I Am A Marathon Runner

A slow marathon runner, but I finished! And it was a PR! ;)

The first 15 miles went great. This picture was taken just after the 15 mile mark. Still smiling! I was right on pace, averaging a little over 12:00 per mile.

Then it started to rain. And it rained for the next couple hours, during which I finished the remaining 11 miles. I'm not going to lie, I was feeling pretty miserable. I would run a bit, then walk. And when I would walk, my left knee would pop with each step, so I would run. Repeat.

And then it started to lightening and thunder. I had about a mile to go when a woman walked by and said, "You better hurry, they are thinking about closing the course."

Hurry?!?

Well, I decided I wasn't going to get that near to the finish and have the course close on me! I gave that last mile everything that I had left (uphill!)

I felt so proud crossing the finish line, even though my time was 5:43:22. (Thanks to everyone who stood in the rain to cheer for me!!)

A co-worker (who is a marathon runner) hinted to me that since I am a beginner, the next marathon I run will undoubtedly be faster.

NEXT MARATHON?!?!

20 Miles Or Bust

I did it! I ran 20 miles! For the first time ever. I was determined to complete it even if I had to crawl the last mile. I was a little worried because my feet started hurting earlier in the run than I anticipated, but after a while I think I got used to it (or maybe my feet just went numb, lol). The temperature was 38 degrees when I started and 68 degrees (F) when I finished! The only major problem was that I wore new shorts (stupid! stupid! stupid!) These shorts rubbed me the wrong way for nearly all 20 miles. I was sure I would be bleeding at the end but it ended up looking not nearly as bad as it felt (I guess I was hoping for a bigger battle scar!) Nice Mothers' Day gift to myself, right? ;)

At the end of the run, "Everybody Hurts" by Avril Lavigne started playing on my mp3 player. I recently bought the Goodbye Lullaby album so I hadn't listened to it a lot yet, but all I heard as I was finishing my last mile was "Everybody hurts some days, it's okay to be afraid, everybody hurts, everybody screams, everybody feels this way, and it's okay..." and it just seem to fit. Because I hurt. And I'm terrified of running the marathon.

Today I am happy to report that I am sore, but walking upright. :)

Here's my training for the rest of the week:

Week 15
Monday: TT 2K3, workout A (upper body workout)
Tuesday: 2.22 miles, 27:00
Wednesday: pace workout, 3.83 miles, 45:00
Thursday: 3.28 miles, 40:00
Friday: stride workout, 2.41 miles, 30:00
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 20 miles, 4:19:12 (12:58/mile average)

Totals: 31.74 miles, TT 2k3 workout A

Have a great week!
(And Belated Happy Mothers' Day!)

Here We Go Again....

I'm joining another Turbulence Training Transformation Contest! (You didn't think I could stay away forever, did you?) My first day is TOMORROW!! I'm taking Before pictures early, early tomorrow morning. Even before going to the gym! I think my eyes will be open in the pictures. :)

If you are interested in joining me, please check out the rules here ==> Transformation Contest Rules

If you complete the 6th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest, and submit Before and After photos and a 300-word essay, you will receive SIX MONTHS FREE to the TT Members website (which includes the discussion forums and new workouts every month). That is a fantastic prize, and the only thing you have to do is complete the 12-week contest. EVERYONE who finishes (and submits their photos and essay) gets that! At least go check out the rules...

You have until September 18 to think about it... ;)

Here are my goals for the next 12 weeks:

Primary Goals
Eat healthfully and mindfully, with foods more in their natural state

To NOT use Fitday*

Complete every TT workout to the best of my ability

Run 15-20 miles (at minimum) per week

Complete two 5K races, with at least one of them under 30 minutes

*As I've said before, I think Fitday is a fantastic tool for someone who is a beginner, or is not likely to be obsessive/compulsive about it. It was becoming a little OCD for me.

Secondary Goals
Lose 5 pounds of fat (mostly from abs and thighs)

Reduce consumption of diet soda


The workout I chose to start the contest with is TT for Athletes. It's an older TT workout, but I liked the way it had a couple of optional interval days that I could use to instead work on my endurance running. It's mostly bodyweight exercises, with a couple of optional weighted exercises.

So my week looks like this:

Monday: TT for Athletes, Workout A

Tuesday: TT Intervals

Wednesday: TT for Athletes, Workout B*

Thursday: OFF*

Friday: TT for Athletes, Workout C

Saturday: 5-7 mile run

Sunday: OFF

*My gym is getting all new equipment and they are closed this week on Wednesday and Thursday to clean the area and install the new equipment. Since it's mostly BW exercises, I can do workout B at home. Next week I will probably add a short run on Wednesday (as the TT workout seems like it will be short), and will run 3 to 4 miles on Thursday. If the stars align right, I may run 3-4 miles this Thursday. :)

So that's it for now. Remember, if you want to check out the rules for the contest, you can do so here ==> Transformation Contest Rules

See you on the forums! :)

Racing Results!

