Seattle was introduced to the new Running Leah.
I knew I was going to be in Seattle this past weekend so I had already scoped out my path. I wanted to go park down by Golden Gardens and run along the Burke-Gilman Trail. The first time I drove to run outside, I had a heck of a time getting my key off my key ring. I finally had to take my clicker thing instead but then I couldn't get that back on the key ring (thanks Carissa!). So I had a flash and thought it'd be great if my parents joined me (holding the keys was a side benefit).
I presented my plan and they agreed! We ventured down to Golden Gardens on Saturday morning. I wasn't sure how long I was going to run until I was in the car headed down. I had an inkling to do what I had done last weekend (15/1/15) but knew that I had two weeks and I'm not to my goal yet. So I upped it. I decided to do:
5 minute warmup
16 minute run
30 second walk
16 minute run
5 minute cooldown
It was very cold so my warmup went a bit longer. About 7 minutes in I was presented with a "hill" and charged right up it. All I could think was it was going to be down on the way back. Also turned out to have a street crossing in the middle of the trail. I was excited to see this and disappointed. I knew it was going to be a forced stop, but man I was tired. The official 30 second walk was just enough time to blow my nose and start back up. I pretty much grimaced the entire second 16 minutes, but I did it. I went an extra 30 seconds at the end to make up for the small waiting I did at the crosswalk.
I did go 2.57 miles in 33 minutes which did not include my warmup or cooldown. I feel pretty good about that. 2.57 isn't the 3.1 I need to do and that 2.57 was pretty rough. I can't believe I did 2.57 miles though, phew!
I have two weeks to get up to 3.1. I know adrenaline will help a bit on the day of, however I want to do the distance. I know there is a gradual hill at the beginning and I know it will be early in the morning. It will also be even earlier than it feels at it is also Daylight Savings time "Spring Forward". Who picked that?! Going to be one interesting morning.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Day Twenty Three
Another PR!
(Personal Record for those who have not read the millions of web articles I have ;) )
I thought all day long about what I was going to do as a plan tonight. I still didn't really know even when I started my warmup. I knew I wanted to focus on jogging for more minutes. At the last minute I decided to only do 30 second breaks. Here is what my plan was:
4:30 minute warmup (I figure I walk at least 30 seconds to the apartment gym)
10:00 minute run
30 second walk
10 minute run
30 second walk
10 minute run
5 minute cooldown
For some crazy reason I went 30 seconds over on my first 10 minute stretch. So I wanted to make it an even minute extra of running so I went 30 seconds over on the third 10 minute stretch too. So that equals 31 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking split in two sections. Yeah!
I'm getting kind of proud of myself! I was really getting worried there that I wouldn't even have a fighting chance at my goal, but now I think it's possible. I am really struggling with more the mental side of it now though. It's just such a long time to run. I am generally a fan of repetitive actions and jobs, but this is ridiculous. Outside was a little easier because I could make distance goals as well as focus on the music. But this is brutal. I watched "Friends" today and didn't listen to my iPhone until the last 10 minutes or so. I just get so irritated (weird for me I know ;) ) towards the end that I don't like the things in my ears or the music or anything.
But phew! I'm on my way to 36 minutes straight! I go home for the weekend and I plan to run down by Golden Gardens for those of you familiar with Seattle. There is a nice long path by the water that should work perfectly. Not sure if I'll be able to blog right after though... so for the die hard reader, you might have to take a break.
3.08 miles in 41:30 minutes
(Personal Record for those who have not read the millions of web articles I have ;) )
I thought all day long about what I was going to do as a plan tonight. I still didn't really know even when I started my warmup. I knew I wanted to focus on jogging for more minutes. At the last minute I decided to only do 30 second breaks. Here is what my plan was:
4:30 minute warmup (I figure I walk at least 30 seconds to the apartment gym)
10:00 minute run
30 second walk
10 minute run
30 second walk
10 minute run
5 minute cooldown
For some crazy reason I went 30 seconds over on my first 10 minute stretch. So I wanted to make it an even minute extra of running so I went 30 seconds over on the third 10 minute stretch too. So that equals 31 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking split in two sections. Yeah!
I'm getting kind of proud of myself! I was really getting worried there that I wouldn't even have a fighting chance at my goal, but now I think it's possible. I am really struggling with more the mental side of it now though. It's just such a long time to run. I am generally a fan of repetitive actions and jobs, but this is ridiculous. Outside was a little easier because I could make distance goals as well as focus on the music. But this is brutal. I watched "Friends" today and didn't listen to my iPhone until the last 10 minutes or so. I just get so irritated (weird for me I know ;) ) towards the end that I don't like the things in my ears or the music or anything.
