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Friday, June 5, 2015

Running wild and running free

I did my first run in...well in a long time...last night. I set out with no real plan except to get myself out there and put some miles on my shoes.

I was tired, really tired, before the run. I had not slept well the night before, and the normal stresses of life were just draining me. I almost called off the run, and then, like so many times before, when I opened my front door, this months Runners World was waiting for me. Motivation just when I needed it.

So I laced up, crammed my new phone awkwardly into my armband (I really do need to get a new one,) and drove myself out the canal path. I knew the run was going to be a hard one, so I wanted a nice flat easy run, where I could cut it as short as I needed to.

I got new running sunglasses for my birthday, and this was the first time I ran with them on. I'm happy to say they performed admirably, and I was able to run without squinting or having to constantly push my sun glasses back up my nose. They have interchangeable lenses, so I'll do a more thorough review after I've used them a few more times.

I ran wearing my Glycerin 11's, which are quickly becoming my new favorite shoes. My Mizuno's are still covered in powder from the color run, so it was nice to be able to have a second pair of kicks to just grab and go. I'm still not 100% on the Transcends, the extra cushioning changes my gait so much that I end up tiring out faster (which I guess is the point after all.)

The run itself was hard, like I was expecting. I ran slow (really slow.) I felt every step of the way. But at the same time, it felt awesome to be out there. It was that same weird mix of "Oh my god I hate this why do I do this? and "This is the best thing ever, why don't I do this more?" that I get whenever I'm away from running for too long. I'll know I'm back in it when the ratio shifts and the hate starts to fade a bit. (Which is also when I'll know it's time to turn up the intensity.)


I did three solid, slow miles. An out and back along the canal path. The weather was perfect, and I was feeling good enough at the end to be smiling and giving friendly waves to other people out on the trail.


Today I'm a little sore, sportin' the compression socks under my jeans, But I am once again reminded of why I run, because I like myself so much better as a runner. I don't notice it happening when I stop running, but the stress and anxiety slowly ratchets up with each non-running day, and the unhealthy food and all my little bad habits start creeping back in. Luckily, it takes just one single day of lacing up to remind me and get me pointed back in the right direction.

I'm still gunning for the 500 mile mark this year. I fell a little behind in the month of May, so I'll have to kick it up a bit to hit the goal. I'm going to have to average over 45 miles a month to hit that goal. But broken down that's only a little over 11 miles a week. I can totally do that.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Bad blogger, no cookie!

Ok I've been a bad blogger. I admit it. Honestly I have no good excuses. I've just been in the busy zone.

I haven't been running much, I've been focusing on getting different kinds of exercise in. I dug out my old Jillian Michaels DVD the other day and remembered that I have an upper body that has not been exercised in way too long. (seriously, I barely finished the workout.)

The Saturday before Memorial day The Hubs, Munchkin and I joined a couple friends for the local Color run. It was the "Shine Tour" which meant in addition to the normal colors, we got Glitter and Bubbles. The two toddlers were ecstatic. My daughter still has a scalp full of glitter, almost a week and four baths later. We are definitely going to do it again next year.

The two toddlers (the Muchkin and my friends daughter - who are five days apart in age) even ran for about a half mile of the course. So I figure she earned the medal they handed out at the end of the run. Since this is her second race medal, I decided she needed a medal rack, so I went to target, got some command hooks and lined a couple up on the wall in the living room. Yes, my daughter has a way to display her race medals before I do ^_^

As far as exercise, I've been using this app on my phone: PopSugar Active. It's got a ton of these short 5, 10, and 20 minute videos that are decent enough. The variety and portability are what sold me on it (and the fact that it's free!) The challenge group I joined is doing a "30 minutes of activity a day" challenge this week, so I'm going to have to stack multiple videos to get my 30 minutes in each day.

Oh yeah and my phone randomly died on me last weekend, which sucked. I have a new phone now, but I'm still figuring it out, and haven't gotten a case for it yet, so I'm not sure if I want to run with it or not. I may have to do my next run "naked".

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Getting my feet back on the ground

Wow so much to update. I've been having a time crunch issue (and a little bit of an energy crunch issue) a lot lately, which is why I haven't been updating. Let's go through it quickly then, shall we?

