Amen, I'm Alive....

I did my long run today instead of tomorrow because of other things going on this weekend, and enjoyed a little Nickelback to get me through 5 miles... courtesy of Alison's iPod. My favorite Nickelback song is 'If Anyone Cared'. Just the phrase 'Amen, I'm Alive' is enough to provoke some good perspective, especially after a long week filled with challenges at every turn.

The run today was sweet - slow and easy and I finished in 1:05 which is 5 minutes faster than my last five miler back on February 1st. Also, my average heart rate today was 140, drifting to 152 max. A month ago? 147 average 165 max

Today, I could really feel the progress I've made and I finished strong, and could have kept going. Tweaking my training plan was the best decision for me! I can not even explain enough what a huge difference cross training and consistent strength training has already made in my runs! I have to be careful on my *long* runs not to run too hard, so I made a huge effort today to keep it slow and that's why I finished strong.

I also have been running in my old shoes...I basically totally screwed up and bought the wrong shoes last month! I know I have to keep them now, so I'll just wear them around I guess. They are comfortable but not comfortable for running. I need a neutral/cushion shoe, NOT a stability shoe. I ran only in my old Nikes this week and my ITBS has barely made a peep. Once I get a gait analysis, my trainer suggested this website...very cool and great prices! Oh and not just shoes either...all kinds of 'stuff'! I'm going to need a part time job soon just to pay for my little hobby.....

FEBRUARY REVIEW AND LOOKING AHEAD

Since it's the end of February, it's time to review my progress and keep looking forward. My most important goal for this past month was to drop at least 5 pounds, because I felt that would make a huge difference for me. Goal accomplished! Check it:

Yep, I'm pretty pleased with that! And you can see that all the 'action' ocurred really just in the last 10 days or so - hmmm...coincidentally the same time I started eating MORE, and STRENGTH TRAINING, and well...all I can say about my trainer is that she is indeed the RockStar Plateau Buster.

So I would say February was a great transition month for me! I changed my training focus and ran more, but easier, cross/strength trained consistently, ate well and often, and my pace is getting every so slightly faster! I have to tell you, I am loving the weight training...almost right up there with running - look out MizFit! ;-)

March goals are really pretty much the same...slow steady base building, hopefully drop another 5 pounds, or at least some measurable body fat decrease. The weekend of March 28th has a 5K on my training schedule and I found a local race here on the 28th so that works well.

Then, my big *first* 10-miler, a huge milestone for me - is on the schedule for April 26th, and there just happens to be a 10 mile race here on April 25th, so I am thinking about doing that. Strictly as a training run though, I won't be doing any 'racing' of any sort on my first 10 miler! The race is called 'Run Like A God' ha ha - I'm sorry but that just cracks me up! As I will most likely be bringing up the rear and will so not be running like a god(dess).

And so...life is good! With each passing week, I'm feeling more confident that will be able to get through 13.1 in May. I've often had my 'what-the-hell-was-I-thinking?' moments, but those are fewer now! It ocurred to me today that the half marathon is exactly one year from the date of my car accident. It was a day that could have so easily ended very differently, and this year? I'll be singin strong, 'Amen, I'm Alive!'

Run on ~

March Madness

I don't know about you all...but it sort of feels like Blogland has been hibernating these past few weeks. Quiet times around here, that's for sure.

NOT ANYMORE! Time to wake up my friends....this weekend we turn the calendar over and it is MARCH! YESSSSS! You know what that means right? More runs outside than in, not too hot, not too cold. Time to get serious about races, maybe buy some new cool 'stuff'. Blog posts will be filled with training tips, plans and exciting RACE REPORTS! Lots of cyber high fives and 'You-Can-Do-Its!'....yes, this weekend folks....it feels like Christmas Eve....

