Pictures!

Select pictures from the 10K. Thanks to my friend Toni for taking them!

So, uh, now what?

So the 10K is done. Now what?

I was a little worried about soreness because of how fast I ran and the amount of hills, but today I was just fine. I actually am kind of chomping at the bit to get back out there! Yet another sign of true addiction!

10K race vs 5K race:
I really enjoyed the 10K. At first while Amber and I were waiting, I'll admit, I was intimidated. The true runners were gathering -- you know the beautiful ones who can run in tiny shorts and sports bras. The men with long lean graceful gazelle like legs..... In other words, the people who look nothing like me! I began to worry. 5K is a great distance and now it feels like a familiar "easy" distance but it was nice not to have to dodge the stroller runners and kids!

What is my plan for the future?
The weather will be changing and not surprisingly the amount of 10K's and longer distance runs diminish because honestly who wants to plan to spend over an hour running in the cold? And for event planners the weather becomes dicier .. But there are lots of 5K's and runs around 5 miles for me to do so I plan on staying active for sure! I'm hoping to keep working on speed and set a goal of a 32 minute 5K time.

Upcoming potential races:

1. End of October: Monster Dash 5K
2. Nov 13th: 5 mile run 
3. Thanksgiving: some kind of 5K or walk
4. New Years: Polar Dash (5K or 10K!!!)
5. Valentines Day 5K
6. Get Lucky 7K in March

Reviews of the training program I followed:

It was a pretty intense program involving 6 days of training a week. I was very gung-ho in the beginning and the discipline was good to get me going, but then inevitably life got in the way and I began to slack. But I was also burning out so I stepped back and began to run when I felt like it. Funny thing happened, I began to really enjoy it again! I still focused on going for 1 long run a week and getting out there 2-3 times a week total.

I did like that it focused on things like cross training and strength training.... Even if I totally half-ass'd the strength training.  tee hee.

Plan for the week: short to medium length runs coupled with some sprints.

It feels great that I accomplished my goal and I'm spurred onward and excited to keep running!

the 10k!!!!!

I have achieved my goal!

This unseasonably warm morning of October 9th, I ran my first 10k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was about 20 degrees warmer than I would have preferred but the sun was shining and Elm Creek Park reserve's display of fall foliage made for a gorgeous, albeit extremely hilly, run. Amber and I started out together, but around mile 2 a long slow incline separated us and we spent the remainder of the run on our own sojourn, fighting the hardest enemy of all: ourselves. 

When I said the course was hilly, I do not lie. It felt like the whole thing was a series of varying sizes of hills with very few downhill relief points. It was TOUGH!  Luckily for me, I live in a very hilly suburb so the majority of my runs involve hills. I also tend to run faster uphill because I just want to get it over with quickly and then "rest" on the downhills and straightaways. It was enough hills that by the last couple series of hills I was swearing to myself and wishing I could just stop, but knowing that I would feel worse if I did. So I kept pushing onward.

From Mile 2 to around mile 4 I ran with a fellow 1st 10k-er and it was going well. She had one of those sophisticated watches that told you distance and pace. I lost her at mile 4 though when she decided to walk through the water stop and I kept going. From there on I was back to being completely by myself. I think Mile 2 to 4 were actually the hardest because they felt like they were dragging to me. At Mile 5, a volunteer was giving each passing runner an update on time. I crossed mile 5 at 56 min 40 seconds! Wow! That really gave me an idea that I was going to make my goal of 72-75 minutes, little did I  know I was actually going to come in UNDER my goal. I hit the 6 mile marker and began my descent to the finish line and even managed to sprint across the finish line. And promptly wanted to throw up. That last push and all those hills really took a lot out of me.

Time I saw when I crossed: 70 min 30 sec!!!!

Later today I found out my actual time: 69 min, 58 seconds!!!! So I completely blew my goal out of the water and came in under 70 minutes!

Amber followed in a couple minutes behind at 72 min, 40 sec. 

