Weight: 124.6
Workout: 5.5 miles
This week's long run... 5.5 miles. As I was approaching mile 5 I thought about the fact that I'm going to have to run 13. Five miles was very difficult this morning. How in the world will I do 13? For that matter - how did I do 10 less than a year ago with no problems at all? What a difference taking some significant time off makes in endurance and fitness. Ugh. Hopefully I recover some of that before the race in May:)
I reminded myself, though, that it is one day on the training calendar at a time. I don't have to run 13 miles right now or even tomorrow. TODAY I have to run 5.5 miles and then I'm done. And I can do it.
The run went well. Heart rate was up near 180 for most of the time. I hope to see that decrease over time. It simply is too tough to run at that high of a heart rate. I'm not pushing myself too hard - it would be this high at a slower pace, too. Who am I kidding? I always push myself too hard. However, the heartrate thing is always an issue regardless of my pace.
Pace was between 5.6 - 5.8 miles per hour. I ran 5.5 miles in 57:45, which works out to a 10:30 mile. Not too bad, but I'd like to get that closer to 10:00 miles. When I was running outside last year I was running 10:20 miles and 10:00 miles on the treadmill. I'd like to be back there. It will come in time. I stopped twice to catch my breath - at 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles. I consider that a successful run. Much better than last Saturday when I couldn't get through one song without stopping to rest (for all 12 songs that I ran through).
Today I'm going to focus on drinking lots of water and getting the filter changed in the humidifier. I know I'm retaining water - when I wake up in the morning I can't move my wedding ring, which is a clear indication for me. In addition, I drank 16 oz of water right before I went to bed last night and hardly peed when I woke up this morning. Something needs to be done about my hydration level today. I'm going to work on that.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
February 12, 2010
Weight: 124.6
Workout: 20:00 cross + weight training
Friday always feels so easy. Almost too easy sometimes. I welcome it because Thursday is horrific, but when I'm back in the locker room I always feel a little let down.
I did 20 minutes on the eliptical - very easy going pace. Then leg press, shoulders, chest, biceps, abductors and adductors. I was early enough this morning that I got everything in. I should throw abs in at some point, but I hate them more than I hate circuits.
The girls got some candy in the mail yesterday from Nana. While I don't crave sugar or candy, the last 12 hours have proved to be difficult. Actually, the last 2 hours have proved to be incredibly difficult. I want nothing more than to have a miniature dark chocolate hershey's bar with my coffee. I'm resisting, but barely.
Yesterday was a bit rough because I was gone all afternoon and did not have lunch. Same with Wednesday. And it will be the same today. When I finally ate something yesterday evening I had some GI distress... not sure why this continues to be an issue as of the last 6-9 months. Tums and I are now BFFs.
Workout: 20:00 cross + weight training
Friday always feels so easy. Almost too easy sometimes. I welcome it because Thursday is horrific, but when I'm back in the locker room I always feel a little let down.
I did 20 minutes on the eliptical - very easy going pace. Then leg press, shoulders, chest, biceps, abductors and adductors. I was early enough this morning that I got everything in. I should throw abs in at some point, but I hate them more than I hate circuits.
The girls got some candy in the mail yesterday from Nana. While I don't crave sugar or candy, the last 12 hours have proved to be difficult. Actually, the last 2 hours have proved to be incredibly difficult. I want nothing more than to have a miniature dark chocolate hershey's bar with my coffee. I'm resisting, but barely.
Yesterday was a bit rough because I was gone all afternoon and did not have lunch. Same with Wednesday. And it will be the same today. When I finally ate something yesterday evening I had some GI distress... not sure why this continues to be an issue as of the last 6-9 months. Tums and I are now BFFs.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
February 11, 2010
Weight: 124.8
I feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off this week. And it isn't looking better until next week. Hence no post yesterday and the late post today.
Thursdays are circuit day. I.HATE.THURSDAY. Hate it. Hate.it. Despise it. Dread it. Hate it.
It is by far the worst, most horrible, hardest workout of the week. I never want Wednesday evenings to end... because then I'll have to wake up on Thursday and do the dreaded circuits.
