Upcoming 5K and Joining a Running Group

Since I hadn't posted in almost a month before I attended Fitbloggin' last weekend, I decided that I should probably check in and talk a little about my fitness goals lately.

Yes, I did a sprint tri in May, but I wouldn't say I was anywhere near trained for that race. I was able to complete it just with my everyday fitness level. What can I do if I actually train for the next one?

I don't know if I'll do another tri this season. There's one I have my eye on in August - and in Tennessee the season even goes into October, so there's still time. But I'm traveling for two weeks at the end of this month and then I'm only back for a week before I go to New Orleans for my cousin's 30th birthday.

But I do have a race on my calendar: East Nashville's Tomato Arts 5K on August 10.

This will be my 3rd year running this race. Last year I set my 5K personal record there. It's one of my favorites even though it is in the dead heat of the summer.

I decided back in May that I needed to mix things up a little bit with my workouts. I wasn't finding the motivation to keep a regular gym schedule on my own, so I've reached out to friends to make workout dates and I joined a running group for 5K training.

Let that sink in.

The girl who hates group exercise, joined a running group. Yep.

A local running group - East Nasty - does a C25K training group every year for the Tomato Arts 5K called "Potato 2 Tomato". I enlisted my co-worker to join with me and we signed up.

Credit: http://eastnastyforlife.com/p2t/

We are on week 3 of 3x a week group runs. This week I have felt strong and was able to move towards the front of the large pack we were in Wednesday night. It actually feels good to be back to running regularly again.

Overall I'm still not sure if group running is for me. The survey is still out on that. But it's keeping me motivated to do the training runs and since I would like to beat my PR from last year, doing the training is a serious necessity in my life right now.

Do you prefer to exercise solo or with a workout buddy/group?

To Tri or Not to Tri on Saturday

Hello, it's me again. Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I've gained more weight. Yes, I could spend a lot of time making excuses and telling you how busy I've been.

But I won't.

What I came here for today is some advice. Now, of course I write this from a place after I've already discussed it with a few "in real life" friends, but I trust my blogging community so much I'm bringing it to you.

WAAAAAAAAAY back in December I registered for my first race for the 2013 Triathlon season - the Cedars of Lebanon Sprint Tri (200 y swim, 9.6 mi bike, 2 mi run), which is now THIS Saturday.

And although I started out ok, I haven't followed any sort of training schedule for FOUR weeks.

Sure, I've done a run here, swam a little over there, and a bike ride here and there in the last few weeks. But I would say I've been on a bike less than 4 times in the last 4 weeks and I've been in the pool maybe half that.

To say I'm not trained is an understatement.

I wasn't really worried until I hopped on the bike Sunday and it was SO HARD. The lack of training combined with the 40 or so lbs I've gained in the last 8 months had me walking up THREE hills. And they were piddly little hills. Now, I could blame it on the run I did the day before - 2 miles - since I haven't been running much more than 20 minutes a few times a week and my quads felt a little sore, but that's a cop-out.

So what do I do?

I'm really conflicted because I've never NOT completed a race I registered for. For awhile, I was confident the short distances at the race wouldn't be a problem for me, but MAN I've let myself go. After that bike ride on Sunday (during which I had my first bike crash), I just don't know if I CAN.

Which is better?

Do I go forward with my plan to do the triathlon knowing I'm not trained and I'm sorely out of shape, with the chance of either hurting myself or having to quit during the race?

Or do I bow out gracefully, plan some other moderate activity in place of Saturday and re-evaluate my health and fitness goals?


What would you do?

Ironman March with @caitlinhtp

I signed up for my first Triathlon of the season waaaaaaaaay back in early December. I find the earlier that I sign up for a big race, the more I tend to slack in beginning my "official" training. Mix in the fact I was sick for the first 6-7 weeks of 2013 and had a sprained ankle I was recovering from, it's been hard getting back on the horse.

I even wrote out a training calendar for the month of February. It's now the last day of the month and I didn't even attempt to follow it.

I'm getting better about getting into a real schedule again. I've made it to yoga this week and out running twice. I have another yoga session and another run planned already for the week.

But, if I want to be confident at my May 18th mini tri AND be ready in late summer for an intermediate distance (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run), then I need to GET ON IT.

Enter fate.

Yesterday Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point posted her challenge to herself to complete an Ironman OVER THE COURSE of the month of March. Yep, 31 days to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles.

