to make it back to the start/finish line! ) and I was cursing myself for thinking that it was a good idea. I made it through tho, and in a decent (for me) time. The one thing I wish I had done better was not walk as much (I speed-walked probably about 1/3 of the way total). Oh well, I have till May 29 to get into better shape for the 10k. Now that the weather is turning better I'll be able to train more outside on the pavement which I think will help with the walk/run ratio hugely.

Tomorrow starts my 10k training program! EEP!! But I'm afraid if I let any time lapse between programs, it'll be that much harder to get going again. This program is three days a week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday) and I am getting it through the Nike+ website. Tomorrow's run will be 2 miles. I can do that.

Day 18

Ran 2 miles in 30:00 @ 15:00 min/miles pace, weather was light rain, temperature around 41 degrees. TWO miles withOUT walking. :D And I even feel like I could have kept going, but didn't want to push too hard. Huzzah!

I feel like I could take on the world today. I'll most likely regret it tomorrow, but I did the above run, went to the gym and did the 30 minute circuit training (weights), 10 minutes spinning, and 10 minutes on the elliptical. For a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes worth of exercise.

And I feel great. :D

Day 18

Ran 1.2 miles in 12:40 @ 10:33 min/miles pace, weather was cloudy, temperature around 39 degrees...

Holy Cow! :D I ran at the park, and I'm thinking that running outside is much preferable to running on the treadmill and its unnaturally enforced pace. I am so proud of that time. :)

The one downside was that by the end of it my bum knee was bothering me. I have to start running outside on a regular basis if nothing else to get my joints used to it. The first of my three races is in 24 days. Eeep!

I can do this. :)

Day 17

Ran 1 miles in 13:28 @ 13:28 min/miles pace, weather was mostly cloudy, temperature around 39 degrees, Slowly cutting off those seconds. :)

Took almost 1/2 a minute off my time. I had hoped for 13:20, but I think this is pretty good. Upping the speed for another week and then I'll knock it back down and work on distance again. That's my plan anyway. :) Hopefully it'll be a good one.

Day 16

Ran 1 miles in 13:56 @ 13:56 min/miles pace, weather was light rain, temperature around 45 degrees.

And it felt good. By the end of it, I was panting and sweating, but pretty much as soon as I got done I was recovered within a minute. Which is a big step in the right direction. I also zoned out for the middle part of the run, which was nice.

I'll get there eventually. :)

Day 15

Ran 1 miles in 13:57 @ 13:57 min/miles pace, weather was mostly cloudy, temperature around 57 degrees.

I'm slowly getting that pace down. I think my new plan is to get to a 13:30 min/miles pace and then I'll start upping my distance. But man, by the end of that mile I was panting hard. I'll stick with this pace for a couple of days until I can do it a bit easier.

I also did a 30 minute circuit session at the gym and 30 minutes on my Wii Fit. It was a good day.

Day 14

Ran 1 mile in 14:20 @ 14:20 min/miles pace, weather was cloudy, temperature around 48 degrees.

Yeah, its not much, but it was a really good pace (for me) and its the first I've run in two weeks. The first week I was sick and last week was the installation at work and I was asleep by 9 or so every night - No time for a run or energy for a run.

I also went to the gym today and did the 30 minute circuit and also did 30 minutes on my Wii Fit. I'm gonna try and get in 30 more minutes before I go to a friend's birthday party, but we'll see if that happens.

I decided to just do 1 mile today at a faster pace and build on that to this week to hopefully be up to 1 1/2 miles by next Sat. at this pace. Hopefully I'll make that happen. :)

Day 13

Ran 1.969 miles in 30:00 @ 15:14 min/miles pace, weather was sunny, temperature around 28 degrees.

Oh, yeah, I'm doing it. Today's run was Run 14 minutes, Walk 1 minute, Rpt. 2x. I also did 30 minutes on my Wii Fit this morning and I think I'm gonna go do a bit of Yoga on it now that I'm all warmed up from my run.

Tomorrow will be a HUGE mile stone for me in my training...I should run 15 minutes straight tomorrow which will be 1 mile without stop. Holy cow. That will be so big. :D

I've noticed that I'm getting to a point in my run when I just kind of zone out. Where its not hard or easy I'm just there, in the moment doing it. I am starting to love that feeling. I didn't even look at the clock today until almost minute 10. Is this zone out normal? I have no idea as I've never run like this before and I don't really know any runners other than Danny, but he doesn't really like to run, he just does it for exercise. Anyone out there have this feeling? (Does anyone even read this thing? LOL)