Sunday, March 30, 2008

Another 5K Down

Last Saturday morning running club 5K for a few months. I did not run the entire way - as was the goal. However, I feel pretty good. My recovery was much better this week than last week. Here's how Garmin broke it down:
Mile 1: 12:40
Mile 2: 14:13
Mile 3: 14:16
Last 0.14: 1:30
The official timers time was 42:39 - which is almost a minute faster than last week. Also, I have a list of other 5K races that are coming up, and a buddy to run with me - to keep me on the races.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Quick Friday Weather Update

Well, it is Friday morning. It is pouring and cold outside. 10 miles west of here it is snow/rain mix. 12 miles west of here is where tomorrow's 5K race will be. The rain should turn to snow overnight. And it should be done snowing by morning. It may hit 50 degrees by tomorrow afternoon. I'll be out there running no matter what - even if we get 6 inches of snow, or if it is 50 degrees at 8am tomorrow.

I have made much more effort to drink water, and avoid alcohol and caffienated coffee (I have to at least have decaf). Tonight, I'm planning to eat the last of the Easter Ham and a baked potato. My sister A reminds me that you don't have to eat the pound of spaghetti to carbo load. I'm not feeling so dehydrated today (the day before the race), but I think I will get better.

No weight loss this week. I am stuck nicely at 225 pounds. (This is my wedding weight, and lower than my pre-baby weight. I am happy with 225 - for now.) With the running and weight lifting I've added, I find I am hungry again. I have been eating more than when I was sticking strictly to weight watchers, but I am eating healthier than before. I'm not finishing the day with 5 scoops of ice cream, but I may have a scoop of light ice cream or ff/sf pudding. It is more like, for breakfast I eat an oatmeal AND a yogurt AND an orange AND a bowl of dry cereal. Previously, breakfast would have been just one of those. Or before WW, it would have been McDonalds.

I am still trying to keep to the WW plan, but the past three weeks, it has been extra hard. I have to work out the points I am earning. Because I think I am earning more points with excercise then I think. Extra eating, but no extra weight gain. Also, after losing 35 pounds, I want to settle for a little time. Then, I can jump start the next 10% weight loss. Imagine, if my initial training is 25 pounds more than what I will have when it is time to run the marathon!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Run Fat Girl Run

Oh, I forgot to mention: I saw an ad for a new movie. It is about a guy who is told he is too fat to run a marathon, and is about his training to get there. It looked funny, but I guess the idea of selling my blog for movie rights goes out the window. I only caught a bit of the movie ad before my hubby switched channels. I'll have to check it out more.

Home Running

I went for 2.5 miles yesterday with the dog. We did a really good first mile - 13:54 (same as the 5K), and I felt pretty strong. Then, we turned and went through an area with lots of dogs! No pace-setting there. I spent lots of energy just keeping the dog from running off to chase the other dogs. And I get really annoyed by un-leashed dogs. My sister A has commented on that. But, she was chased by big dogs. Instead, we were chased by two little rat-dogs. Ok, that sounds harsh maybe. But, one after another these two little dogs kept trying to bother my big dog (75 pounds to their 5 pounds). They'd run up to his leash limit and yap. Then pee and run off, just to come back again and do it all over. My dog wants to play and sniff, but I am affraid he would play too rough with them. They weren't bigger than our cats. And their owner thinks it is so cute. I just want to keep moving forward lady! Anyway, it wasn't a great run because of the dogs. But, it was 2.5 miles of moving and using upper body strength. And without the dog, I probably wouldn't go out at night. After the run, I did 3 sets of 10 reps with the weight bar. By the end, I was really having to call out the numbers. It was real work to get that bar up and down controlled. But, on the plus side - this is the third time I have done so many reps and this morning my arms don't feel like lead!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Runners are Great

I recently posted on my sister A's page about offering encouragement to people. She told that story of two women that she met on her run who cheered her on. Very random encouragement. I said we should all make an effort to cheer on someone we don't know. Yesterday, in the mail, I got an article from someone I have never met. When I volunteered at the 30K race, someone there set us up by email because we live in the same town and she has run Disney twice. We've emailed a bit. Well, she was reading an article, and thought of me. She looked for my address on line and shipped me the magazine. She had an old address - but the wonderful mailman we have from the old place brought it by.

Runners are great! All of us are really encouraging.

Another 5K Done

Well, the weather was cold and brisk, and there were some wind gusts, but, it was a nice day for a run. I did the 5K in 39:36 - which beat the previous time by 24 seconds. Garmin agreed with the time (within a few seconds - which was me havng to raise my arm enough to hit "stop"). I didn't run the whole way, but well more than half of it, probably three quarters of it. My average speed was 13:54. Better than needed for disney, but I couldn't have kept up the pace.

