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High Standards

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Sunday was 8 miles.

I have mixed feelings about my performance. Well, they’re not that mixed: I’m pretty solidly disappointed with myself.

I couldn’t run the entire way :(

I had to walk up three hills – all on the same road – in miles 4 & 5. What a bitch of a road, too, let me tell you. Each walking spurt was probably between 1 & 3 minutes, so not too bad, I suppose, but still really disheartening. Especially since I’ve been getting pretty good at hills, which is inevitable being that they’re freaking everywhere in this damn city. In fact, many of the hills that used to kill me I can run up without too much trouble.

But I had never run up this road, and its hills are intense. Hell, it’s hard to DRIVE up this road.

The other thing I’m blaming for my poor showing is insufficient planning. I went out about an hour and a half after breakfast, which was a delicious husband-made sandwich of ham, egg & cheese. And thai hot sauce. Not a good idea before running 8 miles, if you know what I mean, and I think you do…

It also occurred to me about 2 miles in that I hadn’t had any water all day. Who does that?! Who embarks on their longest run ever without having so much as a sip of H2O? I was so incredibly thirsty that I kept looking for water fountains, which I never found. Every time I passed a restaurant I considered going in and begging for a cup of water (I never carry money with me when I run. Maybe I should start?)

I did complete the entire 8 miles, but again, with a few walk breaks up crazy hills in the middle. My overall time was roughly 1 hour and 41 minutes, which is an average pace of 12:36 per mile, significantly slower than usual.

Damn hills.

And yes: I’m disappointed with my 8-miler because I couldn’t run the entire thing, and yes: I’m making up excuses for it. I’m sure some of you will think it’s ridiculous that I’m not proud of myself for just DOING it, but what can I say? I have high standards.

Next Sunday: 8.5 – and NO walking this time!

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

Back to Basics

Friday, March 19th, 2010

I know what works for me. I know what I have to do to lose weight. You don’t lose 92 pounds accidentally (which is ironic, because you can certainly gain it accidentally!).

So why haven’t I been doing what I know works and logging all of my food and exercise? Because it’s time-consuming. And it means being accountable . It means NOT sneaking a few extra crackers or automatically having a chocolate-covered banana every night. And I like crackers and chocolate-covered bananas…

Clearly I have the maintenance thing down: Without putting in extra effort to lose weight, my normal eating habits – combined with my exercise – keep me at roughly the same weight, give or take 3 pounds.

But I don’t want to stay the same weight – I want to continue to lose weight! Yes, I’ve lost 92 pounds, but I’ve got 20 more to go to reach my goal! You’d think that this close to my goal I’d try harder, but it hasn’t worked that way.

Once I hit about 180, I felt so much better about myself. I was finally comfortable in my own skin, and didn’t feel like the biggest person in most rooms… I wasn’t the biggest person in most rooms. Even though I ‘want’ to get to my goal, I haven’t had the same drive that I had before, because it’s not as dire as it was before.

So for months – a year now? – I’ve been half-assing my attempts to actually lose weight.

But today, I decided enough was enough. I logged on to My Food Diary and recorded my food and exercise for the day (for the first time in months). It’s funny too: As soon as I did it, I felt great! Completely re-energized. Like I’m actually going to hit that elusive 150.

Of course, I first have to get back into the 160s first…

Yes, “back into.” Excuse time:

I’ve been super hungry lately. I keep blaming all the running I’ve been doing, which actually is the likely culprit. Since I’ve been running so much, I’ve also just been eating when I’m hungry, figuring that it’s ok because I’m burning so many calories with the exercise. Hunger is my body’s way of telling me I need to eat, right? I make good food choices, too, but I think I’ve been overdoing it, eating too much, too often.

So yes, even though on February 19th I finally made it into the 160s (at a meager 169.5), on February 20th I made it out. I then proceeded to work my way back up to 172 and I’ve been struggling the last few weeks to reclaim my place in the 160s. Today I was at an even 170, so it’s coming. I know it is. Especially now that I’m back to basics and logging my food.

How are YOU doing?

Posted in Diet, Personal Stories, Weight Loss | View Comments

An Object in Motion

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Sundays are generally my long-run days, but this past Sunday my husband talked me out of it. Ok, full disclosure: I practically begged my husband to talk me out of it. Between the cold rain and the late night on Saturday filled with Disaronno on the rocks, I was not feeling it.

I made up for Sunday’s laziness yesterday, though. It was such a busy day! I was super-productive work-wise in the morning, ate an early lunch at my desk (which I never do), then headed out for my long run at noon.

Seven point four-one miles. My new longest run to date. It felt good, too. Mostly.

