Friday July 9, 2010

Workout: Intervals

Time: 37:34

Distance: 4.0

Pace: 9:22

Weight: 122.6

Two Years Ago

Intervals were 1/4 mile at 6.0 / 1/4 mile at 7.0 with a cool down at 6.3 for 7:34 (to finish the chapter in my book).

Finally put my training plan together for Holland. Training was supposed to start on Monday, but I've been kind of floundering throughout the week trying to decide which plan to follow - Hal Higdon's advanced or intermediate plan. Neither one suited me well. The advanced plan was a little too much and the intermediate was not quite enough. So I combined the two along with the plan we had for Indy. I'm happy with it.

M/W/S = running

T/F = cross training with strength training (could substitute intervals for the cross)

TH = circuits or hill repeats

The plan starts at 21-24 miles/week and ends at 27-30 miles/week. The beginning weeks are actually probably slightly less than what I've been running in the last month already.

I'm glad to finally have something in writing so I know exactly what I need to do every day. I'm not sure if I'm going to set a time goal for myself or not... I'm definitely running faster and I'm doing intervals and hill repeats for variety but also for speed training. I think perhaps my goal is just going to be that I want to finish faster than 2:12, which was a 10:02 pace.

Tuesday May 4, 2010

Workout: 20:00 cross + strength
Weight: 124.6

Did not feel like doing either of these things this morning, but got up and did it anyway. I'm in a taper kind of mindset in terms of everything:) I just want to take the week off, I think. The workout was fine. I actually increased some of my weights in anticipation of being done with this training program.

Yesterday I had 4.5 miles on the schedule and went out and could not complete one mile due to ulcer pain. I had been taking prilosec everyday and was feeling much better. I missed a day or two and didn't feel any different, so I stopped altogether about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Must not have been a good idea. I tried to run through it, but I couldn't. It is a pain that I can't mental my way through... ankle pain I can tough it out, this is different pain and I had to stop. I was too far from home, though, to turn around so I altered my planned route and walked most of the way home. I was able to run the last 1/8 of a mile and felt better about that. I ended up doing 2.5 miles at a 12:22 pace. I wasn't happy about it, but couldn't change it.

This morning I could still feel the pain a bit, but right now I'm feeling better. I'm going to take 2/day this week hoping to calm everything down by the race. Tomorrow I have 2 miles on the schedule so hopefully I'll be able to run them.

One really great thing about the taper is that Cornbread and I can both run in the morning because the run is so much shorter. He ran first yesterday and then I went out when he got home. Scheduling our runs has been kind of troublesome at times throughout the training... its one thing when you have only one person training, its another when two people are trying to figure out how to work things out. However, with both of us training, it has been much easier to be understanding toward one another when we have to figure out a way to get a training run worked into our families schedule. Knowing that I ran 6 miles in a day and Cornbread has to work it in somewhere, too, makes it much easier for me to be understanding if he needs to do it during non-work hours. We didn't run into issues often - during the week I mostly ran in the morning and he ran during the day at the gym. Our biggest issues were the long runs on Saturdays and figuring those out. He has worked every Saturday since we got back from Colorado which ties up 4-5 hours during the morning and early afternoon. We leave for church at 3:30, so it left a small window open for either of us to run - one of us had to get up early to run and the other would have to leave immediately after he got home in the afternoon in order to be back in time for church. There were a couple of Saturdays that he went to church with the girls while I finished showering and getting ready and I would drive separately and meet him there. It certainly was not ideal, but we worked it out. And having us both training meant that we prioritized everything around our Saturday long runs... if only one of us was training it would have been harder to give something up on Friday in order to get to bed on time, or to not be upset if yard work didn't get done on Saturday because one of us had to run. I think it was all around a good thing that we were training on the same schedule... we also encouraged each other a lot throughout because we each did the same run each day. Ultimately, I just love it that we're both interested in the same things... we may not start out interested in the same things, but because we love eachother and love spending time together we support eachother in our respective interests and ultimately are won over, too.

I'm currently contemplating a training plan for the race in the fall. Trying to figure out how many weeks I want to train and what exactly I want to do. I want to increase my weekly mileage for sure. I want to include some speedwork, too. Not sure if I want to run 5 days or 4 days or what. Have to peruse the training plans and get an idea. Before the training starts, though, I'd like to focus a little more on strength training and core conditioning. Back and arms are important to form and I want to hit them pretty hard. I've also skipped every form of ab/core training for the last 4 months, so I should probably add some of that back in. Maybe I'll do a 12 week program and before that starts I can really concentrate on building a base of muscles - which would mean a higher protein diet, which I hate. So I have to really think about it and figure out what I want to do and what I want to accomplish in the next race. First, I should probably get through this one :)

Wednesday April 21, 2010

Workout - plan: 6.0 miles
Actual - 6.5 miles
Time: 1:09:44
Pace: 10:39
Weight: 125.8

Almost 2 minutes slower than Monday's run. Not sure if that is the difference between running in the afternoon and running first thing in the morning with no fuel, or if it has to do with sore quads from Monday or what. Not worried about it - I completed it and right now that is what matters.

