Long awaited Cedars of Lebanon Sprint Triathlon Recap

It's only taken me nearly 3 weeks but here it is...finally...the recap of the sprint triathlon I wasn't even sure I was going to do.

I decided that I couldn't just skip something I had signed up for. For me, that would signify that I'm a quitter. A quitter in many senses of the word. It would have not only been me skipping the race, but me throwing up my hands and saying, "I give up, this period of weight re-gain wins."

So I had to fight.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous on race morning. I just approached it as leisurely as I could. I was just participating and hoping to finish, not "racing" anyone or myself. So it took the pressure off.

My typical race morning routine was off. I had spent the 2 weeks leading up to the race house/dog sitting so I had been out of my element for approximately 11 days. The night before the race was the first night I had spent in my own bed in over a week. My race tradition is I have a whole grain bagel from Brueggers with peanut butter and a banana, but I forgot to get a bagel from Brueggers on Friday. So I stopped at a gas station and got a Peanut Crunch Clif Bar on the way out to the park. I ate that on the way and ended up having my banana around 7:30 once I got settled in transition.

One thing that made me nervous race morning was that it had been raining the day before and morning of, which meant wet and possibly slick roads. I overheard some guys at the swim line-up mention that the first stretch out on the bike was downhill that goes into a sharpe right turn. Took mental note of that one.

Another thing that caused a bit of anxiety was the pool swim. Silly I know. Usually people get nervous about open water swims. Chalk it up to the fact I've been swimming and water skiing in murky water since I was 6 months old, but OWS don't phase me. When contemplating how I was going to tackle the swim, I wasn't sure how it would go - darting under ropes and with so many people in the pool at once. I didn't practice going under the ropes, but I should have.

Source: Team Magic Multisport

 

 

If you click to enlarge the above photo of the swim start, you can see me waiting in the blue swimcap (in the yellow circle).

I was in the middle of the pack on starting time, so my number was 625. I waited a good while and was able to see how the "pros" were tackling it. Touch wall, push off wall underwater, go diagonally into the next lane. Simple?

I should have been further up in the swim time. I passed people, and had trouble passing people I could have passed because of congestion. It was much worse on congestion than the OWS last summer at Wet Dog. I think I estimated my swim time around 6 minutes, and I finished in 4:55.

I walked the whole way to T1. I worked hard on the swim and I knew the bike would be rough so I wanted to save energy. I'm sure I looked silly and it certainly didn't help my T1 time (5:05), but once I got to my bike, I was quick. Baby powder in the socks helped this time!

Bike started out ok. My legs are always cold when I start on the bike in a race. I need to warm them up better - which I intended to do this time - but I didn't have time before they closed transition. The bike course was a two-loop 4.3 mile course. Easy enough right? It had been described as FLAT, which I was silly to even believe because, hello this is Tennessee. It was not flat. A lot of it was flat. But those 3-4 rolling hills (mostly at the end of the loop, back-to-back) killed me. If I was trained better I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal. But I wasn't trained so alas a lot of people passed me (some twice, I'm sure). But I didn't have to walk my bike and I finished without any incident. It took me 52:26 though.

I started the run out easy and my legs quickly acclimated and I was able to keep a pretty steady 3/1 run/walk pace. The run course is mentally tricky because you have to go left out of the transition area, go about 0.2 miles and then loop back past the transition area. The run course overall is pretty flat except for one hill at the end right before you run into finish.

My run time was 29:20, which I can't be mad about because the weekend before I ran 2 miles on their own and my time was right around 28. So not bad for swimming 200 yards ad biking 9.6 miles before running 2 miles.

I finished. I was glad I was done and also that I did it. I didn't use any nutrition on the course besides water and a little powerade. So I ate my honey stingers right after finishing in the transition area and packed my stuff up to go home.

Overall time: 1:32:55

Thoughts: I'm just glad I did it and I was able to finish. I would have had a lot of guilt and self-hate if I had decided not to do the race. So it was just good for me mentally to get out there and do it. My original plan for this season was to do an Olympic distance in September, but it's clear that isn't going to happen. My travel schedule at work ruined any focus I would be able to have on training for one. And two, personal travel has ruined my focus on saving for a road bike and I really don't think I can ride 25 miles on my current bike. It's too heavy - about 50 lbs! It certainly isn't a goal I've given up on, it just won't happen this season. I do hope to do one more sprint triathlon in August or September before the season is over. I'm continuing to run (joining a local C25K program) and swim. Biking has been neglected, but the summer is still young!