I downloaded a new running app, ostensibly to help me learn to do interval training, but come on, mostly it's because it's kinda awesome. I went with Zombies, Run! I've only run with it once so far, but MAN is it motivating to hear zombies coming for you.

This past sunday was the Lilac 5K, during which My Father, a Family friend and I took turns pushing my mom in the running wheelchair. Pushing that thing up hills is no joke. But you totally feel like a rockstar because everyone is constantly giving you props. I should do a more in depth race report for that, but the bottom like was, awesome fun race, slow time, but more about just enjoying the run.

After last posts awfulness, Tiina over at One Crazy Penguin reached out to me and invited me into a FaceBook Support group. I'm hoping it's what I need to keep my eating on track, and get me back to loosing weight.  Right now the challenge is to eat 5 fruits & Veggies a day. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies normally, but making sure I get in 5 was a little daunting. I find it difficult to stay in my calorie budget at the same time. I went a little over yesterday. Not too bad, but still over.

I'm working on the meal planning, and getting a few more healthy recipes into rotation, but the other variable in all this is putting a lot of pressure on my efforts. I haven't mentioned it before (or maybe I have I forget) but The Hubs has serious stomach issues. What, we still don't know, but right now he is on a Lactose free, gluten free, low acid diet. Add in a Toddler who is becoming a somewhat picky eater (she refused to eat the asparagus last night), means I'm having a hard time finding food that everyone can, and will, eat that's healthy. I'm about to give up and start cooking separate meals for everyone.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

And it all crashes down in an instant

I figured that I had been doing fairly well with the exercise and eating since New Years. Yeah, I had kinda slacked a bit lately on the nutrition, focusing more on finishing the Half, but I figured all the running was making up for it.

I haven't stepped on a scale in a long time, but I was feeling good about my progress and the direction I was heading.

And then last night, my Mother In Law took a picture at an outdoor concert and tagged me in it. My phone pinged and I clicked on the notification and saw the picture.


A super cute picture of the Hubs and the Munchkin. Adorbs. No wonder everyone I knew was liking the picture. But then I saw why I was tagged.

And all I could see was this:


And I wanted nothing more than to be able to erase the picture from the internet. From existence. Each ping I got when someone liked the photo stabbed into me a little bit.

And then I stepped on the scale. 180. UP almost 10 lbs from the last time I'd stood on the scale. I felt awful, humiliated, defeated. All this running, all this time, and I am back again close to my heaviest weight, and worse, I look it.

So I'm starting over (again) today. The eating needs to be cleaned up. No more "oh just this ones" or "I can let it slide today." And I need NEED to add in exercise besides running.

I feel so utterly awful right now.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Gettin' back on the 'mill

I gave myself a full week off after the half marathon to recover. It was actually hard for me to not run for a full week, but I think it was the best decision for my body.

I did my first run this week on Tuesday, on the treadmill since I was pressed for time.

Right off the bat I could tell my legs were not at 100% yet. My calves were super tight. I started out at a slowish pace to try to work them out, and then started doing short bursts of speed (one or two minutes at an increased speed) since I was trying to get three miles in before The Hubs got home with the Munchkin.


After the first mile, my calves still felt a little uncomfortable, but a lot better, so I upped the speed a little bit. I managed to finish out the three miles with negative splits, which was cool, and to finish it before the Hubs got home, which was awesome.


Not a bad first run back at it, but not the best. I think I'm going to take a few weeks to just kind of get back into the groove before figuring out a new training plan. This time around, I'm going to be looking for speed instead of distance, so if anyone knows a good plan to up your speed, let me know!



Wednesday, April 29, 2015

My Body Tells Me No, but I won't quit, Cause I want more

Ok, confession time. I tried to listen to my body. I really did. I made the decision, and I tried to make peace with the decision.

Then I picked up my race packet...because I already paid for the shirt.

The next thing you know, I'm laying out my gear like:


And tweeting out stuff like this:



And then I'm lining up in the AM with a couple thousand other people like NBD peeps. Just a little Jog through the city.

Let me tell you-It was hard, it was painfull, I may have inadvertently given myself hypothermia and my time was not my best, but it was worth it.

And not just for the bling.

