Back to Running

Hi all! I’m getting bad about not blogging regularly. My goal back in January was to blog at least once a week. I was doing pretty well until my ankle issue forced me to run less, so I didn’t have much running to talk about. Although I read blogs where people update daily, some even twice a day! Well my life’s not that exciting but I’m going to try to blog at least once a week.

Since my last post, I did manage to get in a few easy 3 mile runs and my ankle didn’t bother me much at all! YAY! I think it’s almost completely healed. I say almost because I did notice it was tight after my run. I just have to be better about stretching after runs. I’m sure you all are feeling it too but this heat and humidity has been brutal when running in the evenings. Not to mention how slow my pace is now (not that I was ever fast). I know the set back over the past two months has also contributed to a slower pace. But I did feel better after reading a blog post about how the heat affects your pace. At least I know I’m not the only one feeling this pain!

The WRS kickoff event last Monday night was a great success! Lots of newbie runners signed up. I’m excited about meeting my group next week at the first scheduled run! I’m also very happy with the coach I was assigned with, Heather. I met her at the coach’s meeting a few weeks ago and I think we are going to make a great team! Wonder what color visors are team will be? I hope it’s a good one!
I also met with Jen last week for the Streakers half marathon training group. She was very thorough in discussing my current running / workout routine and my goals. Since the Hershey Half is October 21, my training plan starts this week. The group actually doesn’t start until August 9 and lasts for 16 weeks. But no prob for Jen, she is nice and customized my plan. I will say I got pretty nervous when I saw 7 miles, 9 miles, 10 miles…11 miles…within the next 8 weeks?!? I have only run 7 miles ONCE back in March training for the 10k. Those numbers just still don’t seem possible yet.

For the first 8 weeks I’m doing 3 runs a week but I know Jen said we would increase that to 4 runs later. This week I’m scheduled to do two 3 easy mile runs and one 4 mile run. I also have my body pump and pilates classes and spin twice a week for cross training. Also on 3 mile run days, I do 30 situps and pushups. It looks like later on in the schedule we incorporate core exercises. Friday is a complete rest day!

Sounds like a lot of exercising but I’m glad to have a structured training plan again! Unfortunately, I’m already behind one day due to a stressful event which completely derailed the rest of the day. I’m just so glad and thankful my family is safe and sound.

Well everyone have a great running week!

One Year Ago

Happy One Year Blog Anniversary!! One year ago today, I posted my first ever blog post. It was just a way for me to journal this running journey and I really didn’t think anyone, besides the three people I told, would read it. But thanks to the blogging network, I have actually acquired a few more readers and I really appreciate everyone that takes the time to read my little blog. As for my lack of stellar writing skills…sorry, I have a business degree. ;)

Anyways, here are some updates from the past couple of weeks:

Running – Not much has been going on mainly because I’m still getting over my ankle issue and who wants to run in 100 degree temps?!? I was lucky to be able to use my ankle issue as an excuse to avoid running in the heat wave last week. I know a lot of you runners were out there getting your runs and races in, great job to all of you. It seems like my ankle, again is better, but still not 100%. Maybe it’s never going to be 100%. I know that’s not true but it seems like this is taking FOREVER (almost 2 months)!! Some days I think it’s totally better but by the end of the day, its starts bothering me again. Perfect since I run in the evenings. I think I’m just going to have to suck it up and get back to running. I’m starting to lose motivation and that’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I don’t want to feel like I’m starting over…again. I’ve only got a few weeks before the Women’s Running School (help with coaching) and Streakers (new running group for half-marathon training) starts. My goal is to be back to running consistently and hopefully somewhat pain free by the time both running groups start.

Spin bike – I bought one off craigslist, yay! It’s not quite the quality of a commercial spin bike, but it was right in my price range. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the wheel is a "free wheel" so the wheel doesn’t stop moving once the pedals stop. This has been a problem if I try to stand up on the bike and do things we do in class like jumps, third position, or running. I didn’t realize it was like this when I went to look at it. I’ve tried to stand and lean forward and it sort of works, but the wheel just doesn’t go smoothly. But as long as I’m seated, it works fine. I’ll just miss doing the "out of the saddle" moves. I figure it will work for now and if I really want a different one later, I can always sell this bike and buy a different one.