Today I started with the bike - 12:00. Had my heart rate up to 135 bpm on the bike. I don't push it a whole lot on the bike. I consider it slightly better than a warm up.
Moved on to 12:00 on the stairmill. I would like to curse the person who created the stairmill. It is the worst. horrible. wretched. And at 12 minutes, the intervals lasted 48 seconds each. Thats a long fricken time when I'm working so hard that my forearms are sweating. Really? Forearms? Yes. And dripping. I think if it weren't for the stairmill, I may not hate circuits as much. I really despise the stairmill and would rather cut my arm off with a butter knife than do it for much longer than that.
Next up was hill intervals on the treadmill for 13:00. I ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8 mph. I think the top hill was around 4 or 5% incline for over a minute. That one was tough, but it was the last minute so I couldn't allow myself to stop. Heartrate was up around 178 bpm on the treadmill.
Finally I ended with the eliptical for 13:00. I consider this circuit to be slightly more than a cool down. I certainly don't slow my pace down to a cool down level, but I'm not hitting it as hard as I do the stairmill and the treadmill.
If I wanted a higher level circuit workout I should consider not reading magazines while doing the bike and the eliptical. I may consider that for next week.
I'm always so glad to have it over. So happy to be in the locker room drinking a glass of water and hopping in the shower. It feels like a huge accomplishment, even though I have no ability to measure my performance. I guess my measure of success is how much it sucked. And every Thursday it sucks. A lot.
Fridays are 20:00 of lighter cross training with upper body + leg press, abductors & adductors. Its a much lighter day and a welcome reprieve after the treachery of Thursday.
I feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off this week. And it isn't looking better until next week. Hence no post yesterday and the late post today.
Thursdays are circuit day. I.HATE.THURSDAY. Hate it. Hate.it. Despise it. Dread it. Hate it.
It is by far the worst, most horrible, hardest workout of the week. I never want Wednesday evenings to end... because then I'll have to wake up on Thursday and do the dreaded circuits.
Today I started with the bike - 12:00. Had my heart rate up to 135 bpm on the bike. I don't push it a whole lot on the bike. I consider it slightly better than a warm up.
Moved on to 12:00 on the stairmill. I would like to curse the person who created the stairmill. It is the worst. horrible. wretched. And at 12 minutes, the intervals lasted 48 seconds each. Thats a long fricken time when I'm working so hard that my forearms are sweating. Really? Forearms? Yes. And dripping. I think if it weren't for the stairmill, I may not hate circuits as much. I really despise the stairmill and would rather cut my arm off with a butter knife than do it for much longer than that.
Next up was hill intervals on the treadmill for 13:00. I ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8 mph. I think the top hill was around 4 or 5% incline for over a minute. That one was tough, but it was the last minute so I couldn't allow myself to stop. Heartrate was up around 178 bpm on the treadmill.
Finally I ended with the eliptical for 13:00. I consider this circuit to be slightly more than a cool down. I certainly don't slow my pace down to a cool down level, but I'm not hitting it as hard as I do the stairmill and the treadmill.
If I wanted a higher level circuit workout I should consider not reading magazines while doing the bike and the eliptical. I may consider that for next week.
I'm always so glad to have it over. So happy to be in the locker room drinking a glass of water and hopping in the shower. It feels like a huge accomplishment, even though I have no ability to measure my performance. I guess my measure of success is how much it sucked. And every Thursday it sucks. A lot.
Fridays are 20:00 of lighter cross training with upper body + leg press, abductors & adductors. Its a much lighter day and a welcome reprieve after the treachery of Thursday.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February 9, 2010
Weight: 123.6
Workout: 20:00 eliptical + glutes, hams, quads, lat pull down, rows (skipped calves & tris due to time)
Workout today was 20 minutes of cross training and some weight training. One thing I really like about our training plan is that I only have to worry about what I need to do today. It would be pretty easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of running 13 miles, however, having it all laid out in front of us allows us to look at it and see that this is the path that we're taking to get to 13 miles. If we accomplish this workout today, we're one workout closer to our goal. I never think about how I'm going to run 13 miles on May 8th. It will happen - if I follow the plan.
