Well, I've been licking my scratches and feeling sorry for myself a little bit since this weekend, when I ran a 5k on Saturday and did - what I felt at the time to be true, anyway - incredibly poorly.
Fact is that I did *not* do incredibly poorly and I have to keep reminding myself of that. I did under 30 minutes and that's just fine. I feel like an out-of-shape schlub because at my last 5K I did just about 28:00, and at the 8K I did a couple of weeks ago I ran in 47 minutes, including two stops. This one - this puny little 3.1 miler - I finished in 28:45 (or 28:36, according to the results on the website - whatever, nine seconds I DO NOT DISPUTE) and had to walk for a significant section of it around mile 1.5 and 2.5. I took this very hard mostly because I have been having that happen a lot lately - I've had stamina trouble this past couple of weeks and it bothers me quite a bit. Not being able to finish 5 miles without stopping I can understand. Not managing three? Sadness. ;_;
Well, I've thought long and hard and I think here are some reasons, some of which are under my control and some of which are not:
1) I was pacing myself after a coworker who was also running the race and as a result I ran the first mile WAY too fast. Seriously, I did it in 8:15, which would be dandy if I were running a one-mile race. it's much too fast for the first third of a race though.
2) The course had a buttload of hills and I haven't been keeping up in training with hills - I've been sticking mainly with the treadmill the past couple of weeks. I ran the apartment perimeter again yesterday, almost but not quite three times around, then did a hill course on the treadmill. From here on out Sundays are hill days, the end.
3) I've been dieting and this is the first time, I believe, that I've gone into a race with a deliberate week-long caloric deficiency. I guess I can't expect to perform my best when I've been watching calories as harshly as I have. Not that I've been doing 1,000 calorie days or anything like that, but it's just probably best not to try to train for *real* running while trying to lose weight: you either run to lose weight, or you run to race, and the two are different.
So, even the ones I can't really control (like the course) I can at least try to work up on next time. Le sigh. I checked my coworker's time and she only finished a minute ahead of me, after all; and she said she had to stop too and the course was really tough, and that she was running with her son (his first race) and she had to let him go ahead, and he finished a minute ahead of HER. I felt a little better after that but I can't shake this feeling of being disappointed in myself, even though I know I shouldn't. My next 5K will be better. We're all allowed less-than-stellar performances sometimes.
Oh, in unrelated news, I have finally - for the first time! - finished week 2 of the 100 push-ups challenge! My exhaustion test was 26, which is a nice bit up from 19 (where I was two weeks ago). I started week three today but it's HARD; I could only do half of the "max" number listed for the final set (20! YOW!). I think I'm probably going to do the week and then repeat it before going on to week 4. Still though! Progress :)
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Monday, October 6, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Kitty in the middle
I don't know what that means. For all I know it's obscene. I hope not. :P I just like the idea of a kitty cat in between two other objects, durnit!
Well, not a lot going on... I did my run on Tuesday, but though it totaled about 4.5 miles it was very broken up (generally about a mile at a time with a little rest in between. The 0.5 was done in four sets of sprints). Yesterday I was going to just do a three-mile run and then do some Minna Lessig workout but I ended up changing my plan and doing five miles on the treadmill non-stop. This was easier for some reason than it had been - I was on a different treadmill, to start with - so I think there's some thing going on with the elevation on the treadmill I use at work. Again. Sigh. Well, no biggie, if I'm working harder than I think I am that's cool!
And finally, today I was back at the usual treadmill and although I did 4 miles (and the first two straight through) I still had to stop at the start of the third, and again about about 3.2 total before finishing. So there's got to be SOMEthing going on with that sucker.
Tomorrow is a "rest" day, meaning I'll just do a DVD, and then Saturday I'm aiming for another five-miler. I'd like to get these things a little more commonplace. By next Saturday I'm hoping to do a 5.5 mile run. The problem of course is that I do them on the treadmill so I'm kind of "on the clock". :P I'm just not really sure where else to go - I know there are places to go in the area, but it's the extra time of getting there and getting back and etc that puts me off. The treadmill is RIGHT there, about a two-minute walk from my apartment. Yes, I could certainly jog the perimeter of the apt complex, but for five miles that would be like six times around and I get effing BORED. ;D Oh well! I'll figure it out!
The Thanksgiving race that looks the best in this area is actually a 10K. I am all up for that - I have two months to prepare after all, and it's only a little over a mile more than what I've already done - but are the people who wanted to join me for it still up for it if it's 10k instead of 5k? (I know Mom is out, because it's on the morning of Thanksgiving, but it's early enough that the rest of us could still get back and get things done.)
Well, not a lot going on... I did my run on Tuesday, but though it totaled about 4.5 miles it was very broken up (generally about a mile at a time with a little rest in between. The 0.5 was done in four sets of sprints). Yesterday I was going to just do a three-mile run and then do some Minna Lessig workout but I ended up changing my plan and doing five miles on the treadmill non-stop. This was easier for some reason than it had been - I was on a different treadmill, to start with - so I think there's some thing going on with the elevation on the treadmill I use at work. Again. Sigh. Well, no biggie, if I'm working harder than I think I am that's cool!
And finally, today I was back at the usual treadmill and although I did 4 miles (and the first two straight through) I still had to stop at the start of the third, and again about about 3.2 total before finishing. So there's got to be SOMEthing going on with that sucker.
Tomorrow is a "rest" day, meaning I'll just do a DVD, and then Saturday I'm aiming for another five-miler. I'd like to get these things a little more commonplace. By next Saturday I'm hoping to do a 5.5 mile run. The problem of course is that I do them on the treadmill so I'm kind of "on the clock". :P I'm just not really sure where else to go - I know there are places to go in the area, but it's the extra time of getting there and getting back and etc that puts me off. The treadmill is RIGHT there, about a two-minute walk from my apartment. Yes, I could certainly jog the perimeter of the apt complex, but for five miles that would be like six times around and I get effing BORED. ;D Oh well! I'll figure it out!
The Thanksgiving race that looks the best in this area is actually a 10K. I am all up for that - I have two months to prepare after all, and it's only a little over a mile more than what I've already done - but are the people who wanted to join me for it still up for it if it's 10k instead of 5k? (I know Mom is out, because it's on the morning of Thanksgiving, but it's early enough that the rest of us could still get back and get things done.)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Baby's First 8K
Well I had my 8K! I had predicted I would do obscenely poorly, because I preceded the race not with lots of training and concentration but with a half-week of beach vacation and bad eating. I *did* work out while I was there - only on two of the days, but in my defense, we were travelling for parts of the other two and so the time those days was limited. But I ran two miles on Monday and did some x-training, then on Tuesday I ran a total of five miles (about two on the beach, three on the treadmill). So that helped somewhat. But I was on the vacation meal plan, meaning I was stuffed full of things not condusive to running; so on getting home I decided to "detox" and catch up on my fruits and veggies. I managed this for approximately a day and a half before falling off the wagon on Friday evening. But I did eat reasonably healthy on Saturday night, including plenty of salad and fruits, and lunch was sushi! Yay! Sushi is so surprisingly healthy. We also had company on Saturday night and I'm pleased to say that, even though this did include plenty of chocolatey-pastry type stuff for dessert, it was much much better than eating out. We had cheese ravioli (store-bought) with a butternut squash sauce (homemade), which was designated by all as "tasty".
So, the 8K! First of all I sincerely thought it started at 8:30 am. All morning long I thought so. At about 7:45 while riding in the car to get there I realized it started at 8am. GAH!! Well, I made it about five minutes before the race started and all was well. In all I did a pretty good job - I was aiming for about 50 minutes to do the whole thing, but I surprised myself: even though I stopped (walked) twice, I finished in just under 47 minutes! If I hadn't stopped I probably could have hit 45 minutes, which is around my current pace for 5Ks - 9min/mile. To be able to sustain that pace for 5 miles is a lot more than I thought I could do!
I'm going to go back to training harder. I think I can shave some more time off my total and really improve my 5K time. :) My next one should be 10/4, right near the neighbourhood where I grew up!
So, the 8K! First of all I sincerely thought it started at 8:30 am. All morning long I thought so. At about 7:45 while riding in the car to get there I realized it started at 8am. GAH!! Well, I made it about five minutes before the race started and all was well. In all I did a pretty good job - I was aiming for about 50 minutes to do the whole thing, but I surprised myself: even though I stopped (walked) twice, I finished in just under 47 minutes! If I hadn't stopped I probably could have hit 45 minutes, which is around my current pace for 5Ks - 9min/mile. To be able to sustain that pace for 5 miles is a lot more than I thought I could do!
I'm going to go back to training harder. I think I can shave some more time off my total and really improve my 5K time. :) My next one should be 10/4, right near the neighbourhood where I grew up!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Latest and greatest
Hey! Today I ran outside (so lovely) for 3.5 miles without stopping!