　

Reading – I finished another running book. This one was also by John "The Penguin" Bingham called "Accidental Athlete". It’s basically his story on how he became an adult-onset athlete at the age of 43 after years of inactivity, over eating and smoking. Many of you probably know his story or have heard of him, but he has been a runner now for over 20 years and did many races from 5k to marathons, triathlons and even adventure races. It was a funny and interesting book and I did take a few things from it. One is to not take running for granted. We all have good and bad runs; which can happen on race days too. But when you cross the finish line and you didn’t meet your goal for that race, whether it was to finish in a certain time or to beat a certain person, you shouldn’t be disappointed in yourself or your run. You should be glad that you were able to run and cross the finish line. I think finding a "happy medium" of this philosophy is where I want to be. I would be lying if I said "I only run because I can" or "I just want to finish this race". I have my certain time goals every race (under 30 minutes 5k will I ever do it?) or not to finish last (been next to last). But I don’t want to feel disappointed in myself or even feel like I’ve let others down (like my speedy husband). I want running and racing to be FUN. I mean if it’s not fun, then why the hell am I doing this?!? So I will keep trying to find that middle ground of still challenging myself, while having fun and not feeling disappointed when I don’t meet certain goals. Wow. I say it all the time, running is so mental!!

Source

Weight maintenance – Of course not running much means I’m not burning as many calories (duh!). So while I have been keeping up with other forms of exercise like body pump, spinning and pilates, I have not been doing so well with eating. A little too much of eating out and extras, including liquid calories (daiquiris by the pool) and not enough exercising will eventually put on a few pounds. Being a lifetime WW member, I have to weigh in once a month within two pounds of my goal weight. I usually weigh in the first Thursday of the month but last week after July the fourth, would not have been the best weigh in. I know that their scales are always 2 – 2.5 pounds more than my scales. And I need to get back to the lower end of my goal weight. When I set that goal weight for WW, I really wanted to be about 5 pounds less than that. I was for about a week. Then I’ve kept it around 2-3 pounds less. So I need to get back on track. I need get back to eating healthier and eating out less. My personal goal as a lifetime member is to maintain without having to track. I know it’s a good idea to keep a food log even if you don’t have a weight issue, but I really just wanted to be able to do this without tracking. But I also know that when I did track (honestly) I lost weight. So my new challenge is to go back to tracking my food and get these last five pounds off. It might be tough at first since I haven’t tracked in months but I know that’s what it’s going to take.

Odds and ends – We finished the second season of "The Walking Dead" series and I cannot wait for the third season! It’s doesn’t start until October, so I’ve got a while. Although I have to admit, at some point in every show one of us will say "these people are the worst at surviving a zombie apocalypse"! Last Friday was date night and we went downtown for First Friday and dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. First Friday is when some of the shops stay open later and they have a market with local artists and crafts. I bought these natural heating packs from Holly at Warm Wishes NC. They are made with oatmeal and rice and have different scents. I got the lemon lavender scent which smells so good! All you do is heat it up in the microwave briefly and you get a nice relaxing heating pad that again smells wonderful! I actually used it this weekend for my neck and shoulders since they were bothering me. You can also freeze them and use them as a cold pack. That was a good find, but I will say the pizza at Mellow Mushroom was just okay. I’ve been there before and I’m just not wowed by their pizza. They did have 30+ draught beers, but I only had one. ;)

Sweet Holly

I got the regular and long sizes

Well, I think that’s enough updates for now. Hopefully my next post I will be able to talk about some recent runs. There is a kickoff event on Monday evening for the Women’s Running School and on Tuesday evening I meet with the coach (Jen) to discuss my goals for the Streakers group. I’m excited about the upcoming events! Have a great run everybody!!