But phew! I'm on my way to 36 minutes straight! I go home for the weekend and I plan to run down by Golden Gardens for those of you familiar with Seattle. There is a nice long path by the water that should work perfectly. Not sure if I'll be able to blog right after though... so for the die hard reader, you might have to take a break.
3.08 miles in 41:30 minutes
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Day Twenty Two Addendum
Oh my gosh.
I had no idea people were commenting! It does not show that on my page. I was randomly going through and noticed comments on individual posts.
THANK YOU!
I don't know why I never knew that was happening, but rest assured it made my year. I know I tear up all the time, but that did it. I hope it doesn't seem like I was ignoring you, I definitely was not!
Thanks guys!!
I had no idea people were commenting! It does not show that on my page. I was randomly going through and noticed comments on individual posts.
THANK YOU!
I don't know why I never knew that was happening, but rest assured it made my year. I know I tear up all the time, but that did it. I hope it doesn't seem like I was ignoring you, I definitely was not!
Thanks guys!!
Day Twenty Two
Inside.
Today turned out to be a crappy weather day after several days of spring beautiful-ness. We all knew it was too good to last.
The apartment gym was pretty crowded... the most I've seen actually. I found I didn't like that so much!
As most of you know now I have no plan. I guess this kind of reflects life ;). So I "stressed" about it all day and decided I wanted to stick with at least running 30 minutes, despite breaks. I need to increase my incline as apparently on Broadway there is a steady incline. For those of you who have not checked out the course map... this section is one of the first sections. I'm told it's "all downhill from there". The plan for today ended up being:
5 minute warmup
10 minute jog at 12 min/mile
1 minute walk
10 minute jog at 12:30 min/mile but varying incline
1 minute walk
10 minute jog at 12:15 min/mile
5 minute cooldown
I did it! Done and done. 3.06 miles in 42 minutes (NB: this is dangerously close to doing the 5K distance in under 45 minutes. Also note that it includes 12 minutes of walking... apply that logic and it seems promising that I could possibly jog the whole thing in under 45 minutes if I can get to that time length of running! Really I don't care how long it takes me, as long as I jog the whole thing.)
Oh I forgot to share that I purchased another new pair of shorts. Same shorts as I bought last week but this time GREEN and GOLD! The loose layer is kelly green and the band, nike swoosh and spandex shorts underneath are gold. Reminds me of my track glory days. I'm sure they were created for the U of O fans down here... but oh well. Plus now I have green shorts to wear for the Shamrock Run.
Now I have 48 hours to stress about the next workout plan :)
Today turned out to be a crappy weather day after several days of spring beautiful-ness. We all knew it was too good to last.
The apartment gym was pretty crowded... the most I've seen actually. I found I didn't like that so much!
As most of you know now I have no plan. I guess this kind of reflects life ;). So I "stressed" about it all day and decided I wanted to stick with at least running 30 minutes, despite breaks. I need to increase my incline as apparently on Broadway there is a steady incline. For those of you who have not checked out the course map... this section is one of the first sections. I'm told it's "all downhill from there". The plan for today ended up being:
5 minute warmup
10 minute jog at 12 min/mile
1 minute walk
10 minute jog at 12:30 min/mile but varying incline
1 minute walk
10 minute jog at 12:15 min/mile
5 minute cooldown
I did it! Done and done. 3.06 miles in 42 minutes (NB: this is dangerously close to doing the 5K distance in under 45 minutes. Also note that it includes 12 minutes of walking... apply that logic and it seems promising that I could possibly jog the whole thing in under 45 minutes if I can get to that time length of running! Really I don't care how long it takes me, as long as I jog the whole thing.)
Oh I forgot to share that I purchased another new pair of shorts. Same shorts as I bought last week but this time GREEN and GOLD! The loose layer is kelly green and the band, nike swoosh and spandex shorts underneath are gold. Reminds me of my track glory days. I'm sure they were created for the U of O fans down here... but oh well. Plus now I have green shorts to wear for the Shamrock Run.
Now I have 48 hours to stress about the next workout plan :)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Day Twenty One
Dear Rock Creek Trail,
Thank you for letting me kick your ass today.
Until next time,
Leah
What a beautiful weekend! My goodness. I woke up and decided to do the Rock Creek Trail which is very, very close to my apartment. I knew I needed to drive to the trailhead and I had googled the trail to see what I was getting myself in to. I knew I wanted to park on the north side of Cornell so I didn't have to cross that during the trail. I also knew there was a police precinct right there that was perfect to park in. However, when I got there I couldn't do it. There were so many police cars (as expected) and it was just too intimidating. So in the process of trying to turn around, I came across the park that the trail actually starts at, Orchard Park. So I just decided to park there, how intimidating can it be to cross Cornell?