It felt rough today. And it did on Monday, too. There was not much time during either run where I didn't feel like I was laboring and really struggling to continue. As I was telling Cornbread this morning - its pretty difficult to jump right in to 6.5 miles after essentially taking 4 weeks off of training and almost 2 full weeks off of running entirely. It would be one thing to start back with 3 miles, but 6.5? That used to be my long run:) But I'm going to persevere and push through it as long as I don't get injured.

I have decided, though, that there is not a flat stretch of land within a 2 miles radius of our house. I am either short-stepping down a hill or digging in to run up a hill. And if it isn't as drastic as an actual hill (of which there are many) then it is a long incline. It feels like I never get a reprieve. Cornbread says running in Orland is much different - its much flatter. I'm hoping - and I kind of remember - Indy is flat.

I reversed my route this morning for two reasons - 1) I did not want to run on 151st for the long stretch before it got light outside; 2) the bigger hills were in the beginning of the run this morning instead of at the end. Not sure which way I like it. It was also nice to have a drinking fountain stop only 1.5 miles from the end instead of 3 miles, but when I go the direction I did on Monday, then by the time I get to the pond I feel like I'm almost done... ultimately I think I like that direction better, but it worked nicely this morning.

Again, no calf pain this morning and none yesterday. My right quad is still pretty sore so I've been using a lot of icy/hot on it. Will continue that today and will probably ice it as well. Ugh - its so frustrating... I want to be back to the beginning of March when I was feeling good and running strong!

Monday April 19, 2010

Planned Workout: 6 miles
Actual: 6.548 miles
Time: 1:07:56
Pace: 10:22
Weight: 127.2

First time running since I decided to rest my calf. I was a bit nervous - not because I didn't think I could do 6 miles after so long, but because I worried that even though I have not had calf pain in a week I would immediately feel pain once I started to run. I didn't and I'm so happy! Problem is, though, that I've lost a bit of fitness in the meantime and I don't have a whole lot of time to build it back up before the race. I've missed to long runs and 2 training runs since resting - a total of 33 miles. I've also lost a bit of mental toughness, too, since my last long run was so horrible. But I made it and thats what counts.

I did take 2 or 3 short walking breaks on the way back - more due to mental lapse than anything else. It is very, very hilly around here and my route is incredibly hilly - not inclines... HILLS. So mentally I have to dig deep to get to the top of the hills on the way home and I just wasn't fully there today. I'll get there.

I opted to run this afternoon instead of this morning because it was 33 degrees this morning and 54 degrees and sunny this afternoon. I'm going to do my best to stay off of the treadmill from now on. I want to train on the hills and in the wind (again with the wind today, but not nearly as bad).

Less than 3 weeks until the race. My goal is to finish it and to run the entire thing, with the exception of water stops. I am going to find a fall half marathon and really train for that one - like do all of the speed work and interval work along with the mileage. I'm hoping that some of my friends from high school will join me, but not sure how that will turn out - would be a blast to get together for something like that so we'll see.

I'm just so happy that my calf doesn't hurt at all. I'm going to ice it this afternoon as a precaution.

And my weight... not sure what to think or do about that. I haven't been eating poorly or overeating at all. I feel like I'm one of those people that looks at food and gains 2 lbs. I'm struggling with caring about it and being happy with who I am... but I wonder: at what point do I start to worry about it then? I'm hitting the water hard today and hopefully it will decrease slightly tomorrow morning. I also know that not being able to run has a huge affect on how I feel about myself and my body. I feel so strong and confident when I'm running and feel much more insecure when I'm not able to run. So hopefully all of this will come together now that I can run again.

Friday April 16, 2010

Workout: 20:00 cross + weights
Weight: 125.8

Went to the gym in the afternoon. Did 20 minutes on the eliptical and then did leg press, lateral raises, chest, abductors, adductors, shoulder press and biceps.