When I initially put the plan together, I decided to do lighter weights with higher reps. I hated it:) So I'm doing decent weights for legs with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I am doing heavier weights for back and arms with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I don't want to blast my legs if I'm running 3 days a week, but I want to feel that I'm doing something. Arms and back on the other hand, I work harder because I want more tone there.
Eating and water were good yesterday. I'm not dieting at all. My goal is to always think plant first and add lots of vegetables and a good amount of fruit to my day and increase my fiber. I've got some peppers, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini in the fridge to eat with hummus. I also have a bowl of frozen mixed vegetables in the afternoon. I'm trying to make dinners that are more focused on vegetables rather than meat - and if I'm using meat I use lean meat: roasted turkey, venison, chicken. I only make two dinners each week, so this has not been difficult - I make soup on Fridays and some kind of meal on Tuesday. Dave is not home for dinner on the other nights, so the girls get kid food and I have a bowl of tomato soup with something to go with it. Tonight I'm making smoked turkey stew using the leftover smoked turkey that I made last week. The girls won't touch soup, so we'll see how this goes over - they usually end up eating A LOT of bread:)
I feel good and I feel confident about all of this. One thing that I'm really happy about is that I lost my holiday weight without doing nazi weight watchers (or weight watchers at all) and without eating lean cuisines every night for dinner. In the past 7 years I felt like that was the only way I could lose weight and I always felt discouraged - its not the healthiest of eating paths for me (lean cuisines = much sodium and crap). I've proved to myself that I can do this without doing that. That's huge for me.
Workout: 20:00 eliptical + glutes, hams, quads, lat pull down, rows (skipped calves & tris due to time)
Workout today was 20 minutes of cross training and some weight training. One thing I really like about our training plan is that I only have to worry about what I need to do today. It would be pretty easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of running 13 miles, however, having it all laid out in front of us allows us to look at it and see that this is the path that we're taking to get to 13 miles. If we accomplish this workout today, we're one workout closer to our goal. I never think about how I'm going to run 13 miles on May 8th. It will happen - if I follow the plan.
When I initially put the plan together, I decided to do lighter weights with higher reps. I hated it:) So I'm doing decent weights for legs with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I am doing heavier weights for back and arms with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I don't want to blast my legs if I'm running 3 days a week, but I want to feel that I'm doing something. Arms and back on the other hand, I work harder because I want more tone there.
Eating and water were good yesterday. I'm not dieting at all. My goal is to always think plant first and add lots of vegetables and a good amount of fruit to my day and increase my fiber. I've got some peppers, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini in the fridge to eat with hummus. I also have a bowl of frozen mixed vegetables in the afternoon. I'm trying to make dinners that are more focused on vegetables rather than meat - and if I'm using meat I use lean meat: roasted turkey, venison, chicken. I only make two dinners each week, so this has not been difficult - I make soup on Fridays and some kind of meal on Tuesday. Dave is not home for dinner on the other nights, so the girls get kid food and I have a bowl of tomato soup with something to go with it. Tonight I'm making smoked turkey stew using the leftover smoked turkey that I made last week. The girls won't touch soup, so we'll see how this goes over - they usually end up eating A LOT of bread:)
I feel good and I feel confident about all of this. One thing that I'm really happy about is that I lost my holiday weight without doing nazi weight watchers (or weight watchers at all) and without eating lean cuisines every night for dinner. In the past 7 years I felt like that was the only way I could lose weight and I always felt discouraged - its not the healthiest of eating paths for me (lean cuisines = much sodium and crap). I've proved to myself that I can do this without doing that. That's huge for me.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
As a brief catch-up... Cornbread and I are signed on for a half-marathon in Indianapolis on May 8th. We are training. I made a training schedule that began on January 4th, so we're a little over a month into it. We run 3 days/week with a long run on Saturdays, circuit train on Thursdays (which totally sucks), cross train and weight train on T/F.