I celebrated tonight with a few things

1) Totally took about a 1/2 hour nap this afternoon

2) No food tracking

3) because of no tracking, I essentially let myself have whatever I wanted because gosh darn it, I deserved it as a reward for achieving my goal

Oh yeah, Icing on the cake, I weighed in at 137.6! Down 11 pounds since July.

I feel amazing, proud, grateful and fired up for my next goal and to keep running. 

Who's ready for 10K???

I am! I am! 

OMG! 

My 2.5 month journey is coming to an end. The day is quickly approaching and is less than a week away!!  To be honest, I didn't really think I'd actually follow through with this. I figured I'd hit a wall at 4 miles and never make it that extra push to 6.2. 

I also didn't have any idea the intangible changes as well as the physical changes that would occur.

Physical Changes:

Weight lost: 10.0 pounds since July

Measurements:

    Just under bust: 30"   ------  -3.5"

    Waist: 32"  -----   -2.5"

    Hips: 38.5" ----- -2.0"

    Thighs: 23.5" (R), 23" (left) ---- -1.0"

Average pace: July: 13 minute mile

                     October: 10-12 minute miles

Intangibles:

 I just plain feel better about myself and carry myself with more confidence. Setting a goal and seeing those physical changes. Seeing my pace quicken. I can barely enunciate how I feel. 

I feel transformed, energized and once again grateful. 

    

The road to success is paved in pounds lost

Since starting this running thing in July, I have lost *drum roll please* approximately 5 lbs! It doesn't seem like much but it's a step in the right direction for sure. Since June, it's about 7 lbs.

I'll admit, about 2.5 weeks ago, I started losing steam. It got humid and I felt like I was over-training. I felt yucky more than I felt great. I'm hoping it was just a rut. I essentially took last week off except for a couple bike rides (3-6 miles) and 1 run last Thursday morning of about 2 miles. Tonight I got back on the proverbial horse and dragged myself out there. I'm so glad I did! I managed to get about 3.5 miles done which I've since bragged about on all my social networking stuff because that's what I do. :) I did it in 40.5 minutes. That's how long it took me to do the Children's Cancer 5K in June. So I managed to run almost a 1/2 mile more in the same amount of time.

I can feel that my legs are getting stronger. I can have the bike on a higher gear (4 or 5) for most of my ride! I'm going to be doing a 8.5 mile bike ride on Saturday night in Minneapolis which excites me.

People are noticing, too! A few weeks ago it came up when I was around my women's group.  My cousin (one of the few I hear from) told my mom that she felt I looked like I was losing a bunch of weight in my picture. She then asked if I'm starving myself, which I'm most definitely not! I hate that people often think that the only way a person loses weight is through starvation. They never credit it to working hard to exercise and eat right. Even if that person has been posting updates about all the exercise he/she partakes in, Nope, must still be starvation. *rolls eyes*

Oh well. I know I'm doing things right. I'm losing at a proper pace and building strength at the same time. The biggest challenge will be as fall arrives and turns to winter. Getting downstairs and on the treadmill will be a definite hurdle as I've never been all that keen on treadmills for running. But if I want to keep losing weight, I'm going to have to do something or it'll all just pile right back on....

long run.. kind of.

It was a long run for sure. Not the 4.5 miles it could have been, but I still managed to eek out 4.1! Leave it to me to be slightly disappointed by ONLY doing 4.1 miles.... As usual, I set out with no real plan of going that far. Lately it feels like when I run I'm not finding my rhythm as easily as I used to. But at the same time, I'm able to go further and push through. My sheer stubborn-ness keeps me running. Those excuses I used to find to not run have evaporated. The weather is less of a deterrent. Granted, it was still really warm @ 7pm but at least there was a breeze and the humidity had broken slightly since yesterday. About the only excuse that still gets me is when I'm just plain too tired.

Stats: 4.1 miles. 49 minutes.

While running I was guessing at an approximate distance and per a training article I read, focusing on the minutes, not the miles I was logging. I was sure when I was done I maybe had managed 3.5..... logged it in sparkpeople only to find out it was 4.1. I love when it works out to be more than I thought, rather than less like it has been a couple times in the past!