I set my RunKeeper (I upgraded to Pro I was so impressed) and started the 5 minute warmup. It took me through the little trail to Cornell and then I crossed Cornell (slightly odd to have everyone watch, but eh, get over it). Started running by the police precinct and didn't stop till Evergreen Highway! I ran for 15 minutes, walked for 1 minute and ran for another 15 minutes! Yeah!
I did come across two women running... far faster than myself. They passed me on a turn around area and so I knew they were going to be coming up behind me, but when one woman yelled "Left!" I thought I was going to pee my pants. Really?! I understand you are supposed to do that... but it's a pretty wide path with no one else on it and I was to the far right. Goodness.
I stopped running along the side of Cornell and I might have teared up. I was starting to think I was going to have to live with the fact that I can't run the whole race. This gave me a little bit of hope again.
I got back to Orchard Park and saw the swings. I rewarded myself and then felt guilty when a family of four showed up and I was hogging the swings.
My pace sucked. Part of me hopes that it's so bad because it calculates in my 10 minutes of walking. I can't seem to figure out how to break the run down by time as opposed to speed and/or distance. I want to know my pace during the warmup/running/walking/cooldown etc. I also hope that maybe it has something to do with the GPS as it said it was "poor" through there. Which seems odd as it's not even a heavily tree'd area. I believe it calculated in my time on the swings too as I didn't push stop even though it said "workout complete". This was also the most elevation gain/loss I'd ever done. Plus it's the most running I've ever done. I suppose I should cut myself some slack. I only walked one minute out of 31 minutes! How great is that?!
I have three weeks to get to 36 minutes of running straight. Although that will no longer cover the pace I'm running (unless adrenaline kicks in) it at least gives me a fighting chance to finish the whole race running.
2.88 miles in 41 minutes
Thank you for letting me kick your ass today.
Until next time,
Leah
What a beautiful weekend! My goodness. I woke up and decided to do the Rock Creek Trail which is very, very close to my apartment. I knew I needed to drive to the trailhead and I had googled the trail to see what I was getting myself in to. I knew I wanted to park on the north side of Cornell so I didn't have to cross that during the trail. I also knew there was a police precinct right there that was perfect to park in. However, when I got there I couldn't do it. There were so many police cars (as expected) and it was just too intimidating. So in the process of trying to turn around, I came across the park that the trail actually starts at, Orchard Park. So I just decided to park there, how intimidating can it be to cross Cornell?
I set my RunKeeper (I upgraded to Pro I was so impressed) and started the 5 minute warmup. It took me through the little trail to Cornell and then I crossed Cornell (slightly odd to have everyone watch, but eh, get over it). Started running by the police precinct and didn't stop till Evergreen Highway! I ran for 15 minutes, walked for 1 minute and ran for another 15 minutes! Yeah!
I did come across two women running... far faster than myself. They passed me on a turn around area and so I knew they were going to be coming up behind me, but when one woman yelled "Left!" I thought I was going to pee my pants. Really?! I understand you are supposed to do that... but it's a pretty wide path with no one else on it and I was to the far right. Goodness.
I stopped running along the side of Cornell and I might have teared up. I was starting to think I was going to have to live with the fact that I can't run the whole race. This gave me a little bit of hope again.
I got back to Orchard Park and saw the swings. I rewarded myself and then felt guilty when a family of four showed up and I was hogging the swings.
My pace sucked. Part of me hopes that it's so bad because it calculates in my 10 minutes of walking. I can't seem to figure out how to break the run down by time as opposed to speed and/or distance. I want to know my pace during the warmup/running/walking/cooldown etc. I also hope that maybe it has something to do with the GPS as it said it was "poor" through there. Which seems odd as it's not even a heavily tree'd area. I believe it calculated in my time on the swings too as I didn't push stop even though it said "workout complete". This was also the most elevation gain/loss I'd ever done. Plus it's the most running I've ever done. I suppose I should cut myself some slack. I only walked one minute out of 31 minutes! How great is that?!
I have three weeks to get to 36 minutes of running straight. Although that will no longer cover the pace I'm running (unless adrenaline kicks in) it at least gives me a fighting chance to finish the whole race running.
2.88 miles in 41 minutes
Friday, February 19, 2010
Day Twenty
Woot Woot!
Outside.
What a beautiful day. I had a great morning sleeping in after my "Leah Love Fest" of a PA Admissions Dinner Thursday night. Work went great and I brought the wine for Wine Friday. Even got to go home early, so I decided to run outside.
This was my first time using my new "Runkeeper" application on my iPhone. It's a GPS thingy that calculates my pace, route and some other things. I walked roughly 5 minutes and then started it up.