I was sitting on the bicep machine, reaching for the handles to do my second set when a guy comes up and asks if he can "jump in on it real quick". I was so flustered I gave him a really bitchy look and left to take a shower. In the shower room I was extremely peeved about it. I felt like it was incredibly disrespectful and condescending. I soooo wanted to run into him when I left so I could tell him that my workout, my time, and my biceps were just as important as his. I mean, I think it is rude to do that to anyone, but seriously - I am in great shape, I have toned arms - I look like I work out - does it really look like my workouts are not important to me? I felt very disrespected. If I'd hadn't been so shocked and taken by surprise I would have told him that I'd only be 2 more minutes and he could have it when I was finished. Really - 2 minutes. He couldn't wait that long?

So that obviously rubbed me the wrong way.

Other than that, my workout was good. Heart rate was in the mid to upper 150's on the eliptical. I increased many of my weights because I'm not running and don't need to worry about tired muscles affecting my runs.

I'm really looking forward to running again on Monday. I'm going to do my 6 miles outside instead of on the treadmill at the gym. My 6 mile route is actually around 6.15, so I may add our horseshoe stree to make it 6.5 or 6.75. I can't wait to start running again. I would also like to take some time to research proper strength training routines that compliment running training, in addition to really figure out my proper calorie intake - what I need, what I eat and what I would need to intake in order to lose 5 pounds. I suspect that in the end I'm not eating enough... or at least I'm in starvation mode during the week and then overeating during the weekend. Even with my healthy eating ideas that I posted a couple of days ago, I still feel like I need to be a little more deliberate and intentional about my diet. I just really hate figuring it all out - I'd love to have a nutrition coach who told me exactly what to eat.

One of the mom's from Bugly's preschool class went in and taught them yoga yesterday. Imagine: 4 & 5 year olds doing yoga. Bugly showed me some poses after school and she was absolutely the cutest warrier ever:) It reminded me that I want to do yoga - I had forgotten! I'm going to start looking into it. We are now in a place where I think Cornbread and I can figure out the scheduling issues in addition to the fact that my job has provided a small cushion of disposable income. Although we intend to use anything extra to pay off debt (and have been doing an awesome job - our goal this year was $4000 for the year; we paid off $3500 in the first quarter!!!!), I think we can spare the minimal amount for me to take a yoga class. Bugly's teacher is going to get me the info from this mom so I can check that out - she said it was pretty inexpensive. I really want to get going on this one - I had a goal of taking a class before my 34th birthday this year and I didn't meet it. Hoping to take a class this year.

Thursday April 15, 2010

Workout: 60:00 circuits
Weight: 124.8

I kicked my own butt on my circuits this morning. I didn't read a magazine while working out, so all I had was my thoughts and the timer to occupy me while enduring 20 minutes of torture on each machine.

Eliptical - 20:00 - heart rate was in the upper 150's
Stairmill - 20:00 - not sure about heart rate, but my forearms were sweating, which is an indication of how horrible it was
Bike - 20:00 - heart rate was in the upper 140's - mid 150's.

Horrible, horrible, horrible. BUT it was the first time I felt like I got a "real" workout since having to take a break from running.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Workout: supposed to be 5 1/2 miles, was actually 3 miles
Weight: 125.2


I felt so good going into my workout this morning. My stomach problems feel like they're getting better (have been taking shots of apple cider vinegar 3x/day to help with it rather than taking the meds), my legs were feeling great, my mental attitude was where it needed to be. I was more than ready to do the 5 1/2 on the treadmill and was confident that I'd be able to run the entire thing again without taking any breaks. I was good.

And the run started off great. I got into a pretty easy rhythm with my music, I was feeling good. My heart rate was a little higher than I'd like - 174 - but I was going to get through it just fine. And then around mile 2 my calf was done. It started hurting and I knew it wasn't a good situation - that I shouldn't run through it because I'd make it worse and make my next two days miserable to walk on. I pushed myself to get to 3 miles - aerobically I was totally fine, but knew I shouldn't be running much more than that on my leg. So I stopped at 3 miles.

I basically decided that I won't be able to do the race. We have a month until the race and there is no way that I can keep running on this for the next month - this is different than my ankle pain and there is no way I can put as many miles in as I need to in the next month. And I don't believe that I can rest it enough to heal it and still maintain my fitness level and endurance for the race.

I think it is a muscle pull or strain and it happened while skiiing. I don't recall a specific injury, however, I know that at least on Thursday I was telling Cornbread that I wanted to go back because my calf hurt really bad. I felt this pain throughout the last couple of days skiing and have not given it a chance to heal at all.

So I'm going to go to Walgreens and get a wrap-around icepack and start icing it. There is really no way that I'm going to be able to rest it sufficiently... I mean I can stop running on it, but I still need to walk. So I'm going to have to figure out how to maintain my fitness level.

