Thursday, August 27, 2015

Victory!

I got out of bed! My alarm may have gone off at 5:10, I may have snoozed until 5:25, and I may have even dozed while sitting upright in bed until around 5:35, but I finally got back out there! I also may have gotten out the door before I realized that I had completely forgotten to pull my hair back. And I may have dropped the brush on the counter, and it may have then fallen on the bathroom scale, all of which was very loud and woke up my husband...

I could have sworn I had run at least a few mornings in the past 3 weeks- I guess some of them were while I was out of town. But holy cow it was dark out! And I nearly walked into the web of a monster spider. I went back to take a picture when I was done, but it was gone. Probably for the best. I had an irrational fear that the flash would make it angry, and maybe it would attack me somehow.

I don't know if anyone uses the knuckle lights? But I'm going to have to bust mine out tomorrow morning if I make it out of bed. I really like mine. I've found that I only need one to run with. Which is good because somehow the other one got knocked into the washer, so I'm not sure it works.

I also had another small victory this morning on the scale. I had VERY recently recommitted myself to trying to get on the weight loss bandwagon. So far that has just meant that I logged back in to myfitnesspal,com. I put in everything I eat- but that hasn't stopped me from eating. Yet somehow I have managed to drop 3 lbs this week. It's probably water weight- that is too much too fast to be much else.

Unfortunately (for my weight, not for my tastebuds) I am going out with co-workers to lunch and a baseball game this afternoon, and then possibly out to dinner with friends. I am such a picky eater is it incredibly hard for me to find a healthy out-to-eat meal. And how can I go to a game an NOT get nachos? And these thoughts are how I got into the situation I am in- where I need to drop another 40 lbs if not more.

I am currently down 46 lbs. This has not been a steady drop. This has taken a few years, with big spurts and then no movement. I can at least say proudly I haven't gained it back (except for that part where I had a child and went nuts eating Captain Crunch). That drop has been the difference between me shopping at Lane Bryant and being able to simply walk into any store and pull something off the rack. And while I can say now that I am capable of eating in a way that at least allows me to maintain my weight, or maybe even lose a little, it is the running that allows me to see real progress in weight loss.

My next race is another 10K - the Panerathon Cincinnati. http://www.runningtime.net/Races/PanerathonCinti/home.htm  I have to stay on top of running if I have any hope of performing as well at this race as I did at the Little Miami race.

I am running to lose weight, I am running to be in better shape. I don't know if I want to get faster or go further yet. It is something I really need to think about.

8/27 Running: 3.05 miles, 39:28

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Little Miami 10k

About a month ago I decided to run a 10k- because why not? I felt like my running had really gone stagnant. My long runs used to be 5 miles, but it seemed like it had been a few months since I had gone that far. And there was always some reason to cut my long runs short. After some googling I came across the Little Miami 10k. It seemed perfect- close, soon, and flat.

http://www.littlemiamihalf.com/

Training
Wait, I was supposed to train for this? I started by increasing my long runs from 4 to 4.5 miles. The next week I said to myself, that went so well, why not try this 5.75 mile loop you just mapped out? Well the answer to that question is because it is 87 degrees outside, humid, and it turns out the route has a lot of uphill sections.

I ended up walking a longer chunk of that than I care to admit- which was really disappointing when I had been able to run 4.5 miles the previous week with no issue. But I celebrated my calorie burn with chocolate milk and a carton of fried rice (did I mention a big part of this running thing is supposed to be losing weight?)

The following weekend I took another stab at it- 6 miles. I was going to run my normal circuit twice. After some reading I realized I had been focusing on speed and distance, and what I needed to do was run a little slower if I was going to make this happen. 13 minute miles- that was what I was going to push for.

The long run made me realize I needed new songs on my playlist- being out that long meant a good chunk of my music played twice. I also realized that while a 13 minute mile felt slow for the first 3 miles, I didn't feel like a 13:45 mile was slow after that- and that ended up being my average pace when I finished the 6 miles.

