Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Marathon Training Has Started
To bring myself up to speed since my interest in blogging waned mid-March. I finished the 10K in 1:07:42, 1 second ahead of Mr. E. Of course the one second was due to the fact that my timing chip happened to pass one mat later or earlier than him, but it was one second! Ran a 5K in Mid-May at 33:08 (approximately). The course for that one was about 75% uphill with one REALLY steep downhill at the end. Not bad and got a cool medal.
Yesterday Marathon training started. 24 weeks of work for one race. The first few weeks are nice 3 mile runs for the most part, so I'm excited. The first group run was pretty good. I'm in the bottom 3rd time-wise in my novice training team, but at least there are people my speed! I think most of the slower people are doing the Saturday training instead of the Sunday one. Got to go with your schedule though.
I will try to be better about blogging with the Marathon team. We are scheduled for a half-marathon in August, so here's looking towards that!
Yesterday Marathon training started. 24 weeks of work for one race. The first few weeks are nice 3 mile runs for the most part, so I'm excited. The first group run was pretty good. I'm in the bottom 3rd time-wise in my novice training team, but at least there are people my speed! I think most of the slower people are doing the Saturday training instead of the Sunday one. Got to go with your schedule though.
I will try to be better about blogging with the Marathon team. We are scheduled for a half-marathon in August, so here's looking towards that!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Tough Week
Well weight update first, was up 0.2 on the 23rd, but then down 1.8 on the 1st - so I'm down a total of about 6.6 now from January. That's good.
The running is just so off and on for me now. Some days I feel great and the runs are no big deal, and then others I feel like I"m just starting out again. It all really came to a head this past Saturday. Last Saturday was a 5 miler, and although I finished about 10 minutes behind everyone else - I ran the whole way and finished in just over an hour. About the same time as when I run it on the treadmill, except that we had to go up the big hill at the very very end, so I almost keeled over. Then came this weekend's run. The course had us going up the small hill twice. I made it about 50 minutes or so into the run and just couldn't move anymore. My legs felt like two steel rods that didn't want to move. I ran on and off for a bit, and then walked the last part with a "strong finish" of a jog as I came into the starting area again. At that point I found out that our 5 mile run was actually about 5.8. Of course, Mr. E told me that I really made about the 5 miles running before walking, but that wasn't the point. It was the first time that I hadn't finished. It had been a tough week at work and I'm sure there are a number of reasons and excuses, but it just hurt my psyche. Up to that point I could say - I may be last, but I never give up and I always ran the whole way. That isn't the case now.
Saturday spilled over into my confidence in the following run on Monday. Again, 5 miles was called for. As I stepped onto that treadmill I was sure I wasn't going to make it, there was no way I could get through it. I'm just not cut out for running distances. The marathon running was a pipe dream, there's just no way. But I started. And I kept going. It was tough about mile 3, but mile 4 wasn't so bad, and then I was through. I was sweaty and tired, but I'd finished. It was a huge boost to my confidence. Today is a tempo run - so I'll only do about 3.3 miles. Thursday is the first time it calls for us to run 6 miles. I am still a bit worried about that milestone, but making through Monday's 5 miles makes me think I might make it through those 6.
I'm pretty sure I'll be last again on Saturday, when we have to do another 6 miles. Hopefully it won't involve 2 hills. I'm thinking of brining my ipod along just in case I need some distraction while running alone. Here's hoping that I have more Mondays and less Saturdays (that is probably the only time someone has asked for that!)
The running is just so off and on for me now. Some days I feel great and the runs are no big deal, and then others I feel like I"m just starting out again. It all really came to a head this past Saturday. Last Saturday was a 5 miler, and although I finished about 10 minutes behind everyone else - I ran the whole way and finished in just over an hour. About the same time as when I run it on the treadmill, except that we had to go up the big hill at the very very end, so I almost keeled over. Then came this weekend's run. The course had us going up the small hill twice. I made it about 50 minutes or so into the run and just couldn't move anymore. My legs felt like two steel rods that didn't want to move. I ran on and off for a bit, and then walked the last part with a "strong finish" of a jog as I came into the starting area again. At that point I found out that our 5 mile run was actually about 5.8. Of course, Mr. E told me that I really made about the 5 miles running before walking, but that wasn't the point. It was the first time that I hadn't finished. It had been a tough week at work and I'm sure there are a number of reasons and excuses, but it just hurt my psyche. Up to that point I could say - I may be last, but I never give up and I always ran the whole way. That isn't the case now.