Have you ever done a race you weren't properly trained for? If so, how did it go? Did you surprise yourself?

Thankful Thursday: Running Edition

I guess it's time for my weekly monthly Half Marathon training update.

Frankly, training is going great. I feel more than prepared for the race in 2 1/2 weeks. I don't want to gloat, but damn I've worked hard and I can't help but toot my own horn.

It's now onto my FAVORITE time of half marathon training....TAPER!

I won't do more than 6 miles in one run over the next 2 weeks. And I love that feeling! Yesterday I end up going out for 3 even though I didn't really want to. I skipped my normal run Tuesday because I went to happy hour instead. Then Wednesday I thought, "oh well I'll just get home and run around my neighborhood." Instead I changed and headed to a park nearby work.

Oh, the things your body surprises you with...


This is my fastest recorded 5K time, EVER! And it is beyond my "I want to run a 5K in under 40 minutes" goal. Can't wait to officially get a race time like this recorded.

This followed a great 12-mile run on Sunday. Yes, on Easter Sunday I got up at 6:00 am to head out to the country side and run along horse farms and country roads. It was beautiful and a great setting for 12 miles.



Obviously a bit slower pace than my 3-mile run last night, but I am more than thrilled with where I am.

Clearly, training for 2 back-to-back half-marathons has done wonders for my pace. I can now confidently say I am a runner. And more importantly I can definitely say I love running.

When I think back to where I came from 10 1/2 months ago, it's honestly unbelievable to me. I completed my first 5kin100days run on May 30, 2011. Prior to that, I had a hated relationship with running. One which landed me on bedrest for several days the previous summer. I started out what some would barely consider a running pace - around 15 minutes per mile, now with consistent training for the last 7 1/2 months I'm breaking into the 12 minute mile range. Truly unbelievable!

Therefore, I have to say I am grateful for my body. Thankful for the abuse it allows me to put it through so I can be capable of going out and running 10, 12, 13.1 miles. I need to remember this thankfulness to properly take care of this body and also not succumb to "stinkin' thinkin" thoughts about this body. It's the only one I've got and it must be cherished!

Update on Half Marathon Training

I haven't really updated since my 9 mile run a few weeks ago, but I've logged approximately 35 miles since that run. Crazy.

The week after I did 9 I had a "rest week" and did 6. It was the best run I've had all season. I ran a familiar course at the greenway near my house and pretty much killed it. Here are my stats:


See that pace? 13:17 minute miles! For someone that was logging 15 minute miles just a few months ago, that is big....BIG!

Coming off that run, I felt in charge and rejuvenated for my higher mileage week to come. I should have known better. Because typically every good run is followed by a bad run.

Since I only 6 over the weekend I wanted to log some higher miles during the mid-week in preparation for wanting to do 10 the coming weekend. I did a good 4.5 miler on Tuesday and 3.5 on Thursday rather than my normal 3 miles during the week.

The problem is, all last week I ate out and didn't really pay attention to what I was fueling my body with. I felt lethargic and wasn't looking forward to trying to do 10 in that state.

My plan was to get up Saturday and bust out 10 before having to be somewhere at 11. Yeah right. I woke up Saturday morning at 6 am and asked myself why I was trying to rush around Saturday morning when the rest of my weekend (i.e. Sunday) was free.

So rescheduled to Sunday it was. (Which, hello is a stupid decision on the weekend you SPRING FORWARD and lose an hour of sleep.)

But I dragged my lazy arse out of bed and eventually I decided to go out to do a course I did a couple times during my Disney half marathon training. It's pretty flat, but it does have some rolling hills on the later part of my out and back route I use.

Considering I ate a 9 course dinner on Saturday (no exaggeration), I felt like pretty crappy from the get go. I wasn't fueled properly and that made every step painful, but I kept repeating to myself "this pain is temporary, the pride I will feel from completing this run is forever."

I briefly considered only doing 8, and honestly since I'm a bit ahead of where I need to be for my race at the end of April it would have been ok. But I didn't want the reason why I couldn't do 10 miles to be because I ate and drank too much the preceding week.

So I went out 5 miles.

Honestly, it wasn't too bad once I got over the 4 mile mark. Of course the last few intervals were painful, but I'm a firm believer the end of every long mileage run should be difficult. That's when you're building your endurance up!

