WEIGHT LOSS GOAL

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Happy New Year! Happy New PR!

Just did the New Year 5K and you guessed it... I broke my old record! uh, by almost 3 minutes. Rock N Roll!

I was aiming for 32 minutes and squeezed in just under at 31:38. I had to go across 3 wooden foot bridges that had some ice on them so that slowed me down. The worse part was, after I crossed said bridges, my shoes were a little slippery so I was slowed down for even longer. The course was a little hilly which I'm not used to, and there was one monster hill near the end that just about killed me!

I used my Garmin and it really helped. I was able to keep an eye on my pace so I knew when I needed to pick up the pace and also when I was just going way too fast. Also, it told me when I was getting close to the finish and needed to really put it into overdrive. bbrrrrr... it was a chilly 29 this morning, but fortunately little wind which helped.

What a way to finish the year! I shaved 8 minutes off my 5K time in 2007. How awesome is that? At some point, my improvements will slow down. I was thinking about setting a goal for a sub-30 5K in 2008, but after today's race I think I'll go with a sub-28 minute 5K goal. There is no question in my mind that I'll break 30 minutes in early 2008, so the 28 minute goal should be more of a challenge for me.

Running into the New Year...

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas!

I am so excited that I got this for Christmas.

It's a Garmin Forerunner 305 which will track my time, distance, pace, and heartrate. Very, very cool. I went out and ran with it so I could play with my new toy. Up until now, I really hadn't been timing my runs and my pedometer was acting erratic, so this is going to be awesome. The interesting thing this morning is that I found out that my pace has improved significantly, and I didn't even realize it. Well, I had suspected that I was running faster, but now I have proof!! My average pace was 10:38 (over 3.75 miles) and I thought I was running more of a 11 or 11:30 mile so I am pretty excited. I looked at it when I passed the 3.1 mile mark this morning and I was right at 33 minutes! Yippee! I am really hoping for a time of 32 minutes at the 5K this Saturday, and I think I might pull it off. (My old PR is 34:29 for this distance). Eventually, my goal is to get under 30 minutes.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

New Shoes

So like I said yesterday, I found out I was running in the wrong shoes. It's kind of a long story, but suffice it to say that I now I have what I think are the right shoes for me. I only ran 2.7 miles today because I didn't want to overdo in the new shoes. Also, I was running outside and I haven't done that in over a week because of all the snow we had.

My feet had been hurting in all kinds of weird places, so I'm glad I figured out what was going on. Of course, I am always worried about my ankle acting up again, but the big concern right now is my right shin. Apparently this is shin splints but not what I have experienced in the past that has felt like shin splints. I have backed off on the distance a little this week and it seems to be helping. So hopefully, that along with the right shoes will get me back on track.

The timing on this has been ironic too because first of all, I'm not in the half marathon training mode yet, so that's good. Second, this week was so busythat I barely had time to breathe, let alone work out. But this week made me remember what it's like at work during the summer. So, somehow I gotta figure out how to keep up with my training schedule and diet when things get so busy. This is really tough. I know it sounds like an excuse, but there are days when I work from 7 am to 8 or 9 pm and then go right to bed when I get home. Plus I'm so exhausted by the time I get home that all I can do is drag my butt into bed. And running in the morning just ain't happening! I'm not a morning person. Well, I got a few months to figure it out but it is difficult. And then it becomes easier to say, well, let's just eat out tonight because it's easy & quick. But these are all the old habits that created the old body I had. So somehow, someway, someday, I have to (and want to) stick with the new habits even when life gets crazy.

Okay, now I am way off the topic of shoes!

Friday, December 21, 2007

TGIF

What a week! ugh, I'm exhausted. Well, here's the short version.

1. Work has been bonkers off the wall crazy busy.
2. Found out that I've been running in the wrong kind of shoes.
3. Found out that my calves are too tight so I've started stretching them 3 times a day.
4. Ate "off the diet" for dinner about every night this week.
5. Did not stick to my training plan for the week.

So basically, I'm tired, fat, & bloated. Happy holidays. I just want to get through the next 2 weeks and then get back to some kind of normalcy.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

New Milestone

6 miles on the treadmill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were dumped on with ice, then snow last night so running outside is out of the question. But pretty excited about the new distance reached today.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Let it snow, let it snow...

No, wait! It needs to stop snowing! I'm doing my long run tomorrow and it looks like I'm resigned to the treadmill again. I think we're supposed to get 17 inches or something crazy like that.