My goal was to run to the Hawthorn Farms MAX stop, but when I got there I just turned around and started back. Did a little detour down a street and came back... still running. I made it almost back to my original starting point! It was almost 18 minutes and over 1.5 miles! I walked for about 2 minutes and started up again. I went another 8 minutes and finally called it good. I stopped Runkeeper and started walking when I had an epiphany! Or act of stupidity... but thought I could keep running. So I started up again with the intention of doing 5 more minutes... but after 1 minute and 45 seconds I was done... again.
Overall I think it was pretty successful! Runkeeper is fantastic and I did a fairly good stretch of straight running. Bad news is my average pace was higher than the treadmill. But as I've tried to convince myself earlier, I don't care about pace. According to Runkeeper I went about 2.24 miles and had an average pace of 12:44 minutes/mile. I think that sounds about right... although I have not done the math. Now that is less than my other "runs" but this did not include my 5 minute warmup and 5 minute cooldown, so really it's more actual running distance.
I think I'm going to need to kick it up a notch. I want to run the whole 5K dammit! I'm thinking about doing Carissa's idea of doing like the bike or elliptical on my "off days". I'll keep thinking, but I think I can go every other day instead of 3 times a week.
Alright off to celebrate at Mazatlan!!
Outside.
What a beautiful day. I had a great morning sleeping in after my "Leah Love Fest" of a PA Admissions Dinner Thursday night. Work went great and I brought the wine for Wine Friday. Even got to go home early, so I decided to run outside.
This was my first time using my new "Runkeeper" application on my iPhone. It's a GPS thingy that calculates my pace, route and some other things. I walked roughly 5 minutes and then started it up.
My goal was to run to the Hawthorn Farms MAX stop, but when I got there I just turned around and started back. Did a little detour down a street and came back... still running. I made it almost back to my original starting point! It was almost 18 minutes and over 1.5 miles! I walked for about 2 minutes and started up again. I went another 8 minutes and finally called it good. I stopped Runkeeper and started walking when I had an epiphany! Or act of stupidity... but thought I could keep running. So I started up again with the intention of doing 5 more minutes... but after 1 minute and 45 seconds I was done... again.
Overall I think it was pretty successful! Runkeeper is fantastic and I did a fairly good stretch of straight running. Bad news is my average pace was higher than the treadmill. But as I've tried to convince myself earlier, I don't care about pace. According to Runkeeper I went about 2.24 miles and had an average pace of 12:44 minutes/mile. I think that sounds about right... although I have not done the math. Now that is less than my other "runs" but this did not include my 5 minute warmup and 5 minute cooldown, so really it's more actual running distance.
I think I'm going to need to kick it up a notch. I want to run the whole 5K dammit! I'm thinking about doing Carissa's idea of doing like the bike or elliptical on my "off days". I'll keep thinking, but I think I can go every other day instead of 3 times a week.
Alright off to celebrate at Mazatlan!!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Day Nineteen
2.66 in 36 minutes and 30 seconds
Eh. I didn't meet my goal for today.
5 minute warmup
13 minute run
1 min 30 sec walk
5 min 30 sec run
30 second walk
6 minute run
5 minute cooldown
I'm kind of disappointed but kind of not. I need to remember that I'm still doing it and that's what matters. HOWEVER, I'm getting a little freaked out that I won't run 3.1 miles before Shamrock and the "race" will be disasterous. I've been told there is a hill. I have 4 weeks.
I did get a new pair of shorts over the weekend which I love (yeah Nike!). I also got a new pair of headphone thingys. I may or may not have shared that they are constantly falling out of my ear and I mean constantly. I even held my hand over my ear the last time. The new ones are again Nike and they go behind my head by my neck and connect to eachother. They worked alright, not fantastic, but better.
I tried listening to a podcast (NPR Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) and that lasted the first 22 minutes or so. It was alright, but I was getting pretty frustrated towards the end. I actually took the headphones off towards the end. I was just so frustrated and irritated.
Two different guys were in there with me. Neither had I seen before and both looked like beginners. I kind of wanted to slip them notes with the Couch to 5K Plan on it. Then they could look like real pros like me ;).
It is positive that I'm not gasping for air. My calves were hurting so bad this time and now they are kind of cramping up. Not good.
Eh. I didn't meet my goal for today.
5 minute warmup
13 minute run
1 min 30 sec walk
5 min 30 sec run
30 second walk
6 minute run
5 minute cooldown
I'm kind of disappointed but kind of not. I need to remember that I'm still doing it and that's what matters. HOWEVER, I'm getting a little freaked out that I won't run 3.1 miles before Shamrock and the "race" will be disasterous. I've been told there is a hill. I have 4 weeks.
I did get a new pair of shorts over the weekend which I love (yeah Nike!). I also got a new pair of headphone thingys. I may or may not have shared that they are constantly falling out of my ear and I mean constantly. I even held my hand over my ear the last time. The new ones are again Nike and they go behind my head by my neck and connect to eachother. They worked alright, not fantastic, but better.