Although the bling is super nice.

This was the first time I ran a race with a pace group. I ran with the slow pokes (the slowest pace group offered), with a 3 hour time target. Up until I lost them in the hills half way through the run, It was so very very awesome to run with these people. Seriously I have never laughed so hard while trying to keep breathing and running (it is much harder than you'd think!)

And I met so many awesome people on this course, because once I started talking, I talked to everyone, and everyone talked back. I got to see amazing people do amazing things, including getting to scream and cheer one of my new friends through the chute as she finished her first half. 

So it may have been painful, and at times soul crushing (as I struggled to keep up a run/walk and not drop to just a walk/walk in the last two miles), and I may have sworn off half marathons soon after crossing the finish line....

But I know I'll be back, standing at that start line again. Because This Mom Runs, and I like the tired, stupid reckless version of me who runs better than the fully functional but totally lazy (and slightly crabbier) version of me who dosn't run.

And besides, I look super bad-ass in a bat girl shirt.

Yes. Yes I do.


Monday, April 20, 2015

Press rewind then stop and pause

A little over two weeks out from my goal race, I caught a cold. It didn't seem like a huge deal, but I was cautious about it, even calling in sick to work one day to give my body the best shot at kicking it.

Two days later, it settled into my lungs.

That weekend, I tried to do a 10 mile shakeout run, along my usual path from Home to my parents. I knew I was in trouble three miles in, but ignored everything my body was saying and just tried to tough it out.

Seven miles in, on my way up a long slow uphill, I knew I was done. I could have walked the rest of the way to my parents, but due to time constraints I actually had to call my dad to come pick me up and drive me home.

This week was my last chance to see if I could shake this off and do the half. Just walking around and doing my day to day activity was more than enough for me to know the half was out of the question. Aside from the coughing and heavy feeling in my chest, pushing myself as hard as I did during that 7 mile run aggravated my hip and my left foot.

So, I'm registering a DNS. Trying to do the right thing and listen to my body, reset, and continue training with an eye (tentatively) on a fall half.

I've been quiet, because I didn't want to write this post. I didn't want to face this decision, and make it real. As recently as this morning, watching the Boston Marathon in all it's inspiring glory, I kept thinking "Maybe I can do it, if I take it easy."

But I think the hip pain was the deciding factor. I don't want to push it, try to do this race, and end up laid up for weeks (or worse.)

So yeah, that's where I'm at.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Can you feel it? Now it's coming back...

Ok so I've been a terrible blogger lately. So much has been going on in my life that finding the time to sit down and write something has become kind of a burden. So I let it go for a while, because I kinda had to, for my own sanity.

But things look to be...if not slowing down then settling more into a routine, now. Which hopefully will allow me more time to do the blogging that I kinda miss doing. There's something about being able to go over my runs in detail that kinda keeps me dialed into how my training is going. Without it, I'm finding myself just kinda doing each run like it exists in a vacuum.

I forget both how hard and how good runs felt, and instead get mired in the physical stress of the now.

I did my first outdoor run last week, and it kicked my butt so hard that I ended up taking the rest of the week off. Ok not really, mostly I ran out of time for runs the rest of the week, but man, my legs were NOT happy with me after that run. I guess it was a good thing I ended up with almost a week off, to let them recover.



Part of the problem was the route I chose. It's, how shall I put it, Hilly. The elevation chart tells just about all you need to know about that:


I haven't been doing hills all winter. All winter I've been inside on the treadmill. These are mussels I haven't used in months. They are still mad at me about this.

I did manage to do the whole three mile route with minimal walking, which was a small victory. I only had to take two walk breaks on my way up the giant Hill'o'Doom, although I did stop long enough at the top of the hill to take some pictures to document both the occasion of my first outdoor run of the spring, and the first time getting the soles of my new shoes dirty. It's a good thing I like them, because I guess I have to keep them now ;)

Overall it was a good, but humbling run. My pace was no where near where I felt it should be, and it kinda put the fear into me about my ability to finish out the half that's coming up in LESS THAN FOUR WEEKS! (Start panic now.)

The other cool thing is me and the Hubs signed up for an "Intro to Rowing" class that's being offered for free at the local indoor rowing place. It's a week and a couple days before the Half, so It'll hit right when the taper crazies are worst. I'm really excited about it!