I certainly wouldn’t say that it was easy, because it wasn’t, but it was most challenging mentally. I get all in my head and start thinking about how far I’ve gone and how far I have left. And about how tired I am.

Last week when I ran 7 miles, I was completely spent for the entire day. My husband and I had plans to run some errands, but I just couldn’t do it. I felt a little sick and had zero energy left.

But yesterday was completely different.

I did the 7.41, spent 10 minutes recovering, took a quick shower, and was out the door for the next item on my schedule: Visiting with a friend and rooting through her discards of “skinny clothes.” (I’m not proud – I’ve happily taken a lot of people’s discards, but before this they were always “fat clothes” not “skinny clothes.” This friend is pregnant and won’t have a need for business casual size 12′s for quite some time… and is nice enough to let others benefit from her decision to procreate, in the form of free clothes. She’s awesome.)

After a few hours with her, I went directly to my hip hop class and busted a move for an hour. It was a reasonably aerobic class, too, and I was actually feeling good, rather than exhausted!

When I got home, I still had energy: I cooked a delicious and healthy dinner (thai chili salmon over brown rice with green beans) and did some cleaning before heading to bed at the end of a very active and productive day.

A very good day.

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Workouts | View Comments

Running in Circles

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I know I haven’t been posting very frequently lately – or at all – but I’ve been doing good things during my hiatus. Most notably, I’ve been a running machine.

I’m 3/4 of the way through my fifth week of training for the half marathon I’m running on May 2, and I’m proud to say that I haven’t missed a single run. I’ve had to be flexible though, and switch up a few days here and there to accommodate life and whatnot, but I’ve gotten in every scheduled run to date. A quick recap for you, in case you’re interested:

Week 1: 3.5, 3, 2, 3 = 11.5 total miles

Week 2: 4, 3.5, 2, 3.71 = 12.21 total miles

Week 3: 5.37, 4, 2, 4 = 15.37 total miles

Week 4: 6, 4, 2, 4 = 16 total miles

Week 5: 7!, 4.57, 3.07 = 14.64 so far (4.5 miles scheduled for tomorrow)

Did you see the long run in Week 5? SEVEN MILES. That’s my longest run to date. Prior to that, I did a6.5 mile run on Christmas (in the rain) and a 10k road race (6.2 miles) in early December.

That 7 miles was tough, too. I wasn’t completely convinced that I was ready for it, but I set my mind to it and just went for it. And I did it – running nonstop (except for a traffic light or two), at my very slow pace, it took 1 hour and 19 minutes. I’m proud of every damn one of those minutes, too.

Here’s the thing, though: For my longer runs, I generally run a short route multiple times. So for instance: That 7-miler was two laps of a 3.5-mile route. For my 6-mile run, I did 3 laps of a 2-mile route.

I’m literally running in circles.

Which is still better than running on the treadmill, where you run and run but get nowhere.

In some sense, I like doing multiple laps rather than one big loop. You definitely know how far you are into the run this way, which is usually good… except when I’m feeling particularly tired not far into the first lap…

In another sense, I think I might prefer one long run. It would certainly alleviate the temptation to cut the run short, but that’s not generally an issue for me. Of course sometimes I’d LIKE to, but I would be so disappointed in myself if I did that, so I don’t think it’ll ever happen.

Question for the runners out there: Do you run laps of shorter routes or do you do one big circle when you run? What are your reasons for preferring one way over the other?

Circles or not, I’m RUNNING. And that’s all that really matters.

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Quickie: Long Runs

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

This may be obvious to most people, but long runs take longer to complete, and therefore require more time in your schedule.

Or you could just run faster, but that’s easier said than done.

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Everybody’s Losing It

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Lots of people I know are working hard at losing weight and getting healthy. It’s like an epidemic! One I’m really excited about. Just a few:

Brown Betty: BB was slim and trim growing up, but that changed after having four children. She put on the “correct” amount of weight with each of her kids, but didn’t lose it each time. However, for the last 20 years, she has maintained her weight. Granted that weight is much higher than it should be, but she hasn’t gained any weight in 20 years. For someone who eats essentially whatever she wants (except when on ‘fad’ diets, which never last long) and doesn’t get any exercise, I think that’s astounding, don’t you?

BB has recently started seeing a nutritionist who is giving her some excellent advice on how to eat healthy… and BB’s following it! She’s no longer counting apple fritters and blueberry muffins as fruit. She’s eating three square meals a day – BREAKFAST even! She’s even got her husband to stop enabling her (not a malicious enabler, just a clueless one).

Her efforts are all paying off. She’s lost over 11 pounds so far! The success has spurned her to add exercise into her routine and she’s making arrangements to get a treadmill so she can start walking/jogging.

