For the first time in a long time, I finally had a full thought. Not like--I finished a sentence or completed work...I just finally had a clear head this morning while on the plane. Things felt manageable. I know that sounds almost impossible to comprehend, but I've been doing myself a disservice. I've been running myself ragged.
I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes every night, always feel hungover when I wake up (booze or not), and I can't remember the last time I relied on my water bottle as much as I do my cell phone.
In short: I've taken a pretty serious fall from health.
Part of the problem is that I've put it in last place--I work out a lot, but it's a lot easier to pick up crappy food for lunch, or swing by BGR with Chadd at night.
But for the next three days, I'm at home in Orlando with my folks and while I had to work most of the day, this afternoon is the picture of exactly what I need:
After I finished up work, I threw on my running shorts, and headed out with the intention of 4 miles...which turned into 6 after I realized I was really here to relive my time in Orlando since my parents are moving. So, I ran down to my high school and back (which, apparently, is 6 miles), I came home with the dream of jumping in the pool, but because it was freezing, I wound up reading on a deck chair in the sun.
When I trained for the marine corps marathon the first time around, I worked here over the summer and between the law firm and O'boys BBQ, I would run to Trinity and back. What a surreal feeling--I saw the benches where Chadd and I used to sit, the classrooms I used to go to, the giant rock in campus, etc. It's like revisiting a much loved book, but not at all like I used to be a chubby yearbook editor who ran her fastest mile (without stopping!!) in 15 minutes. To put that in perspective, at the four courts four, I did my 2 mile split in 7:28.
Mom, Dad, and I sat outside after I showered and had wine, ate cheese and crackers, and unwound.
One of the biggest parts of health (aside from nutrition) that I have been ignoring is my mental health. I'm overwhelmed, over committed, and over stressed. I've had a number of friends tell me lately that I need to learn to say no to activities and find a way to enjoy doing nothing.
It's not been in my nature to not do something/be fully committed. I'm OCD to the max in many ways; I need to switch focus when I get bored (which I do easily). It's why I like my job; if I hate what I'm doing, I can switch to a different client project then go back when I'm not tired of it.
But I need to learn to relax because otherwise, I will implode. Chadd will tell you that the warning signs are there; I've been short on temper, moody, depressed, and prone to forgetting things more than usual.
So. Here's the taking care of yourself. Trying to go back to four bottles of water a day, and thinking before I eat.
And by the way--how do I manage to hit the gym as often as I do? Make yourself your own client. Would you break an appointment with a client? Nope.
My gym schedule:
Monday: Running Group
Tuesday: Teach Spin
Wednesday: Morning gym
Thursday: Off
Friday: Off
Saturday: Run
Sunday: 20-20-20
I get into trouble Wednesday through Saturday because Im not required to be anywhere. Everything else, I'm paid to do or I do with friends. I suppose that's the real trick. Having outside non-negotiable responsibility.
It also never hurts to have a billion-ty races scheduled...one of them being Ragnar New England, which I am so stoked about. Boston, here we come.
So, back to the bottom line...I need your advice. How do I make myself take time off? Suggestions needed.
Showing posts with label Running Schedule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running Schedule. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Quick Schedule (with HR Targets!)
Busy day is busy...much to say, but here's the quick gym schedule of the week (reduced b/c of something I learned this weekend in cycle cert, more later...)
Monday: Running Group (heart rate max at 75%)
Tuesday: Cycle (heart rate between 65-80% 95% of time, then a push to 85% at the end)
Wednesday: Running Group (heart rate max at 75%)
Thursday: AM Weights
Friday: Off -- yaay birthday!
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 5k
Monday: Running Group (heart rate max at 75%)
Tuesday: Cycle (heart rate between 65-80% 95% of time, then a push to 85% at the end)
Wednesday: Running Group (heart rate max at 75%)
Thursday: AM Weights
Friday: Off -- yaay birthday!
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 5k
Monday, January 31, 2011
THUNDERSNOW
I don't have to tell you what happens when THUNDERSNOW attacks a city.
But in case you don't know: workouts stop.
THUNDERSNOW began midday on Wednesday. I skipped my Wednesday workout because I was enjoying getting an absurd amount of sleep every night (between 7-9 hours) and figured, no big deal, I'd do my running group Wednesday night.
I left my office at 4:15 and was home by 5:15 and very glad to be off the roads. Running group was clearly not happening considering I almost broke myself just walking a block to the liquor store (THUNDERSNOW calls for beer).
Chadd and I did go down to the Dupont Snowball fight:
Unfortunately, Chadd got slammed in the face with a big snowball and got what would be a black eye if he bruised. He just wound up with a puffy face and a red eyeball for a bit. Battle scars, man.
This meant that Thursday morning, I was in no mood to get up (especially since I was going to sleep in a bit to go to a client meeting, but when the client cancelled due to the roads, I decided to work from home. Which meant there was no way in hell I was going to go to the gym when I could sit around in sweatpants.
Friday, I was feeling very Friday-esque and didn't do anything.
Saturday, I did bite the bullet and head out at 10 to the Georgetown City Sports running group. Nike was there doing a give-away. I got a free city sports running shirt (yaay technical!) and won a draw string bag, which is always nice--especially since I need something for my cycle shoes.
The run was great, save the parts where I had to navigate across ice/snow/whatever that people hadn't shoveled yet (shame on you), but man did I feel out of shape. I was EXHAUSTED after the 5k and could have gone for a nap. What a difference a few days makes...
I will say, I have found the ideal combination for winter running: running tights under pair of shorts, tank top, long sleeves, zip up, skull cap, gloves.
I taught 20-20-20 on Sunday morning, as usual, and combined my 1 minute efforts for both upper and lower body. For example: right leg piston squats with a left arm raise for 1 minute.
My shoulder are not exactly happy this morning. But now that my gym buddies are back in town, I don't have an excuse to not get to it. We've agreed that Monday mornings basically never happen, so here's the schedule this week:
Monday: YMCA running group (7pm)
Tuesday: AM: Light Run/Leg Weights, PM: teach cycle (7pm)
Wednesday: PM: Fleet Feet Running Group (hopefully Tuesdays' "wintery mix" won't get in the way)
Thursday: AM: Light Run/Arm weights
Friday: AM Cycle
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Cycle Certifications
Clocking in with a grand total of 7 workouts.
By the way, tried out my new cycle shoes--my butt killed for a few days. They really do help with the stabilization and isolation of muscles. Can't rely very much on gravity anymore. Definitely worth the switch.
But in case you don't know: workouts stop.
THUNDERSNOW began midday on Wednesday. I skipped my Wednesday workout because I was enjoying getting an absurd amount of sleep every night (between 7-9 hours) and figured, no big deal, I'd do my running group Wednesday night.
I left my office at 4:15 and was home by 5:15 and very glad to be off the roads. Running group was clearly not happening considering I almost broke myself just walking a block to the liquor store (THUNDERSNOW calls for beer).
Chadd and I did go down to the Dupont Snowball fight:
This meant that Thursday morning, I was in no mood to get up (especially since I was going to sleep in a bit to go to a client meeting, but when the client cancelled due to the roads, I decided to work from home. Which meant there was no way in hell I was going to go to the gym when I could sit around in sweatpants.
Friday, I was feeling very Friday-esque and didn't do anything.
Saturday, I did bite the bullet and head out at 10 to the Georgetown City Sports running group. Nike was there doing a give-away. I got a free city sports running shirt (yaay technical!) and won a draw string bag, which is always nice--especially since I need something for my cycle shoes.
The run was great, save the parts where I had to navigate across ice/snow/whatever that people hadn't shoveled yet (shame on you), but man did I feel out of shape. I was EXHAUSTED after the 5k and could have gone for a nap. What a difference a few days makes...
I will say, I have found the ideal combination for winter running: running tights under pair of shorts, tank top, long sleeves, zip up, skull cap, gloves.
I taught 20-20-20 on Sunday morning, as usual, and combined my 1 minute efforts for both upper and lower body. For example: right leg piston squats with a left arm raise for 1 minute.
My shoulder are not exactly happy this morning. But now that my gym buddies are back in town, I don't have an excuse to not get to it. We've agreed that Monday mornings basically never happen, so here's the schedule this week:
Monday: YMCA running group (7pm)
Tuesday: AM: Light Run/Leg Weights, PM: teach cycle (7pm)
Wednesday: PM: Fleet Feet Running Group (hopefully Tuesdays' "wintery mix" won't get in the way)
Thursday: AM: Light Run/Arm weights
Friday: AM Cycle
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Cycle Certifications
Clocking in with a grand total of 7 workouts.
By the way, tried out my new cycle shoes--my butt killed for a few days. They really do help with the stabilization and isolation of muscles. Can't rely very much on gravity anymore. Definitely worth the switch.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Schedules, arms, shoes and other things
My abs are burning as I write this.
So far, my "back to normal" routine has been going pretty well. I'm not as tired as I was in the beginning stages of recovery and my strength hasn't disappeared too much. Last week:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio and Weights
Wednesday: Fleet Feet running group (see below)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Sunday: 20-20-20
This week/Accomplished and Planned:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio/Weights, P.M. Cycle
Wednesday: A.M. Cardio
Thursday: A.M. Cardio/Weights
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 20-20-20
And I just sneezed and it burned. Clearly, I got a good workout on Sunday.
Teaching again is really great--a lot of my regulars were there and were clearly happy to see me (even though I had awesome subs). I had a great time and made a special effort to make sure everyone is in just as much pain as I am...
(one week later)...
I need to get better about hitting "publish post"...because this has clearly been sitting around for a bit since I wrote it.
Continuing the workout trend has been good--I took Wednesday and Thursday off because I was lazy and slept in, and had Restaurant Week dinners both nights, but I made up for it by working out on Friday morning (am cycle) and skipping out a bit early on work and hitting the gym before date night with Chadd.
This morning I taught 20-20-20 again, which was awesome. This week we did an arm burn out, which is my new favorite workout method:
10 exercises, 1 minute each.
Arms:
- bicep curls/hammer curls
- upright rows
- shoulder press
- triceps kickbacks
- deadlifts
- pull over (lie with shoulders on ball, squeezing glutes, holding weights above chest, then over head, then back to over chest)
- bear hugs on ball (shoulder still on ball, arms out with weights, to center, back out, repeat)
- pushups (can be substituted for "pyramid" pushups--10 basic, 10 with one hand on top of step, 10 straddling bench, 10 with other hand on bench, 10 basic)
- weighted jumping rope (act like you're jumping rope weights in hand)
- triceps dips
Do that 2x through, broken up with 10 minutes (or more) of cardio (Good time for speed work on the treadmill, to be honest) and the finish up with the 10 minute ab routine that will slice you up:
1 minute each:
- basic crunches (no cheating)
- leg lifts (don't swing the legs, even foot prints towards the ceiling)
- rope climbers
- leg scoops
- bridge
- side shoelace grabs
- double crunch
- the "row" (sit on tailbone, feet off ground, holding a weight, scoop from side to side, fully rotating body)
- low plank
- high plank
voila.
Now, I need to get around to creating a lower body workout that will be just as painful and effective.
Gym routine this week looks like:
- Monday: Evening group run with Y (likely to be a minor workout for me)
- Tuesday: Morning leg routine, evening cycle
- Wednesday: Morning Cardio, evening running group with Fleet Feet
- Thursday: Morning upper body routine
- Friday: Morning cycle
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: 20-20-20
Changing gears, fun new subject: Shoes!
I am sad to announce that I've decided to break my many year streak of wearing Nike Max Motos. I love those shoes and strongly recommend them to anyone looking for a good, light weight, neutral running shoe. However, after roughly 4 years (probably more) of only using motos, I've decided to try something a bit different. I will likely keep purchasing the motos to teach in, but since I've vowed to take running seriously this year (something that people think I'm kidding about because how can one not be "serious" about running when training for a marathon), I've decided to get a pair of shoes dedicated to running only.