Well just a couple more weeks until the next 5K - Run to the New Year. Should be a fun one. A little hilly, but a nice run through trees and whatnot in the park. Then after that, it's time to get SERIOUS about training for the half marathon. I was looking at the training plan again this morning, and I'm more confident than ever that this is totally doable! Anyway, i gotta tweek it a little and then I will post the entire 12 week training plan here. Right now my 2 short runs each week are 3 milers and they seem almost too easy anymore. I am completely amazed the strides I've made in the last couple of months. And I still have 4 months to get ready for the half marathon. (i will be SO ready!) My biggest challenge the next 2 months will be the weather. As long as we don't get ice, snow, or strong winds then I'll be out there. But it's going to get chilly.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Knee Pain, etc.

Just when my ankle was feeling better... starting to get some pain on the outside of my knees. Not sure if it's just the recent increase in mileage or what?? It hurts more when I'm not running - like just sitting around or walking around the house. So I guess I'll just keep an eye on it.

I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things after being sick last week. I still have some sinus congestion that refuses to go away which is just kinda annoying. Just doing 3 miles today probably on the treadmill (looks like rain). But I'm a little concerned about the long run on Sunday, hoping my knees will hold up. oh, and I haven't even mentioned the shin splints on my right leg that have also been plaguing me!

Do I have the right shoes??

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Sick Leave

Well, I had to take a sick leave this week. I was a little congested last Sunday but ran my 5 miles anyway. Then started feeling sick Sunday afternoon and was sick all week. I about went out of my mind batty just sittin' around all week! But I finally, finally ran last night - 3 miles on the treadmill. Boy, it sure felt good! Anyway, I think I'm on the mend, and hopefully I'll be able to get in a long run again tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll be able to run outside because I think we're supposed to get freezing rain tonight and then more precipitation again tomorrow. And Monday. And Tuesday. So I may be stuck on the treadmill for awhile.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Another 5 miler!

A little warmer today, low 50's and light sprinkles. Ran my second ever (woo hoo) 5 mile run this morning. Felt good, about like the last time. Was able to run the whole thing w/o any stopping again. Amazing!

I was debating whether to ever run at all today. The side of my knee has been a little funky since Friday night after my 3 mile run, plus I am all stuffed up. But I went for it, fortunately, and it cleared the sinuses a little.

The best part is, my 5 mile long run is done for this week!!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

5 Miler

I'm totally stoked! Ran 5 miles last night without stopping! The first couple miles were a bit of a struggle, but after that I found my groove and had a fantastic run. In fact when I was almost home, I was thinking what it would feel like to run another mile. How funny is that??? I was a little tired, but felt very confident that I could have run an extra half mile if I had to last night. That is just so exciting to be able to accomplish a milestone like 5 miles and still have some left in the tank!

I'm kinda thinking my runs in December should be 3 mile, 3 mile, then 5 mile for each week. We'll see how that goes for a couple of weeks and then increase the long run to see if I can get to 6 by the end of the year. That would be an excellent base to start training from in January, when I start my half marathon training.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Turkey Coma

I survived the Turkey Trot this morning! But now I am ready to slip into a coma after the massive energy exertion followed by huge lunch.

I'm extremely pleased with how it went this morning. First, we had a couple of sprinkles of rain during the race, but managed to miss any really bad weather which was a huge relief. It was pretty nippy this morning after the torrential downpour we had last night. But perfect for running a race! We were bottlenecked at the beginning which actually helped me from going too fast at the start as I usually tend to do. I was able to keep a really nice, slow, steady pace throughout the entire race. Pace was 11:16 mile so just over what I did in the last 5K. But I was able to run the entire course, stopping only briefly at the water station at the half way point. I had enough left in the tank to speed up the last 1/2 mile, and then sprint to the finish. I thought a realistic time would be 55 minutes but thought how great would it be to get in closer to 50. So my actual finish time was 50:43 and I couldn't be more thrilled.

I thought this was really good for my first time out especially since I had only run 4 miles in training and the course today was 4.5, my longest distance to date. I could totally run 5 miles!

Next Up: I am going to continue to build my base mileage and then start training for the half marathon in mid January. 5 months to reach 13.1 miles-- no problem! :)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Turkey Trot tomorrow!

Okay, so I've been really slacking off this week. I could give a bunch of reasons (excuses) but I guess it wouldn't matter. This just means I will be very well rested for tomorrow's turkey run!