It's just the right level of a challenge to get me back in the saddle. I'll be going back to the Y for access to the pool and spin classes (oh how I miss thee).

If you want to join in, visit Caitlin's blog and print the handy PDF tracking sheet. She's even already done the math for you to break the mileage out week by week.

If you're going to do this, let me know here or on Twitter @emtucky.

Starting over - my run last night

Last year, I completed FOUR half marathons....four. This tripled the number of completed half marathons for myself and was 4X the number I had ever done in a year before....it was intense.

And it burned me out from running long distances.

After my half marathon on December 1st, I "took a break" from running long distances, logging only a few miles as a time. Then, I sprained my ankle on Jan. 2nd. Here we are over 2.5 months after my last half marathon and I've barely ran two steps.

Until last night.

I started over. From what felt like the beginning.

I downloaded the Zen Labs "10K for Pink" Couch to 10K program a couple months ago.

Last night I completed Day 1, Week 1.

I took it slow as it was the first time I really "ran" since spraining my ankle. I am happy to report it felt great!

A few thoughts:
 
- I was surprised I could still run a minute straight.

- I forgot how much I don't like the treadmill anymore. It's so boring. But I'm also in pansy mode when it comes to the cold so unless it's above 45, I probably won't run outside during the week.

- I forgot how much regular exercise improves my mood.

My goal is to run a 10K on April 13th, with my first mini-sprint Triathlon of the season being May 18th, and the ultimate goal for the season to complete an intermediate distance Triathlon.

Let's do it!

Thoughts on training for my 4th Half Marathon in 2012

It's been a busy fall. So busy, in fact, I haven't really mentioned much about my St. Jude Half Marathon training I've technically been doing since the end of September.

St. Jude will be my 4th half marathon in 2012 and my 6th overall. Craziness.

However, I have to say, the training for this one has been much more mentally difficult for me. After my triathlon in July, I decided to "take a break" from endurance events. The triathlon marked my 4th one in 2012 and I knew I had St. Jude on the calendar in December. My body and mind needed a break. I continued to swim and spin through early September. I've ridden my bike several times in late summer and into this fall, but I kind of stopped running very much at the end of the summer.

The first 4 weeks of "training" were dismal. As in, I don't think I had one week where I completed all runs as scheduled until mid-October. Oops.

And I've been slow. My half marathon race time in April was a sub-3 hour, I ran a 5K in August in around 38 minutes. Those are around 13:30 min/mi and 12:21 min/mi paces respectively. My times the last few weeks have been in the 14-15 min/mi range. It took me a a few weeks to get ok with that.

I don't have any time goals for St. Jude. The goal is to have fun with friends and finish.

The problem I have had the last 4 weeks or so though is that I wasn't ENJOYING running it was a chore, but finally tonight I felt JOY while I was running. It was getting dark and it felt SO GOOD to not let the time change, or that my mom left town from a 4 day visit, or the fact I've eaten my weight in southern, bacon fat, fried, butter filled food over said 4 day visit be an excuse. Apparently, I'm fueled by fried chicken because my 4 mile run clocked in at a 13:30min/mi pace tonight.

It felt good.

It makes me a little less scared about the 10 miler I have on the calendar for Saturday. It makes me a little less concerned that I'm the least trained for this race more than any other race I've ever done. I always do a 12 miler before a half, but since I goofed off the first month of training, I don't have time. It will be ok though because I will finish the race.

And I will have fun.

Another brick...with an epic open water swim!

Although I have done one mini open water swim on my vacation over 4th of July, I wanted to get a serious open water swim (OWS) in before the triathlon this weekend (5 days...OMGZZZ). So, I enlisted good friend, KG in spotting me out at Percy Priest lake on Sunday.

Source

So we headed to a nearby recreational swimming area at the lake at 8:30 Sunday morning after drinking a pitcher of margaritas the night before. Haha, we know how to train, y'all.

There were already a few people out in the water when we got there (and a couple cars in the parking lot with "swim, bike, run" stickers...I felt like I was crashing a cool kid's party). One intense woman was running out of the water when we approached the beach area and when she came running back she said a friendly, "hello!" I had no idea what 400 yards looks like (the distance of the race), so KG asked professional triathlete lady about it. She gave great guidance I was confident with.

After figuring out what approximately 400 yards would be (or so I thought) I set out into the water.