When I was at Fleet Feet the other week, I had some time to kill before the running group. I met Phil, one of the guys who works there, who talked to me about shoes. I thought I knew about shoes, and boy was I wrong. Phil knows shoes. If you're looking for someone to tell you about running shoes and what you need, ask Phil at Fleet Feet, though I'm sure they all know their stuff. Bottom line, we decided that if my then-current shoes (motos) were on the scale of Good to Best, mine were somewhere between the line of good to better. Looking to work with a shoe dedicated only for running, he let me try on about 7 different pairs of shoes. I took 2-3 of them out of a test jog up and down the block. I tried everything from Nikes to Brooks to Sauconys to Asics, and there I found, in the last pair of shoes, something miraculous: Ascis Gel Nimbus 12. Yes. Please.
I've been running with Nikes that use air technology (which keeps the shoe very lights) and since I wear orthodics in my shoes, the lighter the better. However, they cushion just a little less. I really have liked the gel nimbus in the week or so that I've had them. I can definitely tell the difference with the gel (better shock absorber), and the fit is just a bit more suited for stability. On top of that, the shoe laces come around on a slight "s" curve to better bind the shoe to your foot. Better yet, Phil taught me how to tie my shoes just a little differently so that the shoe better connects with my heel.
I've been cautions since I haven't run out of a moto in so long (basically my entire running career), but so far, just doing 3-4 miles, we're off on a good start.
Also related to shoes:
Last tuesday at my first cycle class in quite some time, I realized that the instructor bike at the Y only accommodates clips (yikes). The instructor before me kindly help me take the bike off the stage and change it for a bike with cages. Then, someone in the class asked me why their clips weren't fitting in our bikes (???). She said she had "egg beaters" (over my head like a flock of geese) and thankfully someone stepped up and said "oh, those are the types our bikes don't handle, they're really only made for mountain bikes."
I don't mind being ignorant about something fitness related, God knows there is more to that subject that I'll ever have a handle on, but something that is pretty basic to what I'm teaching...I can't ignore it much longer. I haven't ever invested in a pair of clips, simply because it's just that: an investment.
Chadd and I went over to City Sports in Georgetown (which is launching a running club that I am seriously stoked about) and I talked to one of the guys and basically owned up to the fact that I am a clip-ignorant cycle instructor.
They only carry two pairs (both Shimano). He grabbed each for me and I tried them on. It's tough to say "wow, that's a comfortable shoe!" when trying on clips. Clips are essentially made to be supportive (read: stiff) along the bottom of the shoe to act as an extended pedal. You clip into the pedal, making your foot much less likely to slide off/out of the pedal.
They didn't have my size in the older version (read: cheaper) and since the difference was only $10, I figured what the heck, and grabbed the newer version: http://www.bicyclebuys.com/shoes/ShoeMTB/SHWM61PART
Pretty slick.
Report to come on how those work out on Tuesday, though you should have seen me this morning. After teaching 20-20-20, I figured I better try them out before I taught with them. I found a bike on one of the floors that was a spinning bike and clipped in. Ok. Not too bad. Pedal pedal pedal, awesome, we're good. Now to dismount.
Oops? I finally gave up (I was feeling fuzzy after a lack of food and teaching) and took my shoes off while still attached to the bike. Note to self: release by moving heel to the side and then release.
Also this week: aiming to get 8 hours of sleep a night--no more, no less. Which means, in order to be up at 7:15, I need to jump in bed.
Btw, stick to your resolutions and outlast that dude at the gym who doesn't know the unspoken rules. You're better than that.
So far, my "back to normal" routine has been going pretty well. I'm not as tired as I was in the beginning stages of recovery and my strength hasn't disappeared too much. Last week:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio and Weights
Wednesday: Fleet Feet running group (see below)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Sunday: 20-20-20
This week/Accomplished and Planned:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio/Weights, P.M. Cycle
Wednesday: A.M. Cardio
Thursday: A.M. Cardio/Weights
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 20-20-20
And I just sneezed and it burned. Clearly, I got a good workout on Sunday.
Teaching again is really great--a lot of my regulars were there and were clearly happy to see me (even though I had awesome subs). I had a great time and made a special effort to make sure everyone is in just as much pain as I am...
(one week later)...
I need to get better about hitting "publish post"...because this has clearly been sitting around for a bit since I wrote it.
Continuing the workout trend has been good--I took Wednesday and Thursday off because I was lazy and slept in, and had Restaurant Week dinners both nights, but I made up for it by working out on Friday morning (am cycle) and skipping out a bit early on work and hitting the gym before date night with Chadd.
This morning I taught 20-20-20 again, which was awesome. This week we did an arm burn out, which is my new favorite workout method:
10 exercises, 1 minute each.
Arms:
- bicep curls/hammer curls
- upright rows
- shoulder press
- triceps kickbacks
- deadlifts
- pull over (lie with shoulders on ball, squeezing glutes, holding weights above chest, then over head, then back to over chest)
- bear hugs on ball (shoulder still on ball, arms out with weights, to center, back out, repeat)
- pushups (can be substituted for "pyramid" pushups--10 basic, 10 with one hand on top of step, 10 straddling bench, 10 with other hand on bench, 10 basic)
- weighted jumping rope (act like you're jumping rope weights in hand)
- triceps dips
Do that 2x through, broken up with 10 minutes (or more) of cardio (Good time for speed work on the treadmill, to be honest) and the finish up with the 10 minute ab routine that will slice you up:
1 minute each:
- basic crunches (no cheating)
- leg lifts (don't swing the legs, even foot prints towards the ceiling)
- rope climbers
- leg scoops
- bridge
- side shoelace grabs
- double crunch
- the "row" (sit on tailbone, feet off ground, holding a weight, scoop from side to side, fully rotating body)
- low plank
- high plank
voila.
Now, I need to get around to creating a lower body workout that will be just as painful and effective.
Gym routine this week looks like:
- Monday: Evening group run with Y (likely to be a minor workout for me)
- Tuesday: Morning leg routine, evening cycle
- Wednesday: Morning Cardio, evening running group with Fleet Feet
- Thursday: Morning upper body routine
- Friday: Morning cycle
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: 20-20-20
Changing gears, fun new subject: Shoes!
I am sad to announce that I've decided to break my many year streak of wearing Nike Max Motos. I love those shoes and strongly recommend them to anyone looking for a good, light weight, neutral running shoe. However, after roughly 4 years (probably more) of only using motos, I've decided to try something a bit different. I will likely keep purchasing the motos to teach in, but since I've vowed to take running seriously this year (something that people think I'm kidding about because how can one not be "serious" about running when training for a marathon), I've decided to get a pair of shoes dedicated to running only.
When I was at Fleet Feet the other week, I had some time to kill before the running group. I met Phil, one of the guys who works there, who talked to me about shoes. I thought I knew about shoes, and boy was I wrong. Phil knows shoes. If you're looking for someone to tell you about running shoes and what you need, ask Phil at Fleet Feet, though I'm sure they all know their stuff. Bottom line, we decided that if my then-current shoes (motos) were on the scale of Good to Best, mine were somewhere between the line of good to better. Looking to work with a shoe dedicated only for running, he let me try on about 7 different pairs of shoes. I took 2-3 of them out of a test jog up and down the block. I tried everything from Nikes to Brooks to Sauconys to Asics, and there I found, in the last pair of shoes, something miraculous: Ascis Gel Nimbus 12. Yes. Please.
I've been running with Nikes that use air technology (which keeps the shoe very lights) and since I wear orthodics in my shoes, the lighter the better. However, they cushion just a little less. I really have liked the gel nimbus in the week or so that I've had them. I can definitely tell the difference with the gel (better shock absorber), and the fit is just a bit more suited for stability. On top of that, the shoe laces come around on a slight "s" curve to better bind the shoe to your foot. Better yet, Phil taught me how to tie my shoes just a little differently so that the shoe better connects with my heel.
I've been cautions since I haven't run out of a moto in so long (basically my entire running career), but so far, just doing 3-4 miles, we're off on a good start.
Also related to shoes:
Last tuesday at my first cycle class in quite some time, I realized that the instructor bike at the Y only accommodates clips (yikes). The instructor before me kindly help me take the bike off the stage and change it for a bike with cages. Then, someone in the class asked me why their clips weren't fitting in our bikes (???). She said she had "egg beaters" (over my head like a flock of geese) and thankfully someone stepped up and said "oh, those are the types our bikes don't handle, they're really only made for mountain bikes."
I don't mind being ignorant about something fitness related, God knows there is more to that subject that I'll ever have a handle on, but something that is pretty basic to what I'm teaching...I can't ignore it much longer. I haven't ever invested in a pair of clips, simply because it's just that: an investment.
Chadd and I went over to City Sports in Georgetown (which is launching a running club that I am seriously stoked about) and I talked to one of the guys and basically owned up to the fact that I am a clip-ignorant cycle instructor.
They only carry two pairs (both Shimano). He grabbed each for me and I tried them on. It's tough to say "wow, that's a comfortable shoe!" when trying on clips. Clips are essentially made to be supportive (read: stiff) along the bottom of the shoe to act as an extended pedal. You clip into the pedal, making your foot much less likely to slide off/out of the pedal.
They didn't have my size in the older version (read: cheaper) and since the difference was only $10, I figured what the heck, and grabbed the newer version: http://www.bicyclebuys.com/shoes/ShoeMTB/SHWM61PART
Pretty slick.
Report to come on how those work out on Tuesday, though you should have seen me this morning. After teaching 20-20-20, I figured I better try them out before I taught with them. I found a bike on one of the floors that was a spinning bike and clipped in. Ok. Not too bad. Pedal pedal pedal, awesome, we're good. Now to dismount.
Oops? I finally gave up (I was feeling fuzzy after a lack of food and teaching) and took my shoes off while still attached to the bike. Note to self: release by moving heel to the side and then release.
Also this week: aiming to get 8 hours of sleep a night--no more, no less. Which means, in order to be up at 7:15, I need to jump in bed.
Btw, stick to your resolutions and outlast that dude at the gym who doesn't know the unspoken rules. You're better than that.
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Post about Many Things
So you know what happens when you wait to register for races?
They fill up.
As a result, the two half marathons that I'd planned to run this year have filled up (Virginia Wine Country and the Colorado Half).
Right now, I'm on the wait list for Virginia Wine and am scrambling for a replacement for the Colorado. The trick in this equation is that Will leaves in May to go home for a bit, then comes back to Colorado. I was thinking of the Horsetooth Half (mid-April), but Mom and my cousin (who lives out there) have suggested maybe a fall race...better weather! Roze says that the Crosswinds race is less punishing (course profile says flat and fast) and, again, better weather.
So, to avoid this issue in the future, here's my calendar:
Jan: Ragnar Miami (just got back last night!)
Feb: Love the Run You're With (http://www.pacersevents.com/lovetherun/index.html)
March: B and A Half, Four Courts Four
April: Cherry Blossom 10, Nashville Rock and Roll Half
May: Marine Corps Half (maybe) or maybe New England Ragnar
Ragnar.
Ragnar was incredible. I had a great time down in the Keys--we got to DC on Wednesday night, got Brannon, and headed to the house where we passed out after a glass of wine and some nachos. Thursday we celebrated Chadd's birthday with breakfast at Briar Patch in Winter Park, then got ready to head down to Miami.
Chadd and I picked up K-lo in Boca Raton, then met up with everyone in Miami. Friday morning, we decorated the vans (which looked so awesome...they had grass skirts with hibiscus flowers around them and margarita lights around the front windshield) then headed to the start line.
The only thing I'd change about this Ragnar experience would be our start time. We got a 1pm start time and wound up getting stuck with fast teams, so we were often alone at exchange points and missing the real "Ragnar experience." However, Ragnar was totally awesome and let us run simultaneously--Van 1 was still running their third leg while van 2 began theirs as well. Instead of finishing after the finish line would have been closed (we'd have gotten in around 8:30), we wound up finishing around quarter of 5.
Margaritas, beer, pina coladas, all out on the Southernmost Point beach (I managed to walk into the water to about my knees in lieu of an ice bath). The after party was INCREDIBLE. Live music, great vendors, tons of people...it was really paradise. The race itself was a blast, I had great people in my van and we spent a good deal of time basically rushing through the Keys (our legs were a lot shorter this time, it seemed, and traffic destroyed our ability to easily get around). There was nothing like running over the water on the fishing bridges, or talking with the wonderful people in Homestead who thought we were crazy. Van 1 saw a Key Deer while we saw Iguanas....there were a few legs that required runners to sign a waiver about "potentially aggressive wildlife" spawning the joke in the RagMag (ragnar magazine) with a giant fake gator saying "Imma Eat Choo"....
