Running Recap

I am in love...

My new GPS watch is AMAZING! I was pretty disappointed when my watch died and decided pretty quickly on a new one. These decisions normally take me weeks, if not months, so to be so happy with a decision that took me only a couple hours is pretty awesome.

I've used it for every walk and run since getting it on Friday and it is so cool.

I really like that something so small has 1. Already paid for itself and 2. Pushes me to go out even when I don't want to.

The weather has pretty much sucked all week long. I usually get to work around 7am on the mornings when I do not take Isabel to school and it's already 75 or higher. There have been multiple days this week where the weather has gone over 100 degrees.

Fall... Where are you?

I really am trying to not let the weather be a factor into whether or not I get my run in for the day. I know my limits (or at least I think I do, whether I listen is another factor completely).

Tuesday was my first run for the week and I told myself to go slower than normal because of the heat and the course. I ended up faster than any run I've recently run.

Distance: 2.14mi
Time: 25:05
Avg Pace: 11:42
Elevation Gain: 369ft
Mile 1- 11:45
Mile 2- 11:22
Mile 0.14- 1:56
Temperature: 81*, 66% humidity

I didn't feel like I was going that fast while I was running, but I could feel it when I finished. The first mile was a lot faster than I had planned and since it was mostly uphill I pushed myself the second mile in order to be faster than the first.

I ran again on Thursday. It was another hot day so I decided to wait until after dinner to let it cool down a little. Not the smartest decision I've ever made. In fact, I think running after dinner was worse than the heat. But I made it and I was definitely riding the endorphin high afterwards.

Distance: 2.63mi
Time: 32:27
Avg Pace: 12:19
Elevation Gain: 369ft
Mile 1- 12:27
Mile 2- 12:05
Mile 0.63- 7:54
Temperature: 82*, 55% humidity

Saturday's run was a scheduled 4 mile run and I was really looking forward to it. Since Patrick had to work I ran around my parents neighborhood while they watched Isabel. Their neighborhood = hills. Rachel decided to pass up running with me this weekend because of the hills and Lorien was going to go be fitted for proper shoes today since she has been having shin problems.

I stuck with my 1:1 intervals and although it was tough getting through the first two miles since it was mostly uphill I made it through and getting to the top was amazing. I felt so good that the last two miles flew by. That could also be because it was mostly downhill...

I'm thinking of increasing my intervals to 1:15:1 next week, so we'll see how that works out. I am really into watching myself improve and I am happy that I am pushing myself to go farther and faster and longer rather than just stick to what I'm comfortable doing.

Distance: 4.22mi
Time: 53.31
Avg Pace: 12:41
Elevation Gain: 366ft
Mile 1- 13:14
Mile 2- 13:09
Mile 3- 12:17
Mile 4- 11:56
Mile 0.22- 2:53
Temperature: 68*, 94% humidity

Pictures while on my run 9/7

 

 

 

September 1, 2013

*This post was supposed to be published on September 1st, however I spent the evening in the hospital with my husband and found blogging to be the last thing on my mind. So, it's a little late, but I think it still applies.

Another month has begun and that of course means a time to start over (if needed) and make goals for the month. I posted one of my September goals yesterday, but there is a lot more that I would like to accomplish this month.

Although running and fitness are my top priority right now I know that I can't just make changes in that area of my life and expect to see changes. I have spent too much of the last month working out and then erasing any progress by eating whatever I want. I'm not really in a place right now where I want to track calories or points, so I am going to be trying Intuitive Eating.

I feel like this is something manageable that, if I work at it, I can handle doing for the rest of my life. I think the reason that this type of life style will work for me is because of the amount of running I'm going to be doing. I get confused easily with the calories in/calories out and I think that if I just focus on if I'm hungry or not, what I'm eating, and stopping when I'm satisfied that I could still see a change without stressing or obsessing over calories.

We'll see how it works and if I find that it's not then I can make adjustments along the way.

I find that as I add in strength training I am finding less negativity when it comes to my body. Yes, there are still the comments I make about myself that are not kind and I am still working on that, but for the most part I have seen a change and I am really happy with the progress I've made. All from putting the scale away and working out.

This month my goal for working out is to run at least 3 days a week, go to the gym at least 2 days a week and strength train at least 3 days a week. Any day. No strict workout schedule. No strict amount of time. Just get some strength training and running in. It feels good to be flexible.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I've been waiting and waiting for the registration to open for the Mammoth Mountain Half. I finally received notice of when the race will be, which helped because now I can plan my trip. Not two weeks later I received the date registration opens. 9/9/13.