Okay, strictly speaking that's a lie: I stopped once at a traffic intersection, but I jogged in place while waiting. Then I stopped for perhaps a minute or 30 seconds or so to fix my hair; this was right around 1.75 miles or so, right at the halfway point. What matters is that I made it! I didn't stop again after that! Woowoo, I'm Mrs. Fantastic, and everything I touch turns to gold! ;P
No, but seriously, it's a nice feeling. :) I feel at this point like I can do the 8K - I don't know how long it'll take me or anything, but I know I can *do* it and enjoy it and not toss my cookies. And anything that doesn't involve the tossing of cookies is an automatic win! ...Unless it involves, like, the kicking of puppies or something awful. Then again, I think if I did something awful like kicking puppies, tossing cookies would just naturally follow since I'd be so disgusted and horrified with what I'd just done. So I stand by my first statement!
Oh, and I could go for some cookies right now.
Okay, strictly speaking that's a lie: I stopped once at a traffic intersection, but I jogged in place while waiting. Then I stopped for perhaps a minute or 30 seconds or so to fix my hair; this was right around 1.75 miles or so, right at the halfway point. What matters is that I made it! I didn't stop again after that! Woowoo, I'm Mrs. Fantastic, and everything I touch turns to gold! ;P
No, but seriously, it's a nice feeling. :) I feel at this point like I can do the 8K - I don't know how long it'll take me or anything, but I know I can *do* it and enjoy it and not toss my cookies. And anything that doesn't involve the tossing of cookies is an automatic win! ...Unless it involves, like, the kicking of puppies or something awful. Then again, I think if I did something awful like kicking puppies, tossing cookies would just naturally follow since I'd be so disgusted and horrified with what I'd just done. So I stand by my first statement!
Oh, and I could go for some cookies right now.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Only once this week?
Okay, well, I've been quiet because I'm kind of trying to get myself into the headset that it's best for me to back off of running too much right now. Although I don't think I'm over-exercising as an individual in the least, I do think it might interfere with fertility somewhat so I'm trying to just pull back a bit. You know - running a comfortable amount each week rather than training and trying to do just a bit more every time.
So while I definitely still ran this week, I did so less, and I just never got around to writing about it. Starting with Saturday: I really, really, really was tired on Sat. I could not make it to work out, so I just accepted that I was not going to. Instead I ran 5 miles on Sunday! Yay! That was kind of a "last hurrah" in a way... I might do that again in one run but I'm not going to go over it for a while.
Monday was very busy since several coworkers were out, plus I had to make a sudden appointment, so I didn't have time to work out. Boo! But I have been fine since then; I did about 4 miles on Tuesday (including some sprints), 3 miles straight on Wednesday, and yesterday I went outside and got in 4 miles. AND! I came closer to conquering that damn last half-mile! I actually made it close to 2.9 miles before stopping. I spent the last part of it counting, which kinda worked.
Tomorrow I am running a 5K and since I never run the day before a race I just walked a lot today. I went on the treadmill and put up the elevation, and carried a couple of weights for part of it. I feel pretty good about it because it was *hard work*.
Diet habits are... complicated lately. I've been trying for about 2 months or so now to lose around 5 lbs, and although I guess I've lost between 1 and 3, most of it has come back bit by bit. I'm right around where I was when I started, I guess maybe a pound less. I've decided this is because I am SICK OF BEING ON A DIET. :P So I admit it: I'm not actually sticking to dieting. I'll do okay for half the day and then blow it at night, or do okay for half a week and then go to a wedding or something on the weekend. Remember what I was saying about binge eating? :P So I think I need to just let it go and start trying to eat regularly for a while, 1800-2,300 calories a day, nice and normal. That gives me a nice window, since I'm pretty active. Anyway most days I don't actually go *over* 2,000 or so calories, it's just I'm trying to do, say, 1300-1400. So forget it! I need to learn to just eat normally!
Also I certainly don't need to be dieting if I'm trying to get pregnant (even though hey, it didn't hurt last time). Now I'm just going to be tremendously paranoid that it'll result in me putting on weight over the next few weeks instead. Ugh. Too much to stress over! :)
So while I definitely still ran this week, I did so less, and I just never got around to writing about it. Starting with Saturday: I really, really, really was tired on Sat. I could not make it to work out, so I just accepted that I was not going to. Instead I ran 5 miles on Sunday! Yay! That was kind of a "last hurrah" in a way... I might do that again in one run but I'm not going to go over it for a while.
Monday was very busy since several coworkers were out, plus I had to make a sudden appointment, so I didn't have time to work out. Boo! But I have been fine since then; I did about 4 miles on Tuesday (including some sprints), 3 miles straight on Wednesday, and yesterday I went outside and got in 4 miles. AND! I came closer to conquering that damn last half-mile! I actually made it close to 2.9 miles before stopping. I spent the last part of it counting, which kinda worked.
Tomorrow I am running a 5K and since I never run the day before a race I just walked a lot today. I went on the treadmill and put up the elevation, and carried a couple of weights for part of it. I feel pretty good about it because it was *hard work*.
Diet habits are... complicated lately. I've been trying for about 2 months or so now to lose around 5 lbs, and although I guess I've lost between 1 and 3, most of it has come back bit by bit. I'm right around where I was when I started, I guess maybe a pound less. I've decided this is because I am SICK OF BEING ON A DIET. :P So I admit it: I'm not actually sticking to dieting. I'll do okay for half the day and then blow it at night, or do okay for half a week and then go to a wedding or something on the weekend. Remember what I was saying about binge eating? :P So I think I need to just let it go and start trying to eat regularly for a while, 1800-2,300 calories a day, nice and normal. That gives me a nice window, since I'm pretty active. Anyway most days I don't actually go *over* 2,000 or so calories, it's just I'm trying to do, say, 1300-1400. So forget it! I need to learn to just eat normally!
Also I certainly don't need to be dieting if I'm trying to get pregnant (even though hey, it didn't hurt last time). Now I'm just going to be tremendously paranoid that it'll result in me putting on weight over the next few weeks instead. Ugh. Too much to stress over! :)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Just quickie mileage
I did basically what the Runner's World plan said to do today, so there's no real need to write a whole post on it. 4 miles with 3 "GPs"; they measure them in metres on the plan, and my treadmill only shows miles, so I sort of estimated 1200 metres to be around .075 miles and ended up doing them as .1 mile jumps, upping the pace until I got to 10.0 mph and then sprinting there for maybe 5-10 seconds. I dunno. I got the mileage anyway.
Today's mileage (run): 4.3 (approximately)
Today's mileage (total): 4.9
Total mileage this week (run): 11.95
Total this week (total): 16.25
Goal mileage for the week (run): ~17.5
Oh, forgot. I've been lax in the push-ups because I got so far behind, so today rather than try to move on to Day 2 of Week 2 I repeated Day 1. Next week I'm going to start Monday with Day 1, Week 2 again and try to do the whole week; this week I'm just going to try not to lose any more ground. *G* It was a struggle to do Day 1, actually! :P
Anyway, tomorrow is a Rest Day and then Saturday is a "long run"! By which I mean 4.5 miles straight, which isn't that long to many I guess, but it'll be a record for me. :) I hope I can fit it in; we have kind of a packed day...
Today's mileage (run): 4.3 (approximately)
Today's mileage (total): 4.9
Total mileage this week (run): 11.95
Total this week (total): 16.25
Goal mileage for the week (run): ~17.5
Oh, forgot. I've been lax in the push-ups because I got so far behind, so today rather than try to move on to Day 2 of Week 2 I repeated Day 1. Next week I'm going to start Monday with Day 1, Week 2 again and try to do the whole week; this week I'm just going to try not to lose any more ground. *G* It was a struggle to do Day 1, actually! :P
Anyway, tomorrow is a Rest Day and then Saturday is a "long run"! By which I mean 4.5 miles straight, which isn't that long to many I guess, but it'll be a record for me. :) I hope I can fit it in; we have kind of a packed day...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Fun With Fitness!
I have to confess, I was worried about committing to the 10K training program up until today because I was half-thinking (hoping, wondering, etc) I might be pregnant. But, I'm not. :P So I've got at least another couple of weeks before I will be and therefore can "train" until then.
The downside is that the training might affect my fertility, but I was really kind of itching to try and get my running up a notch so I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity.
Now! that we've had TMI, just to check in...
I've unofficially started going by this plan on RunnersWorld.com; it's paced over 5 weeks, and I have 6 until the 8K, so this week I'm following a sort of modified version of Week 1. Instead of running yesterday's plan, I ran outside yesterday, though I did include a couple of small sprints (not as many as I have in the past - I feel like I'm slipping :P) and I did total a bit over 4 miles. Today I did the 3 miles instead of a Rest day, and ran the first two at 6.5 mph and the final 1 at 6.0, then tacked on an extra 0.1 mile at 8.0 mph just to see what my time would be if I were in an artificial 5K with no hills or uneven terrain. ;P Anyway, my time was 29:15 for the 3.1 miles, which is okay with me! I also, after walking for about ten minutes, did three of the "Gentle Pick-up" sprints they describe in the plan. I didn't feel like they were doing much. I guess I will feel them more tomorrow when I do them directly after the run, which will be a longer one than it was today.