I'm also a bit upset because I just started sleeping better. I slept horribly in Colorado until the last couple of nights (I think the room was too hot) and I have not slept well at home because I didn't workout last week. The last few nights have finally been great, so I've got to figure something else out.

I'm going to do my circuits tomorrow and see how it goes. I really don't want to give up, but I don't want to make it worse either.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Workout: 5 1/2 miles
Weight: 125.2

Had a very difficult run at the gym today. I have felt great all weekend with no unusual pains or abdominal/GI issues from my run on Saturday. I haven't been feeling nauseous at all, however, I have been feeling like I'm (warning: TMI) burping a lot and burping up my food a lot. So I don't know what that is about.

Anyway, ran at the gym this morning and it was horrible. I had to take several breaks off of the treadmill because I felt like I was going to burp up my water. My heart rate was higher than it was prior to Colorado - 174-180 throughout. I was sweating an unusual amount as well. I am normally a very sweaty exerciser - sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one in the gym who is sweating - but today was unusual. I was sweating at 3 miles the way I was sweating at the end of my 9 mile treadmill run a few weeks ago. I got finished and I could have wrung out my shirt AND my shorts. Sweat was dripping off of my elbows. I know I'm a sweat-er, but at this short of a distance, I feel like that was excessive - especially since I didn't sweat that much at 5 miles before leaving on vacation.

So I don't know if I'm still fighting off a virus, if I've got a bit more going on than a virus (acid reflux possibly?) or if taking the better part of 3 weeks off of running has made this big of a difference. I feel like I'm starting from square one right now - fighting my way through every quarter of a mile to stay with it. I'm incredibly frustrated right now - I just want to feel good and to stop struggling through this.

Saturday March 27, 2010

Workout: 8.723 miles
Weight: 126.2

Decided to try for a run this morning. We've had a very physically active week, but I haven't run in almost 2 weeks. The schedule had 8 1/2 miles on it, so I planned a route and went out. I was a little nervous about being dehydrated and I probably should have worked on correcting that a little better... although after a week in CO I'm not entirely sure I could have gotten properly rehydrated in time for a run today. Have to work on that all day today.

Run was good. I had just a few small stops - at drinking fountains and to remove some outer layer clothing. Even so, my pace was 10:15... that is amazing. I've never had a pace that quick outside - even running shorter distances. My pace outside has always been about 10:20 and I was expecting a much slower pace today.

Felt good. Glad to be back at it.

Monday March 8, 2010

Workout: 4 1/2 miles
Weight: 124.0

Catch up from last week:
Friday - went to the gym in the afternoon again. Eliptical for 20 minutes, weights afterward. I am getting a much better workout on the eliptical in the afternoon than I do in the morning. I'm going to continue to do my T/F workouts in the afternoon when possible.

Saturday - Ran 7 1/2 miles outside with my neighbor. It was tough for the first half - running outside after not doing so since last September was horrible! It was beautiful and sunny, though, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. And the fact that she could join me made it all the more exciting! We had a good time. We talked the entire time, which is definitely a first for me. I should actually recalculate the mileage because I think it might be closer to 7.25, but the schedule said 7 so we were over regardless. The last half seemed to fly by and we were done before I knew it. On the way out I felt like we'd never be done, like I'd never make it and then all of the sudden we were home. I loved it! And I'm so glad we did it.

However.

Since the first sip of water I had after that I have been in so much pain. Abdominal pain that seems to get worse when I ingest anything - water or food. Not GI issues, not muscular issues, not nausea, but upper abdominal pain. After my oatmeal this morning I had to pant through the pain. Kind of wrecked my weekend... didn't keep me down on the couch, but made me very distant to everyone around here.

Monday - workout was 4 1/2 miles. I ran 5 miles because I messed up the treadmill timing by accidently turning it off in the middle of the workout. Luckily I could see that I had already run about 2.4 miles, ran the additional .10 miles to make it 2.5 & then started over and did another 2.5 miles. Ran at 6.0 for the first 2.5, 6.0 with a .5% incline for the second part until I hit the last 3/4 of a mile, then brought the incline down and increase my speed to 6.2, and for the last .25 mile I ran at 7.0.

Went to the doctor this afternoon about my pain. He had blood drawn and scheduled an ultrasound for Friday morning. He's looking at how my gallbladder functions. Also gave me some medicine that should take care of any acid issues that may be contributing. I'm really hoping that something is figured out. I've had this before, but not for this long. I hope its figured out and at least subsided by the time we go to colorado on the 20th.