This week, there was a runner I'd met before that had hurt her knee when skiing the previous weekend. She stayed with me and we talked - she talked while we ran, then when I could talk again during the walking breaks, we would run again. She told met to just go my pace and she would keep up with me. I feel that maybe I would have run more often if she wasn't there. We did have a good conversation, and I could have used that breath for running. And, there were times when we ran maybe faster than I should have. BUT, she kept me motivated as well. We would set a goal to run, then we would high five when we made it. She was great to run with. Next week, I have to run by myself. I have to try to keep the run pace. At this point, I am not sure I will make that goal.

Things to work on this week - I need to get hydrated. I was feeling low on hydration from Thursday on, and it really hit me during the race. I also thought I need to try some Gu. I feel silly needing nutrition after 2 miles, but I felt like I lost steam past the half way point. I was wiped out after the race and I think that had something to do with it.

I need to get more intense on the dog walks this week. I have the Garmin now to tell me when I have gone two miles. I want to repeat at least the pace I had this week for two miles, but better to do three miles.

I have signed up to do a 5K in my home town - with many runners and not ones in my running club. I will give details on that later.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Saturday Forecast

Ok, it is Friday afternoon in New England. The forecast for tomorrow doesn't show snow & ice. It doesn't even show rain. That is encouraging!

I am psyched to run tomorrow's 5K. I did 2.5 miles yesterday, with 15 minute miles (until the cool down after 2 miles). I was running it a lot - but the dog kept wanting to stop.

I came home after and lifted the weight bar for three reps of 10 - well two reps of 10 and one of 5 - that bar was getting heavy. I can feel the burn today still.

I am not going to run the dog tonight - although it is hard not to run when I have all the gear on. Maybe I better skip the gear (i.e. the Enell) to keep from running tonight. I will have the Garmin on tomorrow and be able to give more details after the 5K. I have tomorrow's 5K, then the following week the goal to meet is running the entire time. Gulp.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Blog Blog Blog

For the fourth week in a row, it was snowing on Saturday morning. I was all pshyched to run in the rain - because like you all said, I'd be soaked anyway. I talked with my friend, and she is super supportive for me to meet the goal, and so run alone. She even mentioned that we would be driving together, so that was enough time to talk. We are going to set up Sunday mornings to go to a 2 mile loop path - so that's great. But, it wasn't raining on Saturday morning. It was heavy ice - not snow, not sleet, but ice. I went out to get the paper and everything was glazed over and slick. Then, my husband decided I wasn't going - we saw a sanding truck go down the road. So far this winter, we have seen it twice. It has to be pretty bad for us to see it.But, I got my garmin 205 this Monday. It is a big motivator - I want to see how long I can keep up the pace I have. Also, I can now get a accurate milage total. I did 3.1 + miles yesterday - to make up for Saturday. I didn't run it all - I had the dog, and he makes it more effort to run. But, I kept up the 16 minute mile pace that I really wanted to hit. Here's the breakdown:Mile 1 - 15:54Mile 2 - 32:00 (Almost didn't make it, but the milage changed as the number was still on 32:00)Mile 3 - 47:56After mile 3, we walked another 0.34 miles - to cool down and let the dog finally sniff Everything.I found that I focused on hitting a new 0.25 miles every four minutes. It made me run more to be sure to hit the times. And now, seeing what is really 3 miles around here, I know it is the first time I have done three miles around home. But, it was nice to see that what I have been calling the 1.3 mile loop came in at 1.36 miles. I haven't been too far off on my estimation(based on driving most of the route).I was interested in the 16 minute mile because that is what Disney requires. SO, I can do it for three miles, now I just have to be able to do it for another 23.2.And, I know that I will eventually have to tell my best running friend that I have to run without him - the dog.I was feeling very off track (excuse the pun) on my training, but yesterday's run really helped get me back. I have less than two weeks to the goal of running the whole way. And, I am committed to doing it.I have added some lifting to my daily routine. I have a bar that I lift - I know it is missing weights, but it is heavy to start with. And, I have to get some muscle in these girly arms just to start. It is more environmentally friendly than my half gallon jugs of milk.

Friday, March 14, 2008

General Update

I haven't written for a while. Once again last week, we had bad weather. It was rainy, but very heavy. So, I have gone three weeks without a 5K. I try to get in some other training, but I am not sure it has worked. And surprise, there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow - starting in the early morning. But, it isn't supposed to the torential downpour of the week before. If it is misty, I'll be there. I feel a little as if rain is a bad excuse to not run. But, to be realistic, running really puts strain on my body - so being wet with New England March rain isn't great. March rain in NE is usually mixed in with rain and hail (like last weekend's weather). We call it rain, mostly because we don't have to shovel it, but it is still chunky precipitation.

