8 Weeks

I've got eight weeks until the Phoenix half-marathon, and I've run a total of four times in the past month. I've got a tough 55 days ahead of me.

Running

I ran two miles tonight (in the middle of a 80 minute cardio session) and ran one of those miles in 9:20, which is pretty good for me. I'm going to continue to try and run short runs just a little bit faster each time. And I'm going to try and get the long runs in for real. I've got a ways to go with this half training for Phoenix, but I'll make it.

Day 2

Food
I didn't eat any candy at work today, which is much better than yesterday's six pieces and two cupcakes. But I did make my MIL's Kuaui Krunch Kake, which is definitely not healthy and had a good serving of that plus a small slice of pie at the wellness night. A granola bar for breakfast, pizza (it was free and hard to pass up) for lunch, and pasta for dinner (just a little) with the krunch kake. Overall I felt like it was a good day and good decisions made.

Fitness
We had a church activity tonight that was a panel of four medical specialists- a family practioner, a midwife, a wellness coach/nutritionist, and a personal trainer. I didn't workout today, but I did get motivated to start working out again and I'm going to start a workout competition with a bunch of my friends. The doctor told Richie that he had to start working out again and hopefully that would flush the sickness out of his body, which means that we are going to start exercising together. Hopefully all of these things combined will get me moving.

Workout Log

Hello running blog. It's been a while. Way too long really. And other than a handful of random workouts between then and now, it's been almost that long since I've had a good workout. That stops today. They say that it's a good idea to track what you eat and your workouts to get into the routine, so once again I'm going to try and keep a real workout log. I'm going to see my family in three weeks from tomorrow and then the rest of my family a month after that so it's time to get serious and back in shape. I've got six pounds to lose (2 lbs a week) and three weeks to do it in.

So here goes.

Food:
I've been struggling lately to eat anything for breakfast other than cereal, which takes time that I don't have. I normally eat a lot of fruit smoothies but Richie has been sick and can't have smoothies so really I've just been skipping breakfast. Today I had about half an apple and half a thing of yogurt (oh and some corn flakes). Definitely not the best start. And I just can't seem to walk past the cupcakes in the office kitchen without eating one. Tomorrow I'll walk by. So I had two cupcakes and a couple of pieces of candy. Fail. For dinner Richie made a broccoli cheese chicken that was delicious, and I actually ate a good portion size (not too much).

Workout:
I did a 45-minute combination weights/cardio DVD called Total Body- Time Crunch. Normally I love it, but I just felt like I was going through the movements today without having any power behind any of them. I still felt great at the end and was sweating like crazy (might be our hot apartment). I just need to remember that feeling the next time I don't want to workout. Success.

A Year of Breaking Boundaries

This is the year I'm going to do it. I'm going to run a marathon. I'm going to learn to like running. I'm going to get into a routine and stick to it. I'm going to weight train and tone my arms. I'm going to be proud of my body and want to flaunt it (I won't, but I'll want to). I can feel it. This is going to be that year.

Happy birthday self. Let's make this year a good one. No hitting walls, no turning back. Just going, moving, and doing.

My First 5K

My friends and I are going to run a 5K in October. I'm kind of excited to run with other people and just for fun. Then I'll have run most of the normal races that people run before a half-marathon. The only one left is the marathon and that's coming next year. Sounds like an eventful year.

I've Got to Get Faster

I just looked at my second half-marathon time and realized that I am getting much slower...never a good thing. My goal for Baltimore (well maybe not Baltimore) is to get back under 2:20. Here's where I started and where I'm at now.

• Athens, OH half-marathon at around a 2:10 pace.
• Death Valley Half-marathon: 2:13
• Boise: 2:18
• Nashville: 2:32
• Iowa: 2:25:37

Not sure what happened, but I've definitely gotten slower. My goal for Baltimore is under 2:20. I ran nine this weekend in 1:37, which is about a 10:45 mile pace and that includes running the first mile at a 12-minute mile pace. So that means running about a 10:30 pace for the entire thing. It's supposedly a hilly race though so who knows. Maybe running faster will be the goal for my next race since Baltimore is only three weeks away.

Two Weeks To Go

Half-marathon #5 is two weeks from today. Not having run for two weeks, I've got a tough two weeks ahead of me. But I'll make it. I always do. So here's the plan for the next two weeks.