The whole experience was just as wonderful, but totally different than the first. That's the beauty of Ragnar--it might be the same structure, 36 hour 200 mile relay race, but it's always new.
I'm already planning the next Ragnar, so if you want in, let me know.
On the Ragnar note...the Hood to Coast documentary is being shown for one night only in theaters tomorrow night. If you live in the Alexandria area (Eisenhower, Hoffman Center), come see me other Brigade members, and Pacers at the theater for a reg code with a good deal and talk to me about Ragnar in person (please allow for at least 30 minutes as I can talk your ear off about how much I love it).
In final news, I'm filling out my workout schedule, which will look vaguely like this:
Monday: Rest OR Pacers evening Fun Run (Alexandria)
Tuesday: AM workout (weights) AND Teaching evening cycle (7pm Nat. Cap YMCA - starting next week)
Wednesday: AM workout And/Or Fleet Feet Women's Running Group (6:30PM AdMo)
Thursday: AM weights workout And/Or Pacers Running Group (Logan Circle)
Friday: AM cycle or AM Cardio and Weights
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Teach 20-20-20 (10am Nat. Cap YMCA)
This fulfills my requirements for two running clubs, brings me back to teaching 2 classes a week, and gives me two rest days. I prefer doubling up on days to workout simply because it gives me flexibility if I don't want to hit a night workout.
Ideally, I'll be able to cycle through the three running clubs--do Monday night when I can't make a Wednesday or Thursday. If there are 4 weeks in a month (roughly), I'd ideally like to make it to a running group 6 times. That gives me two weeks where I can only make it once or one week where I can't at all.
In final news, (too lazy to go back and correct previously written stuff on this page), I will be captaining a team for Ragnar New England, May 20-21. Prepare. Now...to find a good team name....
They fill up.
As a result, the two half marathons that I'd planned to run this year have filled up (Virginia Wine Country and the Colorado Half).
Right now, I'm on the wait list for Virginia Wine and am scrambling for a replacement for the Colorado. The trick in this equation is that Will leaves in May to go home for a bit, then comes back to Colorado. I was thinking of the Horsetooth Half (mid-April), but Mom and my cousin (who lives out there) have suggested maybe a fall race...better weather! Roze says that the Crosswinds race is less punishing (course profile says flat and fast) and, again, better weather.
So, to avoid this issue in the future, here's my calendar:
Jan: Ragnar Miami (just got back last night!)
Feb: Love the Run You're With (http://www.pacersevents.com/lovetherun/index.html)
March: B and A Half, Four Courts Four
April: Cherry Blossom 10, Nashville Rock and Roll Half
May: Marine Corps Half (maybe) or maybe New England Ragnar
Ragnar.
Ragnar was incredible. I had a great time down in the Keys--we got to DC on Wednesday night, got Brannon, and headed to the house where we passed out after a glass of wine and some nachos. Thursday we celebrated Chadd's birthday with breakfast at Briar Patch in Winter Park, then got ready to head down to Miami.
Chadd and I picked up K-lo in Boca Raton, then met up with everyone in Miami. Friday morning, we decorated the vans (which looked so awesome...they had grass skirts with hibiscus flowers around them and margarita lights around the front windshield) then headed to the start line.
The only thing I'd change about this Ragnar experience would be our start time. We got a 1pm start time and wound up getting stuck with fast teams, so we were often alone at exchange points and missing the real "Ragnar experience." However, Ragnar was totally awesome and let us run simultaneously--Van 1 was still running their third leg while van 2 began theirs as well. Instead of finishing after the finish line would have been closed (we'd have gotten in around 8:30), we wound up finishing around quarter of 5.
Margaritas, beer, pina coladas, all out on the Southernmost Point beach (I managed to walk into the water to about my knees in lieu of an ice bath). The after party was INCREDIBLE. Live music, great vendors, tons of people...it was really paradise. The race itself was a blast, I had great people in my van and we spent a good deal of time basically rushing through the Keys (our legs were a lot shorter this time, it seemed, and traffic destroyed our ability to easily get around). There was nothing like running over the water on the fishing bridges, or talking with the wonderful people in Homestead who thought we were crazy. Van 1 saw a Key Deer while we saw Iguanas....there were a few legs that required runners to sign a waiver about "potentially aggressive wildlife" spawning the joke in the RagMag (ragnar magazine) with a giant fake gator saying "Imma Eat Choo"....
The whole experience was just as wonderful, but totally different than the first. That's the beauty of Ragnar--it might be the same structure, 36 hour 200 mile relay race, but it's always new.
I'm already planning the next Ragnar, so if you want in, let me know.
On the Ragnar note...the Hood to Coast documentary is being shown for one night only in theaters tomorrow night. If you live in the Alexandria area (Eisenhower, Hoffman Center), come see me other Brigade members, and Pacers at the theater for a reg code with a good deal and talk to me about Ragnar in person (please allow for at least 30 minutes as I can talk your ear off about how much I love it).
In final news, I'm filling out my workout schedule, which will look vaguely like this:
Monday: Rest OR Pacers evening Fun Run (Alexandria)
Tuesday: AM workout (weights) AND Teaching evening cycle (7pm Nat. Cap YMCA - starting next week)
Wednesday: AM workout And/Or Fleet Feet Women's Running Group (6:30PM AdMo)
Thursday: AM weights workout And/Or Pacers Running Group (Logan Circle)
Friday: AM cycle or AM Cardio and Weights
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Teach 20-20-20 (10am Nat. Cap YMCA)
This fulfills my requirements for two running clubs, brings me back to teaching 2 classes a week, and gives me two rest days. I prefer doubling up on days to workout simply because it gives me flexibility if I don't want to hit a night workout.
Ideally, I'll be able to cycle through the three running clubs--do Monday night when I can't make a Wednesday or Thursday. If there are 4 weeks in a month (roughly), I'd ideally like to make it to a running group 6 times. That gives me two weeks where I can only make it once or one week where I can't at all.
In final news, (too lazy to go back and correct previously written stuff on this page), I will be captaining a team for Ragnar New England, May 20-21. Prepare. Now...to find a good team name....
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My Body Does What? Also: Porta-Potties
4 days til the marathon and my fears are actually starting to lift away.
I keep replaying Chadd telling me "it's just running. It's not like this isn't something you don't know how to do, just go run."
It's also made so much better by the fact that my two very dear friends, Maureen and FJ, have volunteered to run a couple miles with me. Technically, it's not allowed, but no one is ever stopped from running for a couple miles. Maureen and I have a history of running together--accidentally or on purpose. She and I usually wind up beating our PRs with each other because we think we're keeping the other back...that's how I crushed the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler at an 8:09 pace.
FJ is my iron man. He ran Ragnar with me and literally had that name on the back of his shirt: "Iron Man." FJ recently qualified for Boston and is a total inspiration to me--he's volunteered to run as many miles with me as I want. And since he did his qualifying marathon two weeks ago, I'm not too concerned about his ability to do as many miles as I need. I've asked him to be there for miles 16-20ish.
I've decided to run without my ipod for the majority of the race. That truly was one of the best things about the marathon the first time--was the sound of runners. It's a symphony of foot steps, breathing, whispers of encouragement, occasionally laughter, the crowd cheering, marching bands playing...and it feels at times like you are simply carried along by the runners around you.
Yes, there are moments when your body is in excruciating pain...probably best summarized by this WaPo article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/section/Marine-Corps-Marathon-2010-Ready-or-not-graphic/index.html
I love especially the bit about the brain:
"The brain does not want the body to run into harm, so it will reduce its electrical impulses to the muscles--in other words, it will stop telling them to move.
Ready?...Or Not: The untrained brain has little or no experience with an effort of this magnitude. If the body pushes too hard, the brain receives a cacophony of threatening signals--Temperature is rising! Fuel is disappearing! My engines can't take much more of this, Captain!"
That author is CLEARLY a runner.
Then you read articles like this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101903617.html
And you think to yourself: I am not lucky to run, I am blessed to run. I was passed in the Army 10 miler by a double amputee doing the race on two prosthetics. I felt like a huge jerk because I was just mentally complaining about how much it hurt and how much I didn't want to do it...it's the little reminders that keep your mind and body putting one foot in front of the other and to smile while doing it.
In the humor section...runners around the world are giving a big thumbs up to the Marine Corps Marathon race director who very clearly told Comedy Central to shove it when they asked if they could use the porta potties for the Steward/Colbert rallies the day before.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/stewart-colbert-rallies-looking-for-a-few-good-porta-potties/19664942?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook
I love comedy, I love Stewart and Colbert, and I wish I could go to the rallies (I'm probably skipping in favor of the race expo and staying off my feet as much as possible since my angry heel is still, well, angry) but guys....the race has been planned for months and while I'm sure it will come through, your permit hasn't even been approved yet...and we've had ours for months. And let me tell you, I don't believe you for one second that Comedy Central would be able to get them cleaned out and restocked in time for our race. Don't throw a fit and tell us we're being unfair. I paid good money for those porta potties to be there and clean, well-stocked, and useable for me when I'm running. So unless some of the money that Comedy Central was offering to the MCM was going to go to crediting my race fee or to the Injured Marines fund, you can find your own potties.
A big heart felt thank you to the race director. Thanks for standing up for us. I'll think of you during all of my bathroom stops before/during/after the race.
I keep replaying Chadd telling me "it's just running. It's not like this isn't something you don't know how to do, just go run."
It's also made so much better by the fact that my two very dear friends, Maureen and FJ, have volunteered to run a couple miles with me. Technically, it's not allowed, but no one is ever stopped from running for a couple miles. Maureen and I have a history of running together--accidentally or on purpose. She and I usually wind up beating our PRs with each other because we think we're keeping the other back...that's how I crushed the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler at an 8:09 pace.
FJ is my iron man. He ran Ragnar with me and literally had that name on the back of his shirt: "Iron Man." FJ recently qualified for Boston and is a total inspiration to me--he's volunteered to run as many miles with me as I want. And since he did his qualifying marathon two weeks ago, I'm not too concerned about his ability to do as many miles as I need. I've asked him to be there for miles 16-20ish.
I've decided to run without my ipod for the majority of the race. That truly was one of the best things about the marathon the first time--was the sound of runners. It's a symphony of foot steps, breathing, whispers of encouragement, occasionally laughter, the crowd cheering, marching bands playing...and it feels at times like you are simply carried along by the runners around you.
Yes, there are moments when your body is in excruciating pain...probably best summarized by this WaPo article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/section/Marine-Corps-Marathon-2010-Ready-or-not-graphic/index.html
I love especially the bit about the brain:
"The brain does not want the body to run into harm, so it will reduce its electrical impulses to the muscles--in other words, it will stop telling them to move.
Ready?...Or Not: The untrained brain has little or no experience with an effort of this magnitude. If the body pushes too hard, the brain receives a cacophony of threatening signals--Temperature is rising! Fuel is disappearing! My engines can't take much more of this, Captain!"
That author is CLEARLY a runner.
Then you read articles like this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101903617.html
And you think to yourself: I am not lucky to run, I am blessed to run. I was passed in the Army 10 miler by a double amputee doing the race on two prosthetics. I felt like a huge jerk because I was just mentally complaining about how much it hurt and how much I didn't want to do it...it's the little reminders that keep your mind and body putting one foot in front of the other and to smile while doing it.
In the humor section...runners around the world are giving a big thumbs up to the Marine Corps Marathon race director who very clearly told Comedy Central to shove it when they asked if they could use the porta potties for the Steward/Colbert rallies the day before.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/stewart-colbert-rallies-looking-for-a-few-good-porta-potties/19664942?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook
I love comedy, I love Stewart and Colbert, and I wish I could go to the rallies (I'm probably skipping in favor of the race expo and staying off my feet as much as possible since my angry heel is still, well, angry) but guys....the race has been planned for months and while I'm sure it will come through, your permit hasn't even been approved yet...and we've had ours for months. And let me tell you, I don't believe you for one second that Comedy Central would be able to get them cleaned out and restocked in time for our race. Don't throw a fit and tell us we're being unfair. I paid good money for those porta potties to be there and clean, well-stocked, and useable for me when I'm running. So unless some of the money that Comedy Central was offering to the MCM was going to go to crediting my race fee or to the Injured Marines fund, you can find your own potties.