Weeeeellllllll......Not EXACTLY the result I was looking for, but I still set a new personal best in a race. I started near the back (so I wouldn't get run over) but that may have been a mistake. I started off slower than I intended because we were kind of crunched, and it was hard to pass at first. I felt really good the entire race, and I didn't have to stop and walk at all. I ran really hard at the end and managed to cross the finish line without vomiting. Although I did gag 3 times. :) But....I didn't make it under 30 minutes.

My official time was 31:15, with a pace of 10:04. I finished 192/480 overall; 92/317 total women; and 16/52 women in my age division. Very happy with those results!!

There's another 5K next Monday on Labor Day, but I haven't decided if I will enter. I'm going to check it out though. :)

Week In Review

Today I picked up my bib and timing chip for the race tomorrow. I'm getting a little nervous because it's my first "real" chip-timed race. There will be 500 people running the 5K, and so this will also be my first race that will most likely have a large audience.

I felt really good running this week. My nutrition was pretty good, aside from the bit of sugar free, fat free ice cream I had. :)

Here's how this week's training went:

Saturday: Ran outside for 5 miles. It felt pretty good, and I was proud of my time. It was a run full of adventure, though. I almost stepped on a cicada, nearly got hit by a bee in flight, and even got honked at twice, followed by one "Hey Baby!" (And I wasn't even wearing my short shorts.) 5 miles/51:43

Sunday: 1 mile warm up, 1 mile run, 1/2 mile cool down. I warmed up more than I usually do on Sundays and this was my fastest Sunday mile yet. First week was 11:15, second was 10:12, third was 9:55, and this week was 9:25. 2.5 miles/28:57

Monday: Today I was supposed to run 5K on a treadmill at my target pace. I warmed up for 12 minutes before I started the 5K. I made it 1.5 miles, then walked for 1 minute, then ran 1.6 more miles at my target pace. So I completed the 5K in less than 29 minutes, but had to walk for a minute. Which I think is OK. :) 4.69 miles/50:00

Tuesday: 3 miles at an "easy" pace. 3.22 miles/40:00

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: OFF

Friday: I wanted to do a 1-2 mile run today, just to loosen up my legs. At least, I think that's the reason. I got this "week before race" plan somewhere online, and I think that's what they said about running a couple miles on the Friday before the race. So I did an easy 1.52 miles this morning, and it felt really good! 1.52 miles/15:38

Total Weekly Miles: 16.93 miles

I went back to compare my weekly miles, with how long I spent running them (because I'm nerdy like that) and found that:

Week 1 - 18.29 miles - 3:51:04 (average of 12:38 per mile)
Week 2 - 19.165 miles - 3:40:22 (average of 11:24 per mile)
Week 3 - 21.36 miles - 4:02:11 (average of 11:20 per mile)
Week 4 - 16.93 miles - 3:06:18 (average of 11:00 per mile)

Whoo-hoo! I can be pretty number-driven sometimes, so it's nice to see improvement by the numbers. Gee, I hope I did the math right!

Tomorrow is the big day - wish me luck! Better yet, wish for me not to vomit on the finish line! :)

Week In Review

Wow, it was a really busy week this week. Sorry about missing Recipe Wednesday. It was one of those nights where I had to choose between posting a recipe and sleep. I chose sleep. ;)

Diet has been good this week. I started using unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze in my morning oatmeal, just to try something different and it was really good. Also got the kids hooked on unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze. :) This week I am experimenting with So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage. We'll see how that goes!

Training this week went really well. I know my times aren't real fast, but I feel like I am making really meaningful improvements.

Saturday: This was the day I got stuck in the rain while trying to run the course for the upcoming race. My average mile was 10:50, but I had a 15 minute break in the middle while waiting for the rain to pass. Total 5.13 miles/55:40

Sunday: 1/2 mile warm up, then 1 mile, then a quick cool down. 1.625 miles/18:53

Monday: 1/2 mile warm up, followed by 1.5 miles at an attempted race pace. I'm having trouble finding "race pace" while not on a treadmill, but this run felt pretty good. I did those two miles in 19:32 (average 9:46 per mile), then slowly jogged just under a half mile for a cool down. 2.43 miles/24:35/TT 2K6 Workout A (after running)