But then I started thinking about The Challenge. I found out about The Challenge for the first time last year at the LA Marathon expo. It was the first year and I was very interested in it. Unfortunately, the race in San Diego was the same month as the LA Marathon. I forgot about taking the challenge in 2013 and for 2014 and just focused on signing up for the Mammoth half in 2014.

I didn't even think about it. I just decided that I would be running the LA Marathon again in March and then running the Mammoth half for my June race. No question. I went with what I knew.

But then I started thinking about it a little more.

And I talked to Lorien and Patrick about it.

And I thought some more.

It didn't take long to decided that I will be taking The Challenge in 2014. I decided on this because it is new and it is exciting and there is an extra medal that I will receive for completing it when I cross the finish line in June in Mammoth.

I made this decision on Friday and immediately purchased the package for both races. And then I had a slight panic filled, anxiety driven few minutes where I called Patrick to calm me down. I needed him to tell me that I made the right decision.

He did what he does best and listened to me while I had my irrational breakdown and came to my own conclusions on how I felt about it.

I pretty much feel guilty because Rachel might be running the marathon in March. She hadn't decided one way or the other, but we had a training plan and if I did The Challenge then she may have to do the marathon by herself. I told her I would still train with her for the marathon, so we'll see what she decides to do.

I am starting to get out of the nervous phase and head into the excited phase. I mean, I don't just get bling bling for these two races, I'll be getting some bling bling bling!

September Challenge

Since I am no longer concerning myself with the miles for now I have decided to try to accomplish some of my challenges that I set up for myself. I would really like to start crossing some of them off of the list and think that September is the perfect time to start this up again.

I do plan on trying to reach the 1250 run/walk miles next year since I have so many races lined up and I will be training for the Dopey Challenge, so it should be the best year to attempt this goal. The bike and the elliptical mile goals are both goals that can be put off and saved for another time when I am able to put more focus on them.

I do plan on sticking to my original order and performing them monthly if possible. I am hoping to come back to this list in a year and have them all crossed off, which may mean doing more than one challenge a month:

Squats

Donkeys

Crunches

Shoulder Press

Jumping Jacks

Side Crunches

Butt Burner

Roll Ups

Jump Rope

Tricep Dips

Sit Ups

Push Ups

I am really enjoying the workout routine that I created last week. So far doing it three days a week seems to be effective and maybe once my body gets used to it I can bump it up to 4-5 days a week. I am definitely still feeling sore from it and I love that feeling.

In order to not get too bored with a routine (which I know is possible after doing 30 Day Shred and doing the same workout every day for 10 days before switching it up) I plan on switching up my workouts weekly, keeping about four routines so I will go through each one once a month.

I found the following on pinterest and I think it might be incorporated as one of the more intense weeks of each month (meaning a low distance running week) since I will be strength training every weekday.

Running Log

I know a lot of runners keep track of their scheduled runs. They track the date, time, distance, course, thoughts, feelings, etc. I wish I could have started out being that detail oriented.

My running log is simply the date, daily miles, monthly miles and total miles. Just a bunch of numbers thrown onto a page. Completely OCD.

I started tracking on January 1, 2012. My goal was to run and/or walk 1250 miles in one year. I fell short by 356.87 miles, ending the year with 893.13. The last three months of the year were pathetic and I could have reached my goal if I had just done something those months. I found the papers from that journal a couple days ago and decided to compile all of my miles into one book.

I really think that it's important for me to be proud of the things I have accomplished. I may not have reached my goal last year, and I know I'm not going to reach my goal this year (thanks to being on bed rest for two whole months). I am currently at 501.36 miles for this year and would need another 748.64 to reach my goal, meaning I would need to walk and/or run no less than 187.16 miles every month until the end of the year.

I'm not holding my breath for that.

But, just because I didn't reach those goals does not mean that those miles were not done. I have purposefully walked and/or run a total of 1394.49 miles from January 1, 2012 until today. That's not something small. That is huge!

All of those miles have now been added up into one nice little place so that I can see it daily when I add in new miles.

I think my new goal is to eventually see myself hit the 5,000 mile mark. It should probably take me a total of 5 years if I continue to run. And of course, next year will be my year to hit 1250 miles in one year. I can feel it!