The weather forecast is now saying it will be 37 with windchill of 28 around the time the race starts. It looks like we will miss the snow but it's coming later in the day. I was mostly concerned it might rain which would totally bite! But this weather will be perfect because it's what I've been training in the last couple of weeks. Chilly!

I'm getting very nervous & excited! I think about 4-5,000 people have signed up so it should be a good time. I would love to finish in 50 minutes but I think realistically, I will probably wind up around 55.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Brrr....

My pedometer was not working right this morning. Rather frustrating because I didn't have a clear course laid out for my run, just a general idea of where I would go and about how far it was. So I guess that's a lesson learned to not depend on the pedometer!

So I ran 3.8, not 4 like I'd planned. I'm still really happy about that because it's still farther than i've gone before. I really felt strong, like I could have run forever this morning, so I'll definitely be ready for next week's race. One thing is that I really took it slow. This is the biggest challenge because I tend to get to the race and just run way too fast the first couple of miles (too excited!). So hopefully I can keep my wits about me and reign it in!

I gotta say, the cold wasn't too bad. (37 with windchill of 27) Coldest I've ever run in, but I think I handled it pretty well. I did wear ear muff thingies which definitely helped. My legs were the only thing that bothered me, so I gotta look into getting some thermal running tights!

p.s. Ankle is holding up beautifully!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

4 miles?

Well, tomorrow is the big test! I am running 4 miles which is farther than (further than?) I have ever run. I'm actually kind of excited about it! Looks like tomorrow's forecast is mostly cloudy and 37. Nice & cool! Hopefully I'll miss the rain showers.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

I'm a wimp!

Well, this morning I really wanted to run outside but it was lightening and pouring rain so again I was stuck on the treadmill. Last night I knew there was a chance of rain, but I thought if it was just sprinkling I would go out anyway. But, so sorry, an actual pouring thunderstorm is a little beyond what common sense will allow me to do. So, I won't run at night and I won't run in a thunderstorm... What a wimp! Wow, I'm going to be hurtin' for certain when winter gets here.

I told my mom that I had heard the optimum temp for running long distance is 41 degrees. I'm not sure who said this or if it's even correct, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me. I think the cooler the better, but then again I have never run when it's 20 out. Anyway, she thought that 41 sounded way too cold for running. Kinda funny! People are starting to look at me like I'm a little crazy! Wait til it's 30 out and she hears I went for a run!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Night Running? No Way, Jose!

I haven't run or done anything at all the last 2 days, so I felt like a total slug today! Ankle is still a little funky, but today my running buddy said, "oh, go run you big wimp!" which made me laugh. So I took her advice and went for it tonight. I was finishing up some work and kinda let the day slip away, and since we've gone to daylight savings it got dark before I realized it!

So I was stuck on the "dreadmill". Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to run at night. Maybe in the summer?? But it just looked cold & cloudy so I wimped out and opted for the treadmill instead. Good news is, I ran the entire 3 miles without stopping at all. woo hoo, go me!

Definitely icing the ankle tonight. Definitely popping the Advil. Definitely not running the next 2 days. But hey, I got my mileage in this week, and I'm all set for my "long run" next week which will be 4 miles. gulp.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Ankle Woes

I'm sorry to report that after running 2 miles on the treadmill last night, my ankle has decided to start hurting again. Why this is happening now, I have no clue. It had been feeling really good, but the previous 2 runs were 3 milers and those went pretty smooth. But I will ice it today and not run for a couple of days to see if that helps. I had really planned on another 3 miler on Friday, but I'll have to wait & see how it's feeling. Just over 2 weeks until the next race, so not exactly good timing!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

GO COLTS!

okay, really quick post before the Colts beat the pants off the Patriots... haha

I had a really great run this morning. It was cool (low 40's) and a little windy but got in 3 strong fast miles, and I'm feeling fabulous! Okay, okay. So for most runners, I wasn't quick. But for me, I was quick.

Anyway, I am feeling much better about the Thanksgiving run and feel like I will definitely be ready for it. The thought of doing the mini marathon is still freaking me out a little, but I will get over it.

I saw a really cool special on Nova where they took 13 people who were not working out at all, and in 9-10 months they trained for and completed the Boston Marathon. So listen, if these couch potatoes can do a marathon in 9 months, I can do a half marathon in 6 months. Right? Okay, and I'll admit at the end of the show I cried as they crossed the finish line. Is that silly or what? I guess I could just really relate to their struggles, and I know what an amazing accomplishment it is for someone who never thought of themselves as a "runner".

The Colts game is on and I'm missing it because I'm getting all sappy! GO COLTS!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

I did it!