A big heart felt thank you to the race director. Thanks for standing up for us. I'll think of you during all of my bathroom stops before/during/after the race.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Thursday: Mid-distance Run or Sleep
Hope you went out for a run last night!
My beginning runners' group is growing with astonishing success. Week two, up from 1 person to 4. Everyone is a much better runner than they thought, and I find it so interesting that they all have told me "I'm afraid to run." It's a concept that I'd forgotten many many miles ago. That's not to downplay it at all, because I definitely had that fear. I was afraid that I'd get too far out and my knees would hurt, that I'd be too tired to come back, etc. etc. etc.
Last night, we ran the small indoor track at the Y:
2:30 minutes jogging
30 second sprint
1 minute jogging
1 minute walking recovery
We did 5 sets of that (25 minutes), 5 minutes of squats, abs, core, then another 3 sets (15 minutes). Pair that with about 10 minutes combined warm up and cool down.
Tonight, if you were me, you'd be getting into bed sometime around 8 to sleep for about 11 hours since you're afraid you're getting your boyfriend's cold.
But if you were me last week, you'd be headed out for an hour long serious run with your running partner. So, if you're the me from last week, get to it, get out there and take a serious mid distance run. If you're the me from this week...make pasta sauce and then pass out watching real housewives of dc.
Tomorrow morning, hit the gym for a spin class!
In other news--Hi Mom! Don't worry, I'm not getting sick, I'm just stuffy. Blame Chadd. I'll call you when I get home!
My beginning runners' group is growing with astonishing success. Week two, up from 1 person to 4. Everyone is a much better runner than they thought, and I find it so interesting that they all have told me "I'm afraid to run." It's a concept that I'd forgotten many many miles ago. That's not to downplay it at all, because I definitely had that fear. I was afraid that I'd get too far out and my knees would hurt, that I'd be too tired to come back, etc. etc. etc.
Last night, we ran the small indoor track at the Y:
2:30 minutes jogging
30 second sprint
1 minute jogging
1 minute walking recovery
We did 5 sets of that (25 minutes), 5 minutes of squats, abs, core, then another 3 sets (15 minutes). Pair that with about 10 minutes combined warm up and cool down.
Tonight, if you were me, you'd be getting into bed sometime around 8 to sleep for about 11 hours since you're afraid you're getting your boyfriend's cold.
But if you were me last week, you'd be headed out for an hour long serious run with your running partner. So, if you're the me from last week, get to it, get out there and take a serious mid distance run. If you're the me from this week...make pasta sauce and then pass out watching real housewives of dc.
Tomorrow morning, hit the gym for a spin class!
In other news--Hi Mom! Don't worry, I'm not getting sick, I'm just stuffy. Blame Chadd. I'll call you when I get home!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tuesday and Wednesday, Week 1
Tuesday's challenge!
I know, end of Tuesday, but if you could go back in time after reading this, today should look like this:
1 hour of group fitness
1 hour of yoga, stretching, or casual walking
Tomorrow, go for a walk/run for an hour tomorrow night! Run with friends, this is a casual run kind of night!
I know, end of Tuesday, but if you could go back in time after reading this, today should look like this:
1 hour of group fitness
1 hour of yoga, stretching, or casual walking
Tomorrow, go for a walk/run for an hour tomorrow night! Run with friends, this is a casual run kind of night!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Plans plans plans
Quick update...plans for the week!
Food:
Food:
Monday:
- Breakfast: Cereal, peach
- Snack: Yogurt
- Lunch: Amy’s meal, carrots, 100 cal pack
- Snack: Banana
- Dinner: Big salad, chicken
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Cereal, peach
- Snack: Yogurt
- Lunch: Salad, cheese, triscuits, 100 cal pack
- Snack: Popcorn
- Dinner: “grilled” veggies, chicken, rice
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Cereal, applesauce
- Snack: Yogurt
- Lunch: “grilled veggies” and rice leftovers, 100 cal pack
- Snack: Popcorn
- Dinner: Pita thingys
Thursday:
- Breakfast: Cereal, banana
- Snack: Yogurt
- Lunch: Pita, 100 cal pack
- Snack: Veggies
- Dinner: Whatever will wants
wiWill comes into town on Thursday night, hence the wild card.
Working out:
Monday: 20 minute run, 20-30 minute full body weights
Tuesday: Step
Wednesday: 40-50 minute run (my beginning runner's group will meet for this first time this night, so I'll likely have a very light workout here)
RThursday: 40-50 minute run
Friday: Off
Saturday: 8 mile run
Sunday: 20-20-20
More later!
as
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Weekend of Car Problems
Hello from hot and humid DC...I had intended to spend this Saturday morning getting up early and getting out for my first long run...but in case you weren't aware, we're in the middle of a sever heat wave. It literally says on the weather map "oppressive" across the DC area. I didn't even know that was a category...
Anyway, it doesn't matter anyway because I had to take the car to the dealership at 7:30 for repairs (sigh. $$$$$) and I'm still there right now. It's only been an hour, but it feels like some sort of time warp. And place warp.
I'm not kidding, the guy to my right is drawing some sort of psychadelic butterfly woman with a rainbow background. Not like doodling, either, like full on massive sheet of paper with pastels. Sooner I can go home, the better. There are at least three other people in the room with me who are conversing with the tv. Not in a crazy kind of way, but in the way that they're literally having a conversation with the today show. Example: TV: "If you have an allergy to wheat gluten...it can cause *list symptoms" Person: Mmmmmhmm, sure nuff!
I'm in a real conundrum. I took about a week off of working out. Mostly because this week was hell on wheels at work. Don't get me wrong, unlike my last job, I actually enjoy my work and so it hasn't been horrible, but it's taken a toll on my exercise and sleep time.
But that's not the conundrum. The real reason I've taken a week off is because I really hate running on a treadmill. Really hate it, but it's been too hot to go outside unless I'm up really early, and I've been too tired to do that.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to motivate myself to get up and get out there. I have a marathon AND a Ragnar relay breathing down my neck, so I really don't have a negotiable way out.
Since Chadd's out of town this weekend, I have plenty of time to plan. What do I do well? I plan.
If I ever get to leave the dealership, then I'm going to go home and after some fun time with my weightloss buddy, start doing some planning. I'm going to come up with my meal plans again, I always prefer to do that because it takes all the last minute what to eat guess work out of my nights, especially when making a quesadilla sounds like the only option.
I'm also going to brainstorm things to do instead of running ... maybe it's that I have to go and spend an hour on the bike or cross trainer (x-train), maybe it's that I go swimming at the Y (in this heat? yes please...), or a walk. It's still hot outside, but I could probably manage walking (knowing that I'll likely jog)
So. That was written a while ago, in between then and now, I stopped by the diner next door for food, then walked the mile to Ikea to look for a new solution for our desk (we're getting rid of it, since we never use it...) but we need something to put all the stuff in that was in the desk.
Can I just tell you....it's ridiculously hot outside. I literally was sweating through my shirt walking the mile back from Ikea. I'm sure I looked like a crazy homeless person, walking down the highway, but whatever, better than sitting here in the mechanic's...which is playing some terrible 3-d animated kid's show about dogs that race car.
Okay. Thank God. I'm writing this at 10:45 at night...the car is almost repaired (a long story that isn't worth getting into) and my weightloss buddy and I had a great day at Joann fabrics, crafting, eating pizza, and chatting.
Hopefully I'll actually get my food/workout plans together tomorrow. I'll share them soon, whether it's tomorrow or the day after...or the day after that!
Anyway, it doesn't matter anyway because I had to take the car to the dealership at 7:30 for repairs (sigh. $$$$$) and I'm still there right now. It's only been an hour, but it feels like some sort of time warp. And place warp.
I'm not kidding, the guy to my right is drawing some sort of psychadelic butterfly woman with a rainbow background. Not like doodling, either, like full on massive sheet of paper with pastels. Sooner I can go home, the better. There are at least three other people in the room with me who are conversing with the tv. Not in a crazy kind of way, but in the way that they're literally having a conversation with the today show. Example: TV: "If you have an allergy to wheat gluten...it can cause *list symptoms" Person: Mmmmmhmm, sure nuff!
I'm in a real conundrum. I took about a week off of working out. Mostly because this week was hell on wheels at work. Don't get me wrong, unlike my last job, I actually enjoy my work and so it hasn't been horrible, but it's taken a toll on my exercise and sleep time.
But that's not the conundrum. The real reason I've taken a week off is because I really hate running on a treadmill. Really hate it, but it's been too hot to go outside unless I'm up really early, and I've been too tired to do that.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to motivate myself to get up and get out there. I have a marathon AND a Ragnar relay breathing down my neck, so I really don't have a negotiable way out.
Since Chadd's out of town this weekend, I have plenty of time to plan. What do I do well? I plan.
If I ever get to leave the dealership, then I'm going to go home and after some fun time with my weightloss buddy, start doing some planning. I'm going to come up with my meal plans again, I always prefer to do that because it takes all the last minute what to eat guess work out of my nights, especially when making a quesadilla sounds like the only option.
I'm also going to brainstorm things to do instead of running ... maybe it's that I have to go and spend an hour on the bike or cross trainer (x-train), maybe it's that I go swimming at the Y (in this heat? yes please...), or a walk. It's still hot outside, but I could probably manage walking (knowing that I'll likely jog)
So. That was written a while ago, in between then and now, I stopped by the diner next door for food, then walked the mile to Ikea to look for a new solution for our desk (we're getting rid of it, since we never use it...) but we need something to put all the stuff in that was in the desk.
Can I just tell you....it's ridiculously hot outside. I literally was sweating through my shirt walking the mile back from Ikea. I'm sure I looked like a crazy homeless person, walking down the highway, but whatever, better than sitting here in the mechanic's...which is playing some terrible 3-d animated kid's show about dogs that race car.
Okay. Thank God. I'm writing this at 10:45 at night...the car is almost repaired (a long story that isn't worth getting into) and my weightloss buddy and I had a great day at Joann fabrics, crafting, eating pizza, and chatting.
Hopefully I'll actually get my food/workout plans together tomorrow. I'll share them soon, whether it's tomorrow or the day after...or the day after that!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Update! I AM alive!
First of all. I am so so so sorry.
I know I've been neglecting the blog for about a month. It's been busy here, to say the least. I love my new job and have done a fairly decent job of staying healthy and keeping my work outs in line instead of ditching them like I did with my last job when things got busy.
I have a status update on my own fitness journey:
- I haven't stepped on the scale in over a month (mostly at the recommendation of my dietician who agrees with me and suggested I live by my own words that weight is the least accurate representation of your health)
- I fit into a size 2 levi jeans (ah!)
- I feel fantastic enough to not worry about the actual number on the scale
- Chadd and I are going to the beach with his family at the end of July (which has inspired me to whip my butt back into shape eating right)
I'm at that magical point in my life where I am 95% confident with how I look. I am still struggling (as I think I always will) with looking like a hard body runner's world model...because that's just not how it ever will be. I will always have a little softness because, well, women are supposed to. That's just how we're built.
Better milestones are shaving time off my races, having better endurance, and being able to eat an extra cheeseburger per week.
I concluded my sessions with my dietician the other week. She showed me how far we'd come--from me obsessively logging calories and having honest to goodness bad moods over going a few calories over my allotted calorie intake, measuring progress really only by weight loss, etc. I feel like I graduated from the school of learning to eat better. Now, I just need to enroll in the school of better time management.
I'm finding myself continuing to eat well, but I'm doing it by walking across the street to get a lean veggie curry dish from the Thai restaurant, or stopping by trader joe's for a salad, when I really need to be saving the money and just making food at home.
Currently, to keep myself at a place where I am comfortable/happy/confident, I need to do the following:
- 1 hour session with my personal trainer on Monday (extremely painful, extremely beneficial)
- 1 hour yoga on Tuesday morning, teach 1 hour step class on Tuesdays
- 1 hour workout on my own (usually running) or rest Wednesday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Thursday
- Rest on Friday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Saturday
- 1 hour 20-20-20 class on Sunday
At best, I get three days off if I'm not teaching a Thursday or a Saturday (usually I do one or the other).