Weight: 126.0
Workout: 3.5 miles
Ran on the treadmill this morning. It wasn't quite as bad as Saturday's run, but I think part of it had to do with the fact that I was running in front of people - who probably weren't paying any attention to me - and didn't want to be the sucker on the treadmill who has to stop every couple of minutes because she can't handle it. I wanted to stop several times but forced myself to get through. I think I stopped twice.
I had been running really, really well up until the end of last week. I was running my miles continuously without any breaks and was feeling very confident about it. And then I donated blood on Wednesday and have sucked since then. My heart rate prior to Wednesday was between 160-170, after Wednesday it has been 180-190. I HAVE to assume that donating blood is affecting this, there really is no other logical explanation for the difference in heart rate. BUT I have no information to support my theory.
So this morning was alright. I struggled to get involved in my music, which leads to me expending a lot more energy... I have to step to the beat of the music right now, otherwise I'm laboring - physically and mentally. It all has to gel. As I go through the training and build up my mileage and endurance, this will change (slightly), but right now I have to have the exact right music to run well.
Weight has been up slightly. I had gotten as low as 123.4 last Thursday, which would bring me back to my pre-holiday weight. Everyday it has gone up 1/2-1 pound, which indicates to me that it is water retention. I haven't been eating poorly either, so I'm not concerned. I'll hammer the water this week and see where I get.
With blood donation, Lifesource does a cholesterol test. Mine was a non-fasting test because I forgot that they did that. I checked my results on Thursday and was astonished to find that it was down to 197! I have never seen my cholesterol below 204. The first time I ever had it tested - fasting - it was 288. I was 22. It has never been that high again, but it has always hovered around 210-237. I'm excited - this is validation that the eating changes I have made are helping and are benefiting my body in ways that I can't feel. Also gives me encouragement to continue.
"Plant first" will continue to be my thought before choosing what to eat.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
New Year, New Goals
Geez, I should keep better track of things on here. Its nice to have records of workouts and accomplishments.
Lets backtrack... We ran the Calvin Spring Classic on April 25, 2009. I sucked. Horribly. And I cried for 15 minutes afterward. I had worked so hard to become a runner. I had confidence. I could do it. And then at the race I couldn't even string ONE mile together without stopping to walk. I was so disappointed. From that day on, I ran outside as long as weather permitted. My running changed dramatically from that.
By the end of summer 2009 I was running 5 miles 3x/week & a long run of 7+ miles on Saturdays. I experimented with routes and the longest I ran was 10 miles at Lake Geneva at the summer regional in June. It was beautiful! I also ran 10 miles on the treadmill a couple of times, but I don't think I went beyond that.
After the summer, though, I was incredibly frustrated. I felt like I had hit a plateau with my running and my weight. I stayed within those 5 pounds all summer/fall, however, I wanted to get down to 115 because I felt like even though I was in fantastic shape, running was still difficult. The idea of an "easy run" was still laughable to me. None of it was easy. The only reason I could do it was I had my mental side in check. My heart rate was still getting up to 185/190 bpm, it was still hard. I read that with every pound you lose running gets easier - so I wanted to lose 5 - 7 pounds to make running a little easier. It just wasn't happening. I think, again, I was overconfident - and more importantly, COMFORTABLE with where I was at. I could eat what I wanted and not gain. Losing wasn't more important than where I was at that moment. Regardless, I decreased my mileage dramatically toward the end of the summer to where I was running around 12-15 miles/week (had gotten up near 25-28 miles/week early in the summer) and was staying with 3 miles routes with a 5 mile route on Saturdays.
In that time I also bought new running shoes. And they were the wrong kind. I ended up getting ankle tendonitis in September. The last time I ran was a Friday afternoon early in September after school started. I was so giddy to be able to run in the afternoon while the girls were at school. I ran 5 miles, but I found it was even MORE difficult to do it around noon - sun, full stomach, etc. My ankle hurt and I looked up my symptoms online and decided it was time to rest. I gave myself 6 weeks off of running, but I walked the dog instead. After 6 weeks it didn't get any better. Dave signed me up for Cardinal and I worked out on the eliptical - still no better. Only after I limited myself to the bike did I feel significant difference in pain, but still not 100%. I finally went to the foot doctor two weeks ago. He confirmed I had tendonitis, told me which kind of shoes to buy and gave me the okay to run through the pain, but advised Aleve 2x/day for the pain/inflammation. My ankle is finally feeling better - as long as I keep up the 2x daily Aleve.