The following week I don't know what happened, but I really only ran twice during the weekdays. On Saturday my nephew was injured and put on life support. On Sunday I tried to run the six miles again. The sadness, and congestion from all the crying and getting a cold, really just made it miserable. I barely did 3 miles. I was hoping the endorphins would make the day more bearable, but it just didn't quite do it.

Because of being sick and just general sadness, I didn't really run the week before the race.

The Race
I was extremely concerned about my ability to run the entire race. While I hadn't run in the week leading up to it except for maybe a few miles, I had tried to watch what I ate. I hate vegetables, so if I try to eat them I generally rely on stir fry. The night before I definitely ate too much spaghetti.

The morning of I had a slim fast shake when I woke up and a poptart as I was driving. I've found that the slimfast shakes don't bother my stomach when I run and give me some fuel before the long runs. Its probably the sugar, but it works.

I got there in plenty of time to see the half marathon runners start (they go 30 minutes ahead of the 10k). I thought that would give me plenty of time to use the bathroom one last time. Since I'm a total priss, I skipped the port-o-potty line and went to the park bathroom line. BIG mistake. I wondered why the line was slow- turns out there was one working stall. It also turns out the stall had holes in it so if the front of the line was too close they could basically watch you. Also there was no soap- at least the port-o-potty would have had hand sanitizer. By the time I got out the race was about to start, so I wove my way to the back of the pack where I belong.

Once the race started I quickly established myself in the back. I seem to run at a speed that averages out to the same pace as some of the run-walkers. I run by them, but they would pass me when they started running again. It was almost a game to try and pass them, but I refused to go much faster than my 13 minute mile. I was also behind a lady for several miles that made me question what I look like when I run. To me it looked like she was shuffling along at a pace that couldn't have been much faster than a walk- but she was clearly keeping pace with me.

Eventually after several miles I found myself wanting to get past people I had been with for a while, and others who had started at a faster pace but had fallen back to the back when they couldn't sustain it. Once I started passing I realized I didn't feel bad when I went faster, so I kept it up. Toward the end I'm pretty sure I was running something around an 11:00 mile, which is flying for me. My total time as 1:17, compared to my goal of 1:20.

Afterwards I felt great. I didn't really feel like I needed to recover, or that I had just run my farthest distance yet.

The only let down was when my Garmin somehow erased the race data!

Pros and Cons of the Little Miami 10k
Take this for what it's worth given my far from elite runner status:

Pros:

  • Shade- it just made the whole course feel wonderful the whole time. It was possibly the most comfortable I've been on a run in months.
  • Flat course- unlike some, I find the distance challenging enough
  • Number of participants- In the few races I've run I sometimes find myself fairly alone- slower than most runners but faster than most walkers. However, due to the loop of this course I could see everyone run by, which I liked, and I never felt too alone. But it wasn't crowded at all.
  • Time- I know most runs are in the morning, I liked that it was at 7:30 before it got too hot.
  • Nature- It was prettier than running around with nothing to look at.
Cons:
  • Shirts-I was not a fan of the t-shirts. They were technical shirts, but a heavier kind. And they were white. I got an XL (many races I go with an L). However, it was still tight and because of the white you can just see everything under it.
  • Swag bag- just nothing exciting. There really weren't any fliers for other races or anything at all. I know that isn't the point, but sometimes there is good stuff!
  • Packet pickup- times just seemed a little limited. Doable, just not great.
I swear, next time I will try to remember to take pictures...

Morning Runs- or a Lack Thereof

I have always been very selfish with my time, and being a mom has really made that a challenge. I once read that being an introvert and a mother can be difficult because you miss that alone time to recharge. It seems weird, but I feel like it rings somewhat true for me. If you ever have to take one of those personality quizzes like Myers-Briggs, it will tell you where you fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. And it is a spectrum, not a bucket. Unless you are me who usually scores 90% or higher as an introvert.

What this means for me is that when my son goes to bed at 8:30 and I need to get up around 5:20 to run, I have only a limited amount of time to play with, but one of my priorities always seems to be some alone time. I always feel like I need a break right when he falls asleep. On top of everything else I seem unable to function well on less than 7-8 hours of sleep. So do I take that 1-1.5 hours to do something I want to do alone like read? Do I spend quality time with my husband? Do I accomplish some of that cleaning that seems impossible when my son is awake?