The problem here is that I don't have a lot of time for running. It's already June which means I should be warming up my marathon training this month. My plan for my modified schedule looks like this:
Monday: AM: 5 mile run; PM: 1 hr. training session
Tuesday: AM: Yoga; PM: Teach Step
Wednesday: AM or PM: 5 mile run
Thursday: PM: Body Pump or 6 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Body Pump or Long Run
Sunday: 20-20-20 and Long Run (if Long Run wasn't done on Saturday)
It looks like a lot, but just like some people like to come home from work and read, or go for a walk, or go out for drinks, I really do enjoy going to the gym, coming home to feeling physically relaxed, making dinner, popping on the tv, and chilling out.
When Chadd changes jobs, we'll likely move a few of those workouts to the morning so that we can spend time together in the evening. I have four more sessions with Kimina (my awesome awesome awesome trainer), once those are over, I'll probably use that time for more running, then sign up again for another 8 sessions closer to the marathon.
New feature to blog will be food planning. Probably will appear this weekend!
In the mean time, where are you with your fitness goals?
I know I've been neglecting the blog for about a month. It's been busy here, to say the least. I love my new job and have done a fairly decent job of staying healthy and keeping my work outs in line instead of ditching them like I did with my last job when things got busy.
I have a status update on my own fitness journey:
- I haven't stepped on the scale in over a month (mostly at the recommendation of my dietician who agrees with me and suggested I live by my own words that weight is the least accurate representation of your health)
- I fit into a size 2 levi jeans (ah!)
- I feel fantastic enough to not worry about the actual number on the scale
- Chadd and I are going to the beach with his family at the end of July (which has inspired me to whip my butt back into shape eating right)
I'm at that magical point in my life where I am 95% confident with how I look. I am still struggling (as I think I always will) with looking like a hard body runner's world model...because that's just not how it ever will be. I will always have a little softness because, well, women are supposed to. That's just how we're built.
Better milestones are shaving time off my races, having better endurance, and being able to eat an extra cheeseburger per week.
I concluded my sessions with my dietician the other week. She showed me how far we'd come--from me obsessively logging calories and having honest to goodness bad moods over going a few calories over my allotted calorie intake, measuring progress really only by weight loss, etc. I feel like I graduated from the school of learning to eat better. Now, I just need to enroll in the school of better time management.
I'm finding myself continuing to eat well, but I'm doing it by walking across the street to get a lean veggie curry dish from the Thai restaurant, or stopping by trader joe's for a salad, when I really need to be saving the money and just making food at home.
Currently, to keep myself at a place where I am comfortable/happy/confident, I need to do the following:
- 1 hour session with my personal trainer on Monday (extremely painful, extremely beneficial)
- 1 hour yoga on Tuesday morning, teach 1 hour step class on Tuesdays
- 1 hour workout on my own (usually running) or rest Wednesday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Thursday
- Rest on Friday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Saturday
- 1 hour 20-20-20 class on Sunday
At best, I get three days off if I'm not teaching a Thursday or a Saturday (usually I do one or the other).
The problem here is that I don't have a lot of time for running. It's already June which means I should be warming up my marathon training this month. My plan for my modified schedule looks like this:
Monday: AM: 5 mile run; PM: 1 hr. training session
Tuesday: AM: Yoga; PM: Teach Step
Wednesday: AM or PM: 5 mile run
Thursday: PM: Body Pump or 6 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Body Pump or Long Run
Sunday: 20-20-20 and Long Run (if Long Run wasn't done on Saturday)
It looks like a lot, but just like some people like to come home from work and read, or go for a walk, or go out for drinks, I really do enjoy going to the gym, coming home to feeling physically relaxed, making dinner, popping on the tv, and chilling out.
When Chadd changes jobs, we'll likely move a few of those workouts to the morning so that we can spend time together in the evening. I have four more sessions with Kimina (my awesome awesome awesome trainer), once those are over, I'll probably use that time for more running, then sign up again for another 8 sessions closer to the marathon.
New feature to blog will be food planning. Probably will appear this weekend!
In the mean time, where are you with your fitness goals?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Marathon Training, and how
I sat down at my computer yesterday with a little time on my hands in the afternoon to look over a few running schedules for marathon prepping. I have Jeff Galloway's book at home, but since I forgot to pick it up and bring it in with me, I decided to do some online research and I found a program that I think I'm going to try out. It was listed online through the Houston Chronicle and can be found here at this link:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/run/971175.html
Anyway, since I've done one before and would like to consider myself in fairly decent enough shape, I figured I'd give their intermediate schedule a shot and modify it as I went a long due to teaching etc.
My class schedule is as such:
- Tuesday PM: Step Class
- Every other Thursday PM: Body Pump
- Ever other Saturday AM: Body Pump
- Sunday AM: 20-20-20
With three days taken up a week with training, I'm in kind of a pickle, especially since there will be weekends (every other weekend, in fact) where I'll be teaching twice, which wouldn't be an issue if I didn't also have to throw a long run in there, which can take up to 4 hours.
As I was charting out my modified running schedule, I started to realize that, uhoh. I'm exactly 26 weeks away from the marathon. Which, truth be told, is quite a lot of time (that's half a year, for those of you, who, like me, went "that's so soon!"), but since I have a serious goal this marathon, I need to be diligent.
My last/first/only marathon, I told Chadd that I wanted to run it in under 4:30 and he promised he'd take me to dinner wherever I wanted to go if I did it. It was really a friendly competition, he later told me that he'd have taken me out to dinner no matter what considering that I'd just run a marathon. The funny thing was that I really held on to that bet with him through the race, truly believing that I had to get a 4:30 (though through no reflect of who he is, had I actually been in a sane state of mind I'd have realized he was playing along).
I crossed the line at 4:22:34 and have never had such a strange surge of emotions go through me, exhaustion, elation, pride, extreme and momentary sadness, pain, confusion, clarity...and then I just sat my butt down and waited for someone to find me.
This time is going to be a bit different. First of all, this isn't my first race (can you believe I did a marathon as my first race? Talk about ambitious. Thank God I didn't die...) and second, I've got a solid running history now. I know what I can do, and I think I can do a sub 4. If I literally came in at 4:00:00, I'd be okay with it, but a 3:59:59 would make me elated.
This puts me at needing to maintain just a little under a nine minute mile, meaning I need to train to stay at 9 and hope that race day, I get a speed surge.
But as I was writing out this program, realizing that it was 26 weeks away, and that my program literally started this week, I started to build a mental wall. It doesn't help that I'm not really trained up for my half a week from this weekend...whatever. 4 miles should no longer scare me. But I psyched myself out really badly for that run, had a miserable time, and barely made it home for just under 5 miles.
Tonight, after my appointment with my R.D., I have to go pull a solid 5, which means it's likely I won't be home until 8:30 tonight. Must remain positive...and excited. Here is, so far, the plan for the first 9 weeks of my plan, starting this week:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/run/971175.html
Anyway, since I've done one before and would like to consider myself in fairly decent enough shape, I figured I'd give their intermediate schedule a shot and modify it as I went a long due to teaching etc.
My class schedule is as such:
- Tuesday PM: Step Class
- Every other Thursday PM: Body Pump
- Ever other Saturday AM: Body Pump
- Sunday AM: 20-20-20
With three days taken up a week with training, I'm in kind of a pickle, especially since there will be weekends (every other weekend, in fact) where I'll be teaching twice, which wouldn't be an issue if I didn't also have to throw a long run in there, which can take up to 4 hours.
As I was charting out my modified running schedule, I started to realize that, uhoh. I'm exactly 26 weeks away from the marathon. Which, truth be told, is quite a lot of time (that's half a year, for those of you, who, like me, went "that's so soon!"), but since I have a serious goal this marathon, I need to be diligent.
My last/first/only marathon, I told Chadd that I wanted to run it in under 4:30 and he promised he'd take me to dinner wherever I wanted to go if I did it. It was really a friendly competition, he later told me that he'd have taken me out to dinner no matter what considering that I'd just run a marathon. The funny thing was that I really held on to that bet with him through the race, truly believing that I had to get a 4:30 (though through no reflect of who he is, had I actually been in a sane state of mind I'd have realized he was playing along).
I crossed the line at 4:22:34 and have never had such a strange surge of emotions go through me, exhaustion, elation, pride, extreme and momentary sadness, pain, confusion, clarity...and then I just sat my butt down and waited for someone to find me.
This time is going to be a bit different. First of all, this isn't my first race (can you believe I did a marathon as my first race? Talk about ambitious. Thank God I didn't die...) and second, I've got a solid running history now. I know what I can do, and I think I can do a sub 4. If I literally came in at 4:00:00, I'd be okay with it, but a 3:59:59 would make me elated.
This puts me at needing to maintain just a little under a nine minute mile, meaning I need to train to stay at 9 and hope that race day, I get a speed surge.
But as I was writing out this program, realizing that it was 26 weeks away, and that my program literally started this week, I started to build a mental wall. It doesn't help that I'm not really trained up for my half a week from this weekend...whatever. 4 miles should no longer scare me. But I psyched myself out really badly for that run, had a miserable time, and barely made it home for just under 5 miles.
Tonight, after my appointment with my R.D., I have to go pull a solid 5, which means it's likely I won't be home until 8:30 tonight. Must remain positive...and excited. Here is, so far, the plan for the first 9 weeks of my plan, starting this week:
So. Now to get to it...
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
My Second RD Appt and the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run
I met with my Registered Dietician (RD) last Thursday after many a rescheduled appointment.
I have to say, if you've never sat down with an R.D., stop what you're doing, stop reading this blog, and go make an appointment. Get 4 sessions, and trust me.
The last time I met with my RD, I had brought her a food diary from about a week to two weeks of eating. I'm fairly meticulous with writing down what I eat, so that was the easy part. We talked about my goals, my life style, and some general rules, then she asked me to write down the emotional feelings I had every time I ate until our next meeting.
While that went out the window when I got busy, I did make note of my emotions while eating enough that this picture became clear:
- I woke up not hungry (even before and after a morning workout), got the office and wanted a cup of coffee, no food. Halfway into my coffee, I wanted to eat my desk and the hunger came out of no where.
- I ate again around 10:30 because I was starting to get the munchies. Usually a piece of fruit cured this.
- Since my team tends to eat together at noon, I was never hungry at the beginning of lunch. The hunger picked up halfway through lunch, then I finished ready for a food coma nap.
- 3:30 I get bored and want to snack. Has to be a slow to eat food--popcorn, grapes, anything that requires time to eat.
- Not hungry when I get home and especially not hungry after I workout. At all. I have to force myself to eat after a workout. But about an hour after my workout, again I am ready to destroy an entire pizza.
My RD and I went through discussing that pattern and it basically followed exactly what she suspected/had seen in my food log:
I'm not eating enough. Hi, shocker! I'm a really big proponent of calories in, calories out for weight loss and while it still holds through, I'm highly active and not fueling my body to that level. Am I starving myself? No, but is my body going "eh, let's not burn off that fat, we're a little worried about our caloric intake?" in a word, yes. It sounds a lot more like a bad thing than it actually is.
Think about your body as a car. Let's say that the gas tank can fuel for the energy needed for exactly 1 day, plus a little bit of top-off fuel. When you wake up in the morning (start your car) without eating breakfast, you're essentially running on fumes till you hit the gas station (first meal). If you're like me and try to get in a few morning workouts, you're running on fumes, then pushing your car to the gas station if you fail to eat before hand.
Of course, you want to fill up the gas tank all the way (stuffing yourself). Same thing happens if you decide to put in more miles in a day than your gas tank can hold (second workout) and you wind up filling up again before you take your car home and putting it in the garage.
Essentially, I burn on fumes, over load on food, get really tired, burn all my food off again, then eat a ton or not at all, then pass out and repeat. My consumption looked more like a tiny hill followed by a valley, then a big hill, a steep valley, a little hill, then a huge hill, then right back down and repeat.