I tried listening to a podcast (NPR Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) and that lasted the first 22 minutes or so. It was alright, but I was getting pretty frustrated towards the end. I actually took the headphones off towards the end. I was just so frustrated and irritated.
Two different guys were in there with me. Neither had I seen before and both looked like beginners. I kind of wanted to slip them notes with the Couch to 5K Plan on it. Then they could look like real pros like me ;).
It is positive that I'm not gasping for air. My calves were hurting so bad this time and now they are kind of cramping up. Not good.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Day Eighteen
2.71 in 37 minutes
Woohoo!
I did decide to veer from the plan a bit. From here the plan has no real structure other than to run 25 minutes for one week, 28 minutes the next week and 30 minutes in the final week. Since I almost died when I did 20 minutes straight, I figured I needed to tweak something. I want to enjoy this, I want to feel good after a workout... or at least not dead.
Today I was supposed to run 25 minutes with no walking. My modified plan was to do 24 minutes with a small break in between.
5 minute warmup... check.
12 minute run... check.
2 minute walk... check.
12 minute run... oops! make that 13 minute run!
5 minute cooldown... check.
So I, in essence, did 25 minutes of running with a small break in the middle. I feel so good! Who knew my poor math skills would ever pay off!
My pace was a 12 min/mile and I'm completely ok with that. You know it's a round number in it's own right.
I started off by listening to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". It helped to have some new music I don't listen to that often, made me truly forget and not think about "ok we are 3/4 of the way through this song". I'm ok that this is not Top 40 music... in any decade. If I'm not going to love myself, who is?! :)
I think I will shoot for 25 minutes straight on my next run. For now I will enjoy my chocolate milk.
Woohoo!
I did decide to veer from the plan a bit. From here the plan has no real structure other than to run 25 minutes for one week, 28 minutes the next week and 30 minutes in the final week. Since I almost died when I did 20 minutes straight, I figured I needed to tweak something. I want to enjoy this, I want to feel good after a workout... or at least not dead.
Today I was supposed to run 25 minutes with no walking. My modified plan was to do 24 minutes with a small break in between.
5 minute warmup... check.
12 minute run... check.
2 minute walk... check.
12 minute run... oops! make that 13 minute run!
5 minute cooldown... check.
So I, in essence, did 25 minutes of running with a small break in the middle. I feel so good! Who knew my poor math skills would ever pay off!
My pace was a 12 min/mile and I'm completely ok with that. You know it's a round number in it's own right.
I started off by listening to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". It helped to have some new music I don't listen to that often, made me truly forget and not think about "ok we are 3/4 of the way through this song". I'm ok that this is not Top 40 music... in any decade. If I'm not going to love myself, who is?! :)
I think I will shoot for 25 minutes straight on my next run. For now I will enjoy my chocolate milk.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Day Seventeen
Phew! Back on track.
2.39 in 33 minues.
I've been pretty bummed since my yesterday morning run. Stressing about how I am supposed to wake up on a Sunday and get downtown before 8am and run the Shamrock. Adrenaline right?!
I came home from work with a mission. Turns out I didn't need such a determined mind set because it was 10 times better than yesterday morning. I successfully completed two 10 minute stretches with a 3 minute walk in between. This was the LAST time the plan allows me to walk in the middle. Now there are no runs less than 25 minutes.
Ok so I have 4 1/2 weeks until the "race" and 3 1/2 weeks left of the plan. I'm thinking of modifying the plan slightly. My goal this Saturday will be to run 20 minutes (same as last weekend). The first run of next week I'll do the 10 minutes and walk 2 minutes and 10 minutes again. Then after that I'll move up to no run less than 20 minutes. After a couple of times with that, I'll move it up to 25 minutes, than 30 minutes. I'm done stressing about my pace. My goal was not to have a set time for the 5K, but rather to run the entire thing. I will be happy if I finish in 45 minutes. Which I understand means a 15 minute mile pace, which I'm doing better than that. But oh well. I'll be outside with thousands of people and there is a hill. If I jog the whole thing I'll have accomplished my goal.
Maybe I'll work on pace after the 5K. I do plan to continue this. I think eventually I'd like to work towards a 10K. Seems like there are more opportunities at the 10K level. However I'd like to get to less than 30 minutes for the 5K. Maybe I should try and find a 10K in the late summer/early fall to set as a new goal.
WHOA there! Reign it in! Focus.
2.39 in 33 minues.
I've been pretty bummed since my yesterday morning run. Stressing about how I am supposed to wake up on a Sunday and get downtown before 8am and run the Shamrock. Adrenaline right?!