Part of why I'm easing into this plan is because, to date, I have yet to run more than 4 miles straight and I don't think I can jump straight up to 5 miles this weekend. So I'm going to do 4.5 miles on Saturday (if I can), and then try for 5 next Saturday; this might not work out because next Saturday is my 5K. But that's a workout in itself, eh? ;)
Anyway, I plan on following the plan tomorrow and Friday (Friday will be a workout video day with no running), then 4.5 miles on Saturday, and I'm going to deviate again on Sunday and do one lap around the apartment complex to get some hill work in. I would do more, but I don't want my mileage to be a huge jump from my previous high. I can go up from here.
Well. Whew. Totals!
Today's mileage (run): 3.4 (approximately)
Today's mileage (total): 4.35
Total mileage this week (run): 7.65
Total this week (total): 12.35
Goal mileage for the week (run): ~17.5
The downside is that the training might affect my fertility, but I was really kind of itching to try and get my running up a notch so I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity.
Now! that we've had TMI, just to check in...
I've unofficially started going by this plan on RunnersWorld.com; it's paced over 5 weeks, and I have 6 until the 8K, so this week I'm following a sort of modified version of Week 1. Instead of running yesterday's plan, I ran outside yesterday, though I did include a couple of small sprints (not as many as I have in the past - I feel like I'm slipping :P) and I did total a bit over 4 miles. Today I did the 3 miles instead of a Rest day, and ran the first two at 6.5 mph and the final 1 at 6.0, then tacked on an extra 0.1 mile at 8.0 mph just to see what my time would be if I were in an artificial 5K with no hills or uneven terrain. ;P Anyway, my time was 29:15 for the 3.1 miles, which is okay with me! I also, after walking for about ten minutes, did three of the "Gentle Pick-up" sprints they describe in the plan. I didn't feel like they were doing much. I guess I will feel them more tomorrow when I do them directly after the run, which will be a longer one than it was today.
Part of why I'm easing into this plan is because, to date, I have yet to run more than 4 miles straight and I don't think I can jump straight up to 5 miles this weekend. So I'm going to do 4.5 miles on Saturday (if I can), and then try for 5 next Saturday; this might not work out because next Saturday is my 5K. But that's a workout in itself, eh? ;)
Anyway, I plan on following the plan tomorrow and Friday (Friday will be a workout video day with no running), then 4.5 miles on Saturday, and I'm going to deviate again on Sunday and do one lap around the apartment complex to get some hill work in. I would do more, but I don't want my mileage to be a huge jump from my previous high. I can go up from here.
Well. Whew. Totals!
Today's mileage (run): 3.4 (approximately)
Today's mileage (total): 4.35
Total mileage this week (run): 7.65
Total this week (total): 12.35
Goal mileage for the week (run): ~17.5
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Progress is being made
So I did go outside today, since it was lovely again. Still not my greatest run ever but I'm back to about where I had been before, which is good. I made it probably about 2.6 miles before I stopped, walked slowly for 30 seconds, then ran a little bit more, walked another 30 seconds, and finished the third mile. So I don't know exactly how much I walked - at that pace, within a minute, maybe as little as .05 mile.
Beyond that, I had set a goal to try to run a total of 4.5 miles, but that's kinda hard. ;) I did the 3 miles and then kind of estimated beyond that; what I tried to do was walk for a quarter mile, then run a quarter, etc, for a mile (totaling .5 miles run), then run the final mile. But then I was tired so I made my goal 4 miles total instead, and just stopped with a half mile left to walk. Towards the end I did end up running the last quarter mile, so my total running mileage was 4.25 (approximately) in about 42:30 minutes; the total mileage as usual was 5.0, in about 53 minutes (not including a couple of necessary stops to cross streets).
So, that's progress! I'll still be happier, though, when I can do that stupid route without stopping before 3 miles. ^_^
I haven't made up my mind yet whether I'm going to do the 10K program tomorrow or just do the Minna Lessig DVD I (finally) got in the mail yesterday. :P
Beyond that, I had set a goal to try to run a total of 4.5 miles, but that's kinda hard. ;) I did the 3 miles and then kind of estimated beyond that; what I tried to do was walk for a quarter mile, then run a quarter, etc, for a mile (totaling .5 miles run), then run the final mile. But then I was tired so I made my goal 4 miles total instead, and just stopped with a half mile left to walk. Towards the end I did end up running the last quarter mile, so my total running mileage was 4.25 (approximately) in about 42:30 minutes; the total mileage as usual was 5.0, in about 53 minutes (not including a couple of necessary stops to cross streets).
So, that's progress! I'll still be happier, though, when I can do that stupid route without stopping before 3 miles. ^_^
I haven't made up my mind yet whether I'm going to do the 10K program tomorrow or just do the Minna Lessig DVD I (finally) got in the mail yesterday. :P
Monday, August 11, 2008
Me so seepy
Ahhh yes. Well the wedding was very nice, but apparently someone there was an energy vampire, because ever since Saturday night I've been exhausted. I mean drop down on the floor and start snoring exhausted. It didn't help any that I slept badly on Friday night (and went to bed late), got up early Saturday AM to run 2 miles (only exercise I got all weekend, raaaaay!), then shared a bed with a preschooler Saturday night. A preschooler who has only ever slept in a crib and found the whole "bed" concept utterly frightening, by the way. Here's how that went:
To bed at 10 pm. Wake up when daughter has kicked you in the kidneys. Check her, find she's slightly diagonal now, try to move over a bit to give her space; check the clock, it's 11:30 pm. Repeat this four or five times, with variations on what woke you up; sometimes it's because she just spoke a sentence cheerfully and loudly, as though she was awake (and capped it off by kicking you in the back), and sometimes it's because suddenly her feet are comfortably lodged under your chin. (MY CHIN. HOW?) Then, wake up at 5:30 when daughter wakes up just enough to realize she's not in her crib and freak out. Try to comfort her while she's so tired and disoriented that she is pushing you away while begging you to hug her. The next hour was basically an ongoing effort to calm her down, arrange myself so that I was holding her the way she wanted to be held (if ANYthing was wrong she would cry some more), and try not to fall out of bed while she went back to sleep for 20-25 minutes. Finally at 6:30 we decided to turn on the TV and let that calm her down (sadly, it works).
Dan and I both caught a catnap from about 9:15 to about 10 while we were waiting for the hotel pool to open - this was after we'd all gotten up and dressed and had breakfast with the bride and groom, I should add, we did NOT spend nearly 3 hours just watching TV ;) Anyway, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" came on and boy did she go nuts. She knows parts of that show by heart. I had no idea. Anyway she watched it quietly for an hour (while lying on the floor near the beds and pushing a chair around with her foot) while I dozed and awoke moderately refreshed, to the sound of her saying "bye Donald! Bye Pu-to! Bye Doofy!" Then I packed everything up while she and Dan went to the pool. That was nice. :)
Well, despite the nap I was a wreck yesterday and today is not that much better. I did that Winsor Pilates DVD workout today and felt a little more awake. Tomorrow I'm going to try either to start training for a 10K (going by a plan on Runner's World) or else, if it's nice enough, just go outside and run as well as I can. I checked out the results from last year on the 5K I want to do, and it looks as though it's fairly small, only 140 people did it last year. And it's all women, so I can effectively compete. :) Not that I'll finish first, but I have a decent chance of finishing high within my age category! Then again that's entirely random and up to chance. So who knows? Also if I'm feeling the way I've been feeling lately - sleepy, and plus on Saturday I had to stop just before 2 miles because I had an odd stomach pain - I don't know how I'll do. :P I'm hoping Race Day Adrenaline kicks in. Dan won't be coming to this one - apparently I kind of sprang it on him - so if it's just me, I probably WILL end up winning something just because fate would think it was funny for me to do it without anyone seeing me. ;D Nah, I doubt I will, but I'll be happy if I can just finish without incident.
I haven't had a good outside run in a while now. I really want to get one done before the race, which is a week from Saturday. So I'm perhaps not doing as well as I could. :P
To bed at 10 pm. Wake up when daughter has kicked you in the kidneys. Check her, find she's slightly diagonal now, try to move over a bit to give her space; check the clock, it's 11:30 pm. Repeat this four or five times, with variations on what woke you up; sometimes it's because she just spoke a sentence cheerfully and loudly, as though she was awake (and capped it off by kicking you in the back), and sometimes it's because suddenly her feet are comfortably lodged under your chin. (MY CHIN. HOW?) Then, wake up at 5:30 when daughter wakes up just enough to realize she's not in her crib and freak out. Try to comfort her while she's so tired and disoriented that she is pushing you away while begging you to hug her. The next hour was basically an ongoing effort to calm her down, arrange myself so that I was holding her the way she wanted to be held (if ANYthing was wrong she would cry some more), and try not to fall out of bed while she went back to sleep for 20-25 minutes. Finally at 6:30 we decided to turn on the TV and let that calm her down (sadly, it works).