I did it! I just signed up for my first ever mini marathon (that's 13.1 miles for you non-runners). Wow, all of the sudden I'm a little freaked out! The good news is, I have plenty of time to train. The bad news is, it's 13.1 miles! Holy Crap! What have I gotten myself into?

First things first! I have to get ready for the "turkey trot" aka Drumstick Dash coming up in 3 weeks so I gotta work up to 5 miles first! I think I'll run 3 miles tomorrow morning.

*sigh* What am I thinking?!?!?!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

I have no explanation here!

Just got back in from a 2 mile run, and it was just like "old times". Much, much easier. Not really sure why that is. I ran it at 11:30 pace, 2 miles straight with no stopping. But it was just like when I was running a lot before, much easier. hmm... What the heck is going on? I was struggling so much last week, so why it is all the sudden not such a struggle?

Well, we'll see what develops the next couple of weeks. I still have never ran over 3 miles and yet I intend on doing a 4 1/2 miler in 4 weeks. I'm pretty nutty! :)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

And the results are in!

Well, the rain managed to stay at bay long enough for the race last night. It started pouring right before the race and my racing buddy questioned me once again, "Are you sure we want to do this?" To which I answered, heck yah! And I'm so glad we did because it turned out to be a beautiful, cool, albeit wet night for a run.

Did pretty well except for the last mile I was feeling it pretty hard, and took a couple of walking "breaks". Overall, my time improved from a 11:33 mile in September to a 11:04 mile last night! Yippee! Which means I was hauling ass the first couple of miles!

So this was a 3 mile run, not 3.1 like the previous two 5K's I did. My finish time was 33:14 but when you adjust it for a 3.1 finish time, it would have been 34:29 as compared to 35:53 in September. Which means I shaved another minute and a half off my time. ROCK N ROLL!

Next Up: The Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving morning. I can't believe I'm committing myself to this! It's 4.5 miles - UGH. So I've never run more than 3 miles, and I'm crazy enough to try this in 4 weeks!

Bring it on, baby, bring it on!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Man, oh man, running is hard! Why am i doing this again? I am still struggling a little bit and i have to remind myself that i did take 3 weeks off for my ankle so i've got to give it time to work back up to where i was before.

i am definitely faster and stronger, but just cardio wise, i guess, i am dying out there! Just did 2 miles but it was a toughy! It was really windy outside which makes it harder. I remember just before i took the ankle hiatus doing a 2 miler and thinking how "easy" it was getting. What happened to that girl?

A little cool out today with the wind and all, so I'm thinking about how "fun" (not!) it will be this winter. And speaking of weather, the forecast for Friday is rain, scattered showers. The race day. hmm... running in the rain, 50 degrees at 7 pm in the dark... so we'll see if i actually run Friday night.

My gosh, I'm whining a lot today. Get over yourself, girl! Suck it up! :)

Saturday, October 20, 2007

6 days until the race!

Only 6 more days until the next race! I only have 2 runs scheduled between now & then. The running was a little tough this last week for some reason. So hopefully I can pull this off! I just keep telling myself that I've done this before, and I've run that distance before plenty of times when I was in worse shape than I am now.

Still going real easy on the ankle. It's reminding me that it's still sensitive, so definitely I have to be cautious. I have my sights on a 4.5 mile Thanksgiving run, so if all goes well on Friday, I'll be signing up for that as well.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Running Too Fast?

Okay, so am I running too fast? It seems like I am really running fast. Actually, I timed myself tonight and the first mile was 2 minutes per mile faster than my race pace (taken from the last 5K). I simply cannot maintain that pace for the entire 3 miles. In fact, I couldn't seem to do 2 miles tonight like I'd planned and wound up settling for 1.5 miles instead.

I really need to work at pacing myself and this has never been an issue before. hhmmm... I know when I was running on the treadmill a lot before, it seems to help me keep an even pace because it trained me to run at the same speed for the entire time. But my pace is even... it's just FAST! too fast? That's just crazy! Who'd have ever thunk it?

Monday, October 15, 2007

And they were never heard from again...

Well, our little trip to the park turned into quite an adventure. Thinking we'd take a nice easy hike, see the water fall, then hike out and have a nice lunch, all in about 2 hours, we set out happily into the park. The trail we chose started off nice enough with spectacular views along the edge of the extremely steep, extremely deep ravine. As we progressed, however, the trail became narrower, and began to slope to the left (toward the ravine) - yikes!