My R.D. says that I need to fuel before and after my workouts and definitely eat a breakfast and fuel through my day.
I don't have the papers in front of me, but she outlined the amount of stuff I need to be getting in these food groups:
- Grains
- Protein
- Dairy
- Fruits
- Vegetables
It's a LOT of food. I know she was thinking that I'd be mentally tabbing up the calories from a sample meal, so she said something that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't actually fleshed out into full thought.
I might have been eating the right amount of calories, but the nutrients? Who knows. I mean, what do you REALLY get out of a 100 calorie pack of chocolate pretzels? Probably not much. So we turned the attention to what kind of calories I was actually eating. Cutting out a lot of prepackaged frozen junk and turning to "whole" foods.
While I'll be eating a lot more food, I'll probably be eating the right amount of calories, with all the nutrients. I added milk back into my diet, which hasn't been there in years. My stomach and I are still trying to decide how this is going to work out, but it has been nice to induldge in a big frothy glass of milk, especially post workout for the perfect blend of carbs and protein (and it cuts off that huge hunger pang I have about an hour post workout).
I'll post the sample menu that my RD gave me when I get home.
We also talked about setting SMART goals. I think I've talked about smart goals, so I won't go there again, but if you're interested, just google it. We wound up setting two SMART goals for me with three supporting goals.
I'll post those, too, when I get home so I make sure I have them down right.
So far, so good. I'm on 5 of eating more like the way we discussed and I feel really full all the time and I have energy. Double win.
In totally different news,
The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was this weekend. This was my second 10 Miler, my first one, I came in with like a 1:26 something because I was running with my friend, Maureen, from work and she pushed the hell out of me. This year, by total accident, I ran into her among 15,000 people. We wound up running together again, all the time pushing the other by total accident. We each thought we were slowing up the other, so we kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Before I knew it, we'd crossed 4, just after mile 5, I saw Chadd where I handed off my jacket, then 6, then 7 (oh man, just a 5k left), then suddenly 8 and we only had about 17 minutes left to endure. Then 9 went by and holy moly there was a hill. Maureen put the pedal to the medal, and amazingly, my legs kept up with her. We crested the hill to see the arches were not exactly right around the bend. Falling back a bit, we tried to pick up the pace again and flew through the finish line.
Time: 1:21:29; Pace: 8:09
And just like that, another PR this year.
I can tell you that one of the most beautiful sounds to me in the world is the sound of silence and a thousand runners shoes hitting the pavement all around you.
I have to say, if you've never sat down with an R.D., stop what you're doing, stop reading this blog, and go make an appointment. Get 4 sessions, and trust me.
The last time I met with my RD, I had brought her a food diary from about a week to two weeks of eating. I'm fairly meticulous with writing down what I eat, so that was the easy part. We talked about my goals, my life style, and some general rules, then she asked me to write down the emotional feelings I had every time I ate until our next meeting.
While that went out the window when I got busy, I did make note of my emotions while eating enough that this picture became clear:
- I woke up not hungry (even before and after a morning workout), got the office and wanted a cup of coffee, no food. Halfway into my coffee, I wanted to eat my desk and the hunger came out of no where.
- I ate again around 10:30 because I was starting to get the munchies. Usually a piece of fruit cured this.
- Since my team tends to eat together at noon, I was never hungry at the beginning of lunch. The hunger picked up halfway through lunch, then I finished ready for a food coma nap.
- 3:30 I get bored and want to snack. Has to be a slow to eat food--popcorn, grapes, anything that requires time to eat.
- Not hungry when I get home and especially not hungry after I workout. At all. I have to force myself to eat after a workout. But about an hour after my workout, again I am ready to destroy an entire pizza.
My RD and I went through discussing that pattern and it basically followed exactly what she suspected/had seen in my food log:
I'm not eating enough. Hi, shocker! I'm a really big proponent of calories in, calories out for weight loss and while it still holds through, I'm highly active and not fueling my body to that level. Am I starving myself? No, but is my body going "eh, let's not burn off that fat, we're a little worried about our caloric intake?" in a word, yes. It sounds a lot more like a bad thing than it actually is.
Think about your body as a car. Let's say that the gas tank can fuel for the energy needed for exactly 1 day, plus a little bit of top-off fuel. When you wake up in the morning (start your car) without eating breakfast, you're essentially running on fumes till you hit the gas station (first meal). If you're like me and try to get in a few morning workouts, you're running on fumes, then pushing your car to the gas station if you fail to eat before hand.
Of course, you want to fill up the gas tank all the way (stuffing yourself). Same thing happens if you decide to put in more miles in a day than your gas tank can hold (second workout) and you wind up filling up again before you take your car home and putting it in the garage.
Essentially, I burn on fumes, over load on food, get really tired, burn all my food off again, then eat a ton or not at all, then pass out and repeat. My consumption looked more like a tiny hill followed by a valley, then a big hill, a steep valley, a little hill, then a huge hill, then right back down and repeat.
My R.D. says that I need to fuel before and after my workouts and definitely eat a breakfast and fuel through my day.
I don't have the papers in front of me, but she outlined the amount of stuff I need to be getting in these food groups:
- Grains
- Protein
- Dairy
- Fruits
- Vegetables
It's a LOT of food. I know she was thinking that I'd be mentally tabbing up the calories from a sample meal, so she said something that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't actually fleshed out into full thought.
I might have been eating the right amount of calories, but the nutrients? Who knows. I mean, what do you REALLY get out of a 100 calorie pack of chocolate pretzels? Probably not much. So we turned the attention to what kind of calories I was actually eating. Cutting out a lot of prepackaged frozen junk and turning to "whole" foods.
While I'll be eating a lot more food, I'll probably be eating the right amount of calories, with all the nutrients. I added milk back into my diet, which hasn't been there in years. My stomach and I are still trying to decide how this is going to work out, but it has been nice to induldge in a big frothy glass of milk, especially post workout for the perfect blend of carbs and protein (and it cuts off that huge hunger pang I have about an hour post workout).
I'll post the sample menu that my RD gave me when I get home.
We also talked about setting SMART goals. I think I've talked about smart goals, so I won't go there again, but if you're interested, just google it. We wound up setting two SMART goals for me with three supporting goals.
I'll post those, too, when I get home so I make sure I have them down right.
So far, so good. I'm on 5 of eating more like the way we discussed and I feel really full all the time and I have energy. Double win.
In totally different news,
The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was this weekend. This was my second 10 Miler, my first one, I came in with like a 1:26 something because I was running with my friend, Maureen, from work and she pushed the hell out of me. This year, by total accident, I ran into her among 15,000 people. We wound up running together again, all the time pushing the other by total accident. We each thought we were slowing up the other, so we kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Before I knew it, we'd crossed 4, just after mile 5, I saw Chadd where I handed off my jacket, then 6, then 7 (oh man, just a 5k left), then suddenly 8 and we only had about 17 minutes left to endure. Then 9 went by and holy moly there was a hill. Maureen put the pedal to the medal, and amazingly, my legs kept up with her. We crested the hill to see the arches were not exactly right around the bend. Falling back a bit, we tried to pick up the pace again and flew through the finish line.
Time: 1:21:29; Pace: 8:09
And just like that, another PR this year.
I can tell you that one of the most beautiful sounds to me in the world is the sound of silence and a thousand runners shoes hitting the pavement all around you.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
R2R 10k: Hold Back, Stay Steady, Finish Strong
I have been a terrible blogger, but I'm going to make a better effort to stay on top of it.
So! This weekend, I ran the Run to Register 10k for the Marine Corps Marathon out in Quantico and had a fantastic time.
My good friend, who I've previously called WB for Work Buddy came into town to do the race with me. We stayed close to Quantico Friday night because the last thing we wanted to do was drive an hour+ from the city down to the base.
We got up early, headed over to base and walked out of the car into cool, crisp air. The base was alive with a bunch of talkative runners, pacing around, warming up. After a last minute bathroom break for me,we lined up under the familiar Marine Corps Marathon arches (my stomach dropped seeing them, remembering my anxiety at the marathon) and off we went.
The course was a simple out and back, down a gently sloping (rises and falls, though nothing too steep). Quantico really is beautiful, we were going down one road that stays along side a lake and a bunch of trees. I felt amazing a few miles in, approaching the halfway (3.1), I felt amazing.
I've noticed that I often times come out of the gate WAY too fast (aka, the Turkey Trot with my brother where I nearly puked all over everyone because I was trying to hold is 7:28 pace....HA). This time, I stayed with my friend, stayed with the crowd, and as it opened up, I slowly let myself adjust to about an 8m/m pace. That's a pretty decent and safe pace for a 5k for me, maybe even fine for 4-5 miles, but to stay with it for 6.2 was going to be a little challenging. But it's amazing what checking your speed at the starting line can do. Conserving energy, I was faster for longer. I saw WB as I started back from the halfway and checked my watch.
I couldn't tell you now what it said, but I remember trying to do math for a couple of minutes, checking and rechecking to make sure I'd calculated it correctly. I couldn't possibly be holding this time, this long...could I?
But I went with it, enjoying the scenary, feeling confident and breezy. I turned the corner to come into the track and checked my watch. In my bad calculations, I had hit 51 minutes and was about to turn possibly beat a 53, which, while I didn't "really" have a goal, I knew I wanted something below an hour and that it was possible I could pull out something under 55. After rounding the bend in the track, I saw the official clock: 49:1something. Two words went through my mind: HOLY SH*T and I booked it. I'd already tried to put on the after burners coming down the hill onto the track but lost it somewhere in the middle. Refiring was really difficult, but I crossed the line in what I swear was some blur of numbers around a 49:3something.
Alas, my official time (which apparently was clock AND chip time...even though I started probably a solid minute after the clock time?) was 50.00.00. A new 10K PR. Some smooth even numbers there, my friends.
I felt officially accomplished and spent the rest of the day, stuffing my face with Mexican food with WB (who also ran a solid race, crushing his PR by 15 minutes--major props to him!) and spending time with Chadd.
Here we are, WB and I, post race:
Best part of the race? When we finished, we were handed a card with an access code on it for a guaranteed entry to the Marine Corps Marathon this year--the 35th. I ran the 31st in 2006 with a 4:22:34...and am looking to crush the 4 hour mark this year, which is just a little over a 9 minute mile. I'd be in line for a 3:45 if I held a solid 8:30. We'll see how training goes!
I've got a weekend off, then the Cherry Blossom 10 mile! If I can hold an 8:15 pace, I'll be thrilled, an 8:30, pretty happy, and anything lower, acceptable.
A little shout out to all of you--thank you so much for the gchat messages/emails/facebook messages, etc. letting me know you read the blog and your congrats on my race--y'all are the best and you give me warm fuzzies.
Coming up this afternoon: Abs/Core Arsenal--a few moves for beginners to experts to pay some special attention to your core!
So! This weekend, I ran the Run to Register 10k for the Marine Corps Marathon out in Quantico and had a fantastic time.
My good friend, who I've previously called WB for Work Buddy came into town to do the race with me. We stayed close to Quantico Friday night because the last thing we wanted to do was drive an hour+ from the city down to the base.
We got up early, headed over to base and walked out of the car into cool, crisp air. The base was alive with a bunch of talkative runners, pacing around, warming up. After a last minute bathroom break for me,we lined up under the familiar Marine Corps Marathon arches (my stomach dropped seeing them, remembering my anxiety at the marathon) and off we went.
The course was a simple out and back, down a gently sloping (rises and falls, though nothing too steep). Quantico really is beautiful, we were going down one road that stays along side a lake and a bunch of trees. I felt amazing a few miles in, approaching the halfway (3.1), I felt amazing.
I've noticed that I often times come out of the gate WAY too fast (aka, the Turkey Trot with my brother where I nearly puked all over everyone because I was trying to hold is 7:28 pace....HA). This time, I stayed with my friend, stayed with the crowd, and as it opened up, I slowly let myself adjust to about an 8m/m pace. That's a pretty decent and safe pace for a 5k for me, maybe even fine for 4-5 miles, but to stay with it for 6.2 was going to be a little challenging. But it's amazing what checking your speed at the starting line can do. Conserving energy, I was faster for longer. I saw WB as I started back from the halfway and checked my watch.