Dan and I both caught a catnap from about 9:15 to about 10 while we were waiting for the hotel pool to open - this was after we'd all gotten up and dressed and had breakfast with the bride and groom, I should add, we did NOT spend nearly 3 hours just watching TV ;) Anyway, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" came on and boy did she go nuts. She knows parts of that show by heart. I had no idea. Anyway she watched it quietly for an hour (while lying on the floor near the beds and pushing a chair around with her foot) while I dozed and awoke moderately refreshed, to the sound of her saying "bye Donald! Bye Pu-to! Bye Doofy!" Then I packed everything up while she and Dan went to the pool. That was nice. :)
Well, despite the nap I was a wreck yesterday and today is not that much better. I did that Winsor Pilates DVD workout today and felt a little more awake. Tomorrow I'm going to try either to start training for a 10K (going by a plan on Runner's World) or else, if it's nice enough, just go outside and run as well as I can. I checked out the results from last year on the 5K I want to do, and it looks as though it's fairly small, only 140 people did it last year. And it's all women, so I can effectively compete. :) Not that I'll finish first, but I have a decent chance of finishing high within my age category! Then again that's entirely random and up to chance. So who knows? Also if I'm feeling the way I've been feeling lately - sleepy, and plus on Saturday I had to stop just before 2 miles because I had an odd stomach pain - I don't know how I'll do. :P I'm hoping Race Day Adrenaline kicks in. Dan won't be coming to this one - apparently I kind of sprang it on him - so if it's just me, I probably WILL end up winning something just because fate would think it was funny for me to do it without anyone seeing me. ;D Nah, I doubt I will, but I'll be happy if I can just finish without incident.
I haven't had a good outside run in a while now. I really want to get one done before the race, which is a week from Saturday. So I'm perhaps not doing as well as I could. :P
Friday, August 8, 2008
What is up with the temperature at my office? :P
I won't have time to workout today so this will just recap yesterday.
First of all I did Day 1 of Week 2 of the push-ups challenge. Back down to 50 - 12, 12, 9, 7, and 10. Fair enough. I like that the "maximum" now is a push, above what you had done on the previous two levels. Bet I'll like it less when it's 15 instead of 10. ;)
Secondly I did my sprints. Nothing much to report on that. Afterwards I walked on the treadmill with handweights and put up the elevation a little. Again, nothing much to say.
Yesterday I did some looking into times and things like that on the 8K and 10K I want to do later this year, and I realized for the first time that 5Ks are for people who may want to run competitively or may just want to run that distance - but 8 and 10Ks tend to be more for people who want to run FASTER. It's an actual RACE. I'm used to coming in right around the middle in 5Ks and if I do my usual time and pace on a longer one I'm going to come in towards the end.
So I had to think about that. First I thought "I have to train harder so I can COMPETE!" Then I thought, okay, yes, that can be down the road, but maybe I *do* just want to run the first 8K at my usual speed just to say I have done it. Why not? Who's it going to hurt? Also I'm pretty sure I can do a better pace in a 5K now than I did on the last one - getting under a half an hour now shouldn't be a problem, because I've found that the past few times I've run 6.0 on the treadmill it has not led to me wearing down nearly as quickly as I used to. I'm thinking I might, at some point before my next 5K (which is 8/23, two weeks from tomorrow), try doing a 3-mile run on treadmill at 6.5 mph just to see if I can. An actual outdoor race will be different, with hills and other aspects, and naturally I won't be able to pace myself so exactly, but it's more like a test to see if I am able. I already know I can run 1 mile at 7.0, and two at 6.5; I'm interested to see if I can do the whole 5K at that speed, which would take my total time down by nearly 3 minutes.
Anyway, just some musings. This next 5K is in PG County somewhere - I heard about it from a co-worker. I hope it's a good one, better than the last one! I'm not even entirely sure the family will be able to make it to this one, but if anyone reading this wants to come, let me know and I'll give details...
Now it's off to a wedding! (Well, not yet. I leave in another hour +. But soon!)
First of all I did Day 1 of Week 2 of the push-ups challenge. Back down to 50 - 12, 12, 9, 7, and 10. Fair enough. I like that the "maximum" now is a push, above what you had done on the previous two levels. Bet I'll like it less when it's 15 instead of 10. ;)
Secondly I did my sprints. Nothing much to report on that. Afterwards I walked on the treadmill with handweights and put up the elevation a little. Again, nothing much to say.
Yesterday I did some looking into times and things like that on the 8K and 10K I want to do later this year, and I realized for the first time that 5Ks are for people who may want to run competitively or may just want to run that distance - but 8 and 10Ks tend to be more for people who want to run FASTER. It's an actual RACE. I'm used to coming in right around the middle in 5Ks and if I do my usual time and pace on a longer one I'm going to come in towards the end.
So I had to think about that. First I thought "I have to train harder so I can COMPETE!" Then I thought, okay, yes, that can be down the road, but maybe I *do* just want to run the first 8K at my usual speed just to say I have done it. Why not? Who's it going to hurt? Also I'm pretty sure I can do a better pace in a 5K now than I did on the last one - getting under a half an hour now shouldn't be a problem, because I've found that the past few times I've run 6.0 on the treadmill it has not led to me wearing down nearly as quickly as I used to. I'm thinking I might, at some point before my next 5K (which is 8/23, two weeks from tomorrow), try doing a 3-mile run on treadmill at 6.5 mph just to see if I can. An actual outdoor race will be different, with hills and other aspects, and naturally I won't be able to pace myself so exactly, but it's more like a test to see if I am able. I already know I can run 1 mile at 7.0, and two at 6.5; I'm interested to see if I can do the whole 5K at that speed, which would take my total time down by nearly 3 minutes.
Anyway, just some musings. This next 5K is in PG County somewhere - I heard about it from a co-worker. I hope it's a good one, better than the last one! I'm not even entirely sure the family will be able to make it to this one, but if anyone reading this wants to come, let me know and I'll give details...
Now it's off to a wedding! (Well, not yet. I leave in another hour +. But soon!)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tomorrow's gonna hurt
that might be a clever reference to Smashmouth, or it might just be a very true statement for my future.
Another title for this post could easily be "Ow! Pilates!"
I got the Crunch Fat Burning Pilates DVD today (well technically, last night) from Netflix and used it today. HOLY JABLONSKI!! I will say that I am able to keep up with the pace of the cardio part quite well, and that I actually did finish the workout - both the cardio blend, and the mat portion. I was really surprised each time one workout ended: I honestly thought I was only about halfway through. So, go me!
On the other hand, I have NONE of the "control" that the instructor talks about for Pilates. I just toss my limbs out all over the place. And the entire first ten minutes at least (probably more) focuses on squats! NOOO! That's just MEAN.
I also find it funny that they do exercise modifications for those of us who suck (er, I mean, who are just starting out) - which is great, don't get me wrong - but those modifications are led by a woman who, I kid you not, I thought was a very buff man with long hair at the start of the video. She's that ripped. YEAH, lady, YOU really need modified poses. Oh well, thanks for letting me slack off. ;D
The mat stuff is the most interesting to me. I did most of the exercises with modifications but I think in another week or so I will be ready to try them without modding (key word: TRY). I like the "Hundred" one - I've tried that before and I suck but seeing it demonstrated made me understand it a bit easier. Also, boys I was drippin' sweat at this point and my legs were all slippery. Not an easy workout!
So my initial response: if you are looking for a home workout and you really want to start Pilates, start with something easier! If you've got some background with Pilates, or you just REALLY want to push yourself, this is pretty good - the pace is good, and like I said it went more quickly than I thought it would, but it is definitely going to take me a while to learn to isolate my muscles etc etc. I got no rhythm, either.
Also! Today was day 2 of the Hundred Push-ups challenge! I forgot to check the chart to see what I was supposed to do, so I just did this: 12, 12, 10, 10, 8. I think that's right, and if not, it's really close. Total is 52! Ay caramba!
Listen folks I'm guaranteed to have my ass in a sling tomorrow I'll be so sore. And I claimed I was going to run sprints! We'll see, friends and family (mostly if not entirely the latter). We'll see.
Oh for the record though, I did start the workout with a mile at 2% elevation. Hooray! It showed me one thing: I will NOT be able to run the same at 6.5 mph on Friday. Instead I'm going to try to do that speed at 1% and if that's too hard I'll drop it down to 0 after a half mile. I'm sticking to the speedy though. It is in the cards! (I miss Magic 8 Balls.)