I ended up finishing just a little over 2 hours and 19 minutes. Another sub-14 minute per mile pace! Again, even two months ago I was running between a 14.5 - 15 minute mile.


I promptly went home, showered, ate lunch, and fell into bed. And didn't really move from there unless otherwise necessary until the next morning.

I don't know whether it was my post-run laziness or because I ran a sub-14 minute mile on a 10 mile run, but I. WAS. SORE. I can't remember the last time I was that sore. Today (Wednesday) is the first day this week I haven't felt my throbbing quads with every step. I even made it to my weekly gentle yoga class on Monday with little relief. I did a slow and easy 3 miles yesterday and I probably won't run again until Saturday.

I have to say, I've felt more in control of my running lately. Making sure I get in those mid-week runs really help. We're just about 6 weeks from race day and I can't believe it's coming up so soon!

Getting By

I'm not going to even mention how much of a shitty blogger I feel like. Not only do I never post, but I am also just continuing to maintain and not lose any weight. (Wait, this was me mentioning it, wasn't it?)

The one thing I've been pretty consistent with is sticking with my half marathon training runs. Sure, I've skipped a could mid-week runs over the last few weeks, but by and far I'm where I need to be 9 weeks before the race.

Today I logged 9 miles.

It took me 2:07:30 - so I'm continuing to balance out my pace at 14 minute miles. I'm ok with this pace since the goal for the race in April is just to finish and not hate it.

The run today was pretty good. The first mile wasn't painful like it usually is, but around mile 2.5 I started to get some cramping in my left side. I think my breakfast may have been too heavy - live and learn!

Miles 3-7 were pretty nondescript. The course I chose today is a very familiar one. One I run all the time, but it has a couple bigger hills and a few rolling hills.

I didn't take any shot bloks until mile 6 - about 1:18 in. I know I should have taken them a bit sooner, but with my previous stomach cramps I didn't want to upset my stomach. They didn't and with plenty of water it was fine, but around mile 7 I hit a wall. I took an extra walk interval before finishing up my last 3 running intervals at .20/.25, .50/.25, and .50/cooldown.

We are 9 weeks from race day. I have time to take it slow building my mileage so my next several weeks of long runs will probably look something like this:

Week 1: 7 miles
Week 2: 10 miles
Week 3: 7 or 8 miles
Week 4: 11 miles
Week 5: 7 or 8 miles
Week 6: 12 miles
Week 7: 8 miles
Week 8: 6 miles - taper
Week 9: Race day

My next order of business is to get refitted for new running shoes. I have been wearing the same model of Brooks Defyance (I've had SEVERAL new pairs of this same shoe) since early 2009. Three years and well over 90 lbs ago! I'm sure my weight loss has changed the way I run/walk and my shoes were originally fitted for walking.

I also need to pick out a swim suit to begin triathlon training in and join the Y. Why are endurance sports so expensive!?!

So I'm still here - I may not be doing great at blogging or nutrition, but at least I am still trucking with staying on task with something!

Finally.....2012 Disney World Half Marathon Recap

What a terrible blogger I am...I have barely written anything in weeks and I've been saying for two weeks that I would recap the Disney World half marathon. I'm going to try to keep it short and sweet with just posting some pictures and captions.

The two days before the race we spent walking around Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios - I thought my feet were going to be toast for the race, but we left the parks early on Friday afternoon and had a low key dinner at the hotel. I think I was asleep by 8:30 the night before the race!

My race bib

THEN - We woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 2:30 AM - yes, you read that right - Two-freaking-thirty in the MORNING. The race started at 5:30. Painful.

On the shuttle to the race

The shuttle dropped us off, we porta-pottied, Vaselined (me), posed, and hydrated.

Pre-race picture

After using the porta-potties twice (nervous peeing), we hearded ourselves to the start line. It was about a half mile walk that took the better part of 20 minutes. It was kind of annoying, but at least we had given ourselves plenty of time! We still had over an hour before our corral started by this point.

Hearding the cattle...er...runners

Finally at the start line - they had the corrals so spread out from the actual start line - they had big screens to show the back what was going up at the start line. Crazy!


This guy was in full Jack Sparrow garb. How was he going to run in that? I'm still wondering...



Then we were off! They actually do full fireworks when the first corral takes off - pretty cool!

The race starts out on the streets around Epcot and heads in the direction of Magic Kingdom. It wasn't even daylight out before we entered the gates outside the parking lot of Magic Kingdom!