We eventually came to a fork and decided to take the path which led down to the riverbed. Now the trail became very steep - straight downward! And it was covered with all manner of acorns and dried leaves making it extremely slippery, with the edge of the canyon only inches away!

Despite the fears of sliding to the bottom, we did manage to make our way safely to the dried up river bed, only to find it was not the nice flat riverbeds I've hiked before, but rather laden with huge boulders, pebbles, medium sized rocks, and everything in between. Some of the rocks would move when you stepped on them, and there was water in parts making the rocks potentially slippery. So you can imagine this slowed our progress considerably. We plucked away along the riverbed for what seemed like an eternity, and we finally came across other "survivors" going the opposite direction who said the "other trail was WAAAAY back there". Which meant we would have eons further to travel. We had to make the decision of turning around or continuing on to meet up with another trail so we could get off the river bed. After much debate, we decided to continue on instead of turning back. (and they were never heard from again...)

Another eon later, we found a trail and got the heck off the river bed - none too soon! We immediately came upon another group that was seemingly lost, trying to figure out what to do as well. (side note: we came across several others after this and all seem to be frustrated by the map and the lack of good signs along the trails) We decided to follow them up, up, up and out of the canyon which was no easy feat either because we had to hike straight up a steep incline similar to what we had encountered on the way down (but thankfully no acorns). Then along another very narrow trail along the edge of the ravine to a set of unforgivingly long stairs, and finally to the road. Never been so glad to see asphalt in my life!

But the bad news? We were on the other side of the park from our car so we had to walk about 2 miles back. All told, a 4 hour hike. And the kicker? We drove to the other side of the park to the Inn which has a restaurant because at this point food was pretty much top priority. Well, they had stopped serving lunch 30 minutes ago. (*sigh*)

So basically, we took the trails marked "VERY RUGGED" (they weren't kidding) turning out to be the most challenging trails in the park.

I iced the ol' ankle after lunch for a good long time, and then again when we got home a couple hours later. And today? I ran 2 miles outside on the asphalt. So if my ankle can survive that crazy hiking trip and then run 2 miles the next day, I think I may be able to get past this injury after all! :) Happy Days!

Oh, and did I mention only 11 days until my next race? I will be SO ready!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Weekend Warrior

Update: Took 2 big bags of old fat clothes to Goodwill. It's like a weight (no pun intended) has been lifted!

So, I'm going out of town this weekend and I'm actually packing workout clothes because the hotel has a fitness center and I plan on running on Sunday. Now, that's hardcore! Also, I'm trying figure out how I can pack my "diet food" for the trip so I don't have to eat out every meal. I guess it's a test to see if I can continue on the right path fitness-wise when "life" gets in the way. I mean, seriously, I should be able to leave town for the weekend without totally falling off the wagon, right?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Mental Game...

Part of what I have learned to love about running is the mental game. Ultimately, your body can handle a lot more than you usually give it credit for. So, when you are running you can either talk yourself into quitting before you've reached your goal, or you can talk yourself into sticking in there and pushing past the limits of what you thought you could do.

If you tell yourself, I can't run another mile, then you can't. If you tell yourself you can go farther today than ever before, then you can. Either way, you are right. I have found that running is a test of mental toughness as well as physical strength & stamina. And that's just cool!

There is just a certain sense of satisfaction for me when I add another mile, or overcome a challenging hill that is unlike anything else I've experienced. Maybe because I know the internal battle that had to take place for me to achieve that goal. I know that I wanted to quit, but would not allow myself to back down, so it's not just a physical victory but a mental one as well.

Being away from running for 3 weeks took it's toll on me mentally - no question! I realize now that I missed the mental challenge of running maybe more than anything else. And I think it made me begin to question (doubt) myself in other areas because of this. For example, I had put some of my "fat clothes" in a pile in my closet but had not taken them to Goodwill yet. Why was I still holding on to them? A very wise & kind friend told me to get rid of them because I have been hanging on to the past and my fear of failure and returning to my old ways. I guess I just had not yet convinced myself that I wouldn't return to old habits, and maybe I still haven't convinced myself. I realize I am missing the faith & confidence in myself to trust myself (if that makes any sense).

When you run, it's just you. It's all me. Me and the road. There's no one running next to me telling me to keep going, or push harder. There's no one watching to see if I fail or succeed. The only one that knows is me. And the truth is, I have never let myself down running. wow... So, with that thought in mind, I hereby vow to trust myself, let go of past failures, and say goodbye to the chunky girl (and her clothes) forever!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Running Strong & Happy!

1.5 miles on the treadmill.