Quickie edit: I checked and I was wrong on the very last set of the push-ups, it was meant to be 10 again. So I should've done 54. Fie on that, though, I'm pleased with 52 (and 8 really was my max). Friday I'm supposed to do 15, 13, 10, 10, 15... I don't know about that. :P (63 total! Last week the highest I got was like 45 and at the end of this week I'm supposed to be up to 63! That's just special.
Another title for this post could easily be "Ow! Pilates!"
I got the Crunch Fat Burning Pilates DVD today (well technically, last night) from Netflix and used it today. HOLY JABLONSKI!! I will say that I am able to keep up with the pace of the cardio part quite well, and that I actually did finish the workout - both the cardio blend, and the mat portion. I was really surprised each time one workout ended: I honestly thought I was only about halfway through. So, go me!
On the other hand, I have NONE of the "control" that the instructor talks about for Pilates. I just toss my limbs out all over the place. And the entire first ten minutes at least (probably more) focuses on squats! NOOO! That's just MEAN.
I also find it funny that they do exercise modifications for those of us who suck (er, I mean, who are just starting out) - which is great, don't get me wrong - but those modifications are led by a woman who, I kid you not, I thought was a very buff man with long hair at the start of the video. She's that ripped. YEAH, lady, YOU really need modified poses. Oh well, thanks for letting me slack off. ;D
The mat stuff is the most interesting to me. I did most of the exercises with modifications but I think in another week or so I will be ready to try them without modding (key word: TRY). I like the "Hundred" one - I've tried that before and I suck but seeing it demonstrated made me understand it a bit easier. Also, boys I was drippin' sweat at this point and my legs were all slippery. Not an easy workout!
So my initial response: if you are looking for a home workout and you really want to start Pilates, start with something easier! If you've got some background with Pilates, or you just REALLY want to push yourself, this is pretty good - the pace is good, and like I said it went more quickly than I thought it would, but it is definitely going to take me a while to learn to isolate my muscles etc etc. I got no rhythm, either.
Also! Today was day 2 of the Hundred Push-ups challenge! I forgot to check the chart to see what I was supposed to do, so I just did this: 12, 12, 10, 10, 8. I think that's right, and if not, it's really close. Total is 52! Ay caramba!
Listen folks I'm guaranteed to have my ass in a sling tomorrow I'll be so sore. And I claimed I was going to run sprints! We'll see, friends and family (mostly if not entirely the latter). We'll see.
Oh for the record though, I did start the workout with a mile at 2% elevation. Hooray! It showed me one thing: I will NOT be able to run the same at 6.5 mph on Friday. Instead I'm going to try to do that speed at 1% and if that's too hard I'll drop it down to 0 after a half mile. I'm sticking to the speedy though. It is in the cards! (I miss Magic 8 Balls.)
Quickie edit: I checked and I was wrong on the very last set of the push-ups, it was meant to be 10 again. So I should've done 54. Fie on that, though, I'm pleased with 52 (and 8 really was my max). Friday I'm supposed to do 15, 13, 10, 10, 15... I don't know about that. :P (63 total! Last week the highest I got was like 45 and at the end of this week I'm supposed to be up to 63! That's just special.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I am so giving up on the outdoor running until September.
Bleah! I had hoped that I would have osmething good to say today like "Wow, new record for me!" or something along those lines. Instead what I have to say is that I had a lousy run and although I made roughly 4 miles total, it was split over three different runs with a rest in between.
I dislike pinning performances like this on external factors, just because I feel like I'm making excuses, but I do have to acknowledge that the humidity was weighing me down like I was a sponge, that it was 85 degrees outside and felt hotter, and that I just don't have a lot of experience running in those conditions. I also hadn't had a great deal of liquid immediately before running (I am always confused as to just how full of water I should be before running).
On the other hand, I didn't stop running at 1.6 miles because I *had* to. I let myself stop, because I was tired, and I could have pushed myself harder and kept going and I might have felt less tired in a while. But I've had times when I've nearly felt sick but up until feeling that way I've been actually enjoying myself, and the truth is that I just wasn't enjoying this run. Except for hte first mile or so I just didn't like it. And bleah! So now I'm cranky. >:P
My total today was just under 4.0 - I think - I'm approximating, as usual. I believe that I did 1.6, then walked .4, ran 1.1 and walked .7, and then ran another 1.2 or so. All told my running time wasn't so bad - I think I probably could have gone slower and run for longer - the 3.9 or so miles I did in about 37 minutes (all times approximate), which is REALLY fast for me, so I probably was pushing myself a little harder than I should have. Another reason I'm sticking to the treadmill for a little while after this. Unless it's raining and/or really mild, August is a no-go for outside runs (except the 5K at the end of the month, which I'm about to start really training for, hardcore).
Anyway, I'm not looking for support or cheering-up messages; I know what I'm able to do. I've BEEN doing really well on the treadmill both in terms of mileage and in terms of speed, so I know it's not like I'm slacking off. I just want to be able to say "Yay! I had a breakthrough and did this new thing I haven't done!" and I'm not getting to. *pout*
Meantime my plan for the rest of the week is to re-introduce running as the focus (after taking a mini-breather the past two weeks). I'm still going to only do a mile on Wednesdays and Fridays, at least to start, but they're going to have a focus to them; I'm still going to take Mondays off from running entirely, I don't plan on changing that. But I'm going to try to start really focusing on hill training.
My plan for the rest of the week is this:
W - 1 mile run on 2% elevation (6.0 mph)
Th - speed intervals
F - 1 mile run on 2% elevation (6.5 mph)
Sa - Distance run
Su - hills workout
Next Tuesday I'm going to focus on my mileage again, with the intent of getting up to 4 miles without stopping as soon as possible. I'm quite close! :) I guess what I'm really training for is the 8K that is in September. I'm really looking forward to that one.
I dislike pinning performances like this on external factors, just because I feel like I'm making excuses, but I do have to acknowledge that the humidity was weighing me down like I was a sponge, that it was 85 degrees outside and felt hotter, and that I just don't have a lot of experience running in those conditions. I also hadn't had a great deal of liquid immediately before running (I am always confused as to just how full of water I should be before running).
On the other hand, I didn't stop running at 1.6 miles because I *had* to. I let myself stop, because I was tired, and I could have pushed myself harder and kept going and I might have felt less tired in a while. But I've had times when I've nearly felt sick but up until feeling that way I've been actually enjoying myself, and the truth is that I just wasn't enjoying this run. Except for hte first mile or so I just didn't like it. And bleah! So now I'm cranky. >:P
My total today was just under 4.0 - I think - I'm approximating, as usual. I believe that I did 1.6, then walked .4, ran 1.1 and walked .7, and then ran another 1.2 or so. All told my running time wasn't so bad - I think I probably could have gone slower and run for longer - the 3.9 or so miles I did in about 37 minutes (all times approximate), which is REALLY fast for me, so I probably was pushing myself a little harder than I should have. Another reason I'm sticking to the treadmill for a little while after this. Unless it's raining and/or really mild, August is a no-go for outside runs (except the 5K at the end of the month, which I'm about to start really training for, hardcore).
Anyway, I'm not looking for support or cheering-up messages; I know what I'm able to do. I've BEEN doing really well on the treadmill both in terms of mileage and in terms of speed, so I know it's not like I'm slacking off. I just want to be able to say "Yay! I had a breakthrough and did this new thing I haven't done!" and I'm not getting to. *pout*
Meantime my plan for the rest of the week is to re-introduce running as the focus (after taking a mini-breather the past two weeks). I'm still going to only do a mile on Wednesdays and Fridays, at least to start, but they're going to have a focus to them; I'm still going to take Mondays off from running entirely, I don't plan on changing that. But I'm going to try to start really focusing on hill training.
My plan for the rest of the week is this:
W - 1 mile run on 2% elevation (6.0 mph)
Th - speed intervals
F - 1 mile run on 2% elevation (6.5 mph)
Sa - Distance run
Su - hills workout
Next Tuesday I'm going to focus on my mileage again, with the intent of getting up to 4 miles without stopping as soon as possible. I'm quite close! :) I guess what I'm really training for is the 8K that is in September. I'm really looking forward to that one.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The incredible edible egg
The egg is like one of my favourite meal items ever. Yet another reason why it would be hard for me to be a vegan. Then again I did used to say I could never give up beef to go veggie, and I have stopped eating beef, so who knows what crazy wacky things the fugure could show us.
WELL. Tuesdays I normally go outside but I was dreading the thought because the heat has been so oppressive lately. So instead I thought I'd go easy on myself and just do the treadmill again. Treadmill potato that I am. It turned out that was a good decision since right before my workout time we got a big ol' thunderstorm! Go figure. So I just went downstairs and watched the first hour of "Return of the King" instead. Oh technology! We shall never have to leave the indoors again pretty soon.