Last year at this time, the very thought of 'running' would be enough to make me laugh. *whatever* I would not even have thought about it period! The most exciting thing I got in the mail was 'Good Housekeeping'. Now I carry my Runners World around with me all month until it is basically torn to shreds. Here I am too, on the almost-eve of March, like a kid in a freaking candy store, giddy with excitement! Who knew? Yes it's miserable here in Cleveland today - but I don't care. Like I said, there will be more good days to run than bad. The calendar may not show spring until March 20th...but for runners....

....Spring has sprung!

I have 23 followers over there to the right, and I suspect a few lurkers as well! I hope to hear from each and every one of you what your big fitness/diet/ WELLNESS goals are for the coming spring. Time to RENEW, REFRESH, RE-ORGANIZE your healthy lifestyles! What do you have planned? Wake up friends ~ time to take a roll call! I want to make sure everyone is accounted for and has not fallen permanently into the 'abyss'. I will be visiting and commenting on every blog in my Google Reader this weekend...I'm looking forward to catching up!

Week in review

Today I wrapped up the week with an easy 4 miles on the 'mill. I'm looking forward to slowly building the long run up again - my longest run was 7 miles a few weeks back, and it's been nice to take a step back a little, get used to running 4 days and adding cross training to the plan. I feel well equipped now to slowly build some miles each week.

I'll say one thing...maybe it's mental but I already felt stronger with this morning's run just from the two strength workouts I did this week, one of which was late in the afternoon yesterday at the rec. I was worried that I would be sore for this morning's run, so I had a protein powder shake yesterday after my strength training. I felt GREAT this morning - no soreness at all. It was a nice and slow run, and my legs felt like they could go all day! I also took my trainer's suggestion to eat 1/2 a whole wheat english muffin with some peanut butter in the hour before I run in the mornings - which is usually on Sunday's...and I drank more water that I normally have while running. This all made for a great feel-good run today!

Speaking of soreness, for whatever reason - I did not feel sore from Wednesday's workout with the trainer until Thursday night and into Friday. I thought maybe because I only did one set of everything that I would not feel much...WRONG. By Thursday evening I was feeling every muscle in my core ha ha. I did not run Thursday evening because I had to do homework with Alison, and since I was sore anyway, I figured I would run Friday morning instead. Well, Friday morning I was beat and grew progressively more tired through the day and ended up going to bed at like 7:45 that night! Needless to say, NO RUN. I then slept until 9am yesterday! That is LATE for me, I am always up early....so my body must have needed the sleep, or maybe I was fighting some germies that seem to be plaguing everyone I know - who knows. As 'guilty' as I felt for missing a run, I know I must have needed the rest. I am learning to listen to my body and listen well.

Yesterday's workout at the rec was great - I did some stairmaster and then my strength workout. My arms and core were quivering during the planks and other exercises. iI love the Bosu ball. My leg workout was great too - it feels good to balance out the work on the legs! I really felt the difference already in my run this morning. And again...protein powder shake immediately after the workout - NO SORENESS this morning! Now we'll see if I have a 'delayed reaction' again - tomorrow I may be writing a different story! At least Monday is a rest/stretch day.

Later today I'll be registering for a 5K in March...although, if I can't find one, it may have to be a 5 mile race on March 14.

That's all I got folks! I hope everyone has a great week and everyone is back in good health soon! Lots of sickies out there in blogland :-( so a big get well for everyone! (*Cyndi passes out chicken soup*)

Week In Review

It has been a good week! I feel like something has ‘clicked’ and I have this everything-is-falling-into-place feeling.

My adjusted training plan is exactly what I needed. I have run three days in a row this week, nice and easy, and I feel great! I’m happy to have a rest day today, and cross training tomorrow, and looking forward to a 4 mile run on Sunday. Even though I have added a day of running, I still feel like I’m getting a small break before I start to increase the long runs again. Sometimes you have to take a step back, to move forward. Switching to shorter runs, more frequently keeps my overall mileage the same, but I feel like I’m getting more practice and better quality miles under my feet. Yes, this is much better!