This week I'm going to do the Hilly outdoor route again (today actually), and then my normal runs, capped by (hopefully) a 12 mile run on Sunday. It's going to be my longest long run in this training cycle. I keep trying to get it in, and then having to push it off a week because of life. Here's hoping this is the week!




Friday, March 6, 2015

On my way, simply moving on my way....

Today marks the final day in the first full week of using a "stand desk." I can say a few things with certainty, but I'm not sure exactly how much of them are direct (or indirect) results of standing for most of my days.

Really, I think it's too early to make any definitive statements about the impact of using a stand desk on my life, but regardless, so far I'm enjoying it.

Running this week has been spotty. I did my tuesday run, in my new Brooks Transcends. The run felt good, just an easy four miles. The Transcends felt good. Even though they were still suffering from the stiff "new shoe" feeling, I could definitely feel a difference compared to the other shoes I run in. As soon as I started running the shoe felt "cushier." I can see this being a really good shoe for long runs, or recovery runs when I need a bit more pampering. 

I'll give a more detailed review of both shoes after I've broken them in a bit. It really is hard for me to get a feel for shoes (other than "yup these work") until I've put a bunch of miles on them. In fact I'm just getting to the point with the Mizuno's where they feel "normal" to me. (I still wear my Brooks Ravenna 4's as my normal sneakers, and man do I miss having them as running shoes!)

I missed my thursday run this week, due to massive amounts of snow and ice needing to be removed from my driveway. Me and the Hubs spent an hour in the morning clearing the driveway enough to get our two stuck cars out so we could get to work (late, but hey you can't have everything.) The driveway was still enough of a mess that when I got home, I spent an hour chopping and clearing ice and shoveling snow to clear out enough room for the Hubs to get one car in. He spent another hour clearing enough space to move that car up so we could get the second car in the driveway.

While I was clearing the driveway, using the garden shovel to chop up the ice and heaving foot long two inch thick chunks of ice over piles of snow higher than my head, I decided that this must be what it feels like to do cross fit. Simultaneously immensely badass, and incredibly silly. Like "Look at me! I can totally throw this heavy thing so far! Why? Why am I throwing this heavy thing? Isn't there an easier way?"

The upshot is, I missed a run, but I got a killer upper body workout. My arms, shoulders and back are super sore.  

I'm going to do my weekend runs as planned for the week before the week I missed (So the long run will be 10 miles), and then move on on my training plan. It looks like the temps will be in the mid 30's this weekend so I'm going to try to get at least one of my runs done outside (most likely the shorter 5 miler.) 

Monday, March 2, 2015

That's the way we get by

I had planned on making my triumphant return to running on Saturday, however I woke up with a migraine on Saturday (and ended up incapacitated until around noon.) I had that talk with myself again, the one where I worry that this is the start of the downward slide that ends with months off running and having to restart my training from scratch...again.

Glycerin 11s
Then, Saturday night, I opened a package to find that the two new pairs of running shoes I had ordered from Zulily had arrived! It was just the spark I needed to get myself back on the treadmill. Seriously those shoes could not have arrived at a better time.

And they're awesome. I ordered two pairs (because they were on serious discount.) A bright pink pair of Transcends and a Light blue pair of Glycerin 11's. (sorry for the photobombing cat, but he was as excited about the new shoes as I was!)
Trancends

So Sunday I was back on the 'mill. I decided on a short run (3 miles) just to get myself back in the groove and so I could wear one of the new pairs of shoes. I actually had a hard time deciding which pair to try first. I eventually settled on the Glycerin 11's.

The run was good. The first mile, of course, felt like a bit of a slog, but once my legs got into it, the rest of the run felt easy. The shoes felt a little stiff, and I think I need to adjust the laces on my left foot a bit ( they felt a little tight across the bridge of my foot, ) but other than those minor complaints they fit well. I think once I break them in a bit, they'll be fine.

I'm looking forward to trying the Transcends, and to having a few pairs of shoes to rotate through. I've read that it's a good thing to do, for injury prevention. Also, I can be one of those matchy matchy people you see on runs!