I came home from work with a mission. Turns out I didn't need such a determined mind set because it was 10 times better than yesterday morning. I successfully completed two 10 minute stretches with a 3 minute walk in between. This was the LAST time the plan allows me to walk in the middle. Now there are no runs less than 25 minutes.
Ok so I have 4 1/2 weeks until the "race" and 3 1/2 weeks left of the plan. I'm thinking of modifying the plan slightly. My goal this Saturday will be to run 20 minutes (same as last weekend). The first run of next week I'll do the 10 minutes and walk 2 minutes and 10 minutes again. Then after that I'll move up to no run less than 20 minutes. After a couple of times with that, I'll move it up to 25 minutes, than 30 minutes. I'm done stressing about my pace. My goal was not to have a set time for the 5K, but rather to run the entire thing. I will be happy if I finish in 45 minutes. Which I understand means a 15 minute mile pace, which I'm doing better than that. But oh well. I'll be outside with thousands of people and there is a hill. If I jog the whole thing I'll have accomplished my goal.
Maybe I'll work on pace after the 5K. I do plan to continue this. I think eventually I'd like to work towards a 10K. Seems like there are more opportunities at the 10K level. However I'd like to get to less than 30 minutes for the 5K. Maybe I should try and find a 10K in the late summer/early fall to set as a new goal.
WHOA there! Reign it in! Focus.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Day Sixteen
Fail.
I am not happy about my decision to run in the morning instead of when I got home later last night. I should have known my relationship with mornings well enough to know that was a bad idea. Over 12 hours without food and then run is never, never a good idea.
This is the last day of real "interval" stuff like "run 5, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5". Next run "run 10, walk 3, run 10" and then after that it's straight "run 25 minutes with no walking" for the rest of my life. This morning the first five minutes I barely made it through. The eight minutes I got half way through and had to even get off the damn treadmill. It was worse than Sunday's run. I was shaking and nauseas and not good. I did push pause on the plan so when I got back on after four minutes or so, I finished out the eight minutes of running. However during the three minutes of walking the tears came. All I could think about was how hard this was and how I hadn't been strong enough to push through. So pretty soon I can't breathe cause tears are rolling down my cheeks.
First tears of the plan.
I did my best to suck it up and I did complete the next five minutes of running.
Not happy. I deviated from the plan and I was punished.
For the record: 2.40 miles in 34 minutes
I am not happy about my decision to run in the morning instead of when I got home later last night. I should have known my relationship with mornings well enough to know that was a bad idea. Over 12 hours without food and then run is never, never a good idea.
This is the last day of real "interval" stuff like "run 5, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5". Next run "run 10, walk 3, run 10" and then after that it's straight "run 25 minutes with no walking" for the rest of my life. This morning the first five minutes I barely made it through. The eight minutes I got half way through and had to even get off the damn treadmill. It was worse than Sunday's run. I was shaking and nauseas and not good. I did push pause on the plan so when I got back on after four minutes or so, I finished out the eight minutes of running. However during the three minutes of walking the tears came. All I could think about was how hard this was and how I hadn't been strong enough to push through. So pretty soon I can't breathe cause tears are rolling down my cheeks.
First tears of the plan.
I did my best to suck it up and I did complete the next five minutes of running.
Not happy. I deviated from the plan and I was punished.
For the record: 2.40 miles in 34 minutes
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day Fifteen
I'm not sure I even want to say much more than...
I DID IT!
This might seem overdramatic as I did not yet complete my goal, however, this might have been harder. Twenty whole minutes. Twenty.
I went to the gym as usual. I dreaded it all day. It makes me sad that I dreaded it and I cursed the Plan Gods. How am I supposed to make running stick when they jump too fast?! I trudged over there and tried to convince myself that I could do it. I had downloaded some new songs and arranged them just right. I did everything I could to be prepared. I even went during the Superbowl to ensure I was alone in the gym (it worked).
I turned on the game on mute (trying to act like I cared), covered up the treadmill display and started my music. I didn't use my iPhone app as it was a fairly easy one to remember... twenty minutes in case you've forgotten. I told myself I would not even move the papertowel from the display until after three whole songs. I loosely knew the songs were about 4 or 5 minutes long. This was a lofty goal. I had anticipated getting to 10 minutes and walking for one minute and going for 10 again. This was defying the gods, but come on... twenty.
First song up? "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera... starting out strong "'Cause if it wasn't all that you tried to do I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through". Little winded but ok. Next up was "Yeah!" by Usher. Little harder to get through but do-able. And then the kicker... "100% Pure Love" by um who knows really?! This classic 90's hit was a long lost love and I smiled right away. "From the back to the middle and around again, I'm gonna be there till the end, 100% pure love" Oh how I missed you! This is where I thought I'd look at the display, but for some reaon I didn't. Maybe it was because the next song was "Sexy Chick" and I wanted to hear if they really did say "neighborhood whore" or if Carissa was pulling my leg. Turns out they say "hoe" but close enough... however I personally like the following lyrics "Yes I can see her, cause every girl in here wanna be her, oh she's a diva, I feel the same and I want to meet her". So I jogged right through that song too.