Yesterday I had a 3 mile run at the rec. I ended up with a pretty good run, although I had to cut it a just short of a full 3 miles because it was busy and people were waiting for machines. (30 minute time limit which I was blatantly exceeding!) Oh and also despite the ‘grunting’ guy on the ‘mill next to me, who would spew a huge grunt/exhale every 5 steps or so. What is THAT?

I have started using LogYourRun.com and I really like it! It is a great site to track data, and not just for running. You can log swims, cycling, cross training, strength training etc. I also like how the local weather auto-populates for each day that you enter data. Kind of cool!

My favorite feature is that I can also view graphs and charts to get a visual of what I have done over the past few weeks. Last night I checked out a graph of my runs over the last 10 weeks and I thought, hmmmm…now why are those four bars bright red like that?

The answer is at the bottom there if you can make it out.....

WOW. Ok, thanks for THAT – but what I love about that is, those 3 weeks in RED correlate with my gradual ‘stress’ that had been building from the original Runners World plan I was doing! Those weeks are where I had more ‘bad’ runs than good, when I did not look forward to my runs, I felt like I was not progressing, and on and on. This is how a new runner learns to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Don’t ignore the warning signals, physical OR mental.

My pace chart indicates a pretty substantial improvement from even last week to this week – so that was fun to see visually as well.

I highly recommend the site! I know there are many out there, but this is the first one that I have found that is geared for more than just running.

And finally, MizFit recently reviewed the book ‘The New Rules For Lifting For Women’. One of my new goals is to build some lean muscle to be a better runner. So her review of this book came at a perfect time for me. I picked this book up yesterday, and I have not been able to put it down! It is written exactly to someone like me….in a no – nonsense, get real, these are the facts sort of tone. Here’s what you need to do, just do it. No lofty promises of ‘you TOO, can look like THIS’….I feel like a trainer is right there speaking to me directly. I am still in the beginning of the book, and I’m happy to share more as I go along, but at the moment….I highly recommend it. There is also a ‘Rules for Men’ version and if it is written as well as the women’s book, I’d say it’s probably a worthy read for the guys!

So, it has been a great week overall. The scale progress is looking promising too!

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday Part 2

I just had to post again - check out my sweet run stats to the right! :-) I turned my 'easy 3' into an 'easy 5K' just for kicks. By easy, I mean my average heart rate was 143. When I clicked 'stop' on my Garmin, my heart rate was 138. No walk breaks, it was a great run. My first 5K race in October was 37:42. (blah) And I was D.Y.I.N.G. So for an easy run today, I've shaved a minute twenty off my 5K time - this is not even RACE PACE. I'm so jazzed. I am also pleased that I ran 3 miles straight UNDER 12 minute miles! WOOT! That is a huge progress point for me personally. Yes I'm slow but I am getting faster! There is hope yet ha ha. I may not be as fast as some of you speedies out there, but considering what I could (not) run several months ago? I am encouraged!

Interesting that my 3 miles on Sunday was quite challenging, and today it was a piece of cake!

Just had to get my humble happy thoughts down.

On deck for tomorrow....2 miles and strength training at the rec! I feel like I'm getting a couple of recovery weeks in (much needed) and I feel like my body will thank me later.

Tuesday This 'n That

Here is my This 'n That list, bullet style today!

1 - TV Tune In Alert! I am REALLy looking forward to seeing this story!

2- Please stop by Shosh's blog and read up on all the fabulous goings on in her life. I am so inspired by her I can't even stand it!

3- I had my first run with my hubby on Sunday! It was supposed to be my 'long' run, but he made me run too fast and therefore it turned into a 3 mile tempo run! But it was fun. I think after the fact he realized he went out too hard (to 'save face' I'm sure) because as challenging as the run was for me, I was still much more 'fresh' than he at the end! ;-)

4- My Alison leaves for Florida tomorrow! I'm so anxious about putting her on a plane and not being with her. She'll be with her Aunt, but still....there's something about watching your 13 year old literally fly off into the sky, going far far away. THAT part is going to be tough for this mommy!