It's a bit blurry, but it's also an AWESOME photo of me, haha!

I have this issue in the water where I go out way too fast. Well, actually I do that in every sport. So, I swam from the beach to buoy #1 to buoy #2 back to #1 and back to the beach for what I thought at the time was approximately 400 yards. I was huffing and puffing when I got out of the water because I rushed it and my breathing rhythm was off. The swim felt labored and KG reported it took around 6 or 7 minutes or so. Hmmm...that seems awfully fast for me on a 400 yard swim. My average time in the pool for that distance is about 9 1/2 minutes. What happened?

Well, my morning brain THOUGHT I had estimated 400 yards, but really it was 200. Ooops....back to the water.

This time, I started down at the end of the beach to swim out to buoy #4 then back. Easy peasey. I made myself slow down and just swim rhythmically. I typically alternate what side I breathe on every 3 strokes. I'm still learning how to sight in open water, but I practiced that too. It was a lot better than the first run. So much better that I passed buoy #4, got a little past buoy #5 and realized I was way farther than I intended to swim out. Ooops #2

But no worries, I got back to land safely.

Swimming in

Back on 2 feet!

Out of the water

I feel confident in the open water, but I am still expecting the worst on Saturday because swimming in a calm lake is nothing like swimming in river with potential current AND with 600 other people flailing around in the water.

After the swim, KG joined me for a 2 mile run. Can I tell you how much I hate putting socks on damp feet? Ugh. I struggled with the run and walked a lot more of than I hoped for. It was hot by that time (9:45) and I was under hydrated. 2 miles got done though and back to the car we went.


All in all it was actually a lot of fun (well, except for the run part) and I'm really looking forward to Saturday (in an excited/scared sh*tless kind of way). And I think I found a great new place to get some swimming in without having to be a member of the Y!

A very wet BRICK workout...without a swim!

Well today was fun. Just a week out from my first triathlon next Saturday, I wanted to get a bike ride and short run in this morning. The weather had other plans for me.

Before I even racked my bike up, it was raining. By time I got to the Greenway it was pouring. Not much I could do but get on the bike and bite the bullet to get soaked to do it anyway. Because really there's a chance these could be the real weather conditions on race day. At least it wasn't 107 degrees!

The rain when I arrived at the Greenway

I road approximately 9 miles in 55 minutes. It's a hilly route, so I'm hoping the primarily flat race course means I can knock a few minutes off that time next weekend. After the ride, I racked it up, put on my Garmin and took off running.

I actually felt pretty good on the run portion. I did 5 min run/1 min walk intervals for 2 miles. My left calf started to cramp towards the end, but I was still able to keep pace. The 2 miles took me a little under 27 minutes to do.

When I got done with the run, it started to pour again. I took off my shoes and stretched in the rain.

The rain when I got home.

Dripping wet

The back of my shirt - dirt from the bike wheels spraying me!

All in all it was a great workout. Despite serious lack of training, I feel ready for the race next Saturday. I'm approaching it as just another long workout.

I will do one more brick tomorrow - an open water swim and then a run afterward. Then this week I plan to do short workouts in all 3 sports leaving Thursday and Friday to rest.

Ready or not let's swim, bike, run!

Open Water Swim

No weigh in this week - I'm still away from home, but I just got back from spending 4 glorious days at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. My family owns a house there that my grandfather built 25 years ago. I have been swimming in this water for 25 years.

It is my happy place.

So of course I wanted to take the opportunity of having a scary, murky lake 50 steps from where I was sleeping to do an open water swim. And of course I put it off until the last day.

So yesterday before packing up, while we were swimming off the dock, I decided to throw on the goggles and do a real swim.

It was short, it was hard, but it gave me a great idea what I'm up against in 12 days.

I swam diagonally from the dock to a "No Wake" buoy. Then, straight from that buoy to the next one and then diagonally again from that point back to the dock. I have no idea how far it was. I'm estimating a few yards less than 200?

It wasn't timed, but my unofficial spotter (my mom) said it probably took less than 10 minutes. I stopped to catch my breath during it. I didn't freestyle the whole time. I may have doggy paddled. I definitely breast stroked. But I did it.

And now I know what I'm up against....and I need to get some really good quality workouts in the next 12 days or this race may be a disaster.