Or do I take the 4th option and stay up past 11 and somehow miraculously expect to get up and run? I was wide awake when I woke up at 3:30, but with all the tossing and turning after that it just seemed impossible to actually do anything but hit snooze when the alarm went off.

And maybe if I was a faster runner, I could trot out and run my 3 miles in the morning in 25 minutes. Would that somehow make getting out of bed easier? An extra 30 minutes before the alarm went off? For those of you doing math, it doesn't actually take me 55 minutes to run 3 miles, I'm just generously rounding.

I can't blame this on my son, though. How often was I really getting out of bed at 5:30 am to run before he came around? What he has done, though, is forced me to prioritize much differently. Unfortunately, I am finding lately that I want to stay awake and read rather than go to bed so I can get up to run.

I've got to change my attitude an adjust my priorities. This running thing doesn't come naturally to me, and I'm not sure it does for anyone. I am rarely excited to roll out of my bed any earlier than I have to. And while there will be a brief time where it is 55 degrees outside and WONDERFUL to run in, that will quickly slip down to 30 and 40 degrees where it is even harder to get out from under the covers.

I've read it takes two weeks before doing something like getting up to workout becomes a habit. I've yet to run consistently for two weeks since we moved at the end of June. When I look out at my calendar for the next 3 weeks I have 2 out of town trips for work where I am uncertain if I will have the means or the time to run.

So here's hoping I can roll out of bed tomorrow and get those 2 weeks started, and that I can find the means to keep it up.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Background

I never thought I would call myself a runner. While I was on the track team in grade school and high school, I was a lazy participant. In grade school I threw the discus and shot-put, but I also ran the 100M and 200M. Sometimes a 400M was thrown in if my coach forced me. But I ran those distances because to me they were easy. I could do pretty well without ever really practicing. Once I was in high school, they suddenly wanted me to run around the track multiple times to prepare to run those distances! I said, "No thanks!" and moved over to throwing exclusively. 

Fast forward 10 years or so - past all the fast food, lying around the house, never going to the gym, and general disregard for my health- and I had the crazy idea I wanted to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, which is a 5 mile run that starts around 7 AM. Last Thanksgiving it seemed like everyone I knew was wearing their shirt from the event while eating their turkey- while I was just wearing a sweater and eating just as much, even though I had done nothing that morning except make a big breakfast to indulge in first. 

This decision to run was just another idea for me. I had been dieting and trying to work out, and I had at that point successfully lost around 20 lbs. In my mind running was just going to make the pounds melt off (I still had a lot more to go).

I downloaded my couch-to-5K app (C25K by RunDouble) and started the process on a treadmill. If you are not familiar with the process- the program builds you up to 30 minutes of running using running and walking intervals- with the running amounts increasing over something like 8 weeks. On the treadmill I was doing run intervals at a speed of 5 mph, or a 12 minute mile. I got stuck on the week where you run 3 5-minute intervals. I kept getting a stitch in my side and it seemed like I would never make it past that week in the app.

So, why not get pregnant and just give up on working out completely? I can't excuse this- I know if you want to be fit you have to make it a priority. I can only say I was working a TON because of a major acquisition and pregnancy made me want to go to bed as soon as I got home. 

Fast forward AGAIN - past gaining all the weight back plus another 5, having a baby, then dropping the weight except for the extra 5- and I decided that once I got the all clear from the doctor I was going to try this running thing again. Except with a baby. And outside. With a stroller. 

Running outside was scary to me- I didn't understand how someone could run without a TV. Wouldn't you be bored? And isn't outside HARDER? And how do you push a stroller while doing it? Well, it turned out the stroller thing wasn't too bad. That was actually the only way to get my son to nap. And huffing and puffing and praying that the interval is over really does seem to fill up the time. Eventually I was able to complete the C25K program, even without the stroller! 

One problem, at the end of the program I could run for 30 minutes straight. It turns out that running for 30 minutes does not always equate to a 5K distance...