Next up was Tik Tok... my good old Mick Jagger admirer I spoke about in a previous post. I looked at the display anticipating something like 12 minutes... Holy Crap, I'd gone over 15! I put the paper towel back on the display and spent the next minute trying to make sure my math was right... 20 minus 5 warmup mins equals 15... check. Wow. Shut Up. Now I figured I didn't have a choice but to keep going. How good would it feel to be able to say I actually did it?! So Tik Tok kept me going, but towards the end it was getting really, really rough. My right foot started falling asleep and I was getting a little light headed. By the time Fergalicious came on I was so ready to be done. I started leaning on the panel and probably looking like I was possessed. I threw the papertowel from the display and stared at that damn time keeper. I couldn't push slower fast enough when it turned 25:00 and I just chose to throw my ear buds out and get off the thing. Ugh.
I thought for sure I was going to either pass out or throw up. Thank God no one was in there. I sat on the weight bench for what I can figure no more than 2 minutes as when I got back Fergalicious was still on. I then did the 5 minute cooldown and wanted to stop every minute of it. I won't even try to describe how long it took me to recover, it's embarrassing. However, I did have some wonderful chocolate milk.
It can only get easier from here right?! Say I'm right!
For the record: 2.22 miles in 30 minutes
I DID IT!
This might seem overdramatic as I did not yet complete my goal, however, this might have been harder. Twenty whole minutes. Twenty.
I went to the gym as usual. I dreaded it all day. It makes me sad that I dreaded it and I cursed the Plan Gods. How am I supposed to make running stick when they jump too fast?! I trudged over there and tried to convince myself that I could do it. I had downloaded some new songs and arranged them just right. I did everything I could to be prepared. I even went during the Superbowl to ensure I was alone in the gym (it worked).
I turned on the game on mute (trying to act like I cared), covered up the treadmill display and started my music. I didn't use my iPhone app as it was a fairly easy one to remember... twenty minutes in case you've forgotten. I told myself I would not even move the papertowel from the display until after three whole songs. I loosely knew the songs were about 4 or 5 minutes long. This was a lofty goal. I had anticipated getting to 10 minutes and walking for one minute and going for 10 again. This was defying the gods, but come on... twenty.
First song up? "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera... starting out strong "'Cause if it wasn't all that you tried to do I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through". Little winded but ok. Next up was "Yeah!" by Usher. Little harder to get through but do-able. And then the kicker... "100% Pure Love" by um who knows really?! This classic 90's hit was a long lost love and I smiled right away. "From the back to the middle and around again, I'm gonna be there till the end, 100% pure love" Oh how I missed you! This is where I thought I'd look at the display, but for some reaon I didn't. Maybe it was because the next song was "Sexy Chick" and I wanted to hear if they really did say "neighborhood whore" or if Carissa was pulling my leg. Turns out they say "hoe" but close enough... however I personally like the following lyrics "Yes I can see her, cause every girl in here wanna be her, oh she's a diva, I feel the same and I want to meet her". So I jogged right through that song too.
Next up was Tik Tok... my good old Mick Jagger admirer I spoke about in a previous post. I looked at the display anticipating something like 12 minutes... Holy Crap, I'd gone over 15! I put the paper towel back on the display and spent the next minute trying to make sure my math was right... 20 minus 5 warmup mins equals 15... check. Wow. Shut Up. Now I figured I didn't have a choice but to keep going. How good would it feel to be able to say I actually did it?! So Tik Tok kept me going, but towards the end it was getting really, really rough. My right foot started falling asleep and I was getting a little light headed. By the time Fergalicious came on I was so ready to be done. I started leaning on the panel and probably looking like I was possessed. I threw the papertowel from the display and stared at that damn time keeper. I couldn't push slower fast enough when it turned 25:00 and I just chose to throw my ear buds out and get off the thing. Ugh.
I thought for sure I was going to either pass out or throw up. Thank God no one was in there. I sat on the weight bench for what I can figure no more than 2 minutes as when I got back Fergalicious was still on. I then did the 5 minute cooldown and wanted to stop every minute of it. I won't even try to describe how long it took me to recover, it's embarrassing. However, I did have some wonderful chocolate milk.
It can only get easier from here right?! Say I'm right!