5- I'm curious if any of you out there take fish oil supplements? I've been reading a lot about the benefits and Mike & I just started taking them. The bottle says to take one after each meal, 3 a day, but I've only been taking one a day so far. Anyone else take these and are there any 'noticeable' benefits (other than the heart benefits and inflammatory reducing benefits that we can't really 'feel' or see)

I have a 3 mile run tonight and it is 50 something outside right now, so I'm pretty excited!

Until next time....

Training Plans, Body Fat and Cross Training - Oh My!

It has been a great weekend! First things first, after much evaluation and thought, I've made some changes to my training plan. There are several reasons I decided to do this:

1) The Runner's World plan, although excellent, is starting to cause me some heart palps. I've noticed recently I've been sort of dreading the 2nd and long runs of the week.

2) My body feels more stressed lately. Not overly concerning, but I see it as a warning sign to back off a bit. My ITB still bothers me and I think I am working harder than I'm ready too.

3) I really would rather add a 4th easy running day and work the long runs up a little slower. I still have time to do this. The RW plan seemed too agressive to me, adding a mile to the long run every week. Also having to do a 5 mile tempo run and a 7 mile long run in one week is too challenging for me right now, I'd rather build the extra miles into 4 runs. I am not ready for a 7 mile long run that is on my schedule for today. (I plan to do 4)

4) Tempo and speedwork is not really necessary for me right now, and I have basically not done it when the schedule calls...I'd rather build in some fartleks or faster strides on the fly when I feel that mojo. If I have to adjust a training schedule too much, I shouldn't be doing it.

5) I will be meeting with a trainer this week (hopefully) and will be building in more consistent cross/strength training, and the 1/2 marathon training plan I'm switching too incorporates X-Training nicely. (This is Hal Higdon's plan)

So, without further ado, here is my training plan for the next 12 weeks, which still allows me 2 weeks' cushion for whatever curve ball comes my way. This plan gives me the 4th day I want, builds mileage a bit more gradually, empasizes stretching that I NEED, and Cross training, that I always TALK about doing, and never quite do.

Hal Higdon's 1/2 Marathon Training Plan - Novice
Feel free to offer your humble opinions - I need all the encouragement I can get! :-)

Yesterday I went to our rec center for the first time to 'meet and greet' the personal trainers. I had my body fat tested. YIKES! Ok, so the good news is, my body fat is significantly down from the 46% high it was way back who knows how long ago - yikes. AND it is in the 'healthy' range for my age...just not an 'ideal' range for a runner ha ha. My BF percent measured is 33%. UGH. Can that possibly be right? Even the trainers didn't think so. Apparently I 'wear it well'. NICE. I really was hoping for a little lower number after all this hard work! So I keep on going, that's all I can do right?

I met with one trainer, she was nice enough but she had tons of makeup on and struck me as a 'I-play-a-personal-trainer-on-TV' type of trainer. ANd she said the dreaded words..."I"ve never really been a runner, but I just started getting into it recently". Uh...no.

I went and worked out a bit with Mike and then came back down and saw the girl I REALLY wanted to talk to...as soon as I saw her I knew, THERE is a runner. I spoke with her a little bit and I felt comfortable and she seemed interested in helping me with strength and cross training to complement my running. So I have to send her an email with my running plan, and then set up time to meet with her for an hour this week. Depending on how it goes, I will then set up 1/2 hour each month (just $30 bucks, I think that's reasonable?) to check in, weigh in, fat check and tweaking. I won't ALWAYS need a trainer, but I still feel like I'm floundering a bit, so this will help me. I figure, I don't drink beer as much as I used to (if at all really), don't go out to dinner as much - so $30 a month is available for me to use more productively. Yes!

The rec is awesome - as I knew, I had no reason to be 'shy'. I tried some elliptical and that thing kicked my butt! I only stayed on for like 15 minutes and didn't really know how to slow it down or fix my form, so I got off and walked on the treadmill. The treadmills at the gym are SO much nicer than mine, so I may be heading up there for a run or two a week until the weather clears. Being out really eased my cabin fever too, it was fun! I then went through some upper body machines with Mike doing his sets and then me watching, and doing some myself. Nothing killer - just trying it out, and I do feel it a bit in the arms today.