I couldn't tell you now what it said, but I remember trying to do math for a couple of minutes, checking and rechecking to make sure I'd calculated it correctly. I couldn't possibly be holding this time, this long...could I?
But I went with it, enjoying the scenary, feeling confident and breezy. I turned the corner to come into the track and checked my watch. In my bad calculations, I had hit 51 minutes and was about to turn possibly beat a 53, which, while I didn't "really" have a goal, I knew I wanted something below an hour and that it was possible I could pull out something under 55. After rounding the bend in the track, I saw the official clock: 49:1something. Two words went through my mind: HOLY SH*T and I booked it. I'd already tried to put on the after burners coming down the hill onto the track but lost it somewhere in the middle. Refiring was really difficult, but I crossed the line in what I swear was some blur of numbers around a 49:3something.
Alas, my official time (which apparently was clock AND chip time...even though I started probably a solid minute after the clock time?) was 50.00.00. A new 10K PR. Some smooth even numbers there, my friends.
I felt officially accomplished and spent the rest of the day, stuffing my face with Mexican food with WB (who also ran a solid race, crushing his PR by 15 minutes--major props to him!) and spending time with Chadd.
Here we are, WB and I, post race:
Best part of the race? When we finished, we were handed a card with an access code on it for a guaranteed entry to the Marine Corps Marathon this year--the 35th. I ran the 31st in 2006 with a 4:22:34...and am looking to crush the 4 hour mark this year, which is just a little over a 9 minute mile. I'd be in line for a 3:45 if I held a solid 8:30. We'll see how training goes!
I've got a weekend off, then the Cherry Blossom 10 mile! If I can hold an 8:15 pace, I'll be thrilled, an 8:30, pretty happy, and anything lower, acceptable.
A little shout out to all of you--thank you so much for the gchat messages/emails/facebook messages, etc. letting me know you read the blog and your congrats on my race--y'all are the best and you give me warm fuzzies.
Coming up this afternoon: Abs/Core Arsenal--a few moves for beginners to experts to pay some special attention to your core!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Guest Blogger Mondays - The First 5k
Everyone! I am happy to announce a new series that I am [attempting] to bring to DietsAreCrap--Guest Blogger Mondays!
Every few Mondays I'm going to have a guest blogger share a personal weight loss/fitness/athletic story with you all. I hope you enjoy and pass the blog on to your friends.
Shameless plug: I'm trying for 300 followers by the end of the year (you can also feel free to follow me on Twitter, that counts!)
Today's Guest Blogger Monday post comes from my mom, the talented artist behind her blog NiftyArtGirl. May her story inspire you to try something new! Additionally, please contact me if you're interested in sharing your story and being a part of the Guest Blogger Mondays.
September 15th my daughter announces she and her brother are going to run the Seniors First 20th Annual Turkey Trot 5k. Not wanting to miss any time with my children I thought I will do this too. I will walk it and meet them at the end. I go on-line, fill out the form, a very simple one, type in my credit card number and bingo! I am in. Fast forward a month to a conversation with aforementioned brother, my son. He is the 19 year old college student in Colorado. He is a fit, lean, strong rock climber, snowboarder, and can breathe at high altitudes, the altitudes that come with very little oxygen. While visiting him in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains, he says, ”Mom, you can run a mile.” Something very endearing about your teenager giving you confidence with a pronouncement like that.
I came home, and got on the treadmill. It was nice and cool outside so I had the door open in front of me. I put some music on my ipod, MC Hammer’s greatest hits and got started. I was watching the calories and not the distance so didn’t know I had run 1.22 miles. Was I panting? No. Was I hurting? My hip did a little. Was I tired? No. Hmmm? The air is nice outside, remember? I went out and went another mile. I kept asking myself if I was tired. I wasn’t, I wasn’t bored. I was so happy and it felt so good.
Nobody home to exclaim to. I called my children. They shared the happiness I had, they were preparing for said race too. Now Daughter has run a marathon and can easily sprint 3 miles in the evenings. She is a fit, lean exercising machine. And she is an aerobics instructor who really understands the value of encouragement. She did her job, “That’s great Mom. If people realized it was only 15 minutes to do a mile, they would do it.” I must say the thought that in 45 minutes I would be done was pretty enlightening. Those 45 minutes will come and go whether you run or you sit at home in front of the tv eating bonbons. She continued to encourage me through the next month of self training. I called aforementioned children’s dad and my husband and shared the news. If he was out of town I called him to say the distance, if he was home I would walk down the hall to his office to deliver my new information.
A nagging hip pain had me stretching once in a while when I jogged, but I really didn’t want to stop. I was so afraid of losing momentum that I didn’t want to get off the treadmill for a minute. I know myself, I am easily distracted and can convince myself that there are other more pressing things for me to do…laundry, dishwashing, really? Are those things pressing? At the conclusion of each run I would sit in the pool. The water is cold, it will reduce any swelling or pain. It probably would have if I had stretched at the conclusion of every jog.
I was persistent and made myself jog almost every other day. I had a date and a distance to achieve. I would run at least thirty minutes and about 2.5 miles each meeting with my treadmill. One night I pushed and made 3.5 miles. I called the kids to brag, they were constant ears for me. Daughter said, ”Then you can run the 5k easily. It is only 3.1 miles.” What a sense of relief, for some reason I was going with 3.5 miles in my head. Now I knew I could do it, the nerves settled immensely.
One of biggest boosts in this preparation was my friends disbelief that I could do this. One said, “That is farther than I run.” Another said, ”How do you do that?” Smug is the definition of how I felt.
I continued with my “training”. I experimented with music. I sang with Joni Mitchell, was serenaded by John Mayer, and was pumped with MC Hammer. He would accompany me on my 5k.
Two days before the race I took a little jog with Daughter. I found immediately that I have to go it alone. I was trying to pace myself and wanted to run with her at the same time and I couldn’t. While on the treadmill at home I would try to watch my shadow. I learned the rhythm and my own pace that way. I am very visual so could call that up to determine how fast I should go. Daughter sprinted ahead and ran back to meet me. I was able to restart and focus on the memory of my shadow.
The morning of the race we got up early. I had a bowl of protein packed cold cereal and a little to drink. Fearing a lack of bathrooms I stopped with that. We drove to Lake Eola and easily found parking having chosen to arrive early. We locked our wallets away and the car key was hidden in an ipod armband. We walked with other sporty folks, track teams from high schools, and people who obviously had done this before. The crowd was growing trying to sort itself out. There were a few runners with turkey headgear, it was after all Thanksgiving morning. We had a lot to be thankful for. We were healthy and capable of being a part of this.
We girls had on spiffy running gear. Black running capris and hot pink long sleeved tops. Brother was in cool blue shorts and a sushi restaurant t-shirt. We were hot! Well, now we were a little cold. The air was chilly and the skinny runners were there with teeth chattering. One more bathroom stop at the line of port-a potties. We walked a little distance in the park and stretched, my kids were doing real stretching, I had no idea what to do so followed their lead, hoping nobody would get a back view of me in my stretchy capris. We were pretty quiet. Other people in the crowd were chatting and enjoying the camaraderie. The kids went to the front of the group at the starting line. They were racing, themselves and each other. I wanted to be near the slower folks, but not with the walkers.
They were off, the crowd slowly moved forward to the starting line as the first runners could be seen way ahead going up the first little hill. We eased up a step at a time. I started jogging as the group beside me did likewise. Under the clock and gone. I was about 5 minutes after my children had set off on their race. I did not take note of the exact time on the clock as I went under it. I should have because that would have determined my precise finishing time. I felt as if I had a mission. I was not jubilant, I was serious and focused. Clearly I wouldn’t be fun to run with. It takes a lot of my concentration to breathe, I cannot do the in through the nose out with the mouth thing. I am in and out of the mouth. My mouth gets dry I freak, will I choke. I forgot the mouth moistening spray.
I see early that you must navigate around other runners, walkers, strollers (really a bad idea), parked cars, uneven pavement, and bricks. There was a never a time that I was in a group of runners going the same speed as I. Once in a while one would wander up and honestly it was irritating. It was similar to driving 65 on the interstate and realizing you can’t go around or stay behind the person in front of you. The only way to get away is to rev up and floor it and go around. That is what I did. There were a few places where the crowd was thick, people going along together talking. Squeezing between them and other talkers took some maneuvering and passing sideways, “Scuse me, scuse me.”
Ahead I could see tables lined with paper cups manned by kind volunteers. That was a great treat. Slowing to a walk I grabbed a cup, I did drink it, not just swish. Then as the pros on the televised runs I tossed my cup to the street. I had more important things to do then worry about littering.
At one point a man’s voice came out of the blue. I could discern words not just a blur of crowd sounds. The things he said became repetitive, he was right beside me, who is he? Was he some endorphin flooded runner coming to encourage me. No, it was my loving husband. He jogged up beside me and chatted a second, encouraged me to keep going, gave me a kiss, and waved good-bye. I figured he was on his way home to continue the roasting of the turkey.
I could use a little walk. I slowed down for about 10 feet of walking. That really felt good and even that small amount helped me to regroup. It is only 3.1 miles. I missed the mile markers so had no idea if I had gone one mile or two or three. I saw a few people who had completed the race walking down the sidewalk coming from the opposite direction. The end must be near or they were extremely fast. I started looking for my children thinking they might come back and jog with me. We went around a turn and I could see a crowd. It was the finish line, the same place we had started from. When I saw it I knew this was a done deal. I was not going to fall like some of the people I had seen earlier. This was the best part of the race. As we got closer there were people standing on the sidelines cheering us on. The most beautiful sight at that point was my two children. They were leaning from the right side and looking around the crowd watching for me. They came running out to go across the finish line with me. Daughter said, ”Smile, they are taking pictures.” I think I did. One of Brother’s friends called out to him. We crossed together. They ate bananas, I wanted coffee. We meandered through the glowing, sweating, happy people.
We walked to the car, settled in, and started driving home. Luckily Brother was watching the scenery go by and saw his car parked on the street. Needless to say when a 19 year old male sees his car miles from home and he isn’t driving it an alarm goes off. We turned around, parked, and began a search for Dad, the driver of said brother’s said car. We found him. He had been waiting to see us cross the finish line. Somehow without cell phones or earlier made plans we did find each other. We were victorious and could share it with one more person we loved. I called my mother to share the news. We had been up for hours and it was only 9:00.
My children and me. What a shining moment in my life. We shared an accomplishment. Daughter had her personal best time (24:28), Brother beat his sister in his first race ever (23:28), and I my first 5k at the age of 50 (39:45). When my father was alive I had told him I wanted to run a 5k. I had always said, “I wish I could run.” He said, “Then do it.” “Daddy, you aren’t here, but I think you know I did it.”
Every few Mondays I'm going to have a guest blogger share a personal weight loss/fitness/athletic story with you all. I hope you enjoy and pass the blog on to your friends.
Shameless plug: I'm trying for 300 followers by the end of the year (you can also feel free to follow me on Twitter, that counts!)
Today's Guest Blogger Monday post comes from my mom, the talented artist behind her blog NiftyArtGirl. May her story inspire you to try something new! Additionally, please contact me if you're interested in sharing your story and being a part of the Guest Blogger Mondays.
September 15th my daughter announces she and her brother are going to run the Seniors First 20th Annual Turkey Trot 5k. Not wanting to miss any time with my children I thought I will do this too. I will walk it and meet them at the end. I go on-line, fill out the form, a very simple one, type in my credit card number and bingo! I am in. Fast forward a month to a conversation with aforementioned brother, my son. He is the 19 year old college student in Colorado. He is a fit, lean, strong rock climber, snowboarder, and can breathe at high altitudes, the altitudes that come with very little oxygen. While visiting him in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains, he says, ”Mom, you can run a mile.” Something very endearing about your teenager giving you confidence with a pronouncement like that.
I came home, and got on the treadmill. It was nice and cool outside so I had the door open in front of me. I put some music on my ipod, MC Hammer’s greatest hits and got started. I was watching the calories and not the distance so didn’t know I had run 1.22 miles. Was I panting? No. Was I hurting? My hip did a little. Was I tired? No. Hmmm? The air is nice outside, remember? I went out and went another mile. I kept asking myself if I was tired. I wasn’t, I wasn’t bored. I was so happy and it felt so good.