I ran once since then and will start again next week.
In the meantime, I've become a sugar freak - starting with Halloween and lasting all the way through the holidays. Dave's parents came in early November and we had several good-sized dinners over the weekend and I've never gotten control again... two weeks after they were here we went out to Virginia for 1/2 a week, then two weeks later they were here again. And then the busyness and chaos of the holidays in addition to all of the sweets that we've been given and all of the biscotti that I made. I've gained some weight, but not sure how much. My scale needs new batteries and I know I'm retaining SOME water. I'm going to get new batteries and start weighing myself again on Monday (jan 4th). I won't be surprised to see 130 that morning.
I'm in a completely great place about my weight right now. I'm not concerned. I'm not obssessed. I know its happening. I also know that I can lose it. And I will. I'm so comfortable and confident with who I am that my weight - the number - doesn't mean a whole lot to me. My pants are getting uncomfortable, so something needs to be changed... and that needs to be the number. But I'm good.
We've signed up to run the Indy 1/2 marathon on May 8th with Jon and Brandy. I set up my training plan yesterday. Starting on Monday we have 18 weeks until the race and 11 weeks until we go to Steamboat. I want to be under 120 by Colorado (March 20th). I have a good training plan set up. I think all of this is completely do-able and am very excited.
Also, I'm considering going vegetarian. I think this is the only way I'll ever get my cholesterol under control without meds. I don't eat a whole lot of meat as it is, so I don't think this will be impossible. I may allow chicken, turkey and fish. But I won't make a lot of it at home. My diet goals as of now are:
* cut out sugar
* no eating after 8pm (this is going to be hard and require much discipline)
* fruit/vegetable with every meal.
I need to add more fruits and vegetables, no doubt. It is going to be a work in progress, but a goal to strive for.
Lets backtrack... We ran the Calvin Spring Classic on April 25, 2009. I sucked. Horribly. And I cried for 15 minutes afterward. I had worked so hard to become a runner. I had confidence. I could do it. And then at the race I couldn't even string ONE mile together without stopping to walk. I was so disappointed. From that day on, I ran outside as long as weather permitted. My running changed dramatically from that.
By the end of summer 2009 I was running 5 miles 3x/week & a long run of 7+ miles on Saturdays. I experimented with routes and the longest I ran was 10 miles at Lake Geneva at the summer regional in June. It was beautiful! I also ran 10 miles on the treadmill a couple of times, but I don't think I went beyond that.
After the summer, though, I was incredibly frustrated. I felt like I had hit a plateau with my running and my weight. I stayed within those 5 pounds all summer/fall, however, I wanted to get down to 115 because I felt like even though I was in fantastic shape, running was still difficult. The idea of an "easy run" was still laughable to me. None of it was easy. The only reason I could do it was I had my mental side in check. My heart rate was still getting up to 185/190 bpm, it was still hard. I read that with every pound you lose running gets easier - so I wanted to lose 5 - 7 pounds to make running a little easier. It just wasn't happening. I think, again, I was overconfident - and more importantly, COMFORTABLE with where I was at. I could eat what I wanted and not gain. Losing wasn't more important than where I was at that moment. Regardless, I decreased my mileage dramatically toward the end of the summer to where I was running around 12-15 miles/week (had gotten up near 25-28 miles/week early in the summer) and was staying with 3 miles routes with a 5 mile route on Saturdays.