Saturday spilled over into my confidence in the following run on Monday. Again, 5 miles was called for. As I stepped onto that treadmill I was sure I wasn't going to make it, there was no way I could get through it. I'm just not cut out for running distances. The marathon running was a pipe dream, there's just no way. But I started. And I kept going. It was tough about mile 3, but mile 4 wasn't so bad, and then I was through. I was sweaty and tired, but I'd finished. It was a huge boost to my confidence. Today is a tempo run - so I'll only do about 3.3 miles. Thursday is the first time it calls for us to run 6 miles. I am still a bit worried about that milestone, but making through Monday's 5 miles makes me think I might make it through those 6.
I'm pretty sure I'll be last again on Saturday, when we have to do another 6 miles. Hopefully it won't involve 2 hills. I'm thinking of brining my ipod along just in case I need some distraction while running alone. Here's hoping that I have more Mondays and less Saturdays (that is probably the only time someone has asked for that!)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Update 2/20
So I'm obviously failing at making regular entries lately, guess I'll make a few of these just "updates" as of a certain date.
First - weight was down again this week - 1.6 pounds again! Yippee - that makes almost 5 pounds down from my high after the holidays. It just sucks how much slower it comes off than it goes on.
I don't like liars, and I really don't like when people just call it a "fib". I'm primarily griping about my workout on Saturday. Our schedule called for a 3 mile run - yay, step back week, phew. I should also note that I was sick all week leading up to the run and missed one weekly workout, did get all the rest in. So, there I am on Saturday morning with my over-sized snot rag.....on a side note I think that handkerchiefs are the grossest things ever, and yet there I was with a towel fully intending to blow my nose in it and carry it with me for the three mile run.... It was cold on Saturday and as the group got going, I was at the back by myself again. Although I didn't feel 100%, I actually felt pretty good during the run (if anyone asks I'll deny that I said that for the rest of my life), and even ended up passing a few people on the final hill. So I finished about 3rd from last. Stopped running, looked at my watch: 43:15!!!! On a normal day I do about a 12:00 mile, so 43:15 was completely out of left field. Just when I thought I'd lost my mind and must've crawled half the run, someone tells me that their GPS said the run was actually 3.9 miles. HOLY CRAP - That was 0.9 more than I thought I'd be running. What the hell! Don't fib to me and tell me there was a "short warm up" section built in - 0.9 extra miles is not a short anything!
In retrospect, that means my time for the run was pretty good, but I'm still more fired up about the whole fibbing about actual distance. I'm a beginning runner and I'm just stubborn enough that I'll finish the distance I have to finish, but don't go playing games with me or I'm not going to trust anything going forward.
The rest of this week has us building up to the longest run of the training program...so far...5 miles. Although that's the Saturday run, so I'm sure it'll end up being 5.6 or something.
Stop fibbing, just tell me what I need to accomplish.
First - weight was down again this week - 1.6 pounds again! Yippee - that makes almost 5 pounds down from my high after the holidays. It just sucks how much slower it comes off than it goes on.
I don't like liars, and I really don't like when people just call it a "fib". I'm primarily griping about my workout on Saturday. Our schedule called for a 3 mile run - yay, step back week, phew. I should also note that I was sick all week leading up to the run and missed one weekly workout, did get all the rest in. So, there I am on Saturday morning with my over-sized snot rag.....on a side note I think that handkerchiefs are the grossest things ever, and yet there I was with a towel fully intending to blow my nose in it and carry it with me for the three mile run.... It was cold on Saturday and as the group got going, I was at the back by myself again. Although I didn't feel 100%, I actually felt pretty good during the run (if anyone asks I'll deny that I said that for the rest of my life), and even ended up passing a few people on the final hill. So I finished about 3rd from last. Stopped running, looked at my watch: 43:15!!!! On a normal day I do about a 12:00 mile, so 43:15 was completely out of left field. Just when I thought I'd lost my mind and must've crawled half the run, someone tells me that their GPS said the run was actually 3.9 miles. HOLY CRAP - That was 0.9 more than I thought I'd be running. What the hell! Don't fib to me and tell me there was a "short warm up" section built in - 0.9 extra miles is not a short anything!
In retrospect, that means my time for the run was pretty good, but I'm still more fired up about the whole fibbing about actual distance. I'm a beginning runner and I'm just stubborn enough that I'll finish the distance I have to finish, but don't go playing games with me or I'm not going to trust anything going forward.
The rest of this week has us building up to the longest run of the training program...so far...5 miles. Although that's the Saturday run, so I'm sure it'll end up being 5.6 or something.
Stop fibbing, just tell me what I need to accomplish.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Weight 2/9, Week 2 Workouts, Group Workout 3
Weight was up 0.4 this week, I suspect it has something to do with the week of the month...enough said. I didn't do bad on Super Bowl Sunday, so I think this week will be much better.
Workouts during the week weren't too bad, although I didn't feel well on Thursday when I had to do my first 4 mile run (ever, I'm pretty sure). The "pace" run this week sucked too - it was the same as last week, but just really showed me that how I feel during the day impacts how crappy my runs will be.