On the weight loss side of things, I've been taking "progress pictures" at the beginning of every month. Because I haven't been seeing much movement on the scale (or minimal movement at least,) and it was starting to discourage me. The pictures however tell a different story. Here's the side by side from January and March 1st. (March is on top, January on bottom.)



I can definitely see a difference, for the first time in a long time. It feels good to look at those pictures and actually see progress. Especially when the numbers on the scale keep taunting me.

Today marks the first day of the first full week of "Stand desk" life. I put "stand desk" in quotes because it really is a kludged together work station. I basically have a box on my desk, with my monitors on top of the box, and I've raised my chair enough that I can sit when I need to.  It requires a lot of tilting of monitors, and the height is not ideal, but it works...mostly. We're hoping to get actual stand desks in at work at some point, but this will work until then. Weird side note on this, I've found that I'm hungrier, earlier, now that I'm standing most of the day. Not snacky like I normally am (which I think is mostly boredom,) but actually, stomach empty, hungry.

I'll sign off with some cuteness. As I've said before, the Munchkin was sick all last week. Thursday my parents watched her, and my Dad sent me this picture of her on their elliptical machine. She apparently was on it for a while, and was fascinated with trying to make it go faster. Makin' her momma proud!

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Another lost week

Really, it's not a big deal, and for the first time that I've run into one of these, I actually don't feel super panicked about it. I got sick, then the Munchkin got sick, and even though she's mostly better, no day care means no time for Mommy to run. Our routine is just all thrown off, and it has me longing for summer, when a run outside with the Munchkin in the Jogging stroller would be a viable option.

However, I'm way ahead of the game on my training plan, so a lost week is no big deal.

The funny thing is that I think my legs are less happy with me from running up and down the stairs while home with my daughter than they've been after any of the long runs this training cycle.

In other news, after campaigning for a stand desk at work for a while (and getting promises that one is coming eventually,) my department took matters into our own hands and "made" ourselves some stand desks. Yes, I am working with my computer on a box.

So today is day two of having a (somewhat) working stand desk, with it set up for me to be able to sit comfortably as well. I'm super happy about this too, which is weird because it's such a small thing. I really do feel that it's going to make a difference in my overall health though.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Ju

I cracked ten miles on my long run this week. It was a super rough run too.

My schedule the past week was M: Rest, T: 4 miles, W:Rest, Th: 3 miles, F: Rest, Sat: 5 miles, Sun: 10 freaking miles.

So my legs were tired already from the five on saturday. And I've been having insomnia, and was super sleepy. And my daughter took a long time going down for a nap, and and and....I had so many reasons not to do this run. Or not to finish it.

Instead I plugged myself into the laptop with netflix streaming fringe and just went. I tried so very hard to ignore where I was in the run, to just almost forget the fact that I was running at all.

My legs were tired (I said that already didn't I?) and my calves started to protest around mile five, but my lungs were fine. In fact the only real issue was that my legs felt increasingly heavy the whole run.

I finished the run, exhausted, and then (because I am a parent and a spouse) went grocery shopping.

Today my legs hate me, even though I'm rocking the compression socks. I see a foam roller and some advil in my future.

I'm also super nervous because this is the point in my training where the wheels have come off in the past. My longest run before my first half marathon was just shy of 10 miles. (around 9 1/2 I think) and then my longest run with the FF training group was  8 miles.

So now, with the exception of the half marathon, I'm running these distances for the first time. Next week's long run is a 12 miler. I crashed and burned at mile 11 of the Half. I am super nervous about where I am in my training, especially since none of these runs have been outside. The conditions around here are too nasty right now for me to risk it. (Snow everywhere, no sidewalks, very little shoulder left on the roads, and of course I'm usually running after dark.) I'm trying to trust the training, but it's so so hard when I've fallen apart twice already.

Here's hoping third time's a charm.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Still Here, Still Running

So, life has done it's normal thing and swarmed up in a lot of ways to keep me on my toes. I've managed to keep on with my training plan, despite an increasingly chaotic schedule. So I'll call that a win.

I'm starting to feel the strain of the increased milage in my legs, more often than not they'll feel heavy for the first couple miles, until I settle into a run.