Can you find the little vegan aka Sarah?

It was pretty much awesome running through Magic Kingdom and right under the Castle (where we had dinner, two nights before). Then as you exit from the Castle, they have professional photographers ready to take your photo.



All business...



After exiting Magic Kingdom you follow the streets back toward Epcot. This is about mile 11 or 12 as we're making our way towards Epcot.


You run about a mile through Epcot (maybe a little less), then you exit back into the parking lot. I made the girls stop and take a picture at mile 13 :)



Right before we crossed the finish line...



The coolest medal ever - even cooler than Mercedes!



They gave us special buttons the next day at the Polynesian :)



We finished!

Official time: 3:33:45 - an 11 minute PR

As expected the race - and the trip - were amazing! Maybe it was the magic of Disney. Or spending 5 days with great friends watching them crush their first half marathon, but I seriously had so much fun that I would consider making this an annual trip. Even though we walked about 20 miles Wed-Fri, I felt strong pretty much the whole race. True, my feet hurt really bad the last 1-2 miles, but compared to my other half it was nothing. I didn't feel like I trained very hard for this race, but it proved me wrong. I was more than ready. So ready, in fact, I'm considering doing the Nashville Rock n Roll race in April. JUST CONSIDERING....so far.

I also caught myself thinking about a marathon while I was racing two weeks ago. I thought to myself, "Disney is the ONLY place I would consider doing a marathon." Then I quickly realized that I have never had any desire to do a marathon up until this point. Scary.

Of course since the race I've only ran twice...haha...post-race laziness is ensuing. I'm going to try and do 6 this weekend. It may be rough...

A Happy Birthday Indeed!

For my birthday, my lovely mother gave me something I've been coveting for awhile now...

A Garmin Forerunner!

I selected the Forerunner 405 back when Amazon had it on super sale. There are some bad reviews out on this particular model because of the bezzle feature; however, I figured I'd get used to it and figure it out.

Of course it motivated me to get off my rump and take it for a spin this afternoon. I was able to set run/walk intervals for it to beep every 1/2 mile / 1/4 mile.

It snowed last night so it was a chilly/windy run, but I loved running with my Garmin and I was pretty happy with where my pace was:

I feel blessed that I have a parent that is not only supportive of my hobby, but she is willing to buy me gadgets that she doesn't understand. I feel like this could be a new turning point in how I track future training. Happy Birthday to me!

Diary of an overweight runner - 3 weeks till Disney!

The Disney Half Marathon is now less than 3 weeks away (20 days to be exact) and I realized I haven't talked about my training much since this post almost a month ago. Since then I have done a 10 miler and as of today a 12 miler with a few 8 milers thrown in. A few notes on the last few week's worth of runs.

10 miles
Two weeks ago I set out for 10 miles. Honestly, it wasn't the worst. I was familiar with the trail and a pre-mappped my route, which was out and back, so I knew exactly where I was going. I had a little mental self-concious thing with this speed walker who I would pass when I jogged and then she would pass me when I walked and when she was in front of me she KEPT LOOKING BACK AT ME. C'mon trail etiquette police, isn't that totally rude to keep looking back at someone?! So I hit about 2-3 miles in the middle of my run a little too hard trying to pass her a few times, which is my own damn fault, but it also caused me to need to walk the last mile or so. I still finished 10 miles in approximately 2:34 - well within the time limit for Disney.

However, about an hour after my 10 mile run I got what I can only assume was a migraine. We're talking laid out on the couch, can't move, nausea inducing migraine. I often get headaches after I run, but I've never in my life (even outside of running) had a migraine like that before. It was so bad I got physically sick. All I could do for 4 hours is lay in the dark with the TV on mute and a cold wash cloth on my face and neck.

I'm pretty confident it wasn't a hydration issue since the week leading up to the run I was nailing hydration with 130 ounces the Friday before the run. I also carried about 25 ounces with me and drank 80 ounces in the hours after the run. I did decide to try a new routine the next long run.

8 miles
This was a good run. I was able to pretty much keep my 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk intervals up and averaged approximately a 15 minute mile. I also had no headache after this run! I changed my routine and I hope this solves the issue going forward. Normally, I would just get up, get dressed, grab a peanut butter sandwich and immediately go out the door the mornings of my run. Last week; however, I got up about 30 minutes before I wanted to get dressed, had a cup of coffee, a glass of water and "woke up" before getting ready and having breakfast before leaving. It seemed to help because no headache last week or this week.