I do best following a predictable schedule, so I just did another long run, though I did try to mix it up a bit with some sprints towards the end. I went 3.1 miles first, with most of that at 6 mph and the last... ummmm... minute, maybe? at 8mph. Then I took a breather with a minute or so of walking at 3.5mph and another .3 at 4mph. So this totaled up to 3.5, and from there I started running again, alternating between perhaps 2 and 1/2 minutes at 6mph and then as long as I could go at 9mph (usually about 45 seconds), then as long as I could go at 8mph (usually same), before dropping back to 6mph. This worked pretty well for the last mile and then I finished with another 1/2 mile of walking. So I again totaled 5 miles, 4.1 of them were running, and I can't recall my exact time but I think I got that 4.1 in about 40 minutes. Maaaaybe a little less... but not much. ;)
I walked another five minutes just to cool down (at low low speeds, like 2.5 mph) and then stretched, which I never remember to do on weekends so my legs were really tight. Then I did pushups but again no crunches. Lazy. I'm up to 16 in one set now! 16-12-8-9 today for a total of 45. :)
To close this out and make it interesting, here are some-but-not-all of the races I would like to run this year (all conditions remaining viable):
the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" 5K in late August
Somerset Annual Back-to-School 8K Run
Rockville 10K/5K
There are also several others I can't link to, like the Candy Cane City 5K in November and the Turkey Burn-off around Thanksgiving. Now THAT is an incentive not to overeat! ;D
So who wants to run these with me?
WELL. Tuesdays I normally go outside but I was dreading the thought because the heat has been so oppressive lately. So instead I thought I'd go easy on myself and just do the treadmill again. Treadmill potato that I am. It turned out that was a good decision since right before my workout time we got a big ol' thunderstorm! Go figure. So I just went downstairs and watched the first hour of "Return of the King" instead. Oh technology! We shall never have to leave the indoors again pretty soon.
I do best following a predictable schedule, so I just did another long run, though I did try to mix it up a bit with some sprints towards the end. I went 3.1 miles first, with most of that at 6 mph and the last... ummmm... minute, maybe? at 8mph. Then I took a breather with a minute or so of walking at 3.5mph and another .3 at 4mph. So this totaled up to 3.5, and from there I started running again, alternating between perhaps 2 and 1/2 minutes at 6mph and then as long as I could go at 9mph (usually about 45 seconds), then as long as I could go at 8mph (usually same), before dropping back to 6mph. This worked pretty well for the last mile and then I finished with another 1/2 mile of walking. So I again totaled 5 miles, 4.1 of them were running, and I can't recall my exact time but I think I got that 4.1 in about 40 minutes. Maaaaybe a little less... but not much. ;)
I walked another five minutes just to cool down (at low low speeds, like 2.5 mph) and then stretched, which I never remember to do on weekends so my legs were really tight. Then I did pushups but again no crunches. Lazy. I'm up to 16 in one set now! 16-12-8-9 today for a total of 45. :)
To close this out and make it interesting, here are some-but-not-all of the races I would like to run this year (all conditions remaining viable):
the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" 5K in late August
Somerset Annual Back-to-School 8K Run
Rockville 10K/5K
There are also several others I can't link to, like the Candy Cane City 5K in November and the Turkey Burn-off around Thanksgiving. Now THAT is an incentive not to overeat! ;D
So who wants to run these with me?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Weekend Lapse
Well it was not the best weekend for me. Sunday was the hubby's birthday and as a result I spent most of the weekend tossing caution to the wind and eating things that we normally avoid (popcorn at the movies, pizza for dinner, etc etc etc). I also baked a lot though we didn't have much of what I came up with, in the end, since we'd had a HUGE meal at the Silver Diner complete with a free slice of cake for Birthday Boy. (I actually didn't eat more than two bites of that b/c I was so stuffed, but I had had a milkshake, so it doesn't count as "being good".) I refuse to beat myself up for this, even though it's yet another sad example of my binge-eating behaviour that I need to work on changing; but as I know it was a more or less one-time thing I can get over it.
...There IS the fact that we now have a number of homemade ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and an entirely untouched lemon-raspberry cake in the fridge that worries me a little, but I'll live.
More of a problem to me is the fact that although I was extremely active on Saturday - walked to the grocery store AND to the movie theatre, as well as out to get ice cream (shut up it was a birthday thing), AND I ran four miles - I dropped it all on Sunday. There wasn't really a whole lot of time based on the plans we had and so in the end I just let it go, and that would be okay if I hadn't splurged quite so much. Oh well. The real thing that is a let-down for me is that I seem to keep dropping the ball on getting all my mileage in for running. This week I was going to try to get up to 15 miles total and I ended up at about 12. :P
Well, Saturday was pretty good anyway. I did just a general 6.0 mph pace for most of it and felt like I was struggling about midway through, mostly because the minutes started going by more slowly. But once I reached 3 miles it got a lot easier and I started feeling more like I was kinda floating. I got to 3.1 and then 3.4 and though I had planned on stopping to recover at 3.5 before going another half-mile, I started thinking perhaps I could make the full 4 miles nonstop after all. (3.5 is still a record distance for me to go without stopping.) However, as I was closing in on the half-mile point I realized that not only was I feeling floaty, I was actually feeling kind of light-headed. No breathing issues or leg pain or chest pain, but I was beginning to get a little dizzy. The clincher came when I scared myself with my arm. It's hard to explain in words, without a clear demonstration, but what I mean is that my left arm came into my peripheral vision as I ran and I thought it was someone else reaching onto the treadmill to push the buttons. O_o
So I stopped. *G* I walked for a few minutes, about three or so, then ran the last half mile at 7.0 mph. Yay me! My time in the end was 4 miles in just about 39 minutes. :)
Total mileage for the week was about 12m. :P This week I'm planning on running less (though the runs I do will be longer runs) so my mileage should be about the same or maybe a little bit less than that. Today I'm going to do - get this - Jane Fonda workout on VHS. Old school! Go Jane! The choreography on this tape is bloody ridiculous. XD
...There IS the fact that we now have a number of homemade ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and an entirely untouched lemon-raspberry cake in the fridge that worries me a little, but I'll live.
More of a problem to me is the fact that although I was extremely active on Saturday - walked to the grocery store AND to the movie theatre, as well as out to get ice cream (shut up it was a birthday thing), AND I ran four miles - I dropped it all on Sunday. There wasn't really a whole lot of time based on the plans we had and so in the end I just let it go, and that would be okay if I hadn't splurged quite so much. Oh well. The real thing that is a let-down for me is that I seem to keep dropping the ball on getting all my mileage in for running. This week I was going to try to get up to 15 miles total and I ended up at about 12. :P
Well, Saturday was pretty good anyway. I did just a general 6.0 mph pace for most of it and felt like I was struggling about midway through, mostly because the minutes started going by more slowly. But once I reached 3 miles it got a lot easier and I started feeling more like I was kinda floating. I got to 3.1 and then 3.4 and though I had planned on stopping to recover at 3.5 before going another half-mile, I started thinking perhaps I could make the full 4 miles nonstop after all. (3.5 is still a record distance for me to go without stopping.) However, as I was closing in on the half-mile point I realized that not only was I feeling floaty, I was actually feeling kind of light-headed. No breathing issues or leg pain or chest pain, but I was beginning to get a little dizzy. The clincher came when I scared myself with my arm. It's hard to explain in words, without a clear demonstration, but what I mean is that my left arm came into my peripheral vision as I ran and I thought it was someone else reaching onto the treadmill to push the buttons. O_o
So I stopped. *G* I walked for a few minutes, about three or so, then ran the last half mile at 7.0 mph. Yay me! My time in the end was 4 miles in just about 39 minutes. :)
Total mileage for the week was about 12m. :P This week I'm planning on running less (though the runs I do will be longer runs) so my mileage should be about the same or maybe a little bit less than that. Today I'm going to do - get this - Jane Fonda workout on VHS. Old school! Go Jane! The choreography on this tape is bloody ridiculous. XD
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Today, and In the Future
Today's workout!
I did the sprints I said I would do, and then after doing some crunches and push-ups I finished on the elliptical for about 20 minutes. Those sprint suckers are hard, though. I've done them about five or six times now and sometimes I can complete them without stopping... but usually not.
It's a routine I got from FitSugar which apparently was created by a celebrity personal trainer just for use on the treadmill. Since, especially at this time of year, I think it's easier to do timed sprints on a treadmill indoors, I have been trying to do this once a week. I do usually work some sprints into the latter part of my outdoor runs, though (the part after I've recovered from the long steady distance run).
Anyway, the routine is:
5m @ 5mph
1m @ 8mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
45s @ 9mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
30s @ 10mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times.
5m @ 3.5mph
So obviously it's that last set, the 10mph one, that kind of... kills you. XD I enjoy these, in part because it's relatively brief, and in part because I know I can do it. But today I did have to stop after the first two reps of the 10 mph set. I'm also not sure I timed it all correctly today. Still though, it comes out to about 2.05 miles from start to finish (not including the walking at the end) and that's a good workout! The intervals are really good for fat burning and metabolism too, or at least that's what I've read.