I did my first 9 miler on the First, which was kind of a breakthrough point for me, since the last time my runs started to fall apart around 8 miles. One funny thing happened during the run, my treadmill cut out around 8.5 miles into the run. The belt just stopped randomly. I ran right into the front of the treadmill. The display was still going, and turning the machine off and back on got the belt going again, but I think I'm gonna need a new treadmill soon.

This past week was a drop back week as far as my long run, only seven miles, and only 18 miles total for the week. I know I needed it. Between all the craziness that's been going on in my life (most of it good!) and how my legs have been feeling, I think I needed a mini-break.

This week is back to the big miles. We'll see how well I hold up to the ten miler at the end of the week.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

It's time to start Running!

I spent all of last week getting myself back into the groove of running. Now I need to get back into the groove of blogging! 

Last weeks runs were good. Nothing spectacular, but good. I decided to repeat week 3 in my training plan, since I'm still coughing quite a bit. 

So the plan for the week was this: Monday-rest, Tuesday- 3, Wednesday- rest, Thursday- 3, Friday- rest, Saturday- 4, Sunday- 7.

 The reality went like this:

Monday: Rest and whine about how lazy I feel.

Tuesday: 3 awesome miles. Contemplate going straight to the next week on the plan for the rest of the week.

Wednesday: Rest, and congratulate myself for getting back on track.

Thursday: 3 Miles. Feeling kinda eh, and crunched for time. Feel super frustrated about the fact that I was aiming for four, but ran out of time and had to go make dinner. Decide it's not that big a deal, there were only three miles on the schedule for the week you were originally planning on doing, so we'll just repeat that week after all.

Friday: Go out for drinks with a friend, realize after two drinks and a lot of conversation just how stressed out and over scheduled you've been. Make nebulous plans to fix that. Also realize there's no way in hell you're getting up at 6am to run outside on Saturday morning with the pace group. Add in the thought that you most likely shouldn't be running outside in the cold until the cough lets up. Argue with yourself about whether or not that's just an excuse, decide it dosen't matter, since it's now after midnight.

Saturday: Get buried in housework, realize half an hour into the Munchkin's nap that I should already be on the treadmill to get my 4 miles in. Contemplate not doing the run. Argue myself onto the treadmill. Halfway through an episode of Fringe, realize you didn't start the "workout" feature on the fitbit. Start the "workout" on the fitbit and shrug. Realize shortly after that that you never started your run in the nike plus app. Decide to run until the treadmill says three miles, start the nike plus app for speed tracking and distance estimating purposes. Run for approximately 55 minutes at an approximate average speed of 11'50". Treadmill says three miles. Decide to err on the conservative side and call it about four miles. Think more seriously about replacing stupid treadmill.

Sunday: Take Midget and her BFF to the Museum and Science center along with the BFF's Parents. Have awesome time running around after two Tornado's in Toddler form. Spend too much time on the recumbent bikes that light up lights when you peddle them. Return home late for nap time, super tired. Watched the movie Running Man on TV. Midget takes a short nap, resulting in a missed run. Decide to do run on Monday.

Monday: 7 long, slow, sloggy miles. Legs are dead tired and thighs ache. Realize long after run is finished that thighs ache from the "biking" done at the Museum. Decide I need to do more biking. Super proud of finishing out those 7 miles. 

Today I'm (hopefully) back to the training plan. The rest of this weeks schedule should look like this: Tuesday- 3, Wednesday- rest, Thursday- 4, Friday- rest, Saturday- 4, Sunday- 9.

Let's see how close to it I end up.


Monday, January 19, 2015

Living Dead Girl

Uuugh. I just lost an entire week of training to the flu. First, the Hubs went down at the beginning of the week, which meant I had to skip my run on tuesday, but no bigs I thought, one missed run. Then Wednesday it got me. I went down hard wednesday night, and just started feeling human again yesterday.

I'm still coughing quite a bit and have some chest congestion, but hopefully tomorrow's short run will be enough to get me back on track.

I'm super frustrated about it too, because my first week went so well! Even the seven mile long run felt good.  I'm debating how far to dial my training back, if I should repeat the last sucessfull week in the plan, or just start with the week I "missed".