Tuesday: 1 mile warm up, 3x800 at race pace (4:30) with a 2 minute walk in between, then cool down. I wanted to do 4x800, but ran out of time. 3.27 miles/40:00

Wednesday: Finally got back to the course for the upcoming race and ran it after work, plus an extra mile. The course has a big hill in the beginning, and then right before the finish line, there are stairs (up, then down). YIKES. My legs are not going to like those stairs at the end. I was really pushing to finish in less than 45 minutes, but I did it! (average 10:41 per mile) 4.2 miles/44:54/TT 2K6 Workout B (in the morning)

Thursday: OFF

Friday: Did the same speed drill as last week. Walked for 3 minutes, jogged for 8 minutes, then ran for 10 seconds, ran faster for 10 seconds, ran faster yet for 5 seconds, then walked for 1 minute and then repeated that 3 more times. After that, I ran for 10 seconds, ran faster for 10 seconds, ran faster yet for 10 seconds, then walked for 1 minute and then repeated that 2 more times (total of 7 intervals). Cool down was jogging 8 minutes and then walking for 5 minutes. 2.52 miles/34:00/TT 2K6 Workout A (later in the day)

Total Weekly Miles: 19.175 miles

Today I ran for 6 whole miles! Whoo-hoo! Two weeks ago I ran 5.8 miles with a time of 1:19:49 (average 13:46 per mile) so I made my goal today to run 6 miles in less than 1:15:00. I got started a little later than I intended so the sun was higher than I had hoped, but the run felt good. I realized it takes me a good 15 to 20 minutes to hit my stride. (Note to self: warm up 15-20 minutes on race day.) At 3 miles my time was around 34 minutes, so I was feeling good about coming in under my goal time. My final time was 1:08:38! I was so excited about that time! I was especially excited that my 6th mile had a time of 11:08. My average mile time for all 6 miles was 11:24. Much better than my average from 2 weeks ago.

Off now to do a million things! LOL OK, maybe it just seems like a million things, but this weekend is jam-packed!

Finally, a big Happy Anniversary to my parents who are celebrating their 40 Year Anniversary this weekend!!!

Week In Review - Honk If You Love Pluto!

What a great week! Training went well, diet went well - just felt great! Ever since I have been back from vacation, my diet really has been falling into place. I haven't been counting calories at all, and I'm even down a few pounds!

Before vacation, I had started feeling a little out of control. I was eating a few things I shouldn't have been eating in great quantities (i.e., graham crackers, ice cream). I don't know if my new balance has to do with eating more fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, getting more sleep, running more, or if it's something hormonal dealing with leptin, serotonin, cortisol, or whatever. Probably a combination of all of the above, but everything has been great since vacation - so when in doubt, take a vacation! :)

Running went well this week. My legs didn't feel overly sore, and it didn't feel like it was too much. I did modify my plan slightly, so here's what I did (distance and times include warm up and cool down):

Saturday - 5.8 miles/1:19:49

Sunday - 1 mile/11:15

Monday - 4.18 miles/48:00/TT 2K6 B (later)

Tuesday - 4x400 (2:15 each)/3.17 miles/40:00

Wednesday - TT 2K6 A/1 mile (9:00)/2.14 miles total/25:00

Thursday - OFF

Friday - speed drill (see below)/2.00 miles/27:00/TT 2K6 B

Total miles for the week: 18.29 miles

The speed drill is something I found online and decided to try. I walked for 3 minutes, jogged for 8 minutes, then ran for 10 seconds, ran faster for 10 seconds, ran faster yet for 5 seconds, then walked for 1 to 2 minutes and then repeated that 2 more times. Cool down was the reverse of the warm up - jogging 8 minutes and walking for 3 minutes. I had enough time afterward to complete my Turbulence Training workout so I didn't have to do it later in the day. Next week, I will do more repeats so probably won't have time for the TT workout before I have to leave the gym, so I will do it later in the day.

This morning's workout was a 5 mile run. I parked in a ramp near the farmer's market and then ran 1 mile to where the 5K race will be in a couple weeks. I wanted to test out the course. :) There was just one little problem - it started pouring rain (complete with lightening and thunder) about half way through. I stopped in a bus shelter and waited for about 15 minutes, then finally decided to head back. It was still raining (not quite pouring) and by the time I got back to the car, I was soaked. Still, the run felt good, and I feel like my running form is improving. It ended up being 5.13 miles, and it took me 55:40, not including the time I spent in the bus shelter. A much faster average than last week's 5.8 mile run. I'll give this another try next week.

Then I did my shopping at the farmer's market. Luckily, I brought some dry clothes! As I was leaving the parking ramp, I saw my new favorite bumper sticker: "Honk if Pluto's still a Planet."