Weekly Workout

My scheduled didn't change much this week because it has been working so well. Unfortunately, I had to be a responsible parent Thursday and Friday. That, on top of being lazy, meant that my workouts at the gym got pushed back. I knew that I didn't have that many miles to do on both the bike and the elliptical, so I knew that I could push it back.

I really do not like taking two rest days in a row. It fuels the laziness and I end up making more excuses than normal to skip workouts.

Thankfully I did break that rest streak with a run on Saturday morning. It was a little difficult to get out of bed. The result of staying up later than planned and not having someone to meet for the run. That extra accountability of meeting with someone to run is such a huge motivation..

I did end up getting up and going for my run and afterwards I felt like I could keep going. Perfect motivation to get back into the routine at the gym. The endorphins helped too..

Week of 8/12/13 to 8/17/13

Monday			Tuesday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	Stationary Bike     ☺		Stationary Bike     ☺	1 hour gym
	Elliptical     ☺		Elliptical     ☺
1.37 mile	Walk at work     ☺		Walk at work     ☺	1.37 mile
2.10 mile	Walk at work     ☺		Walk at work     ☺	2.10 mile
30-45 min	Interval run     ☺
	Run/Walk                           62.83/1250 miles		Run/Walk                           66.30/1250 miles
	Bike                                     97.20/1800 miles		Bike                                    105.66/1800 miles
	Elliptical                               30.77/600 miles		Elliptical                                33.80/600 miles

Wednesday			Thursday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	Stationary Bike     ☺		Stationary Bike	1 hour gym
	Elliptical     ☺		Elliptical
1.37 mile	Walk at work     ☺		Walk at work     ☺	1.37 mile
2.10 mile	Walk at work     ☺		Walk at work	2.10 mile
30-45 min	Interval run     ☺
	Run/Walk                           71.94/1250 miles		Run/Walk                            73.31/1250 miles
	Bike                                     114.79/1800 miles		Bike                                    114.79/1800 miles
	Elliptical                               36.32/600 miles		Elliptical                               36.32/600 miles

Friday			Saturday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	If needed to make up mileage on bike		Long Training Run     ☺	5 miles 6 miles
	or elliptical		If needed to make up mileage on bike	1 hour gym
? min	Walk		or elliptical     ☺
	Run/Walk                            73.31/1250 miles		Run/Walk                           79.35/1250 miles
	Bike                                    114.79/1800 miles		Bike                                    123.15/1800 miles
	Elliptical                              36.32/600 miles		Elliptical                              38.75/600 miles

Next week is going to be a little weird and I am not going to be too strict with myself about this schedule. Isabel starts kindergarten tomorrow, so there are going to be a couple days where I have to take her to school since Patrick opens. This will push my normal work schedule from 730-430 to 830-530. I'm most likely going to want to come straight home after work, but I am going to hopefully work it into the schedule so that I can get some time each day (even if it's only a half hour).

The important thing about the schedule is being flexible and just getting in the miles each week. As long as I can get in the minimum I need for each day then I'll be happy.

As of now, this is what I have scheduled.

Week of 8/19/13 to 8/24/13

Monday			Tuesday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	Stationary Bike		Stationary Bike	1 hour gym
	Elliptical		Elliptical
? min	Walk		Walk at work	1.37 mile
30-45 min	Interval run		Walk at work	2.10 mile
			Arm Workout
	Run/Walk                              /1250 miles		Run/Walk                               /1250 miles
	Bike                                         /1800 miles		Bike                                         /1800 miles
	Elliptical                                 /600 miles		Elliptical                                /600 miles

Wednesday			Thursday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	Stationary Bike		Stationary Bike	1 hour gym
	Elliptical		Elliptical
1.37 mile	Walk at work		Walk at work	1.37 mile
2.10 mile	Walk at work		Walk at work	2.10 mile
30-45 min	Interval run		Arm Workout
	Leg Workout
	Run/Walk                               /1250 miles		Run/Walk                               /1250 miles
	Bike                                         /1800 miles		Bike                                         /1800 miles
	Elliptical                                 /600 miles		Elliptical                                 /600 miles

Friday			Saturday
Time or Distance	Workout		Workout	Time or Distance
1 hour gym	If needed to make up mileage on bike		Long Training Run	4 miles
	or elliptical
1.37 mile	Walk at work
2.10 mile	Walk at work
	Leg Workout
	Run/Walk                               /1250 miles		Run/Walk                               /1250 miles
	Bike                                         /1800 miles		Bike                                         /1800 miles
	Elliptical                                 /600 miles		Elliptical                                 /600 miles