After that I did more crunches and push-ups. Same crunch total as yesterday on both moves. Push-ups I added to slightly, still three sets, still 13 on the first, 10 on the second, but I managed 7 on the third and then 7 on the modified/girly position. So I totaled 37 today! My mother has prodded me to try the 100 Push-ups Challenge which I suppose I will give in and do starting on Monday. I'll see if I can stick with it. I've been really good at going gung-ho with push-ups for a few weeks and then forgetting about them entirely for a few more weeks. So we'll see. *G* The aspect I like of that challenge is where you only do them 3 days a week; part of what tires me out with push-ups is that I do try to do them each day and some days I'm terribly sore from other workouts.
*****
Now for something completely different yet still connected to running! For months now - even well before I was doing 5Ks or could run for a full mile - I've been eyeing the Walt Disney World marathon/half-marathon. (If anyone reading this doesn't know me personally yet, here's a secret everyone knows: I'm fanatical about Disney World. I can go back and forth on Disney products as a whole but the WDW fixation has just grown over the past four years.) You get to run through the parks. The characters come out and cheer you on. OH. MY. GOD. If I could actually run that far, I thought to myself, and actually ENJOY it, doing that THROUGH Disney World would be like... heaven. :O Just looking at the course map made me giddy.
Well. I'm not committing to doing it yet, because once I commit to it I will actually DO IT and I'm not sure I CAN do it. Getting there will be hard, more so because I would absolutely have to bring my family and it's just a matter of coordinating etc. But I've looked at the races they actually have available and it turns out there are a ton more than just the official Marathon and Half. They have a bunch of race weekends spread throughout the year and have been adding more lately.
In addition to the Half Marathon (or... perhaps... dare I say... the Marathon itself? I've thought maybe for my 35th birthday... assuming I could get the training time in by then... NO COMMITMENTS) I would love to run the Tower of Terror 13K. This just started last year and is a twilight run around Hollywood Studios, beginning and ending, as I understand, near the Tower of Terror ride. In addition to starting off with fireworks and taking the runners up to a "VIP" area inside the ride for the post-race party, you get gimmicky stuff like a glow-in-the-dark bib (well... I suppose, since it's a twilight race, that's actually very useful) and a medal shaped like the hotel, with MOVING ELEVATORS. I kid you not. XD
Tell me that doesn't sound like a hoot! An 8-mile run at dusk in October. I sincerely doubt I'll ever manage it, unless I give up entirely on running the marathon or the half (I just don't think my husband would be completely kosher with me spending a buttload on running in WDW races and paying to get everyone down there, etc), but what fun!
I did the sprints I said I would do, and then after doing some crunches and push-ups I finished on the elliptical for about 20 minutes. Those sprint suckers are hard, though. I've done them about five or six times now and sometimes I can complete them without stopping... but usually not.
It's a routine I got from FitSugar which apparently was created by a celebrity personal trainer just for use on the treadmill. Since, especially at this time of year, I think it's easier to do timed sprints on a treadmill indoors, I have been trying to do this once a week. I do usually work some sprints into the latter part of my outdoor runs, though (the part after I've recovered from the long steady distance run).
Anyway, the routine is:
5m @ 5mph
1m @ 8mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
45s @ 9mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
30s @ 10mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times.
5m @ 3.5mph
So obviously it's that last set, the 10mph one, that kind of... kills you. XD I enjoy these, in part because it's relatively brief, and in part because I know I can do it. But today I did have to stop after the first two reps of the 10 mph set. I'm also not sure I timed it all correctly today. Still though, it comes out to about 2.05 miles from start to finish (not including the walking at the end) and that's a good workout! The intervals are really good for fat burning and metabolism too, or at least that's what I've read.
After that I did more crunches and push-ups. Same crunch total as yesterday on both moves. Push-ups I added to slightly, still three sets, still 13 on the first, 10 on the second, but I managed 7 on the third and then 7 on the modified/girly position. So I totaled 37 today! My mother has prodded me to try the 100 Push-ups Challenge which I suppose I will give in and do starting on Monday. I'll see if I can stick with it. I've been really good at going gung-ho with push-ups for a few weeks and then forgetting about them entirely for a few more weeks. So we'll see. *G* The aspect I like of that challenge is where you only do them 3 days a week; part of what tires me out with push-ups is that I do try to do them each day and some days I'm terribly sore from other workouts.
*****
Now for something completely different yet still connected to running! For months now - even well before I was doing 5Ks or could run for a full mile - I've been eyeing the Walt Disney World marathon/half-marathon. (If anyone reading this doesn't know me personally yet, here's a secret everyone knows: I'm fanatical about Disney World. I can go back and forth on Disney products as a whole but the WDW fixation has just grown over the past four years.) You get to run through the parks. The characters come out and cheer you on. OH. MY. GOD. If I could actually run that far, I thought to myself, and actually ENJOY it, doing that THROUGH Disney World would be like... heaven. :O Just looking at the course map made me giddy.
Well. I'm not committing to doing it yet, because once I commit to it I will actually DO IT and I'm not sure I CAN do it. Getting there will be hard, more so because I would absolutely have to bring my family and it's just a matter of coordinating etc. But I've looked at the races they actually have available and it turns out there are a ton more than just the official Marathon and Half. They have a bunch of race weekends spread throughout the year and have been adding more lately.
In addition to the Half Marathon (or... perhaps... dare I say... the Marathon itself? I've thought maybe for my 35th birthday... assuming I could get the training time in by then... NO COMMITMENTS) I would love to run the Tower of Terror 13K. This just started last year and is a twilight run around Hollywood Studios, beginning and ending, as I understand, near the Tower of Terror ride. In addition to starting off with fireworks and taking the runners up to a "VIP" area inside the ride for the post-race party, you get gimmicky stuff like a glow-in-the-dark bib (well... I suppose, since it's a twilight race, that's actually very useful) and a medal shaped like the hotel, with MOVING ELEVATORS. I kid you not. XD
Tell me that doesn't sound like a hoot! An 8-mile run at dusk in October. I sincerely doubt I'll ever manage it, unless I give up entirely on running the marathon or the half (I just don't think my husband would be completely kosher with me spending a buttload on running in WDW races and paying to get everyone down there, etc), but what fun!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Running Schedule
Right now it looks like this (anything not "outdoors" is on a treadmill):
Tuesday: Long Outdoor Run
Wednesday: 2-mile run; strength train or yoga
Thursday: Sprint Intervals (abt 2 miles), other
Friday: 1-mile run/cross-training or maybe yoga
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Hill Intervals
Monday: Strength train, yoga, or other
Right now I have a DVD from Netflix called "Yoga For Beginners" that is halfway decent but I'm going to be sending it back on Friday so I don't really know what I'm going to do after that one is done. I like the yoga a lot but it doesn't provide any strength training and to be honest, if I don't have a workout DVD I've found I'm a little hopeless in trying to do that stuff myself. I need to buy Minna Lessig's "Tank Top Arms" video - I kept it for 4 weeks and really enjoyed it. And saw results! :)P
Also, to be honest, this schedule I just posted is likely to change. I'm going to do it this week because I've been upping my weekly mileage; this should get me up to around 15.5 miles total, which is a high for me, and once I'm up to that I'm going to scale back on the running for a while and work on other things for a couple of weeks. So starting next week the revised schedule should be:
Tu: Long Outdoor Run (I'm keepin' that)
W, Th, F: 1-mile run, then either x-training or strength training or whatever is handy
Sat: Long Run
Su, M: Whatever is handy; Sun will also have a 1-mile run but not Monday.
I'll work that out when I get to it. I am hoping to do a couple of cardio DVDs like the ones that incorporate dance moves :D And I'll probably be using the elliptical even though I swear to God that thing wants to kill me. One way or another. So, once I'm doing that routine the mileage for the week will probably be around 11.5 or so.
When I say "Long Run" I generally mean "As long as I can go" which isn't terribly long... I did 4 miles yesterday, broken into pieces. Saturdays are going to be unbroken and I'm going to work on extending my time. My first goal for this Saturday is 3.5 miles but I think what I'll probably do is run 5K or so (longer if I feel like I can), walk a minute or so, then do whatever mileage I still need to get up to 3.5. Then I'll just see about upping that bit by bit. Hey, it worked to get me to 5K :)
***
Meanwhile! I did get out on my long run yesterday and I'm really pleased with the results, although I still didn't do the full 5K without stopping. But it was effing hot and so I don't care.
I realized that I'd probably be incredibly stupid to go out running for three miles without taking water with me so I took my water bottle from work even though I have no way to carry it while running. It was really, really annoying to keep shifting it the entire time I ran, but I was really glad to have it. Yesterday was the hottest day I've run so far. I made it perhaps about 2.75 miles before stopping - I crossed the street! (I don't remember if I went into detail here about what that means, but it means I made my goal for not stopping) - then walked for perhaps a minute or so before finishing off the last of the third mile. I didn't have a watch with me so I have no idea what time I managed, but I was going for distance over speed anyway.