For the record: 2.22 miles in 30 minutes
Friday, February 5, 2010
Day Fourteen
2.27 in 31 minutes
Some of you who actually read this may notice that I am writing on a Friday, not Thursday. I was supposed to run yesterday but instead went to a coworkers going away party (bye Cory :( ) at Renaissance Wines. I had a great time and tried some new wines and ate some great cubed salami. I got to see Lance whom I had not seen in a while, so that was good too. However, this was the first time I did not run on a Thursday in 5 weeks!
Not only was this the first non traditional run, but it was the longest I've run in one stretch... 8 minutes! Isn't that a rodeo thing?! Well I did it :). The first 8 minutes wasn't too bad. The 5 minute walk in between was rough on the calves (why is that?!). The second 8 minutes was horrible. Ugh. Three minutes in and I was starting to sway around on the treadmill. However I powered through and finished! Man alive that was rough. I didn't run less than 11:30/mile pace... I'm trying to run at the pace they want me to. I need to be running a 10 minute mile at this point and I'm clearly not even close. Again ugh.
Sunday I will be running 20 minutes straight... dramatic pause.
I'll give it my best I guess right?!
Some of you who actually read this may notice that I am writing on a Friday, not Thursday. I was supposed to run yesterday but instead went to a coworkers going away party (bye Cory :( ) at Renaissance Wines. I had a great time and tried some new wines and ate some great cubed salami. I got to see Lance whom I had not seen in a while, so that was good too. However, this was the first time I did not run on a Thursday in 5 weeks!
Not only was this the first non traditional run, but it was the longest I've run in one stretch... 8 minutes! Isn't that a rodeo thing?! Well I did it :). The first 8 minutes wasn't too bad. The 5 minute walk in between was rough on the calves (why is that?!). The second 8 minutes was horrible. Ugh. Three minutes in and I was starting to sway around on the treadmill. However I powered through and finished! Man alive that was rough. I didn't run less than 11:30/mile pace... I'm trying to run at the pace they want me to. I need to be running a 10 minute mile at this point and I'm clearly not even close. Again ugh.
Sunday I will be running 20 minutes straight... dramatic pause.
I'll give it my best I guess right?!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Day Thirteen
2.19 miles in 31 minutes
If anyone is keeping track, the mileage did go down. I do see that the minutes went down, but it's a lot of jogging for it to go down. And jogging at an increased pace. So it's a little discouraging. I know it'll go up and down, but just hard.
I came home and changed. I was looking for socks and the old adage that Mom is always right came true. I bought these Adidas socks with her that each pair were a different color of the rainbow. No, not the actual sock, but the logo and stripe. It was buy a pack and get one free so I thought I was doing pretty good. First thing my Mom said?! "Now you have to always make sure your socks match each other." Oh crap. So today I wore a light green adidas logo and a dark green adidas logo. I don't think anyone will notice ;).
I ran on the only treadmill I have not run on yet. I was alone for the majority of time which was good cause pretty sure I was gasping for air towards the end. My running buddy didn't show... she must not realize we run every Tuesday together ;). As much as I dreaded the girls in the gym because of the assumption they would judge... I think an athletically fit male watching a game show in which these lingerie models are bouncing around and the said athletically fit male is drooling and grinning like an idiot... is worse. Ugh. Here I am gross, red, sweaty and gasping for air with my wide ankles out there having to watch this blatant display of what a female is supposed to look like. Great. So yeah, I walked away with a sour taste. But you know what?! I ran three 5 minute stretches and this weekend I'll run 20 minutes straight. So take that perfect females.
If anyone is keeping track, the mileage did go down. I do see that the minutes went down, but it's a lot of jogging for it to go down. And jogging at an increased pace. So it's a little discouraging. I know it'll go up and down, but just hard.
I came home and changed. I was looking for socks and the old adage that Mom is always right came true. I bought these Adidas socks with her that each pair were a different color of the rainbow. No, not the actual sock, but the logo and stripe. It was buy a pack and get one free so I thought I was doing pretty good. First thing my Mom said?! "Now you have to always make sure your socks match each other." Oh crap. So today I wore a light green adidas logo and a dark green adidas logo. I don't think anyone will notice ;).
I ran on the only treadmill I have not run on yet. I was alone for the majority of time which was good cause pretty sure I was gasping for air towards the end. My running buddy didn't show... she must not realize we run every Tuesday together ;). As much as I dreaded the girls in the gym because of the assumption they would judge... I think an athletically fit male watching a game show in which these lingerie models are bouncing around and the said athletically fit male is drooling and grinning like an idiot... is worse. Ugh. Here I am gross, red, sweaty and gasping for air with my wide ankles out there having to watch this blatant display of what a female is supposed to look like. Great. So yeah, I walked away with a sour taste. But you know what?! I ran three 5 minute stretches and this weekend I'll run 20 minutes straight. So take that perfect females.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