For the first time in 30 years, BB’s doing it right. And it’s going to work this time. She’ll be slim and trim like her old high school self in no time!

Awesomesauce: Awesomesauce has always struggled with her weight; I think it’s one of the reasons we became such good friends, even though we didn’t talk about it much at first (we secretly bonded over it). A few years ago, she did Atkins and lost quite a bit of weight, then switched to Weight Watchers and ‘watched her weight’ go lower and lower. Then she fell in love, and – as is often a result of cohabitation – put all the weight she lost back on.

Good news, though! Awesomesauce – and Mr. Awesomesauce – have both made a commitment to return to a healthy lifestyle. They understand that getting better nutrition, exercising and losing weight will help them in all sorts of ways – lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, increasing self-confidence, decreasing stress, perhaps even an improved sex life *wink*wink*

Both Awesomesauce and her hubby have started watching their diet, and really sticking to it! And, I’m pleased to say that (thanks to my influence, lol) they’ve both started the Couch-to-5k program. They’ll be running fools!

:::::

I’m so proud of Brown Betty and Awesomesauce (and Mr. Awesomesauce!) for making the commitment to lose the excess poundage for good. And since I know these people, and I know that they can do anything they put their minds to, I’m confident I’ll soon be surrounded with svelte hotties :)

There are others in my circle who are editing their lifestyles to be healthier, happier folks. No doubt, there are hundreds – THOUSANDS – more out there who are doing the same thing! To those of you working on getting in shape and losing weight, know that you’re not alone and that it can be done. And that YOU can do it.

Go team!

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Posted in Personal Stories, Weight Loss | View Comments

Chugging Along

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

I’ve completed Week 2 of my 12-week half marathon training program! It wasn’t easy, but I’m proud to say that I didn’t miss a single workout. I had to rearrange things a little bit here and there due to weather and…  life, but I got in every single run.

The first week was difficult, but had the benefit of being exciting: I was starting a new training program! To prepare for my longest race yet! And I had all sorts of new running clothes!

That excitement was enough to propel me through Week 1, even though I was forced to run on the treadmill, which can be torturous. You see, one of the things I like most about running is being outside: The breeze (but not wind!); the sun (as long as it’s not too hot!); the people (as long as they don’t look at me funny!). And with the snow we were hit with, running outside wasn’t an option.

So Week 2 was even more difficult than the first: The excitement of starting the new program started to wear off, and I was still stuck running inside on the treadmill.

Until yesterday, when I ran OUTSIDE.

The sun actually emerged. My city had been shrouded in gloom, and then – remarkably – the sun came out! And, as I tend to do, I took advantage of that sun.

It was fantastic. It felt so good to be outside and running in the elements – not on a conveyor-belt inside a stuffy gym. It also was like running through an obstacle course: While many people have cleared their sidewalks, many still haven’t. This led to a lot of hopping and stretching and jumping. That part was difficult, but was still kinda fun.

What wasn’t fun were the sections of my route that don’t have sidewalks. Usually I run on the shoulders in these spots, but as the shoulders are filled with snow (not run-on-able snow, either), I had to run ON THE ROAD. Decidedly un-fun.

Tomorrow I’m scheduled to run 5 miles. It’s supposed to be a decent day here weather-wise, and I am planning to get outside again, foregoing the treadmill as much as possible. But this time, I’ll plan my route better, so as to avoid those pesky roads without sidewalks.

Week 3: Here we come!

PS – Yesterday’s weight was 169.5. Finally in the 160s!! 7.5 more to the big 1-0-0!

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

Gym Musings

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
  • People with long legs would survive a landslide more easily than those of us who are less vertically endowed: I was on the treadmill next to a man who was a bit taller than me. Even though our feet hit at the exact same time with every step, I was going at a 6.0 pace, and he was going 7.5. This is completely unfair.
  • Yesterday I walked by a girl about my age on the elliptical. She was pointing frantically and looked like she was shouting something – I actually thought she was yelling at me for a second – but no sound was coming from her lips. Turns out, she was just really into her music. For the duration of her workout, she pantomimed along to the music. I have no problem with this – to each his own, you know? – but if you do act like this at the gym, be aware that you’re in public, and it’s impossible not to notice such behavior…
  • It’s easier to do interval training (run at an easier pace, with short intervals of high speed) than to run at a pace in the middle consistently. You can end with the same pace overall, and studies show that you increase your fitness more quickly AND have a higher ‘after burn’ (burn more calories in the 24-hour period after working out). It’s win-win!
  • I no longer feel like the fattest person at my gym. In fact, I often feel good about myself at the gym. Of course, that’s only when I don’t see myself in the mirror. I have these pants that are definitely function over form – they are not at all flattering. I figure that if I wear those pants at the gym, I can exercise my self-confidence at the same time that I’m exercising my body.
  • Don’t forget your walkman – or to charge it – when heading to the gym. It makes for a long and boring cardio session.
  • Being next to people who are really putting in effort makes me try much harder than when I’m next to people who are half-assing it. And while I’m at it…
  • People who half-ass it at the gym get me all bent out of shape. What’s the point?! You’ve done the hard part: Getting out of the house and to the gym. Now make the most of it! Quit phoning it in and step it up a notch. You’ll see the results in short order :)

That is all. Thanks for listening.