First BRICK & Triathlon Training Update

Saturday I did my first "brick". A brick is triathlon speak for when you do a workout that combines two disciplines of triathlon. Most commonly people do bike/run bricks because from what I've read that is the hardest transition - going from jello bike legs to strong run legs. I'd also like to try a swim/bike brick.

I originally wanted to try out an open water swim on Saturday, but I'm still sorting out logistically how to tackle that. Admittedly, I haven't stuck to the training schedule much in the month of June because of three back-to-back trips. So the thought of exercising in the extreme heat we are having was even more UNMOTIVATING so I took the workout indoors with a 45 minute spin class and treadmill run. Not ideal 3 weeks before race day, but better than doing nothing.

I started out 15 minutes early to spin class so I just started riding after I got my bike set up. The instructor took us through several "climbs" (where you increase the gear slightly at an interval) and some "sprints" pedaling as fast as you can at an interval. I am really starting to love spin class (a far cry from my first class) and I could see myself doing it a few times a week even after triathlon season is over. The instructor commented that her computer showed over 12 miles for her ride, but I was on the bike a good 15-20 minutes than her so I'd say my ride was about 13-14 by a conservative estimate.

After the class, I refilled my water bottle and hit the treadmill. I started out at a 4.5 pace for 5 minutes, then walked 1 minute at 3.6 pace. I repeated this twice and did 1.25 miles in 17:25. I felt like I could have done the whole 5K, but since it was my first brick and I hadn't been training very well lately, I didn't want to overdo it.

Today, I got back in the pool (2nd swim for the week). My swim on Wednesday was rough due to the weird back pain I've been having, a crowded pool, and just generally not swimming for over a week.

Today's swim though was great.

After a 100 meter warm-up, I did a timed 400 meter (the length of my race swim) in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. After a 90 second rest, I did another timed 400 meters in 9 minutes and 45 seconds. These times surprised me since I put my race swim estimate at 18:00. But, expect to swim slower in open water, so maybe it will take me that long? Who knows. I feel strong in the water. I've always been a "water baby" and I swam on the neighborhood team for a few seasons during my childhood. So, I'm pretty confident in the water. Today it occurred to me that maybe I'm too confident about the water. Maybe I'm too confident about this whole race?

19 days...holy crap!

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!

Stop! It's Tri Time: An Update

I know, the blog title is super cheesy...just stick with me here.

A couple weeks ago I threw all my triathlon fears into a random blog post. Lucky for me, there are A LOT of you out there that had some great feedback. Whether it was just general words of encouragement or actual tips to make this Tri thing really happen, I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH!

Tri Clubs.

Many of you suggested I take the plunge and join the local triathlon club. I know this is probably the most efficient way to get on board with a multi-sport event; however, I am just not a group exerciser. I don't even like group exercise classes at the gym or meeting my friends for runs. The most I enjoy is meeting to go for walks in the park with friends. Exercise is therapeutic for me. It's where I think. It's where I contemplate life. Problems. Happiness. I don't get the same affect from group exercise sessions. So for now, I am tabling the tri club; however, I may revisit it if I feel like I just can't do this without that support.

Gear.

I realized my biggest concern was what to wear for such an event. Being a larger person, I know I am not comfortable with doing any sort of public changing or running in a any sort of 2 piece. I also know financially I couldn't afford to go out and buy a trisuit at this point. Thankfully, Diana kindly emailed me a ton of tips and one of them was to just wear a one piece swimsuit with bike shorts (or other fitted shorts) over it. Then, I could essentially just swim, bike, and run in this one outfit. I will test it out (since there's a chance of chafing) and hopefully it works out.

The bike.

My bike was another hot topic of conversation. My bike was a hand-me-down last summer from my aunt. Yes, it is old. BUT, I did spend quite a chunk of change last summer getting it fixed up at the local bike shop. They said it was in great shape and gave it a full tune up, plus replaced the wires, tubes, and tires. I only rode it twice last year so it was ready to go this year (except for a quick air refill on the tubes). No, it is not a road bike. BUT it has several gears and I have rode 13+ miles on it in one trip over rolling hills so I know I can make it work for a sprint tri.

Thank you to Melanie, who suggested the REI bike clinic. I checked my local store and they had one coming up April 12th, so I am signed up and ready to learn!

However, I am still learning to ride the bike with the most efficiency. I am not a pro at when to shift gears and I am probably not using natural momentum to the best of my ability because I tend to get shy on downhills and brake. I plan to read up on this and practice, practice, practice.