How's the running?

Running is going ok. I went for 2.4 miles this morning with a friend visiting from Rochester. She's definitely faster/better runner than me so I felt a little like I was holding her back, but we still had a good time. She really liked the trail I took her on.

Lack of cross training is still definitely hurting me so to encourage/motivate myself, I purchased a bike helmet (my first one since high school) and some padded bike shorts to help mitigate the pain from the bike seat on my seat. I figure if I'm going to do an 8.5 mile bike ride in 20 days, I better be ready and at least make some attempts to get out there and ride.....

Almost 8 miles logged in 2 days!

Whoa. Never thought I'd be able to say that. Also never thought I'd be the person people look up to in regards to running/fitness level. So weird.

I went running with friends at 6am for 3.2 miles and I kicked that 3.2 mile's butt! except for one last hill, that one kinda kicked me, but otherwise I rocked it!

And from out of left field.....

I went running today in an attempt to return to my training schedule. The feelings of apathy as previously mentioned had been finding their way into my training and I just could muster up enough ambition to do any more than a run 3x a week. I even managed to completely skip out on a long run day!  Not gonna cut the mustard because these runs have been really hard. I can definitely tell a difference between the weeks I was doing the program stuff and the weeks I haven't.

But today was different. I decided to hit Staring Lake Trail. I usually avoid this one for a few reasons:

1. It's long. 2.3 miles long. 
2. It's very solitary and despite EP being a fabulously safe and wonderful suburb, stuff happens. I always try to stick to neighborhood roads when running alone and almost never take the exact same path. One can never be too careful
3. This is the trail, that even after completing a 5K, I had never been able to make it all the way around. There's many small hills and it had built up to be so much more a mountain that ever in my mind. 

So with all that in mind, I set my sights on completing the trail loop once. It was definitely hard but I pulled through. The benefit of this trail is that is was pretty shady which proved to be very handy on a sunny warm day like today. I managed to finish it and by sheer obstinacy, kept going. I turned my focus from distance to time. Reminding myself: You've run 30 minutes already, you can do 20 more. And then I saw my car again. 4.6 miles done! You read that right. The furthest distance I've ever ran. I even managed to do it in 56 minutes, 39 seconds! Under 60 minutes! Whoa!

 

In good news land, I may have managed to lose 3 lbs. Doesn't seem like much. But a cliche involving the length of the Rome project (that whole not being built in a day thing) come to mind. Its easy to understand why this is a hard process. Its so easy to get discouraged by lack of progress and I think I have been feeling it because despite the compliments received on a shrinking physique, not seeing the results in the form of lbs bugs me. But now about 3 lbs is in fact gone. AND I think my butt might be getting a little perkier... I could be wrong though....

Training? What happened?

I was in training. Then one week I missed one workout, the next, 3. Then the worst thing happened, I missed my long run. *sigh.

Stupid apathy creeping in. So I've decided that instead of moving to the next week, I will be repeating last weeks exercises and then moving on. I will not let myself be deterred from this goal. I will run that 10K!

The funny part is that the motivation started slacking when people started saying they noticed a change in my shape. Most people this motivates them. Apparently, it de-motivates. me. huh? I love hearing it though so by no means do I want people to not pay attention...I just want things to go faster so I don't lose motivation! As does everyone else on a weight loss mission.

So what am I doing to remedy? That's the important part. Sitting here whining about the lack of motivation will do no good. Action Plans to be made!

Diet: Start tracking even though I'm not quite fully initiated into the system
Fitness: Get back out there cross training. This may involve buying padded bicycle shorts....

So tired!

I got up this morning at 6 and went running with friends. WHOO HOO! We did about 3 miles and ran more this time than last week. I was hoping to ride that energy high and get a lot done today. But then I got home. The amount of tired I was became apparent as I sat down on the couch and woke up 3.5 hours later. DOH! Then I quickly got ready and went to a networking group at a local church and am finally home. Have I accomplished anything since then: nope. I'd really just like to take a nap.