Monday- cross-training (I'm playing volleyball with friends for a couple of hours)
Tuesday- 5 mile run easy
Wednesday- 5 mile interval training
Thursday- 5 mile run easy
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 10 mile run easy (this is the biggie, I've penciled it in and have to get it in)
Sunday- Rest

Monday- Cross-training
Tuesday- 5 mile run easy
Wednesday- 3 mile tempo run (just faster than my normal pace)
Thursday- 3 mile easy
Friday-Saturday- Rest
Sunday- Half-marathon

I've got my stickers ready.

Walking Never Felt So Good

Three people showed up to our running group tonight including me. One of the girls hadn't run since May so we ended up walking the majority of the route. And it felt great. We walked about 3.2 miles, and it felt so nice to just take it easy after working out hard Mon-Weds. So maybe I didn't run, but who cares. I got out there, went the same distance, and met someone new in the process. I call that a success.

8 miles down, 10 to go

I can almost say that I like running again. Not love, but like. We had our second running group yesterday, and it went really well. There were only four of us, but one of the girls pushed us to run faster (she's training to drop time off her 5K pace) and we upped our pace and ended up runing around a 9:45-10:00 minute mile pace, which isn't really fast but it's better than the 10:30 we ran last week. We ran a total of 3.41 miles (according to my Garmin), and it was incredibly humid and hot but still fun to run with people. The second best part was that I got to go home and go back to bed for 2 hours, and I had already finished my run for the day.

Since my Tues/Thurs runs are only between 3-3.5 miles each to make it possible for other people to come, I decided to do a little longer (5 miles) on Wednesday night and throw in some speed training. So tonight I did 5 miles on the treadmill with the intervals below. I normally run between 5.5-5.8 on the treadmill by the way.

Tonight:
Ran 1/2 mile at 5.5
Ran 1 mile at 6.5 (felt great!!!)
Ran 1/2 mile at 5.3
Ran 1 mile at 6.3 (felt great)
Ran 1/2 mile at 5.3
Ran 1/2 mile at 6.0 and 1/2 mile at 6.5 (still felt great)
Ran .1 mile at 6.7, .1 mile at 6.9, .1 mile at 7.1, .1 mile at 7.3, and .1 mile at 7.5.

And you know what? I felt great and wasn't even breathing hard. Two days of running (8 miles) and two left. I'm going to do an easy 3 tomorrow and then try and get it 7-8 on Saturday. If I can run five hard like I did tonight, I think seven or eight easy will be just fine.

Half-marathon here I come :)

When, What, and Where

I started a running group. Too bad I don't have any idea how to lead a running group. I run whenever, wherever, and however long I feel like it. Now I'm going to have to make sure the time, pace, and location fit other people. At least if I setup a time to run with other people, that means I'll have to be there as well. So here goes. Since I actually have something to write about on this blog now, I'm going to use it to keep track of how each meetup goes including how I felt running and if I liked the route or not. Maybe then I'll be able to come back and find ones that I love and run them again.

First run is this Thursday at 6AM meeting at BSM, and it'll be between 3-4 miles.

51 Days to Go

My last post on this blog was on Sunday, June 28th. My last run was on Saturday, June 27th. I went on vacation the week after that and somehow just lost all motivation to run. I looked at my little half-marathon counter and realized I have exactly 51 days left until my next half-marathon. 51=less than 8 weeks. I've never trained for a half-marathon in less than 12 weeks, but not running isn't even an option so I better get moving soon.

I have great intentions and plan out my runs for each week and then somehow I never get them in. I need some motivation. Something more than me telling myself to run every day, something that actually forces me (literally) to get out there and run. I'm working on it but haven't come up with anything yet. What do you do when you don't want to workout? I've got less than 8 weeks, but those 8 weeks are going to be the best 8 weeks of my life- training wise at least. I'm doing it.

There's Such Things as a 5K Pace?

Whenever I see training plans, they always say things like run it at your 5K pace. Or a little faster than your 10K pace. It never really made sense to me because for me I have one pace- the pace I run every distance. Probably not the best way to train or get faster for a long distance race.