My neighbor heard about the 5K's and she is going to come with me tomorrow. (Unless it is raining.) I am mixed about this. She says I should just go ahead and run it, and she will walk it. But, I will want to be with her the first time she does the route. I think I may use her as an excuse to not run the whole way. But - that's not so bad is it? When I did the 5K with someone last time, I jogged in place while they walked, so I used a lot of energy, but didn't worry about the time. Where I haven't "run" the 5K in a number of weeks, I think it will be good to get out there to remember the route, but nice to have a reason not to push past my limits (so I don't get discouraged that I can't do as well as I think I should). I am still on pace to get to my first goal.

I wanted to mention, and get feed back on my overall, very loose training plan towards the 2009 Disney marathon. Most of the training plans I found for marathons take 16-18 weeks. They mention that before starting the training plan, you should feel comfortable running 3-6 miles per day 3-5 days per week. I need to get to that point by late August (~18 weeks from the marathon). So far, I have been doing daily walks (with the dog), anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 miles. I say walks, but I usually run during 3-5 of them a week.

My first real goal point is about to come up. I set the goal in February that I have to run the 5K by the end of March. I have walked/run it, but I need to do 3.1 miles at a jog (no walking). That will be a one time in the week running 3 miles. And, I won’t be “comfortable”.

After that, I have been thinking of what next? In April, the weekly 5K races move to 40 minutes away from my house, and are going to be Wednesday nights instead of Saturday mornings. I can't get to them as easily. I would like to commit to doing one per month, but maybe realistically it will be one per six weeks.

I need to work through the spring and summer to get to that "comfortable 3-6 miles" by August. There are some things during that time that I will use to keep me motivated – I plan to walk for Project Hunger in May (it is 20 miles in Boston), and walk the Boston marathon route for the Jimmy Fund in September. There is a cancer walk in Worcester that is 5 miles, and I want to run that route with a friend of mine. I think the summer will be when I need the most help staying motivated – I hate the heat, and the weekly 5K’s are not so easy to get to. I am hoping that once school is out, I will take advantage of the school track - maybe run in the morning with a neighbor.

What do you guys do to stay motivated in the heat? (I am a true New Englander. I ran one day in 45 degree weather, this week and it made me start to worry about being hot in the summer. I prefer running in snow I guess.)

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

30K Volunteer Work Pays Off

It snowed on Saturday, but the 30K race went off on Sunday just beautifully. I arrived and milled around looking for where to help out. They assigned me to t-shirts and I worked with a couple of great ladies. I also got to see just about all of the 223 pre-registered folks that were running.

Being a big lady, I have a different take on t-shirt sizes. We had S to XL. I always say no to a t-shirt because XL is still too small. I was giving out M to folks, who then were requesting smaller sizes. There were quite a few guys asking for S as well. I did get an XL volunteer t-shirt, and amazingly, it fit. My friend D would say that is because I am in denial about having lost some weight. Still, I like my shirts looser.

So, I learned that you should remember your shirt size requested when you pre-register. That is the size you will get.

I met J - a woman marathon runner. She put me in touch with another women in my town who has done Disney. I am really excited because we have talked and I have gotten some good info on longer distance paths in my area. Love it.

So, I am training this week and I HOPE to run this Saturday. I will be there even if there is rain. Ice is tough, but they are moving the runs soon. I can't believe it is time to change the clocks. during Daylight Savings time (next week), the races are Wednesday nights about a half hour from home. I won't make those so much, but I had been hoping to get more runs in Worcester. Oh well, I am on my way.

My first major goal is to run 5K the whole way by the end of March. It's March, so I have to get moving!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

It's a weekly thing...

Here it is - one hour to race time again. We are in the middle of getting 6-9 inches of snow. It started at mid-night, and there is no chance of getting out of the driveway in time. This time, the road isn't even plowed yet. And, the snow is coming down heavy. Argh again.

But, I did run during the week and actually ran most of the first 0.8 miles in our two mile loop. I only stopped running through the icy areas. That is the longest distance I have kept up a jog.

More cross training today - same as last week. I forgot to get milk yesterday, so I will probably be walking through the snow to go to the store. (I think the roads will be bad all day.) I'll walk, then get milk and carry it home. A gallon of milk is 8 pounds. If I get two half gallons, I can do four pound curls all the way home.

I am volunteering for the 30K race tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how they register and run behind the scenes. I wasn't brave enough to volunteer to man a water station though.