Anyway, from here on out everything had to be estimated because I had no pedometer or watch; I measure by the signs that mark every half mile on this trail, and I did a lot of odd distances the rest of the way. So I felt I had probably run about 2.8 or so out of the first 3 miles. I walked another half mile or so for full recovery and then ran for a couple of minutes, with the assumption that that got me up to an honest 3.0. It also got me to about 3.5 miles or so in terms of full distance travelled. Then I ran about .7 miles or so, including a couple of fartleks (isn't that the greatest word? Yes), stopped at the half-mile sign, walked for perhaps three or four minutes, and ran the rest of the way to the last sign. I think that last one covered about .3 miles so I'm saying I made my 4-mile goal!
I'm going to work on evening it out: First of all I still want to finish that third mile without stopping. After that I'm going to go ahead and give myself a while to recover and try to get the next mile into one solid block at the end. Then I can try shortening the distance between, and start the final run earlier and earlier while extending the first one longer and longer. And then I'll be ready for my 8K in September! :)
So feeling good about things right now. Which is nice. :)
Tuesday: Long Outdoor Run
Wednesday: 2-mile run; strength train or yoga
Thursday: Sprint Intervals (abt 2 miles), other
Friday: 1-mile run/cross-training or maybe yoga
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Hill Intervals
Monday: Strength train, yoga, or other
Right now I have a DVD from Netflix called "Yoga For Beginners" that is halfway decent but I'm going to be sending it back on Friday so I don't really know what I'm going to do after that one is done. I like the yoga a lot but it doesn't provide any strength training and to be honest, if I don't have a workout DVD I've found I'm a little hopeless in trying to do that stuff myself. I need to buy Minna Lessig's "Tank Top Arms" video - I kept it for 4 weeks and really enjoyed it. And saw results! :)P
Also, to be honest, this schedule I just posted is likely to change. I'm going to do it this week because I've been upping my weekly mileage; this should get me up to around 15.5 miles total, which is a high for me, and once I'm up to that I'm going to scale back on the running for a while and work on other things for a couple of weeks. So starting next week the revised schedule should be:
Tu: Long Outdoor Run (I'm keepin' that)
W, Th, F: 1-mile run, then either x-training or strength training or whatever is handy
Sat: Long Run
Su, M: Whatever is handy; Sun will also have a 1-mile run but not Monday.
I'll work that out when I get to it. I am hoping to do a couple of cardio DVDs like the ones that incorporate dance moves :D And I'll probably be using the elliptical even though I swear to God that thing wants to kill me. One way or another. So, once I'm doing that routine the mileage for the week will probably be around 11.5 or so.
When I say "Long Run" I generally mean "As long as I can go" which isn't terribly long... I did 4 miles yesterday, broken into pieces. Saturdays are going to be unbroken and I'm going to work on extending my time. My first goal for this Saturday is 3.5 miles but I think what I'll probably do is run 5K or so (longer if I feel like I can), walk a minute or so, then do whatever mileage I still need to get up to 3.5. Then I'll just see about upping that bit by bit. Hey, it worked to get me to 5K :)
***
Meanwhile! I did get out on my long run yesterday and I'm really pleased with the results, although I still didn't do the full 5K without stopping. But it was effing hot and so I don't care.
I realized that I'd probably be incredibly stupid to go out running for three miles without taking water with me so I took my water bottle from work even though I have no way to carry it while running. It was really, really annoying to keep shifting it the entire time I ran, but I was really glad to have it. Yesterday was the hottest day I've run so far. I made it perhaps about 2.75 miles before stopping - I crossed the street! (I don't remember if I went into detail here about what that means, but it means I made my goal for not stopping) - then walked for perhaps a minute or so before finishing off the last of the third mile. I didn't have a watch with me so I have no idea what time I managed, but I was going for distance over speed anyway.
Anyway, from here on out everything had to be estimated because I had no pedometer or watch; I measure by the signs that mark every half mile on this trail, and I did a lot of odd distances the rest of the way. So I felt I had probably run about 2.8 or so out of the first 3 miles. I walked another half mile or so for full recovery and then ran for a couple of minutes, with the assumption that that got me up to an honest 3.0. It also got me to about 3.5 miles or so in terms of full distance travelled. Then I ran about .7 miles or so, including a couple of fartleks (isn't that the greatest word? Yes), stopped at the half-mile sign, walked for perhaps three or four minutes, and ran the rest of the way to the last sign. I think that last one covered about .3 miles so I'm saying I made my 4-mile goal!
I'm going to work on evening it out: First of all I still want to finish that third mile without stopping. After that I'm going to go ahead and give myself a while to recover and try to get the next mile into one solid block at the end. Then I can try shortening the distance between, and start the final run earlier and earlier while extending the first one longer and longer. And then I'll be ready for my 8K in September! :)
So feeling good about things right now. Which is nice. :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
I No Longer Recall
I don't remember anymore just when I made this. I know that the second post was at the end of November so... sometime before then.
I finally figured out I might as well use this as a running blog, since that takes up a good deal of my attention and I never really feel up to posting about it in my LiveJournal (which tends towards the unfocused mundane and such). So this is going to be tightly themed.
As a short introduction to both me and to me running, here's a history for me:
1) I have been overweight and sedentary most of my life, until recently. I had my first child in early 2006 and in Jan 2007 I decided it was time to get rid of the baby-weight-plus so I eased into better living with a "one step at a time" approach that worked really well for me. In terms of diet it was just trimming off certain calories or foods and replacing them with better options, and in terms of activity it was initially low-key walking, then faster, then longer, then doing other exercises.
2) The running came into it because my sister is a runner and she encouraged me on that path - not so much in a "you should do this!" way as just speaking about it so positively and so clearly loving it. A friend of mine gave me a link to the Runner's World plan to begin running by doing walk/run intervals. It's supposed to be an 8-week program and it took me about a year but as of May '08 I managed to do 30 minutes straight of running... Or perhaps you might call it jogging, at a 6 mph pace, but it's something!
3) In May I also decided I would run a 5K. Just one, to see if I could do it and to say I had. I did it, with my sister, and had such a great time that I was hooked. Since then I've been trying to up my training so that I can do a longer distance race, and also I've run another two 5Ks. :)
So that's my history! I'm at a point of about 14 miles a week, spaced over five days. This week I hope to get the mileage up to about 15.5 and then I'm going to pull back for a couple of weeks - I think my knees need a vacation :P Tuesdays are my Long Outdoor Run days and tomorrow I'm going to try for a total of 4 miles running on a 5-mile course. It won't be 4 miles straight, just total; I've been doing a total of 3.5 miles and that hasn't felt too hard for a while so I'm going to try to step it up. There is an 8K in September that I would like to run and I think 2 1/2 months is enough time to get up to 5 miles. :)
So I will be posting on my progress, on my daily workouts, and if need be on my diet habits (though that will only be if something interesting comes up)!
I finally figured out I might as well use this as a running blog, since that takes up a good deal of my attention and I never really feel up to posting about it in my LiveJournal (which tends towards the unfocused mundane and such). So this is going to be tightly themed.
As a short introduction to both me and to me running, here's a history for me:
1) I have been overweight and sedentary most of my life, until recently. I had my first child in early 2006 and in Jan 2007 I decided it was time to get rid of the baby-weight-plus so I eased into better living with a "one step at a time" approach that worked really well for me. In terms of diet it was just trimming off certain calories or foods and replacing them with better options, and in terms of activity it was initially low-key walking, then faster, then longer, then doing other exercises.
2) The running came into it because my sister is a runner and she encouraged me on that path - not so much in a "you should do this!" way as just speaking about it so positively and so clearly loving it. A friend of mine gave me a link to the Runner's World plan to begin running by doing walk/run intervals. It's supposed to be an 8-week program and it took me about a year but as of May '08 I managed to do 30 minutes straight of running... Or perhaps you might call it jogging, at a 6 mph pace, but it's something!
3) In May I also decided I would run a 5K. Just one, to see if I could do it and to say I had. I did it, with my sister, and had such a great time that I was hooked. Since then I've been trying to up my training so that I can do a longer distance race, and also I've run another two 5Ks. :)
So that's my history! I'm at a point of about 14 miles a week, spaced over five days. This week I hope to get the mileage up to about 15.5 and then I'm going to pull back for a couple of weeks - I think my knees need a vacation :P Tuesdays are my Long Outdoor Run days and tomorrow I'm going to try for a total of 4 miles running on a 5-mile course. It won't be 4 miles straight, just total; I've been doing a total of 3.5 miles and that hasn't felt too hard for a while so I'm going to try to step it up. There is an 8K in September that I would like to run and I think 2 1/2 months is enough time to get up to 5 miles. :)
So I will be posting on my progress, on my daily workouts, and if need be on my diet habits (though that will only be if something interesting comes up)!
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