Here's hoping tomorrow's run gives me some clarity on it!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

You understand, they got a plan for us

Tuesday was my first run now that I've officially started back on my training run. I had a nice easy 3 mile run on the schedule, but what fun is that? I decided right off the bat that I wanted to try pushing my pace a little.

I started out with a nice 3.2 on my treadmill (as i've mentioned before those numbers don't really seem to correlate to anything in the real world...but it's what I've got to work with.) I settled into my pace nice and easy and was able to cruise for the first mile.

Then I got a little crazy, deciding to push the pace a little more, to a 3.5. I was able to hold that pace for the rest of mile two, then needed to drop down to a 3.0 for a rest. After I recovered a bit, I pushed the pace back up to a 3.2, and settled back in with the intent to just cruise for the rest of the run.

Then, with about 5/10 of a mile left to go, The Hubs and Munchkin got home. I did not hear them until they opened the door which is right next to the treadmill I was running on. After I recovered from the stutter step of shock, I was treated to my daughter giving me her usual pep talk: "You running mommy? You go fast mommy? I run too mommy? Go mommy go!"

Because, at this point they were waiting on me to head to the In-laws for dinner, I started pushing the pace up, to 3.5, then 4.0, trying to just get the run done.


I was able to finish out the run with negative splits (yay!), and an average pace of 11'40" (yay!) I also did not feel completely wiped out by the run, which was cool.


I did not however have time to properly stretch at all afterwards, which was kind of a fail on my part, so my legs are a little tight today. I'm going to try to do some yoga tonight before bed to remedy that.


Monday, January 5, 2015

New Year, New Gear!

The first three runs of the new year are in the books!

My New Year's Day run was supposed to be a quick three miles, but due to some miscalculations on my part turned into a nice four miles, followed by about a mile and a half walk home.

Before I headed out I suited up with a bunch of the running gear I scored at Christmas. A new buff, a new long sleeve base layer, new warm running socks, and a new UnderArmor Cold Gear Infrared vest. This was my first time running in a vest, and I was a little nervous about it's ability to keep me warm. It was cold out. And windy.

I started out going uphill, on a hill I usually walk up. It was definitely good for a warm up. By the time I got to the top, I was nice and toasty. I ran along part of the route I used to take when I was running to my parents, but turned at about a mile and a half, down a street that I thought would make up a short leg of a square. Most of the first part of my run was spent running headlong into the wind, which was gusting kinda strongly. I was really grateful for my buff, which, when pulled up over my nose kept the wind from making it hard to breathe.

I totally misjudged how far that leg was going to be. I hit the three mile mark right after turning the next corner. But I was still feeling good, and the vest was doing it's job and keeping me warm.  The wind was less of a factor at this point, which was nice.

When I made the next turn in my run, I could tell I was starting to run out of gas. I hadn't planned on a long run, so I hadn't fueled for a long run, and I hadn't brought any fuel with me, only my (also new) handheld Nathan bottle with water in it. I was also running out of water, so I decided to push through to four miles, and walk the rest of the way home.


Honestly the hardest part of the run was that walk home. I should have called for a pick up, but you know, pride and all that. That was one cold walk, although the only parts of me that got really cold were my upper arms and my legs (I was stupidly only wearing the one layer on my legs.) The walk was also the only time that I really felt the cold, so score one for the running vest!

All in all it was a great first run of the year, even if the wind did slow my pace a bit.

The other two runs so far were just treadmill runs, five miles on saturday and three on sunday. Nothing special really, except that I really felt good during and after each run. It was nice to be able to make the decision, while running on saturday, that I had enough in me to do the full five miles (I had the option of doing the long run saturday or sunday.)

Today actually marks the start of me officially logging my training in my training journal. Which is weird because it's a rest day. I thought about starting the log on a different day, but my training plan starts on a monday, with a "foam roller/rest" day. So I'm going to start my log tonight with an entry for a foam rolling session. I'm also starting on week 3 of the training plan, since last week I did the milage for week 2.

I've also been rocking the fitbit charge. I've been working on hitting my steps goals, which I've hit every day I've run, but missed the day I did not run (hmmmm.....going to have to work on that.) So far I like it, but I'll have to give it more time before I can give a solid review.

Taken right after I came in from the Epic NYDay Run.