The good news is the 3 miles I did today. I hope to do a shorter run with them tomorrow morning too.

It's weird how it's just 1 mile more, but the ability to run 4 miles seems to put you into a whole different level of runner. I even have began to think of myself as a runner, which is kind of a weird concept. My youth was spent being so sedentary, that to be able to just get out there and go for miles feels amazing. There used to be only a few days a year I felt were "running weather"-- not too hot, but sunny, breezy, low humidity. They also had to be coupled with me having the time and energy to get out there. Often I'd have the energy, but it would be the middle of the night or I'd be at work. Then of course I'd start running, realize how hard it was and give up. I've gotten a lot better at making myself get out there even during hot days (although there are still days I deem "too hot" for it), cloudy blah days. I quit letting excuses get in the way all of the time and that feels great. Now to take that no excuses attitude to other areas in my life.....

If at first you don't succeed....

I will have to admit, after yesterday, the doubts crept in. I really doubted that I could do this. For some people 1 mile is a daunting amount. That mental wall you can't get past and always end up bailing. I had begun to worry that 3.5 miles was my personal wall.

I can be a bit dramatic. Notice, it took one day of not meeting my goal after a whole week of missing workouts and eating less than stellar for this doubt to creep in. But today is a new day. I awoke with the sheer will to try again. Then I started running and felt awful! The doubts told me to bail at the end of my road (less than 1/10th a mile) and try another day. The logic in my head commanded me to keep going because if I didn't try, then I'd push it off til tomorrow, then the next day and the mental wall of 3.5 miles would only grow taller. Over the course of the run the voices saying stop kept screaming, but the voices saying keep going began to grow louder.

A 4 mile course had been mapped out, but the aforementioned doubts made me bail on that path and create a new one. Somehow, by sheer stubbornness, I managed to plow through it! I stopped at 50 min, 31 sec hoping that I had managed to make 4.0 miles. Well I got close: 3.95 miles to be exact! So take that 3.5 mile wall. Next wall: actually hitting 4.0 miles and moving on to 4.5 miles!

I've spent all this time building up 4.0 miles to be this insane distance that it's a pretty big wall to climb. Then again, last year, 3.0 miles was near impossible to fathom and we all see how that turned out. So here's to getting back on the proverbial horse and sticking to those "other" workouts (strength, stretching and cross training). They really do help whether or not I feel they do whilst I'm doing them...

Running FAIL: kind of....

Proof my expectations of myself are getting a lot higher: I "only" managed to run about 3.2 miles today. I mapped out a 4.0 mile course only to abbreviate it to 3.5. It's not as bad as I thought I was doing. My guess had me only going for a total of 3.0 miles (running only 2.5 of it). I had to walk twice which is probably why it feels like failing.

Granted, it's still 3.2 miles that I never could have run before. The 2 polish sausages and 2 cupcakes I ate today isn't exactly the meal of champions. Combine that with the heat/humidity and the uphill nature of the course I picked and it made for a pretty hard run.  Oh yeah and I worked 6:30-noon, had the Twins game 12:30-4.... those are my excuses and i'm sticking to 'em.

Ok... now to fix some dinner.

A bit of a down week

I went for a 6 mile bike ride yesterday, a 2.8 mile run on Wednesday and the giant 3.5 mile run on Monday. But I didn't do anything today, Thursday or Tuesday. :(

I'll just have to think of this as my off week and do a better job next week.

In good news, my fellow women of today-ers have noticed me slimming, or as they put it "shrinking". This means something is working and I just gotta not slack off.

Those cupcakes I posted on my other blog and on facebook will probably set me back a little! :)

The furthest I've ever gone... running

3.5 miles! Whoot! I even did it in 42 minutes, 23 seconds, which of course I broadcast on FB and sparkpeople. I'm using all of these venues to hold me accountable. Between that (the pride I feel being able to post) and the big calendar where I check off the workout for the day, I'm staying motivated. Though, I was supposed to do the 3.5 yesterday, but work happened and I had no motivation whatsoever.