Enough of the week, the big story this week is...we had to run UP the really really crappy hill. AND NOT ONLY did we have to run UP it, we had to run UP it at the END OF OUR 4 MILE TRAINING RUN. I'm not sure who thought that would be a funny joke for all us on the 3rd week of training, but trust me, it wasn't funny. I found myself doing the running version of crawling up the damned hill saying to myself "don't give up...don't give up... you can do it...you can do it." Not only that, but all the rest of the slow people seemed to have given up or gone to the easier group because I ran by myself for 85% of the run, until I came across a guy who had the flu all week and needed to take a breather in the middle of the run. I guess the only positive is that I didn't stop - not once. No matter how hard that hill was. People noticed that (well the couple that were near me on the hill). I passed someone on the hill, but once we got on flat ground, she smoked me to the ending.
I've decided the best way to describe my hill "technique" - if you want to go that far with it - is to compare the hill cycling styles of Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich (doping aside). Lance Armstrong was known for putting his cycle into a high gear and just peddling like hell up the hill, which in my mind converts to small, quick, short steps to go up the hill. This is what the coaches encouraged me to do ("ha," I thought, "I am going to get up this hill and not die, I'm not doing it your way"). At the other end of the spectrum, Jan Ullrich would drop his bike into a ridiculously low gear and essentially muscle himself up the mountain. That was me, I basically crouched and did a series of almost running lunges to get up the hill. I'm sure I looked like an ass - but when your biggest and strongest muscles are in your butt and thighs, that's where I defaulted to to get up the hill. Maybe next time, when I'm not already dead from the 3.75 miles of running by myself I'll take the time to try the "other" method. For now, I'm just glad I'm not dead....and I'm praying that we run up the other hill this week (yeah, never thought I'd say that).
Workouts during the week weren't too bad, although I didn't feel well on Thursday when I had to do my first 4 mile run (ever, I'm pretty sure). The "pace" run this week sucked too - it was the same as last week, but just really showed me that how I feel during the day impacts how crappy my runs will be.
Enough of the week, the big story this week is...we had to run UP the really really crappy hill. AND NOT ONLY did we have to run UP it, we had to run UP it at the END OF OUR 4 MILE TRAINING RUN. I'm not sure who thought that would be a funny joke for all us on the 3rd week of training, but trust me, it wasn't funny. I found myself doing the running version of crawling up the damned hill saying to myself "don't give up...don't give up... you can do it...you can do it." Not only that, but all the rest of the slow people seemed to have given up or gone to the easier group because I ran by myself for 85% of the run, until I came across a guy who had the flu all week and needed to take a breather in the middle of the run. I guess the only positive is that I didn't stop - not once. No matter how hard that hill was. People noticed that (well the couple that were near me on the hill). I passed someone on the hill, but once we got on flat ground, she smoked me to the ending.
I've decided the best way to describe my hill "technique" - if you want to go that far with it - is to compare the hill cycling styles of Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich (doping aside). Lance Armstrong was known for putting his cycle into a high gear and just peddling like hell up the hill, which in my mind converts to small, quick, short steps to go up the hill. This is what the coaches encouraged me to do ("ha," I thought, "I am going to get up this hill and not die, I'm not doing it your way"). At the other end of the spectrum, Jan Ullrich would drop his bike into a ridiculously low gear and essentially muscle himself up the mountain. That was me, I basically crouched and did a series of almost running lunges to get up the hill. I'm sure I looked like an ass - but when your biggest and strongest muscles are in your butt and thighs, that's where I defaulted to to get up the hill. Maybe next time, when I'm not already dead from the 3.75 miles of running by myself I'll take the time to try the "other" method. For now, I'm just glad I'm not dead....and I'm praying that we run up the other hill this week (yeah, never thought I'd say that).
Monday, February 4, 2008
Weight 2/2 and Group Run 2
I was a bit scared to hit the scale this weekend. It was a good week, but you never know how that'll pan out. Well, it was a nice surprise to be down 1.6 pounds! That takes me back to +22, and back to the weight I was the weekend of Thanksgiving. 2 more pounds and I have lost what I ended up gaining over Christmas. It is just not fair how it comes off soooo much slower than it goes on. UGH.
This weekend's group run was a "short" 3 mile affair. We started off going down a hill, which they promised us we would go up more than we would go down. The sad thing, this wasn't the hill we ran last week that I thought was the worst ever. This one is worse...much worse. So not only did I have to see what kind of "fun" lies ahead, but the last mile of the 3 miles was up that damned other hill again. Seriously! My goal is always to run (i.e. not walk) the entire course and to not be the last person back to the start. I finished the 3 mile course in 38:31 and was ahead of 2 other ladies when I finished. I think I actually beat an older gentleman too, but he turned to walk home just before the end of the course, so I guess it doesn't count. I actually had a running buddy for about .75 of a mile until she stopped to walk part of the course. Otherwise, it was just me again. The most interesting part of the whole weekend was watching the cars on the road avoid - or not avoid - the black ice that was out that morning. There was one full sized van that I think did a 360 after hitting it. What I don't get is how people didn't get that there was something in the road - there was a Sheriff's car sitting in the road and he had lit flares all around the black ice. There should be an auto revocation of licenses for people that are that dense.