The Pool.

My plan is to get in the pool hopefully sometime this week. Now that I am tapering for the Country Music Half, I feel less pressure on my training for that race and for the next two weeks I will be focusing on swimming and biking until I fully transition into Tri training on May 1st. I finally ordered two new swimsuits so as soon as they come, I'll be heading out to join the Y. It's the most expensive option, but also the fool proof option (as in, I know I'll actually get my training done).

The Race.

Right now, I am targeting the Wet Dog sprint triathlon in Decatur, AL. The only downside is that it's in July...in the south...so I may wake up and realize how crazy this plan is and switch to a race in September. The goal is to just do at least one tri in 2012. It will happen.

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!

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!

Weigh in - The most epic gain EVER

Last week's weight - 239.0

This week's weight - 246.2

7.2 lbs GAINED

83.2 total lost since June 2010

Yep, you read that right (and no it's not a typo). I had an epic gain of 7.2 lbs this week. Am I surprised? A little. I knew I would gain because of everything I've eaten this week, but 7 pounds? Yeah...wasn't prepared for that.

As Maren pointed out, "What's done is done and what's eaten is eaten." So time to move on. I plan to track my food this week and get back on the horse and hope for a big ass loss next week.

On the plus side I did my first long run in 3 weeks today and I didn't die. 7 miles done! It was rough since I haven't been eating right lately and there was too much alcohol and not enough hydration going on yesterday, but surprisingly it went well despite my gut rot and dehydration.

Given my huge gain this week, I am back to 9.8 pounds from my Garmin Goal. And 16.8 pounds from 100 lbs lost. Talk about two steps backwards!?

My goal is to have the Garmin by Thanksgiving and the 100 pound party is tentatively scheduled for January. We'll see how close I get in the next 4 weeks.

Back to square one!

I don't want to do this anymore

I am really doubting this whole half marathon training thing. We are now just 9 short weeks from race day and I haven't done more than 6 miles. The last two weekends I haven't done a long run. Furthermore, the last four weeks during the week I've missed runs like crazy. I have plenty of excuses, just pick one - working 50-60 hours a week, illness, traveling to Atlanta two weeks in a row. But when it comes down to it, my heart just hasn't been in it. When I have had the time to do the training, I just don't want to. I'd rather lay around all day and watch 5 episodes of Dexter (I may or may not have done this while I was sick last weekend....ok I did).

Thankfully I have 3 friends counting on me to show up on race day so I won't give up, but what the hell am I going to do to turn this around? I don't want to be one of "those people" who don't train for a race, show up on race day, have a miserable 13.1 miles and hate every moment of something that should be rewarding.

I feel more discouraged than ever because I feel like I've lost ground over the last 2.5 months. I was so good about working out over the summer. But lately? Not so much. I know 90% of the problem is work, but that's not changing any time soon so I can only figure out a way to deal with it.

I'll let you know when I figure it out.

All I can do is get through this week. This week, despite not setting a toe in the gym yet, I WILL do all 3 training runs. Tomorrow 3 miles, Friday 3 miles and Sunday 7 miles.

Even though I don't really want to.

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.

Diary of an overweight runner - First 'long' run

Today was my first official "long run" for the Disney Half Marathon in January. The word long is relative because in the grand scheme of 13.1 miles my plan to do 4-5 miles is not really long comparatively.

I ended up doing 4.8 miles in about 71 minutes, which calculates to about 14:47 minutes per mile. This included warm up/cool down. But it is still perfectly on pace with where I need to be for the 3 1/2 hour time limit on the Disney race. Proud of this.

I didn't really have a plan for what me run/walk intervals would be. I just listened to my body and ran when I felt like I could run and walked when I needed to rest. It worked out pretty well. I probably walked more than I needed to, but mostly I tried to run 5-7 minutes and walk 1-3 minutes.

I also tried shot blocks for the first time during a run. I ate 2 at the halfway mark and although I'm not sure I really needed them, I did not ever get a light-headed feeling like I sometimes do when I'm out doing longer distances.

I still don't have a plan on paper for training going forward, but I'm hoping Brad Gansberg can help me with that once I get off my ass and email him to take him up on his offer.

I hope to continue the "Diary of an Overweight Runner" series with a report on my training each week. The thought of doing the double digit training runs make me anxious. Yikes!