So, I am now entering into a new phase in training and my fitness journey in general. I have a renewed goal of decreasing my body fat. The trainer even kindly said two things....first, she said I don't look a day over 30 (she could NOT believe when I said I am 41), AND, she said my body fat is healthy, and she highly doubts that the reading of 33% is even accurate. (It was a new scale they were trying out and they really didn't know what they were doing...)
If I can build more muscle, I will be a better runner. Note how I'm not even talking about my weight? How's THAT for progress!

Happy Long Run everyone - I'm only doing 4 today and I feel SO good about that. There's no way I have 7 miles in me today. I feel good about my new plan!

Next time, cyber-smack me!

I mentioned yesterday that I had a crummy run Tuesday night, still tired from Sunday's run, fumbling over my new shoes....whine whine whine. How many times have I had a bad run and I get on here and over-analyze the whys and wherefores of my bad run and, well, I'm just being candid when I say ...next time I whine about a bad run, just cyber-bop me up side the head, please! I'm like Chicken Little and The Sky Is Falling for pete's sake! Then the next run is just fine, and the run after that is 'suh-weet'! So please remind me next time I get all bummed out over one bad run, that 'this too shall pass'. I really need to settle down sometimes. I am good about this in every other area of my life, but not with this...go figure!

Yesterday I had 5 miles on the plan, which was really a 3 mile tempo run with a mile warm-up / cool down on either side of that. I only had time to run 3 miles, and I did not have 'tempo-ness' in me, so I used my heart rate as a guide instead of my pace. So I ran three miles and kept my heart rate at or below 138. Easy run, felt great. Shoes were feelin' a little better.

Today I got home from work with all kinds of pent up energy to expel, so I decided to go for a quick and easy 2 mile run outside - out and back down a mile long street in my 'hood. This run was a fun little pick me up. I was pleasantly surprised when I returned and connected my Garmin to see my stats....

I ran two miles straight at 11:00/mile. The shoes felt great, my stride felt smooth...it was just sweet. Now, there's no way I could have sustained that pace much more than 2 miles , but it makes me feel pretty good about how I might do in my next 5K, which is in March I think.

So it was a perfect little 'add-on' to my week, I have wanted to add a 4th easy day and this was perfect. I am happy too that I have evolved into an outdoor runner..... I remember needing the comfort zone of my treadmill because I was too embarrassed to run outside in front of my neighbors. Now I'm a freakin' show-off ha ha. (well not really but you know what I'm sayin....)

Tomorrow I head up to the rec to 'Meet The Personal Trainers' and I'm hoping to chat with one who specializes in running and strength training. If I like her, I may book a one hour session with her for an assessment and maybe lay out a plan for the next...um...

NINETY NINE DAYS! Yes - 99 days until my first 'big' race. Unbelieveable. May feels like it is so far away, but holy crap! It's just 3 months....omg. Note a little panic setting in. I'm still in the 'I've-got-5-months' mentality lol. 13.1 miles? UGH, sometimes I wonder if I can pull this off! I will continue to think positive though.

I'd also like to try some cross training on the eliptical for a little bit tomorrow just for kicks and because really I want to just do SOMEthing at the rec because I haven't yet. Whereas the husband is somewhat of a permanent fixture up there now and making me look bad....

Until next time....good weekend everyone!

How do I know....

...... when new running shoes are not the right 'fit'?

My run Tuesday night basically was a pathetic attempt at a run. It felt all 'wrong' from the beginning. It was my first run in the new kicks on the treadmill. I felt like I had boots on and I was stomping on the treadmill...there is so much more actual shoe 'surface' on the Asics. My lower calves were aching, I had to keep adjusting my laces - it was just not a great run. The shoes felt better when I ran outside!