Nobody home to exclaim to. I called my children. They shared the happiness I had, they were preparing for said race too. Now Daughter has run a marathon and can easily sprint 3 miles in the evenings. She is a fit, lean exercising machine. And she is an aerobics instructor who really understands the value of encouragement. She did her job, “That’s great Mom. If people realized it was only 15 minutes to do a mile, they would do it.” I must say the thought that in 45 minutes I would be done was pretty enlightening. Those 45 minutes will come and go whether you run or you sit at home in front of the tv eating bonbons. She continued to encourage me through the next month of self training. I called aforementioned children’s dad and my husband and shared the news. If he was out of town I called him to say the distance, if he was home I would walk down the hall to his office to deliver my new information.
A nagging hip pain had me stretching once in a while when I jogged, but I really didn’t want to stop. I was so afraid of losing momentum that I didn’t want to get off the treadmill for a minute. I know myself, I am easily distracted and can convince myself that there are other more pressing things for me to do…laundry, dishwashing, really? Are those things pressing? At the conclusion of each run I would sit in the pool. The water is cold, it will reduce any swelling or pain. It probably would have if I had stretched at the conclusion of every jog.
I was persistent and made myself jog almost every other day. I had a date and a distance to achieve. I would run at least thirty minutes and about 2.5 miles each meeting with my treadmill. One night I pushed and made 3.5 miles. I called the kids to brag, they were constant ears for me. Daughter said, ”Then you can run the 5k easily. It is only 3.1 miles.” What a sense of relief, for some reason I was going with 3.5 miles in my head. Now I knew I could do it, the nerves settled immensely.
One of biggest boosts in this preparation was my friends disbelief that I could do this. One said, “That is farther than I run.” Another said, ”How do you do that?” Smug is the definition of how I felt.
I continued with my “training”. I experimented with music. I sang with Joni Mitchell, was serenaded by John Mayer, and was pumped with MC Hammer. He would accompany me on my 5k.
Two days before the race I took a little jog with Daughter. I found immediately that I have to go it alone. I was trying to pace myself and wanted to run with her at the same time and I couldn’t. While on the treadmill at home I would try to watch my shadow. I learned the rhythm and my own pace that way. I am very visual so could call that up to determine how fast I should go. Daughter sprinted ahead and ran back to meet me. I was able to restart and focus on the memory of my shadow.
The morning of the race we got up early. I had a bowl of protein packed cold cereal and a little to drink. Fearing a lack of bathrooms I stopped with that. We drove to Lake Eola and easily found parking having chosen to arrive early. We locked our wallets away and the car key was hidden in an ipod armband. We walked with other sporty folks, track teams from high schools, and people who obviously had done this before. The crowd was growing trying to sort itself out. There were a few runners with turkey headgear, it was after all Thanksgiving morning. We had a lot to be thankful for. We were healthy and capable of being a part of this.
We girls had on spiffy running gear. Black running capris and hot pink long sleeved tops. Brother was in cool blue shorts and a sushi restaurant t-shirt. We were hot! Well, now we were a little cold. The air was chilly and the skinny runners were there with teeth chattering. One more bathroom stop at the line of port-a potties. We walked a little distance in the park and stretched, my kids were doing real stretching, I had no idea what to do so followed their lead, hoping nobody would get a back view of me in my stretchy capris. We were pretty quiet. Other people in the crowd were chatting and enjoying the camaraderie. The kids went to the front of the group at the starting line. They were racing, themselves and each other. I wanted to be near the slower folks, but not with the walkers.
They were off, the crowd slowly moved forward to the starting line as the first runners could be seen way ahead going up the first little hill. We eased up a step at a time. I started jogging as the group beside me did likewise. Under the clock and gone. I was about 5 minutes after my children had set off on their race. I did not take note of the exact time on the clock as I went under it. I should have because that would have determined my precise finishing time. I felt as if I had a mission. I was not jubilant, I was serious and focused. Clearly I wouldn’t be fun to run with. It takes a lot of my concentration to breathe, I cannot do the in through the nose out with the mouth thing. I am in and out of the mouth. My mouth gets dry I freak, will I choke. I forgot the mouth moistening spray.
I see early that you must navigate around other runners, walkers, strollers (really a bad idea), parked cars, uneven pavement, and bricks. There was a never a time that I was in a group of runners going the same speed as I. Once in a while one would wander up and honestly it was irritating. It was similar to driving 65 on the interstate and realizing you can’t go around or stay behind the person in front of you. The only way to get away is to rev up and floor it and go around. That is what I did. There were a few places where the crowd was thick, people going along together talking. Squeezing between them and other talkers took some maneuvering and passing sideways, “Scuse me, scuse me.”
Ahead I could see tables lined with paper cups manned by kind volunteers. That was a great treat. Slowing to a walk I grabbed a cup, I did drink it, not just swish. Then as the pros on the televised runs I tossed my cup to the street. I had more important things to do then worry about littering.
At one point a man’s voice came out of the blue. I could discern words not just a blur of crowd sounds. The things he said became repetitive, he was right beside me, who is he? Was he some endorphin flooded runner coming to encourage me. No, it was my loving husband. He jogged up beside me and chatted a second, encouraged me to keep going, gave me a kiss, and waved good-bye. I figured he was on his way home to continue the roasting of the turkey.
I could use a little walk. I slowed down for about 10 feet of walking. That really felt good and even that small amount helped me to regroup. It is only 3.1 miles. I missed the mile markers so had no idea if I had gone one mile or two or three. I saw a few people who had completed the race walking down the sidewalk coming from the opposite direction. The end must be near or they were extremely fast. I started looking for my children thinking they might come back and jog with me. We went around a turn and I could see a crowd. It was the finish line, the same place we had started from. When I saw it I knew this was a done deal. I was not going to fall like some of the people I had seen earlier. This was the best part of the race. As we got closer there were people standing on the sidelines cheering us on. The most beautiful sight at that point was my two children. They were leaning from the right side and looking around the crowd watching for me. They came running out to go across the finish line with me. Daughter said, ”Smile, they are taking pictures.” I think I did. One of Brother’s friends called out to him. We crossed together. They ate bananas, I wanted coffee. We meandered through the glowing, sweating, happy people.
We walked to the car, settled in, and started driving home. Luckily Brother was watching the scenery go by and saw his car parked on the street. Needless to say when a 19 year old male sees his car miles from home and he isn’t driving it an alarm goes off. We turned around, parked, and began a search for Dad, the driver of said brother’s said car. We found him. He had been waiting to see us cross the finish line. Somehow without cell phones or earlier made plans we did find each other. We were victorious and could share it with one more person we loved. I called my mother to share the news. We had been up for hours and it was only 9:00.
My children and me. What a shining moment in my life. We shared an accomplishment. Daughter had her personal best time (24:28), Brother beat his sister in his first race ever (23:28), and I my first 5k at the age of 50 (39:45). When my father was alive I had told him I wanted to run a 5k. I had always said, “I wish I could run.” He said, “Then do it.” “Daddy, you aren’t here, but I think you know I did it.”
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Training Schedule, Retry
Something was weird with my last entry. As in, the first half was entirely blank. So, here is the first part of that entry...
I told my Sunday morning class about some up-coming races and invited them to join me for the Historic Half Marathon on May 16th. In anticipation of hopefully a few of them joining me (because my class is awesome), here is the training schedule I"m personally following (see last entry)
If you are interested in completing a half marathon in Mid-May, then I suggest looking for an ambitious trainng schedule that starts out a bit slow to build endurance, then does a pretty heavy backload with a recovery week before the event. I also recommend ignoring my advice and checking out Jeff Galloway's website, which I am afraid to post because I think that's what caused my last entry to be half blank. I used Jeff Galloway's training program in his marathon book (which is a great read, btw) and had great results (I didn't die!). He's a wonderful trainer for beginner and advanced runners. He has a lot of great tips on his website that I suggest going through. His program is 19 weeks long, so if you're doing the Half, I suggest taking out 2 weeks of your choice (but should not be the longest long run week).
See below for my schedule!
I managed to get my 3 miles in last night....on the treadmill, at race pace. Suffice to say, I was exhausted at the end. Treadmill kills me.
Also, don't forget to help me with my new years resolution and spread the blog love! Goal of 300 by the end of the year. You can follow me on Twitter, too!
There might be some big news coming in the next few weeks, too. Stay tuned!
I told my Sunday morning class about some up-coming races and invited them to join me for the Historic Half Marathon on May 16th. In anticipation of hopefully a few of them joining me (because my class is awesome), here is the training schedule I"m personally following (see last entry)
If you are interested in completing a half marathon in Mid-May, then I suggest looking for an ambitious trainng schedule that starts out a bit slow to build endurance, then does a pretty heavy backload with a recovery week before the event. I also recommend ignoring my advice and checking out Jeff Galloway's website, which I am afraid to post because I think that's what caused my last entry to be half blank. I used Jeff Galloway's training program in his marathon book (which is a great read, btw) and had great results (I didn't die!). He's a wonderful trainer for beginner and advanced runners. He has a lot of great tips on his website that I suggest going through. His program is 19 weeks long, so if you're doing the Half, I suggest taking out 2 weeks of your choice (but should not be the longest long run week).
See below for my schedule!
I managed to get my 3 miles in last night....on the treadmill, at race pace. Suffice to say, I was exhausted at the end. Treadmill kills me.
Also, don't forget to help me with my new years resolution and spread the blog love! Goal of 300 by the end of the year. You can follow me on Twitter, too!
There might be some big news coming in the next few weeks, too. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Realist's Training Plan
I told my Sunday morning class about some up coming races and invited them to join me for the Historic Half Marathon. In anticipation of hopefully a few of them joining me (because my class is the most awesome ever), here is the training schedule that I am personally following.
If you are interested in completing a half marathon in mid-May, then I suggest looking for an ambitious training schedule that starts out a little slow to build up endurance, then does a pretty heavy back end. I also recommend checking out this website.
I used Jeff Galloway's training program for my marathon and had great results. He;'s wonderful for beginner runners (as well as advanced) and has a lot of great tips in his book and that website mentioned above.
If you are training for the Historic Half...Since the race is less than 19 weeks away, I would suggest taking out some of the recovery weeks.
But if you're interested in my training program, here is what I've got coming up for me:
Personally, I'm swapping Sunday with Friday because Fridays are my "clean the apartment" day.
You can find another training schedule, Here at my friend's Running for the Carbs blog. She's running the half with me, so you can see how our training schedules work out. I strongly suggest following her blog!
Have a great start to the week. Let me know if you're training for a race! I'm currently working on getting some guest bloggers in line to share their "first race" stories. Would love to hear yours!
If you are interested in completing a half marathon in mid-May, then I suggest looking for an ambitious training schedule that starts out a little slow to build up endurance, then does a pretty heavy back end. I also recommend checking out this website.
I used Jeff Galloway's training program for my marathon and had great results. He;'s wonderful for beginner runners (as well as advanced) and has a lot of great tips in his book and that website mentioned above.
If you are training for the Historic Half...Since the race is less than 19 weeks away, I would suggest taking out some of the recovery weeks.
But if you're interested in my training program, here is what I've got coming up for me:
This schedule, of course, does not include my cross training and does allow for some fudge room. I suggest on a rigorous training schedule like this to incorporate foam rolling at least once a week along with at least 1 yoga class (my hips have never felt so good as they did this morning during yoga). I also encourage, if you're going for a time, to do considerable strength training. A sample week with this type of added cross training may look like this:
Monday: Strength training (lower body and core)
Tuesday: Scheduled run
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: Scheduled run
Friday: Foam rolling, half hour of walking, cycling, elliptical, swimming (anything low impact or no impact) and/or upper body strength training
Saturday: Scheduled long run
Sunday: Recovery
Personally, I'm swapping Sunday with Friday because Fridays are my "clean the apartment" day.
You can find another training schedule, Here at my friend's Running for the Carbs blog. She's running the half with me, so you can see how our training schedules work out. I strongly suggest following her blog!
Have a great start to the week. Let me know if you're training for a race! I'm currently working on getting some guest bloggers in line to share their "first race" stories. Would love to hear yours!
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