12 miles
Today was 12 miles and let me tell you I was NOT looking forward to it. Earlier this week I had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin and my run schedule got off pushing this run to Sun instead of Sat. Even though I got to sleep in yesterday, something about doing a very long run on a Sunday is not fun. I think my mental attitude really threw me off. I could not keep up with my 0.5/0.25 intervals even a few miles in, so I went to 0.25. Around mile 6 I hit a wall and was just kind of done. 6 miles into a 12 mile run is really early to hit a wall! I walked a lot between miles 6 & 7, ran normally miles 8 & 9 and probably less than mile 10. Then I straight up walked the last two miles. My time still came in at approximately 3:01 - hallelujah that is still 15 min per mile and way under the Disney time cap, but part of me still felt defeated. Sometimes, I feel I can just walk faster than my tired jogging shuffle where my feet are barely leaving the ground takes me. My feet hurt the last 5+ miles, I have blisters and my water bottle leaked all down my back. But it's done and now it's onto taper...oh taper how I love thee.

Fastest 5K time
So y'all don't think I just complain all the time, I'm gonna tell you about my fastest 5K time, which was an unexpected surprise since I haven't really cared about my overall speed this training cycle. Last Tuesday I worked from home because I had a terrible cough and was sick of hacking all over my co-workers. So, I took the opportunity to do my run on my lunch break. The weather was perfect - chilly and just rained. The stars aligned and I was able to run over a mile straight TWICE during my run around the neighborhood. Once I realized I was kicking major ass, I decided to make that run my fastest 5K time. I ended up doing 3.1 in 41.47, which beat my August 5K time of 44.29, and walked very little of the run. Success!

So, 20 days and I'll be a 3X half-marathoner. I want a 13.1 sticker with Mickey Mouse ears around it. Surely they make those, right?

Diary of an overweight runner - Disney half marathon training check in

After having a little nervous break down a few weeks ago over my half marathon training, things have been going better on the training front. I have missed one mid-week run because I had to go buy new tires two Friday nights ago and thus I did not go to the gym.

After writing that post, I did 7, then 8 miles and this week I did 9. And I have survived!

The 7 and 8 milers were pretty nondescript. I did them within my 15 min per mile training goal and I didn't collapse after either of them.

The 9 miler on Saturday wasn't bad either but trying out a new unfamiliar (unmarked) trail combined with the Garmin Fit app on my phone freezing at 2.5 miles, I had that horrible sinking feeling of having no idea whether I was actually completing 9 miles since I just did it by time; figuring I run about 15 min mile. I also turned around a little earlier b/c I didn't want to cross a 4 lane busy road towards the end and I ran out of trail. I mapped part of my run afterwards (it was too tedius to do the whole thing) and I at least came within .2 of 9 miles. If I can do 8.8, I can do 10, right???

I did like the trail, so I would use it again if I pre-mapped my run and knew where I was going.

A couple good things did come out of Saturday's run. 1) I was definitely running more than walking, I would run approximately a 1/2 mile and then run a 1/4 mile. (Or run 2 songs and walk 1). Also, after my Garmin app froze, I ran for 15 minutes straight or 1 mile without stopping.

I've always ran intervals with the longest run interval being 8 minutes when I did the 5K in August. So this left me feeling accomplished.

10 miles is up next. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I know I can do it. It may happen this weekend, but with being in St. Louis for the holiday I may only do 6 or 8 and do 10 the next weekend.

The race is less than 7 weeks away!

There are good runs and bad runs

Aside from weigh in posts, I've been pretty absent from blogging lately. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just after 8-10 hours a day in a stressful work environment, starring at a computer screen I don't really feel like blogging much in the evenings. After work I'm usually good to barely get my workout in and get a healthy dinner eaten before zoning out in front of the time waster aka the TV. I know I should watch less TV, but most days I don't feel like it.

Let's pick our battles here, and I'd rather battle my impressive sweets addiction I've let back into my life.

As I mentioned in my weigh in post earlier, I did get all 3 of my training runs in last week. Oh yeah. If you haven't followed amongst the long gap of updates, training has officially started for the Disney World Half Marathon I am doing in January.

After 2 weeks of skipping workouts, I finally completed a full schedule last week. And I realized you truly have good runs and bad runs. Thursday was a bad run. I just felt really off. I was at the gym on the treadmill. I felt overheated and I finally gave up around mile 2.5. I was so focused on my pace and how it wasn't good enough (15 min miles), I frustrated myself and talked myself into quitting.