Only other big news of the weekend was the purchase of a new pair of running shoes. Hopefully they will help with the knee pain I've been having recently. This week has 4 workouts, I think my rest day has to be Tuesday due to the schedule I have this week. Should be interesting - it includes a 4 mile run....
This weekend's group run was a "short" 3 mile affair. We started off going down a hill, which they promised us we would go up more than we would go down. The sad thing, this wasn't the hill we ran last week that I thought was the worst ever. This one is worse...much worse. So not only did I have to see what kind of "fun" lies ahead, but the last mile of the 3 miles was up that damned other hill again. Seriously! My goal is always to run (i.e. not walk) the entire course and to not be the last person back to the start. I finished the 3 mile course in 38:31 and was ahead of 2 other ladies when I finished. I think I actually beat an older gentleman too, but he turned to walk home just before the end of the course, so I guess it doesn't count. I actually had a running buddy for about .75 of a mile until she stopped to walk part of the course. Otherwise, it was just me again. The most interesting part of the whole weekend was watching the cars on the road avoid - or not avoid - the black ice that was out that morning. There was one full sized van that I think did a 360 after hitting it. What I don't get is how people didn't get that there was something in the road - there was a Sheriff's car sitting in the road and he had lit flares all around the black ice. There should be an auto revocation of licenses for people that are that dense.
Only other big news of the weekend was the purchase of a new pair of running shoes. Hopefully they will help with the knee pain I've been having recently. This week has 4 workouts, I think my rest day has to be Tuesday due to the schedule I have this week. Should be interesting - it includes a 4 mile run....
Friday, February 1, 2008
10K Training Week 1
Perhaps I was in denial (not the river in Egypt), or perhaps I just didn't look closely enough....but this 10K team thing is HARD! The plan calls for 5(!) days a week of working out of some sort. It was hard to always fit my 3 in before, so this has really called for me to make working out a priority in my life. Sunday was a rest day, but then I was back at it Monday through Thursday. Normally Wednesday is a rest day, but because of my Friday schedule, I had to move stuff up. The workouts looked like this: 2 mile run, 30 minute "tempo run", cross training (ellipctical this week), and 3 mile run.
First - I haven't run 3 miles in a row at any point yet. It just happens to appear there as if it's nothing. AND this weekend's outdoor run calls for the same 3 miles. A "tempo run" - lest you think it's fun - is a build up until you reach your ideal race pace and then a bit of a taper off. NOT easy.
It was the first time though that I've had problems with my knee. I think my shoes are wayyy too old at this point, so they are getting replaced. I hope that helps with the knee issues.
I think perhaps I'm coming upon my first real noticable change in running for me. Last night's 3 mile run took over 36 minutes for me to complete. But, I wasn't dying when I finished and I was able to do it all at the same pace. It's really the most effective I've felt my lungs to be at any point. I think working the 3 days a week helped get me there, but I suspect that my legs will finally start to get tired before my lungs do (which has always been the case before). Not knowing too much about everything, it just seems like this is a natural progression for a first time runner. This still hasn't really helped my mental process yet - I still don't like running and don't think of myself as a runner. I do feel though that I'm a bit tougher and am not going to give up on certain challenges as easily. This may all change if I have to run up that damn hill again tomorrow.
First - I haven't run 3 miles in a row at any point yet. It just happens to appear there as if it's nothing. AND this weekend's outdoor run calls for the same 3 miles. A "tempo run" - lest you think it's fun - is a build up until you reach your ideal race pace and then a bit of a taper off. NOT easy.
It was the first time though that I've had problems with my knee. I think my shoes are wayyy too old at this point, so they are getting replaced. I hope that helps with the knee issues.
I think perhaps I'm coming upon my first real noticable change in running for me. Last night's 3 mile run took over 36 minutes for me to complete. But, I wasn't dying when I finished and I was able to do it all at the same pace. It's really the most effective I've felt my lungs to be at any point. I think working the 3 days a week helped get me there, but I suspect that my legs will finally start to get tired before my lungs do (which has always been the case before). Not knowing too much about everything, it just seems like this is a natural progression for a first time runner. This still hasn't really helped my mental process yet - I still don't like running and don't think of myself as a runner. I do feel though that I'm a bit tougher and am not going to give up on certain challenges as easily. This may all change if I have to run up that damn hill again tomorrow.
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