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The Tortoise Becomes The Hare – Kind of.

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Yesterday I went to the gym immediately before my Kung Fu class for my scheduled 2-mile run – the shortest distance I’ll run over the course of the next 3 months.

When I got to the gym, it was pretty crowded. The row of treadmills was full except for one that was out of service and another that had my name on it: Not only was it available and in working order, but it was between two girls who were both running.

I love running beside people who are really putting in effort – it pushes me to try harder. So this was perfect: The girl on my left was going 6.2 and the girl on my right was going 7.8 (yes, I peeked. I always peek, don’t you?). My usual starting pace these days is 5.5, so that’s what I put it on. I generally end up slowing to a 5.0/5.2 , and I average about 11:30 – 12:30 per mile.

Not yesterday, though.

After just 30 seconds or so at 5.5, I bumped it up to 6.0, where I stayed for a bit. It was tough, but the girls on either side of me kept pushing me. Not literally, of course, and not even verbally, because we didn’t talk at all. You know what I mean…

The treadmill I was on had a virtual track with a light that moved around it showing my progress; each lap equals 1/4 mile. For at least 2 of the 4 laps in my first mile, on the second half of the lap I bumped my speed up to 7.5.

If you’re not a treadmill runner and don’t have swanky technology that helps determine your pace (I don’t, and regular watches don’t count) it’s hard to know exactly how fast you’re going and get your precise pace for each mile. For me, 7.5 is fast. That’s an 8-minute mile. Recall that I average approximately 12 minutes per mile.

I’m happy to say that bumping up the intensity during that first mile got me my fastest (measured) mile at 9:27.

Of course, I couldn’t keep that up for both miles, but I was able to finish both miles in under 20 minutes! 19:28 total. So the second mile took me just 10:01, which is far faster than my typical pace, as well.

Believe me: By the end of that second mile I was dead. Clearly I’m not at the point where I can run at that pace for long distances, but it’s a start! It’s nice to see what I’m capable of.

The way my half marathon schedule is structured, there is one run each week that is much shorter than the rest (2 miles for the first 6 weeks; 3 miles for the last 6 weeks). My plan is to work on endurance on the other runs each week, and really push the speed on the short runs.

Just to see what happens.

For now? You can call me Flash :)

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

Weather Be Damned!

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Even if you don’t live on the East Coast, I’m sure that by now everyone’s heard of the current weather situation we’ve been dealing with: “Snowmageddon” as it’s being called. In a way, the crapload of snow we have is messing with my workout plans, and in another, it’s actually helping me as I get back in the running groove.

On Sunday, there was too much snow to run outside and my gym was closed, so I pushed my first run to Monday. It would have been tough to fit that in on Monday, though, because that’s when I have my Hip Hop class. But, that class was cancelled, and the gym was reopened, so I got my first run in just one day late.

On Tuesday, I should have had Kung Fu, but it was cancelled. In the late afternoon, though, the roads between my house and my gym weren’t too bad and my workload was light, so I took advantage and went down there for my next run (3 miles – still tough). It would have been a challenge to do both the run and Kung Fu in the same day on my first week – especially if I wasn’t able to cut out from work early. (Thanks, boss!)

Yesterday, the roads were awful again, but I needed to fit a rest day in there somewhere anyway.

Today, I know that I’ll get to the gym for my scheduled 2-mile run whenever I see an open window for it.

It’s like this: I know that I can’t just go for a run whenever I want to at this point in time, so whenever I see an opportunity for it, I seize it! Especially during this first week of trying to get into the swing of running 11+ miles per week again, it’s kind of nice to have that urgency due to the weather, as well as the forced relief from my other class commitments.

Not that I don’t miss Kung Fu and Hip Hop, because I do. They’re both a lot of fun and I’m ready to go back! It’s just helpful to have that break allowing me to ease into the half marathon training.

I love that I’m not letting the weather hold me back, even when some of my standard workouts aren’t available to me.

Take that, Snow Miser!

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Training, Workouts | View Comments

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