I am up for a 3 mile tempo run tonight with a mile before and after for warm up/cool down. But if things start feeling as bad as Tuesday, I am going to take that as a sign to take it easy this week period. I talked about doing a recovery week this week, and then decided to see how it goes. Let's hope for a better run tonight!

So, all of my experienced runner friends, is there usually a 'break in' period for new running shoes? Is it normal for things to feel 'different' for a few runs? I felt like I was using muscles I never used before! And the arch support is SO pronounced that my arches were all I felt when running. I didn't notice that so much when outside on the long run....

Or, it is possible that I was still 'tired' from said outside run on Sunday....and I was instead experiencing 'heavy legs'.

I guess I'm not sure at what point I say, these shoes are not good for me... also consider that I was unusually sore in not the usual places (quads) after my long run on Sunday...I just hope I got the right shoes! How can you go wrong with Asics?

It is so so so cold - but the sun is shining and there's nothing wrong with that!

Cheers~

'Now shut up and go sit down!'

Humph! I've been shot.DOWN. My nose is out of joint, my undies are in a bunch (insert more euphamisms here and I have no idea how to spell that word at 5am).

Watching Biggest Loser last night, watching the 'at home players' weigh in - this was a big moment in the show because of course the 'at home' team members would be seeing their result of working out and eating right, at home, without the benefit of Jillian, Bob, the Ranch etc. One of the players weighed in an 'only' lost 15 pounds at home, which prompted her to cry and whine about how 'hard' it is on your own blah blah blah blah. (As it turns out she was one of the top at home losers for 30 days, and yes I would LOVE to lose 15 pounds in a month thank you).

So here comes Jillian's little side interview/comments about this player and she's all 'Shut UP! Quit WHINING' (yeah) Move ON (yeah!) I don't want to hear your stupid excuses! (YES!)'

Here I am in front of the TV: "YEAH Jillian, you TELL her! Amen SISTAH! Woo Hoo! No Excuses!" (and continue to plan how I can BE Jillian)

Then...... she drops the ZINGER:

Jillian: (all sarcastic-like and bad ass sounding) "People who are trying to lose weight have all these 'excuses' (said like a dirty word). I just LOVE these excuses: "Muscle weighs more than fat".

Me: (startled) 'huh? but it does right?'

Jillian: And oh yeah, yeah, here's the BEST ONE: 'I'm not losing weight but I'm losing INCHES'. HA! WHAT????!"

Me: (My Jillian-crush fading fast) Uh Oh...CRAP....

Well now. There ya go....My little bubble has been burst. Thanks for that Jillian. That's just great. My only 'comfort' in my lack of progress on the scale has been the fact that my pant size has been getting smaller, slowly but surely. It is what keeps me from whining too much about still being in the 140's. And now Jillian basically is saying 'shut up and go sit down' (or, stop eating so much and go work out as the case may be).

Yeah....my nose is out of joint. WAY out of joint. I need to think about this a little bit. The hard truth is that just the fact that Jillian LOOKS the way she does, after being an overweight individual herself? ...well, I'd have to say she is probably right. DAMN!

My hard reality? I am eating for weight maintenance. I am having difficulty reducing my calorie intake enough to lose 1-2 pounds per week. That is why it's taking so long for me to drop pounds. There is nothing wrong with losing 1-2 pounds per month, sure. But perhaps my 'I'm-losing-inches' buffer really is an 'excuse', a 'justification' for my slow weight loss. I am 'ok' with this slow healthy loss, however, I could and SHOULD be able to drop at least a pound a week with all the running I do.

Yes I'm more in to my running progress, but the fact is, I can probably run better with a little less weight on my body. And I am not using a well-rounded approach here. I picked up a 5 pound dumbell the other day while cleaning up, and I thought, 'wow, 5 pounds is really a lot of weight - imagine how much better running would be with just 5 pounds less?'.

Thanks a lot there, 'girlfriend'. Now I have to go come up with another 'plan'. Jillian basically put me in my place....I feel challenged to test her comments.

Stay tuned...

*humph*