So I've tried to incorporate some tempo and speedwork runs into my training lately so I can develop a "5K" pace that's faster than my half-marathon pace. Or at least be able to run three miles faster than I would normally run the first three of a half. I ran three on Saturday and ran the entire thing at about a 10 minute mile pace, which isn't fast I know, but it's faster than I've been running and that's progess. A little bit at a time, and I'll be able to run faster for longer. I'm going to track my pace here.

5K Pace= 10:00 (6.0)

How do you do speedwork training? Do you have a set pace for each distance?

Two Down Two to Go

About a month ago I put together a Runner's World half-marathon training guide for the upcoming Iowa Storm. I haven't been doing real well sticking to it, probably because where the Hal Higdon training guide says run three miles easy, RW says run a six mile tempo run. But I need to get better, not just maintain my running, so I'm going to keep trying to stick to RW. Last night I was supposed to do six miles total, 4 miles at a 10:01 speed and the other two as a warmup and cooldown. I got in four and did the middle three at a faster than normal pace so just a condensed version of the training, and it felt good.

I think I might like this whole mix it up with tempo and pace training. We'll see how long it lasts.

Just a Number

I know not a lot of people read this blog, which is why I'm admitting this here. I don't know why because it's just a number. So here goes... my goal weight is 125 lbs. I've hit that once in the past six months and stayed there for about two weeks. Then I went to Europe, and it's been a struggle to get back into the swing of things. I've been back from Europe for almost a month now, and it's time to get moving and eating healthy again. So 125 here I come. By the way, isn't that just a very nice round number? Much nice than say 131, which may be where I'm at right now.

Workout Buddies

I started my online workout buddy program today...basically just emailed the four girls who said they'd do it to see if they worked out this weekend. And told them about my workout this morning, and you know what, I think it helped. I'm much more motivated right now to go run from 10-11 than I have been in a month.

Motivated because I don't want to be the one sending out the email that says oh I didn't work out because well I just didn't feel like it. And I don't want to be the one walking the 10K on Saturday, I don't walk in races. I don't.

And I'm off to watch the silly show Here Come the Newlyweds as I run since there is nothing else on Mondays during the summer. Just might have to sign up for Netflix again soon.

My First 10K

I've run four half-marathons and never run any sort of race shorter than that. Crazy I know but for some reason I've just never done the fun 5ks that people always talk about. So when Heather posted about the Lawyers Have Heart 10K in three weeks I figured I why not. My husband's going to be a lawyer, it's in Georgetown, it's on a day I have nothing else going on, and I need a new t-shirt. So I signed up for my first 10K today and am looking forward to it.

I haven't run in three weeks, but I should be fine. Training for my half (thanks to a specialized plan from Runner's World) starts on Monday.

Workout DVDs

I've got myself a nice collection of workout DVDs that I love, but lately I've decided to try out a couple of new ones. Based on the recommendations of so many others I picked up Jillian's 30 Day Shred. And CVS was having a great sale one day so I grabbed a whole The FIRM workout kit that included five different workout DVDs and small hand weights.

I did Day 1 of the 30 day shred on Thursday and realized how long it's been since I used weights or really did anything other than running. I did a Cardio Party DVD (basically the best of the best from the other Firm DVDs) on Friday and loved it. 40 minutes with five different leaders that go through their favorite cardio moves. Both DVDs were great and I'll continue working with them. Now if only I could get myself to stop eating things that cancel out the exercise...

Weekly Menu

I've decided to post my last week's menu here so that I have a reference of if I liked or didn't like items. And I'll be able to find recipes when I don't have any ideas of what to make for dinner. So here was last week's menu.

Monday- Chicken Parmesan
Tuesday- Ham, turkey, and cheese bagels.
Wednesday- Brown Butter Tortellini with Spinach and Ham
Thursday- Chicken pad thai
Friday- Pei Wei
Saturday- Matchbox Bistro
Sunday- Baked Beef Ziti

On My Way

I signed up for my race today. $100 later, I'm going to make it this time. Wish me luck.

Half-Marathon Training Week 3

I lost all motivation last week. I ran twice and did strength training once. Pretty much failed on all of my goals.

Monday- Ran 3 1/2 intervals
Tuesday- 30 minutes of strength training
Thursday- Ran 3 1/2 miles on hills (1.0-3.0 incline)

It's a good thing the week ends and a new one begins.

On to week 4.