In that time I also bought new running shoes. And they were the wrong kind. I ended up getting ankle tendonitis in September. The last time I ran was a Friday afternoon early in September after school started. I was so giddy to be able to run in the afternoon while the girls were at school. I ran 5 miles, but I found it was even MORE difficult to do it around noon - sun, full stomach, etc. My ankle hurt and I looked up my symptoms online and decided it was time to rest. I gave myself 6 weeks off of running, but I walked the dog instead. After 6 weeks it didn't get any better. Dave signed me up for Cardinal and I worked out on the eliptical - still no better. Only after I limited myself to the bike did I feel significant difference in pain, but still not 100%. I finally went to the foot doctor two weeks ago. He confirmed I had tendonitis, told me which kind of shoes to buy and gave me the okay to run through the pain, but advised Aleve 2x/day for the pain/inflammation. My ankle is finally feeling better - as long as I keep up the 2x daily Aleve.
I ran once since then and will start again next week.
In the meantime, I've become a sugar freak - starting with Halloween and lasting all the way through the holidays. Dave's parents came in early November and we had several good-sized dinners over the weekend and I've never gotten control again... two weeks after they were here we went out to Virginia for 1/2 a week, then two weeks later they were here again. And then the busyness and chaos of the holidays in addition to all of the sweets that we've been given and all of the biscotti that I made. I've gained some weight, but not sure how much. My scale needs new batteries and I know I'm retaining SOME water. I'm going to get new batteries and start weighing myself again on Monday (jan 4th). I won't be surprised to see 130 that morning.
I'm in a completely great place about my weight right now. I'm not concerned. I'm not obssessed. I know its happening. I also know that I can lose it. And I will. I'm so comfortable and confident with who I am that my weight - the number - doesn't mean a whole lot to me. My pants are getting uncomfortable, so something needs to be changed... and that needs to be the number. But I'm good.
We've signed up to run the Indy 1/2 marathon on May 8th with Jon and Brandy. I set up my training plan yesterday. Starting on Monday we have 18 weeks until the race and 11 weeks until we go to Steamboat. I want to be under 120 by Colorado (March 20th). I have a good training plan set up. I think all of this is completely do-able and am very excited.
Also, I'm considering going vegetarian. I think this is the only way I'll ever get my cholesterol under control without meds. I don't eat a whole lot of meat as it is, so I don't think this will be impossible. I may allow chicken, turkey and fish. But I won't make a lot of it at home. My diet goals as of now are:
* cut out sugar
* no eating after 8pm (this is going to be hard and require much discipline)
* fruit/vegetable with every meal.
I need to add more fruits and vegetables, no doubt. It is going to be a work in progress, but a goal to strive for.
Monday, March 23, 2009
March 23, 2009
Workout: running
Weight: 123.6
A lot has changed in 4 1/2 months:) I stayed at 6.0 mph and gradually worked up to more and more miles per workout. By Christmas I was running 6 miles on Saturday and 4 on M/W/Th. I think I only ran 6 miles once before Christmas and by later that day I was so ravenous I couldn't eat enough food - I never felt full. Kind of like how I felt after surfing in Cabo.
Right after Christmas I hit a wall with my running. I gained 4-5 pounds over christmas because I got overconfident with running = I could eat whatever and however much I wanted to (sugar). I also got pretty dehydrated. I could barely run 3 miles without being wrecked the whole time. So per Michelle's advice I took a break for a week. Then my hip began to hurt more and more and I had a bunch of dental issues - so I ended up taking a month off of running. I waited until my dental issues were resolved. The result, though, was that I lost the 5 pounds that I had gained because I couldn't eat solid food for 4 weeks. I started running again as soon as that was resolved. It took a few days to get it back, but I was soon back to 4 miles 3 days a week and a longer run on saturday.
Now, 2 months later, I am running 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 miles on M/W/Th and 6-7 miles on Saturday. My goal is to run about 20 miles/week. Two weeks ago I ran a personal best of 62:30 without stopping for any breaks. Last Saturday I ran 65:00 without significant breaks (I had to jump off for 10-20 seconds twice to talk to Dave or to Ryann). My saturday runs are still at a 6.0 pace. I have increased my weekday runs to 6.3 mph.
Today I ran 5 1/2 miles. I ran 4.75 miles at 6.3 and the last .75 miles at 6.5. With the increase in speed I've had to go back to adding time to my continuous running. This morning I did 3.25 miles before stopping to catch my breath. My heart rate is again at 185bpm when I stop.