I decided late Friday not to do the Germantown Bier Fest 5K as planned. I love this event so it was a hard decision to make, but doing 3.1 miles when I needed to be doing 5.5 as I outlined on my training schedule wasn't going to cut it. And I'm still not sure about running two days in a row. Plus, I needed to save the $35 I would of had to pay day of the race since I have a lot of travel coming up (Atlanta, holidays, Orlando)

I was so glad I decided to focus on my long run instead.

I woke up at 4:30 AM on Saturday morning (not on purpose) and laid in bed until my alarm went off at 6:15. Surprisingly, the too early wake up call didn't phase me and I was at the greenway by 6:40. It was a beautiful morning and I ran by 2 deer (twice) literally inches from the trail.

I decided to do something different and leave the phone (stopwatch and music) in the car. All I carried with me was my car key and water (I forgot the Shot Bloks at home, but I ended up not needing them) and off I went. When I was warming up I thought, "Crap, how am I going to do my intervals without a stopwatch." Silly me quickly realized the trail is pretty much marked every quarter mile, so I decided to take it easy and run a quarter mile, walk a quarter mile; out and back.

It worked like a charm.

I had been doing 5 minutes running and 1 or 2 minutes walking, but I was finding myself nosediving halfway through my runs. True, a quarter mile recovery walk is probably a bit too much recovery time, but it was easy for me to keep track of with no watch.

I finished 5.8 miles in my fastest time.

5.8 miles in 84 minutes. Of course that time is approximate since that includes walking to/from the car to look at the time. But by all conservative estimates, that is a 14:29 minute mile!

Timing my intervals by distance and allowing myself more "recovery time" WORKED!

Also, I got my head out of the clouds from Thursday's run and realized my pace is JUST FINE where it is for right now. I don't HAVE to be any faster for the race in January. I ONLY have to be able to do 13.1 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes. And even if I take every last second of 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish, that will still be my fastest Half Marathon time, and an accomplishment.

So no more worrying about "going faster." My natural running pace right now is 15 minute miles and I am finally OK with that.

Tips for learning to run

I'm no running (or exercise) expert, but after trying to run last summer (and failing) and successfully learning to run this summer I feel like I have a few tips to share. Especially for those of us that are carrying the extra pounds (read: overweight or obese). This is just what worked for me, your mileage may vary.

I wasn't comfortable running until I lost a considerable amount of weight at the recommendation of my doctor. At 330 and after a back injury, she told me not to run until I lost some weight. She didn't give me a number so I had to figure that one out on my own. For me, I conditioned myself by training to walk and completing a half-marathon. At that time, I knew my body was in better shape then it had been 6 months earlier (and I had lost 50 lbs), so I started by running a few 1 minute intervals during my walks on the treadmill. Here are some things that got me from walking to running a 5K:

• Get fitted for good running shoes. I KNOW going to a running store to buy a pair of shoes is EXPENSIVE. But it is worth every single penny of your initial investment to have someone who knows what they are doing look at the way you walk/run and decide which shoes would work best for you. Once you purchase your first pair from the running store and you are sure they are what work for you, you can typically find the same or updated model/style of your shoe online for less. I've had 4 pairs of the SAME shoe. (But don't go to the running store, waste their time getting fitted and NOT buy from them the first time. What I'm saying is you can REBUY online for cheaper.)
  

• Buy wicking socks. These will help prevent blisters and make your feet happy. Who cares if they are $10 a pair? Two words: WORTH IT.
  

• Find an interval program. I used 5Kin100days and I high recommend this program and the instruction of Brad Gansberg. There are plenty of other programs out there (like Couch to 5K). Find what one works for you.
  

• Warm up/Cool down each time, every time. Walk at a moderate pace for 5 minutes before/after you each workout.

• Stretch after each workout. Pay special attention to any "trouble" spots. For me, this is making sure I do plenty of low back and hip opening stretches.
  

• Rest. When you are learning to run, build a day of rest in between each run workout so you don't run two days in a row. Do low impact activities on these days if you wish - beginner's yoga, swimming/pool workouts and strength training are all great workouts to keep your body strong, flexible and stretched.