It's hotter than blazes outside, so I'm stuck on the treadmill today. But I got in another run with no ankle problems (fingers crossed). I'm icing it anyway, just to stay on the safe side.

Feeling really strong otherwise. I didn't really want to quit at the mile & 1/2 but did not want to push the ankle too far too soon.

Did I mention I love running?? :)

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I'm Back!

I'm back & better than ever!

I ran a mile this morning for the first time in over 3 weeks!!! Weather was nice & cool, my ankle feels great, all is right with the world. I flew through that mile, too. I ran it at "race pace" instead of my usual training pace. Probably because I was so excited. I was trying to take it easy for the first time back, but I think it would have been hard to run any slower.

I feel soooo much stronger. All that strength training is paying off, and I'm also so glad that I did as much cardio as I could the past couple of weeks.

Grass grew during my running absence. One of my neighbors on my running route had torn up his lawn and reseeded the last time I ran. So this morning when I past the house, there is a full yard of grass. You would never even know anything was amiss if you hadn't seen it before. I found this rather amusing. Not running for three weeks was like watching grass grow!

You know, one thing I was worried about was that I would be totally sucking wind on my first run back. Like, OMG this sucks! But I didn't feel that way at all. I was thinking, yes, I do love running. Yes, this is why I run, this is awesome. It felt so gooood.

I'm back, baby!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Running on Sunday?

So tomorrow's the big day. I'm going to try out my ankle on a short run. I just checked the weather and it's going to be a high of 90 both today and tomorrow. Tomorrow morning it should be in the 70's with 90% humidity...

hmmm... not ideal weather for my truimphant return to running. But there is no way I'm going to be stuck inside on the treadmill tomorrow. I'll just have to get going bright & early tomorrow.

My fingers are crossed that all goes well...

Friday, October 5, 2007

Missing Running :(

Hopefully I did not misname this blog page. Read on...

Here's my story:
I've been running off & on for about a year. I had trained for my first 5K (which is 3.1 miles) back in late summer of 2006. Right before the race I got the flu and was unable to attend the event. So this spring I had an opportunity to run in the 5K portion of the Indy 500 Festival, and I jumped at the opportunity. Keep in mind, I was never in sports or anything so this was a big deal for me. I really just wanted to finish the race!! I only trained for about 5 weeks but was able to work up to it in that short amount of time. I had the goal in mind to finish in under 40 minutes (which I just squeaked in under that time) and to run the whole thing without stopping (except at the water stations, of course!).

Thrilled with my results (albeit very, very slow in the running world), I have continued to run and just finished my second 5K, shaving off over 3 1/2 minutes from my previous record. WOO HOO!!

So, of course, now I'm totally hooked on running and have already signed up for the next event (coming in 3 weeks) and have other events in the back of my mind.

Now, here's my sob story:
Right before my second 5K, my ankle developed tendonitis and I had to cut way back on my mileage about a week before the race. But I pushed thru and kicked a** on the race. Since then, however, I have not run at all. Trying to give the ankle plenty of time to heal.

3 weeks with no running. UGH! It's been sooooo hard. So I guess I didn't realize how hooked I was, or how much it meant to me until I couldn't do it any more. I've had several revelations:

1. I love to run. I need to run. I live to run.
2. Walking fast with or without incline on treadmill just doesn't do it for me any more. I can't even break a sweat. Wow! Am I really in THAT much better shape? Apparently.
3. The elliptical can totally kick your butt if done right.
4. Having the right shoes is key (another story for another time)
5. Part of what's great about running is being outdoors. I miss that, too!
6. Not running sucks. (duh)

But the good news is, everything seems to be going well and I may be able to start running again this weekend. I'm actually a little nervous. First, will I be able to do it again without totally sucking wind? Second, will my ankle hold up? Third, will my ankle hold up? You get the point. Or, maybe I'll be able to run for a few days and it will start hurting again. Or maybe it will be okay but I'll never be able to do more than a 5K. Cuz U no... I've got bigger plans for myself than that! I know, I know... I'm playing all these crazy head games with myself, and I need to quit fretting and "JUST DO IT", right? Right!

Later!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

First Post!

Okay, so this is my first post and I can't believe I actually figured out how to do this!

I've been working on getting into better shape the last couple of months, so the thought here is that if I post what I am doing (or not doing, as the case may be) that it may help keep me on track. Not that anyone even knows that I have a blog out there! But I know it's in cyberspace, so maybe that will get my boo-tay off the couch!

Peace Out!