Honk! Honk! :)

"You Might Think I'm Crazy..."

My penchant for 80's music aside, I officially signed up for another 5K race. A big thank you to everyone who gave me a pep talk and/or advice after my last race! :)

I have about 4 weeks to train for this next one, so this time I am mapping out a real training plan. I'm currently using Turbulence Training 2K6, which appears to be a good workout choice. It's 2 alternating workouts - one upper body, one lower body - 3 times per week. The lower body workout has 3 exercises that are lower body-specific, and 3 exercises that are more ab-specific (and 1 other exercise that's more arms), so it shouldn't be too tiring for my legs since I will be running more. So after consulting a few websites and a few friends who run, here's the plan:

Mondays: 4 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Tuesdays: 1 mile warm up and cool down, 4 pace intervals (length will vary week to week)
Wednesdays: 3 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Thursdays: Off
Fridays: 3 or 4 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Saturdays: 5 or 6 mile run
Sundays: 1 mile run, increasing speed each week

The week before the race is a little bit different than this, but I'll tell you about it when I get there. :) Since I'm such a beginner, I didn't want to make the training too complicated. I wanted to put a lot of focus on gaining endurance. Any opinions?

So yesterday was my first 6 mile run. I re-used the course from the 5K race I ran last weekend and mapped out a course that ended up being about 5.8 miles. I ran at a pace that was "easy" for me. (Run along to Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and that was my pace.) It probably looked like I was running in slow motion. :) It took me 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 49 seconds. But I was able to run the whole way, except for the few seconds I stopped about every mile to check my heart rate. (My heart rate monitor watch is kind of diva and won't take my heart rate while I'm actually running.) My first few miles were at about a 13:15 mile pace, the middle miles took a little longer. But my last mile was at about 12 minutes, so I was proud that I was able to speed up at the end. (And I was still able to sing along with The Outfield's "Your Love".)

Today my quads and hips are sore, but not near as sore as I was expecting. I ran "down to the tracks" and back, which is about a mile. It took me about 11 minutes so next week I will aim to be a little bit faster.

Well, that's all the news I have today! Although I will hint that I found a recipe for doughnuts that I've being playing around with so perhaps look for a doughnut recipe soon for Recipe Wednesday! :)

Oh, and here's the link for Craig Ballantyne's Weekly Fat Loss Call ==> Fat Loss Program Call I keep forgetting to post the link on Sundays when they come out. This week he talks about dreaming big, foam rolling, and the first 5 day per week Turbulence Training Program (TT Reconstruction Program).

Have a great week everyone!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Maybe I should hang up my running shoes.

My race was yesterday, and I did really awful. It started bad and went downhill from there. I felt really good, didn't even feel that nervous, until the race actually started. Almost right away, I started to have this weird feeling that I can only explain as an anxiety attack. I wasn't even a quarter of a mile into the race and I couldn't catch my breath. I'm not that out of shape. I just kept running, even though I was actually wheezing by this point, because walking that close to the beginning would just have been ultimate failure. But by the time I got to about 3/4 of a mile, I started to feel better.

At the first mile marker, the guy called out "8:45", which is certainly the fastest mile I've ever run. The second mile went without incident, although I did walk in a couple places for 15-30 seconds. At the second mile marker, my time was "19:39" so I knew I had only about 10 minutes if I wanted to make my goal of finishing in under 30 minutes. I wasn't so sure I could do it.

The third mile was rough. I walked in a few places, but tried to keep them short. I knew I was in trouble when the guy pushing his kid in jogging stroller passed me. Then, when the time was at about 28:30, and the end was nearly in sight, I said to myself, "OK, let's just run as fast as you can until the finish." Not sprinting, mind you, just as fast as I could muster at that point.

This worked pretty well until I got to about 1/2 a block from the finish line. I could see the finish line. And I'm jogging along, and I started to gag. And I'm thinking, "I am NOT going to throw up, I am NOT going to throw up!" (Hey, hey Fred, another post to use the old vomiting tag.) And then...I threw up. Or rather, I would have thrown up, if anything had been in my stomach. Instead, I had to stop and dry heave just before the finish line. How embarrassing. I had to walk/jog the last 20 feet or so.

Official time: 31 minutes, 18 seconds.

The gal who won my age class came in 10 minutes before me.
I got the same time as the guy who got second place...in the 63+ age class.
I finished 141st overall, out of about 182 runners.

A big thanks to my friend Coreen who told me "If you finished, then it doesn't really matter...;)"

Although puking at the finish line doesn't really make me feel like a winner.