Half-Marathon Training Week 2

The beginning of half training is always the easiest. I typically don't start until I'm at least in good enough shape to run 4-5 miles easily, so the first couple of weeks is a cakewalk. But still a cakewalk I have to do, and that's the hardest part. I'm a little behind this week, but I'm going to try and post this as part of Wishcake's Work-It-Out Weekends to do a weekly update on training.

I did well this week or at least well enough.

Monday- I started it out with 30 minutes of Wii Fit strength training/yoga. Then I ran three miles doing intervals. I like to run a quarter mile at increasingly faster speeds in sets of four So today I started out by running the first set at 5.5, 5.8, and 6.0 and then continued to increase per set. So I ended up running this.

Walked 1/2 mile
5.5, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2
5.5, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2
5.5, 5.8, (each 1/4 mile), 6.2, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0 (each 1/10 mile).
Walked 1/2 mile

Tuesday- Tuesday I ran (and partially walked) hills. I did a 60 min hill workout on the treadmill with a max incline of 6.0 and max speed of 5.8. I probably ran (between 5-5.8) about 3 of the 4.5 miles, and by the end I was beat. Hills are great, but they kill me.

Wednesday- Got in at least my 30 minutes of cardio playing 90-120 minutes of Raving Rabbids, a new Wii game I bought for Richie. It's got things in there where you have to play instruments with the Wii remotes, dance, and do silly things like ride a motorcycle. I was sweating heavily by the end.

Thursday- Ran 4 miles at an easy pace (5.8 on treadmill) and felt great. I definitely could've kept going, which is always a good sign.

Overall I ran 10 miles this week and walked (on an incline) around 2 1/2 for a total of 12.5 miles. That's not a ton, but it's definitely better than before. Only ten more weeks.

My goals for this week are:
Drink at least 64 oz of water (I've been really dehydrated) a day.
Get in 3-4 runs.
Run at least one five-miler.
Go to one spinning class.
30 minutes on the Wii Fit 2-3 times.
Lose 1 lb for weigh-in on Saturday.

Mixing Things Up

The past two days have been great because I've done something other than just straight running. Yesterday I did a hill running program for 30 minutes (ran 3 miles) where it took me up and down hills. Today I walked hills and did arm weights (curls, tricep pushbacks, shoulder presses, etc.) while I was walking. And it felt great.

I'm getting there. I getting to the point where exercise feels good again. I'm going to go to a spinning class tomorrow and run four miles on Saturday. And then I'm going to go get my eyebrows waxed. That's what Jillian from Biggest Loser does after she reaches a goal. My goal was to get in all of my training this week, and I've done it so far. I've worked out for at least 30 minutes every day this week and can definitely tell in my energy levels and spirits. Now maybe I should get some sleep.

Yesterday Led to Today Which Leads to Tomorrow

I thought about running three times yesterday, and the last thought was, "I'll run tomorrow." Never a good one. While I was laying in bed about to go to sleep I noticed a running log/journal I bought at a bookstore last summer. I opened it up and saw three pages filled out. One the week of July 28, 2008, one the week of September 9, 2008, and one for November 14, 2008.

Apparently I'm a quitter. Sad huh. No more.

So I may not write in an actual running log, but I'm planning on writing here. Keeping track of how I'm feeling about running and my progress. Starting with today.

I didn't run yesterday and I felt horrible about it. My calves were incredibly sore from the Wii Fit (did high knees and jumping jacks during the running games) and basketball game on Saturday, and I just couldn't find any motivation to go. So instead I ate a peanut butter cookie and watched two hours of TV.

Today was better. It actually worked out perfect because I couldn't tape American Idol at home. I watched Idol while I ran (90210 and Biggest Loser were recording on my TiVo) and ran three miles. It's been over two weeks since I've run, and I couldn't definitely tell. My body hurt, but I went through with it. My training schedule said three miles, and I went three miles.

I made it through today. Tomorrow will be a better one.

The Training Can't End Until It Begins

So it's about time I used this blog for an actual purpose and wrote on it regularly. People say that writing about something (eating, exercising, etc.) is a good way to make you really think about it and make it a habit. So I'm going to try and write on this blog about each of my workouts, good or bad. Just as a way to journal my progress. I think that was kind of the point of this blog in the first place, but I'm starting a new.

Speaking of starting, I wrote out my half training and lucky me I've got the rest of this week before my 12 weeks of training start. The miles will go up gradually each week, but here's a basic week of training for me.

