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! :)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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!
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! :)
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.
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?
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!
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?
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!
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?? :)
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!
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...
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!
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!
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!
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