In other news, the scale may not reflect it -- or I don't trust mine enough -- I am slimming. I tried on a dress and you can no longer see the outline of my belly button (or the pudge surrounding the belly button) in the fabric! And I visited my pretty pretty @ Beth's today and put it on and it was actually loose! So I know my 6 days a week of working out is having some effect! Now to completely get the diet under control and see what happens!

Cross Training, done!

I went outside and mowed the lawn. That took all of 15 low impact minutes. I almost chose to wimp out of my actual cross training for the day, but I just reminded myself that it's about getting used to being active for longer periods of time, not the speed or distance I cover. So I boarded my bike and headed out.

I wound up doing 5.5 miles in about 35 minutes. As usual it was a pretty challenging 5.5 miles with plenty of hills and moments I wanted to give up, but I did not bail. And now my legs feel like jello....

Time to get ready to head to Rochester for a couples wedding shower...

Cross Training

So yesterday I was supposed to cross train. Instead, I rested, thus pushing cross training to today and strength training/2 mile run to friday. Todays adventure in cross training: yoga.

I have a love-hate relationship with yoga. I really want to love it and sometimes do. A time I loved it: when I lived in Rochester and would do the 5am yoga program Inhale on the Oxygen channel. I was good enough I could actually do the whole hour with only minor trouble by the end of about a month of doing it. But then I moved and no longer got the Oxygen channel. Since then, I've tried in vain to find yoga I enjoy. "Inhale" used motown and other not new age-y music. The host had some bad habits: like encouraging people to bounce sometimes during warrior pose to the music, but if you know better then you just ignored that advice. But overall I really liked that program. I miss it. :(

Today I attempted a podcast yoga program I found quite awhile ago and never really did: Yogamazing with Chaz. Each podcast has a different focus like "Yoga for weight loss" (the one I did today) and "Yoga for *insert sport here*. The program was about 20 minutes after Chaz did his greetings. It was a pretty fast paced program focused more on quick frequent repetition of the poses than "getting into a zone" or relaxation. Hopefully I didn't overdo it and create any problems. I tend to do that and then wind up with upper back spasms from simple "gentle non-sweat inducing workplace yoga"....

Now it's off to find a wedding shower gift for this weekend and maybe a quick 15 minute bike ride when I get home to round out my cross training. Ideally, I'll do 1 cross training day of yoga type moves and 1 day of biking or workout videos....

Burned and feeling like jello

We went to the Twins game today! It was pretty awesome, as usual. :) This time it was perfect weather! I even attempted to be sun responsible and put on sunscreen. Apparently I missed 3 places: the backside of my left shoulder and the tops of my knees. So I have 3 areas of sun burn. The ones on the knees hurt the most but they're small so I can suffer through.

Then after getting home, I took care of my 30 minute cross training session today and went for a bike ride. I've never really cared much for bike riding. I'm slow on hills, in fact I had to bail on one midway today. I don't feel like I get that good of workout but I know I definitely got a workout today! Every direction you go from my house is somehow down a hill which means the only way to get to my house is up hills. I circled the neighborhoods a few times doing hill after hill after hill. It's great for running, murder when you're doing something you don't enjoy all that much.... like riding a bike. But from what I've read biking is an excellent way to cross train for running so i'll give it a whirl.

Now off to make dinner or say forget it and try to eat responsibly at Sea Salt Eatery in Minnehaha Falls park with my book club peeps...

Day 2: Strength and Stretching

Most people would look forward to this day, look at it as an easy day. I would, except I strongly dislike strength training and stretching. I hate stretching because it hurts and I'm super inflexible. I hate strength training because it always seems to end up being an "add on", something I try to squeeze into the end of my intense workout. I'm really hoping this program will force me to work on this element because weak, un-stretched muscles will only do more damage while training for this distance.

Diet day 2 is going better than yesterday! Why? I worked 6:30-3, didn't really have breakfast and didn't really do much extraneous nibbling at work. Diet will always be a work in progress....