Sunday- Rest/Stretch/Yoga on the Wii Fit
Monday- Run intervals/speedwork (3-5 miles total)
Tuesday- Either a short run with hills (~2 miles) spinning.
Wednesday- Easy run (3-5 miles)
Thursday- Either a short run with hills (~2 miles) spinning.
Friday- Rest/stretch day
Saturday- Long run (4-11 miles)

On top of this, I'm still going to continue doing the toning and yoga exercises on Wii Fit but mostly just because I enjoy them. My goal is to get all of the running workouts in each week or at least the three major (intervals, easy, and long) runs and at least one other day of hard sweating.
And I've decided that I need to give myself a reward when I do well in my training. So for every week of training I successfully complete, I'm going to give myself a small reward (soak in the bath tub, sleep in a little longer, manicure, etc.). And when I finally lose the last five pounds that my body really just wants to hold onto, I'm going to get a massage.

MIA to BIA (Back in Action)

I haven't been around for a while, and I wish I could say I had been running all that time I was gone. But I haven't been. I got miserably sick two weeks ago and then my friend came into town for the inauguration. Needless to say the training didn't go so well.

Good thing my dad decided this week that he couldn't do March 7. So we changed the location and push back the date six weeks. Now I get to start another 12 week training program tomorrow. I think it's about perfect other than the fact that the course has hills, and I've never run hills before. A slight slope yes, hills no.

I've never trained for hills. I've never run on hills. And I'm not excited about running hills but I'm going to have to. So the question is how do you train for hills? I currently do one day of interval/speed training, one day of tempo training, and one long run. I'm planning on adding in one more day of running for hill training but have no idea where to start.Please help.My next set of half-training (since the date has been pushed back) starts tomorrow and runs for 12 weeks. Any advice on running/training for hills will help in the cause of keeping me alive when I run on April 25.

Why I Love Running #1

I've decided that every time I have a bad run or workout I'm going to come home and blog about a reason I love running. I ran 3 1/2 tonight, and it sucked.

So the first reason I love running is the definition that it gives to my legs. I've always had strong legs, but running just gives me those toned looking lines on my calves and the definition in my hamstrings. Oh and did I mention that I love the feeling of walking and the muscles flexing as I walk after a nice long run? Amazing.

It's working. I feel much better now.

Long Run One

I'm following a training program that has me running 3-4 days a week. One easy short (3-5 miles) run, one interval short run (3-5 miles), and one long run (5-12) and then I can do an easy (2 miles) run or cross train on the other days. I recently picked up spinning, which is great for cross training so I'm going to do that instead of the fourth day of running. Long runs for me are by far the hardest to get in and are definitely the most important. So today I told myself I would run outside of my long run (5 miles) and finally got around to it at 4:00 PM. I got all geared up with Under Armor, my no slip belt for my keys, and my IPOD with the perfect running playlist and headed out to the Mt. Vernon trail.

I ran a little over six miles (a little over an hour) and finally felt like a runner for the first in over two years. I ran out and back (eight songs out and nine songs back) and when I got back to my car, I felt like I could've kept going, which is the best feeling in the world. The first mile was the toughest (like it always is), but I just kept telling myself 15 more songs, 14 more songs, etc. And I made it. One long run down, seven to go before the half.

Getting Back on the Treadmill

I've been at my parent's house for the past ten days, and it killed me. I was pretty active (walking around an amusement park, 2-on-2 volleyball, racquetball, and basketball) but I didn't get any running in. And I got more than enough sweets in.

So yesterday started yet another new beginning for me. I ended off the year with a bang (and some gummy bears) and am ready to start this one off even better (and minus the gummy bears). Nine weeks from Saturday I'm planning to run my fourth half-marathon, and I'm really doing it this time. No more excuses this time. I wrote out my schedule and am going to stick to it. Albany, GA here I come.

I'm going to try and update this blog as I continue my training to keep me both motivated and tracking my progress. I ran 3.1 (I always try to run at least 5K) on the treadmill today while watching Friends and the GAC country music countdown. The run itself was okay, not great, but I made it. It was the first run back after a two week break, and I'm glad I did it. I'm going to dinner tonight and then down to the gym for some cross training... then a five-miler tomorrow. One day at a time. I'm going to do it.