Saturday February 27, 2010

Workout: Long run - 6 1/2 miles
Weight: 125.0

An okay run this morning. I labored through the first 3 miles. Really struggled to stay on and not take a break. Knowing that I've done it before helps me do it again - I repeat to myself, "You can do this!" It helps.

Right around mile 4.5 I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. I ran through it, but finally at 6.1 miles I had to stop. I was mad at myself, but I wasn't sure I could keep going for the additional 4 minutes without having some kind of accident. TMI.

This week I have been the model of lack of self control/discipline in terms of eating. I have lacked motivation in all areas of my life. When I look back at the entire week I feel like I have not accomplished anything and my eating falls right in line with that. I have gotten to the place of being over confident in what I can eat and have been snacking a lot and eating crappy snack food. I haven't gone to the grocery store. Haven't stuck to my menu. Haven't created a menu for next month. All of this needs to change. I work too flippin hard in the gym to waste it on junk. I have 3 weeks until Steamboat (!) and I wanted to be at 120 by then. It is definitely do-able, but I need to crack down and get serious about it.

Wednesday February 24, 2010

Weight: 124.6
Workout: 4 miles + 10:00 cross

Run was good this morning. Better than on Monday morning. I felt good throughout with the exception of ankle pain during the first 3 songs. The pain was not as severe as it was on Monday, but definitely lasted longer into the run than I think I've estimated.

Ran the entire 4 miles without breaks at 6.0 mph. Cranked it up to 6.2 for 3.25 - 3.75 and then 6.5 for 3.75-4.0. Heart rate was 166-168 before cranking it up and ended around 174.

For the cross training I walked for 10 minutes. Mostly because I didn't feel like spending the time wiping down the treadmill, going to a new machine and having to wipe that one down afterward too. I put the incline up to 13% and walked at 3.5 mph. Heart rate was in the 120's most of the time. Incline varied throughout the 10 minutes.

I would like to spend some time re-evaluating my eating. I think that I've gone over to the overconfident, can eat whatever I want side of the pendulum. Ultimately, I'm happy where I'm at and know that I'm probably truly around 123ish and the fluctuations are due to water retention (based on how my clothes fit and the gain/loss amounts over night), but I know that if I lose 5-10 pounds I will be able to run better. So I need to actually sit down and figure out a do-able 1500 calorie/day diet. I get so screwed by my height (5'1"):)

Cornbread, on the other hand, is melting away. He has lost 15 pounds since January 4th. I look at his weight chart every morning and am amazed! I feel like we're in that commercial where the woman is like "we cut out sweets. I shrank one size. HE shrank 6 sizes" lol! I'm happy for him - he looks good, feels good and is being intentional about it. This is the first time in our relationship that he has actually included a change in his eating in order to hopefully lose a little weight. Used to be that all he had to do was start running and he'd drop 20 pounds easily without altering his diet. Age, I believe, has caught up with him. So I'm thrilled to see him take it seriously and make it a priority. I want to be active with him until we are old, old, old!

Monday February 15, 2010

Weight: 126.4
Workout: 4 miles + 10 minutes cross training
Resting Heart Rate (rhr before getting out of bed): 65

This week we increase our M/W runs to 4 miles each. After running 5 1/2 last Saturday I wasn't hesitant about the 4 this morning at all. These are good workouts and exactly what I needed. I love it!

I ran the entire distance without a break. This is HUGE! My heart rate was up at 174bpm at the end, so its coming down bit by bit. I started running at 5.8, increased to 5.9 and finally to 6.0 for more than half of the distance. I ran the 4 miles in 41:06 which ends up being 10:17 miles. Good! I'm getting better. I feel really confident after this morning.

Afterward I did 10 minutes on the eliptical next to C. Those 10 minutes go so fast when you're chatting:) And I was pouring sweat... seems like noone else in the gym sweats and then I sweat enough for everyone else. Whatever.

I've never fluctuated this much with my weight before. I'm usually up on Mondays because of water retention. I had good intentions of counteracting this over the weekend, but ultimately I drank about 32 oz of water yesterday at 8pm and that was it. I had not had a drop of water all day and made myself drink that. Today I need to get going on the water. I've had 5-16oz glasses already, but I would like to have 12 of those by the end of the day. I would guess that my actual weight is around 124. I would still like to lose some more (maybe 5-10), but not badly enough to work too hard at it. I'm pretty comfortable here. I think as the mileage increases I will lose a little more. I'm not too concerned.

Last week was so crazy with the afternoon schedule, I need to get back into a good eating routine this week. I also sampled a few too many of my valentine's treats over the weekend while I was making them:) Today I will concentrate on vegetables first before anything else.

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.

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.