5.1 Life Happens

Well, my week went totally sideways today. Wednesday is usually my half day, but we are having an RS Orientation at work. It lasts all day, and I am the organizer. We have 4 sessions total, 2 Wednesday and 2 Friday (all day both days). I was going to switch my half day to Thursday, but there are meetings all day. The vet also let me know she could geld Odin tomorrow morning.... so my half day is tomorrow, I'm taking the morning off and working the afternoon. So, long story short, I'm running Wednesday's run tomorrow morning; 5 miles. In that spirit, I decided not to run tonight... so, I had a bowl of cold cereal, and am going to bed.

5.0 and 4.0 Recap

4.0 was a good week considering I missed 2 of my runs. I missed Monday to spend the day with Katrina and Thursday so Chris could sleep. I had a blast on my long run Saturday and was able to "sprint" up a rather large hill. I still need to work on my diet...

5.0 is a fresh start! I am going to try to start running in the mornings before work... try being the key word. Well, at least on Thursdays I will make the most effort. The plan for the week:

Monday: Super slow 3 miles @ 5.0
Tuesday: Super slow 4 miles @ 5.0
Wednesday: 5 miles gradually increasing 5.0 - 5.4
Thursday: Super slow 3 miles @ 5.0
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run Group

Feeling strong and ready to kick it up a notch!

4.6 Half of the Half

I ran 6.5 this morning and feel really good. There was a monster hill at the 3.5 mile mark and I was able truck up it like a champ. I ate some honey stinger chews before the run and felt awesome. My playlist is on point.

Once I got home I ate some oatmeal and drank some Gatorade. Now to change over and get ready for the vet. Odin is getting "fixed" today. Bring on week 5.0!

4.3 Feeling Good!

I am feeling pretty good. I ran with a new pair of shoes today and decided they are best worn on short run days until they are broke in. 

I also need to tweak my play list more. Good thing I've got 16 weeks to dial everything in. Time to order my Stinger Waffles, Protein Bars and Electrolyte Powders. 

Bring on more training! 

I'm IN

Okay. . . 50K!!!! I can do it!

4.1 and 4.2 Power Post

4.1 Monday
Well, my lofty goal of making all my daily runs this week did not even make it one day. I had Monday off and drove down to Portland to spend the day with Katie and her family. I did not make it home until 9:30 and that was way to late to hit the treadmill. I had a wonderful time and ate way too much. I will just have to make more of an effort to make the rest of my runs this week.

4.2 Tuesday

This was a great run! I felt strong the entire time. I rearranged my playlist a little and think it will work better. I removed all of the "walking songs" so am going to start training to jog the whole 1/2 Marathon without any walk breaks! If I do need one, I will take one, but not having planned walk breaks will help.

My diet is still so/so. I need to start dialing it in. I am hoping for a 2 pound loss this week and eating a bag of Cheetos is not going to help that goal! I am ordering a new protein bar to help with my "snackiness" in the afternoons. I will give it a try and post a review. 1 month in and I am pleased with my progress so far.

4.0

Week 3.0 was pretty good. I did my first 5 mile outside run and it went very very well. I missed my Thursday run, and really want to hit all my runs in 4.0. I ran a total of 14.25 miles in 3.0, so it was a great week.

My goals for 4.0 are to hit all my daily runs. I want to go 3 miles every day, but 3.5 on Wednesday. I'm scheduled for another 5 miler on this Saturday and I will go slow and easy again.

Bring in 4.0

3.6 Long Run 5.3 miles

I had a great run this morning. I kept a decent pace and ran with a young lady who runs slower than me, so I made sure I didn't overdo it. I am pretty happy I finished all 5.3 miles!!!

3.5 Friday Report

Weight 179
Sleep average 7:13
Resting heart rate  45/46
Steps 79, 600

My first training long run is tomorrow. 5.3 miles. I think I'm ready, but am still nervous. I've got a cute outfit picked out, thank you Zyia, and my playlist ready to go.

Away we go!

3.3 Not quite as good

I had a great run, well the first part of it anyway. The last 3 minutes of it I was sucking serious wind! Man oh man, it was rough. I need to rearrange my playlist. The walking songs come up at the total wrong time!

Another 3 miles on the docket for tomorrow, then a rest day.

Slow and steady.....

3.2 Finding my groove

This was a pretty good run. I actually gave a max effort tonight. I kept a 12 min pace but ran until I hit 3 miles, then did my cool down walk until the next "5" mark, which happened to be 40 minutes. I'm quite pleased.

It took me about 4 minutes to find my groove, but I kept it going until the 26 minute mark. I struggled for another 3 minutes then settled back into it for the rest of my run.

I am looking forward to my training group run on Sat. I know road running will be much harder, but will give me a better and more accurate gauge as to where I am at.

3.1 My first 3 miler

I am actually quite pleased with this run. It includes my warm up and cool down in both the time and distance. I felt good during it, but was sucking wind in the beginning. Once I found my groove it got much better. I was pretty fatigued by the end, but I did it. I felt the urge to up the speed at 25 min, but resisted telling myself I still had another 15 min to go. I think I am going to like this training approach, 12 min mile is a good speed.

Here's the plan: I plan to post every day. Monday through Thursday I will post my runs. Friday I will report on my weight and diet. Saturday I will post about my long runs and Sunday will be goals for the next week, training tips, gear reviews or whatever strikes my fancy!

Bring. It. On.

Week 3.0

OK, seriously, it time to get seriously serious. My first Training Group meeting was Saturday, a “Kick Off” breakfast and lecture. It really was quite informative. The biggest take away for me was to RUN SLOW!  If some guy in basketball shorts blows past you, let him go and you might want to slow down even more! You might still be running too fast! A 12-minute mile and a 6-minute mile are still just a mile. You aren’t going to burn more calories if you run faster, so slow it down! If you feel you are not working hard enough, add more slow miles. With that said, I plan to do all of my future treadmill runs NO FASTER than 5.0, or a 12-minute mile pace. It will be very hard for me to self-regulate that and ignore the impulse to ramp up speed.

My goal for week 3.0 is to run 3 miles for each of my daily runs. My daily runs are Mondays – Thursdays with Fridays and Sundays off, long runs with the Training Group are on Saturdays. The first actual Training Group run will be 5 miles. It will be my first “road run” of the season and I am hoping my pace will be somewhere between a 12 – 15-minute mile.

I’ve got a great play list and a pair of wireless headphones so am ready to run! I will post later tonight with tonight’s run report.

2.4 Run Ready

I need to get better at actually posting my runs. Why, yes, I did say runs!! I am now able to run (well, fast-ish jog) for 25 min! The total treadmill time of 35 min includes a 5 min walk warm up and a 5 min walk cool down. I feel pretty good after tonight's run, but know I will need to stay at 35 min for my daily runs for about 2 weeks, not the 1 week I was hoping for.

My food choices have been questionable at best, so I know I will most likely have a gain this week. I am not too worried about it though. As I get into better shape I'm sure my body will crave better fuel.

My training run group starts Saturday morning with a kickoff breakfast (bagels and juice) and a lecture. The actual running starts next week. It will be nice to run the course to get mentally prepared for race day.

I'll post my weight tomorrow, but it's not looking good for the home team...

WAGONS HO!!!

1.2 slow and steady

I felt pretty good this run. My first 30 min run that I made 2 miles! Woot woot! My training group starts soon, so my goals are just to work on my endurance and core strength. This is MY year!!!