My weight is fluctuating between 121 & 125 based on water consumption. Right now it is TOM in addition to Monday morning so double whammy on that. Saturday morning my weight was 121.6. Sunday morning it was 125. This morning it was 123.6. I am in size 6 jeans and small or xs shirts. Probably would be comfortable in size 4 trousers and could fit into size 4 jeans if I tried although they may not be terribly comfortable.
I was telling Dave a few weeks ago that this is the longest that I've maintained this weight. Each time I've gotten here in the past, I've gotten pregnant shortly afterward. This is the first time I can buy clothes with long range plans behind them. I see no reason why I should not be this size a year from now.
I now really, really enjoy running. It feels good. Dave and I challenged some of our college friends to run in the Calvin Classic 5k in April. I've never run in a race... I'm excited and hesitant all at the same time:) I've gotten pretty comfortable on the treadmill - I don't want to go back outside! But again, running feels good now. I still dread it sometimes, but I probably more dread getting up early than the actual running... the running I now KNOW I can do. I've proven it to myself - I can run for an hour without stopping. A year ago no one would have ever convinced me that I'd EVER be able to do that!
Weight: 123.6
A lot has changed in 4 1/2 months:) I stayed at 6.0 mph and gradually worked up to more and more miles per workout. By Christmas I was running 6 miles on Saturday and 4 on M/W/Th. I think I only ran 6 miles once before Christmas and by later that day I was so ravenous I couldn't eat enough food - I never felt full. Kind of like how I felt after surfing in Cabo.
Right after Christmas I hit a wall with my running. I gained 4-5 pounds over christmas because I got overconfident with running = I could eat whatever and however much I wanted to (sugar). I also got pretty dehydrated. I could barely run 3 miles without being wrecked the whole time. So per Michelle's advice I took a break for a week. Then my hip began to hurt more and more and I had a bunch of dental issues - so I ended up taking a month off of running. I waited until my dental issues were resolved. The result, though, was that I lost the 5 pounds that I had gained because I couldn't eat solid food for 4 weeks. I started running again as soon as that was resolved. It took a few days to get it back, but I was soon back to 4 miles 3 days a week and a longer run on saturday.
Now, 2 months later, I am running 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 miles on M/W/Th and 6-7 miles on Saturday. My goal is to run about 20 miles/week. Two weeks ago I ran a personal best of 62:30 without stopping for any breaks. Last Saturday I ran 65:00 without significant breaks (I had to jump off for 10-20 seconds twice to talk to Dave or to Ryann). My saturday runs are still at a 6.0 pace. I have increased my weekday runs to 6.3 mph.
Today I ran 5 1/2 miles. I ran 4.75 miles at 6.3 and the last .75 miles at 6.5. With the increase in speed I've had to go back to adding time to my continuous running. This morning I did 3.25 miles before stopping to catch my breath. My heart rate is again at 185bpm when I stop.
My weight is fluctuating between 121 & 125 based on water consumption. Right now it is TOM in addition to Monday morning so double whammy on that. Saturday morning my weight was 121.6. Sunday morning it was 125. This morning it was 123.6. I am in size 6 jeans and small or xs shirts. Probably would be comfortable in size 4 trousers and could fit into size 4 jeans if I tried although they may not be terribly comfortable.
I was telling Dave a few weeks ago that this is the longest that I've maintained this weight. Each time I've gotten here in the past, I've gotten pregnant shortly afterward. This is the first time I can buy clothes with long range plans behind them. I see no reason why I should not be this size a year from now.
I now really, really enjoy running. It feels good. Dave and I challenged some of our college friends to run in the Calvin Classic 5k in April. I've never run in a race... I'm excited and hesitant all at the same time:) I've gotten pretty comfortable on the treadmill - I don't want to go back outside! But again, running feels good now. I still dread it sometimes, but I probably more dread getting up early than the actual running... the running I now KNOW I can do. I've proven it to myself - I can run for an hour without stopping. A year ago no one would have ever convinced me that I'd EVER be able to do that!
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