I won't even mention the fact that my husband didn't even come out to watch the race, despite the fact that we live 4 blocks from the start/finish line. Oops, I mentioned it. Not that it bothered me, nope, not one bit.

Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do. I'm going to start a new TT workout this week, but not sure which one just yet. I'm ready to get back to lifting weights, and looking for a workout that is pretty straightforward. I might go back to the Original TT workouts and use 2K3, or 2K4, or maybe even 2K6. I think I've done up through 2K5, so 2K6 would be something new. But I digress.

If I want to improve my 5K time, I think I need to practice running 5K (duh, right). But I also want to run the intervals in the TT program so I will have to integrate the two types of training. Maybe for now, I will just commit to running 5K once or twice a month. I think I'm done running in races for now, and then next spring/summer, I will look forward to finishing another race with a much better time!

I Ran (and Finished) a 5K!

I am proud to say that I completed a 5K run yesterday! Something I never even dreamed I would be able to do. I set a goal of 40 minutes based on how fast I ran 1 mile and 2 miles at the gym in the past couple weeks. Here's a picture of the start line. Could you find me without the big arrow? My husband's photography skills at work. It took me 5 minutes to find myself in the picture. (I'm behind the gal in teal- all you can see is my hair.) I was like "I KNOW I was there!!" LOL


I started out pretty well, staying with the group. As we started to spread out, I stayed pretty much in the middle. I was excited that I wasn't last! We had to run by a marsh, so I deftly avoided the goose poop and was feeling pretty good through most of the run. I only walked a couple times for just few seconds each time, mostly because my heartrate monitor/watch has trouble finding my heartrate while I'm running. I started feeling a little sick just at the very end. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and I was getting very hot, but I managed to make it without puking. :)

My final time was 40:59. I was very proud of that as I collapsed after crossing the finish line. I laid on the ground for a bit before having a little bit of water and a small cookie. Couldn't stomach the turkey sandwich and definitely wasn't going to touch the chips! I wanted to eat a little something, though, since we had to leave right away and take my daughter to her swimming class. I think I earned that cookie! ;)

Yoda and the Squat Rack

Today I had planned to sleep in (all the way to 7:00 am!) but was woken up at about 6:00 by my cat jumping on me. Since I usually get up at 5:00, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I just got up.

By 6:15 I was leaving for the gym to do a hodgepodge of workouts from a recent issue of Oxygen magazine. I've been trying to work on my shoulders a little more.

Superset #1
DB shoulder press (20lbs) 3x8
BB upright row (45lbs) 3x12

Superset #2
Lateral raise (10lbs) 3x10
Rear delt raise (10lbs) 3x10

Giant set #3 (Ab circuit)
Lifting side plank 3x15 ea side
V-sit 3x10
Single leg lift 3x15 ea leg
Toe touch (holding 10lb DB) 3x15

When I was done, I remembered that I had wanted to work on squats. I had planned to start at 75 lbs and do 3 sets, ending at 105 lbs. For whatever reason, I decided to start at 100lbs. I did 6 reps, and then decided to go for 110 lbs (6 reps), then 125 lbs (6 reps). After that, I normally would have stopped, but I suddenly had the urge to see if I could squat more than my bodyweight. I thought about it a minute, and that famous Yoda quote popped into to my head: Do or Do Not, There is No Try. So I went for it --- and had no trouble with 6 reps at 135 lbs. So I loaded up 140 lbs and squatted 6 reps there too. Definitely a Personal Best. Don't know why I didn't think I could squat that much - I've been holding out on myself!

After squats, I decided to walk on the treadmill for just a couple minutes. After 3 minutes, I got the crazy idea to practice my endurance and see how long I could run at 5 mph. The last time I tried this was on August 2, 2008, and on that day I made it to 19:30 before I had a really bad stitch in my side and had to stop. Today I went for 22:00! And the best part is, I could have gone longer, but I really had to pee! :)

Two personal bests today that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't decided to "Just do it". So get out there today and GO FOR IT!!

New Personal Best for Running

This morning I did an endurance-type run on the treadmill. Last time I did this was on 04/05/08. I really am not a runner. In April, I ran for 10:18 at 5 mph. Today, I loaded up Marillion's Marbles album, fast forwarded to Ocean Cloud, and told myself I was going to make it the whole song (it's 17:58). I ended up running for 19:30! I really wanted to make 20:00 but had a terrible stitch in my side, not to mention the chest pains that started around 14:00. I'm very proud of nearly doubling the amount of time I ran back in April! I have only done Turbulence Training interval training since April so I am sure that doing intervals has helped me increase my endurance as well.

Oh, and I then I did 11 chin ups on my way out the door...