• Start on a treadmill. I know the treadmill gets a bad rap, but it's great for learning to run because frankly it's easier to run on a moving object, plus it absorbs some of the shock running puts on your body (knees, back). I did my runs primarily on the treadmill for the first several months. Typically, I would do 2x a week at the gym on the treadmill and 1x a week outside.

• Listen to your body. Don't worry about your speed. Just worry about covering the distance or completing the time of the intervals as prescribed by your learn to run program. If you aren't able to complete a run interval, slow down. I've found for me running between 4.0-4.3 mph, which puts me around 14:30-15:00 per mile, works.

• Treat injuries. In the same vain of listening to your body, make sure you are in tune with any pain you are feeling in your legs, knees, back, etc. Be familiar with the R.I.C.E technique - Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation. Knock on wood I haven't had any problems this summer. Last summer? Well that was a different story...

Most importantly, everyone is different so trial and error is your best friend. You may find the things above may or may not work best for you. If you try something and it doesn't work, try other things until you find what works for you.

Again, these are things that I found worked for me. Please consult a doctor before beginning a workout regimen or self-treating any injuries.

Okay runners - your turn - what are your best tips for beginning a running regimen?

Diary of an overweight runner - Beginning half marathon training

This is the final week of the 5Kin100days program. Today I ran 4 loops around the library/park across the street from my neighborhood. 1 loop is a little less than a mile, I think, so I'm estimating 3.5 miles or so.

The run was good. Great even. I only wanted to die at the end and I'm ok with that. I'm no exercise expert, but I'm a firm believer that it should be hard. You are building your endurance. If you are training and your walk/run is easy then how are you improving? If it's easy are you honestly pushing yourself?

What's amazing to me is that today's run (10 minute fast walk/warm-up, 2 x 16 minutes with 1 minute of walking in between). I've found 80% of learning to run has been mental for me. Case in point: during rest weeks, I always think to myself, "oh, 4 minute intervals, this is easy peasey." And then it kills me. That's what happens when you go in over confident. I'll learn....maybe.

This weekend I will switch gears from 5Kin100days to my half-marathon training for the Disney World Half Marathon in January. It is 18 weeks away from this weekend and I must train to run 13.1 miles in under 3 hours. This frightens me, but I know this race is going to be one of a lifetime because A) my 3 very good friends (and first time half-marathoners) will be doing the race as well and 2) well, it's Disney World. Enough said.

I don't have a training schedule yet. Anyone out there want to build one for me? (I kid...sort of) This week at least I'll start with 4-5 miles of run/walking. I plan to do 3 runs a week + continue yoga/strength training.

I'm trying not to think about how I'm going to juggle a crazy work schedule and 10-20 miles of training a week. The important part is I know I can do this.

Diary of an overweight runner - My First 5K

For the last 11 weeks I've been following the 5Kin100days training program. Although we still have 3 more weeks of the program, I did the Tomato 5K Saturday.

I went in with no expectations. I was simply going to run the intervals that I was scheduled to run for the program (four 8 minute running/1 minute walking).

Me and Miss Lynn at the start!

Overall, I kept a reasonable pace even though I have a competitive tenancy when faced with other racers around me. I started at the back of the pack and I definitely could have probably started up closer since I ended up passing quite a few people.

After my first two 8 minute intervals, I walked for about 4 minutes (up a hill) and continued with another 8 minute interval. The course miles weren't marked (I later found out the water stops served as mile markers), but I knew after my third interval, I had to be at least half way there.

After walking for several more minutes, I did my final 8 minute interval. I could feel my body tiring and with the sun bearing down, it was hot. I decided to walk until I knew the finish line was coming up. That only ended up being about 2 minutes and then I did the last .10 or so jogging.

I crossed the finish line at 44:29!

Although I had no expectations, of course in the back of my mind I had my "secret-never-to-be-said-out-loud-unless-accomplished" goal of doing the race in 45 minutes or less. Doesn't everyone make these unsaid goals? ;)

And I did!

This is only my second 5K ever. Technically it is a 14 minute PR; however, I wouldn't consider my first 5K as an accurate base for comparison because I walked it at someone else's pace. I am doing that race again in October so I'm really interested to see what I do it in.

I can't say enough good things about Brad Gansberg and 5Kin100days. The program gave me the ability to get over my mental fear of running caused by an earlier injury AND it gave me the physical base to continue training for my half marathon in January.

Honestly, crossing that finish line was nearly as satisfying as the half marathon I did in February. It was a new accomplishment. I am no longer walking races. I am running them!