I won?!?!?!

remember that weight loss competition I mentioned at my gym?  I WON!!!  Holy Crap!!

Half Marathon Recap: Weeks 6 & 7

So I forgot to post about last week's running.  I am still running so don't take my forgetfulness as not discontinuing :)  Although, I do have an update on that...but for now, here is the recap:

Week 6:
Day 1 (Sunday): 7 miles @ 11:30 min/mile pace (NO WALKING!!!)
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 4 miles @ 11:27 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 3 miles @ 10:59 min/mile pace
Day 5 (Thursday): OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 4 miles @ 11:37 min/mile pace
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF   Week 7: Day 1 (Sunday): 8 miles 7 miles @ 11:51 min/mile pace - Couldn't do it and got really, really sick
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 4 miles @ 11:22 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 3 miles @ 11:18 min/mile pace
Day 5 (Thursday): OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 4 miles 3 miles @ 10:29 min/mile pace - Ran out of time!
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF

So you can see I'm keep on running but I got super sick last Sunday with my run.  My body just gave out and up things it shouldn't have.  Part of this is because most of my runs are in the evenings now and I am working a million hrs.  I am having struggling fitting time in for my family and it is stressing me out.  Plus, I am not sleeping.  So it is no wonder my body is rebeling!! 

So now onto my update...I am not going to be able to make the April run.  It is my own fault due to being an idiot.  Soo...I am out of the running (ha! get it?) for the April race unfortunately.  I am not stopping the running though.  I just won't do such long runs going forward.  I'll be ready by the October one though!! So This will be my last post for now about the half marathon training...until July when I start up again :)

Half Marathon Recap: Week 4

So this week was incredibly difficult due to health issues.  I will post more about that later but I am incredibly proud of how far I have come!!  I wasn't able to do one of my normal days on Friday so I will have to make up that time and I switched Sunday's long run (for today) with yesterday because I was nervous after taking 2 days off how that might effect me.  It definitely slowed me down on my pace but I still did 6 miles!  Bring on the running this week!

Day 1 (Sunday): 5 miles @ 11:30 min/mile pace
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 3 miles @ 11:14 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 2 miles @ 10:53 min/mile pace

Day 5 (Thursday): OFF

Day 6 (Friday): 3 miles  OFF - Will make up the time on Monday
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF 6 miles @ 12:05 min/mile pace

Half Marathon Recap: Week 3

This week I suffered MAJOR burn out.  I hit a freaking wall.  I realized on Wed night something was really wrong cause I just could barely even make a half mile without wanting to die.  What happened to me?!  Then I realized I had worked out 7 days in a row without a break.  So I took Thursday off and went back to it on Friday and did an easy 2 miles at a decent pace (for me) and could have done more if I had more time.  So I think that was my problem.  We'll see this week!!  Here is what happened last week.

Day 1 (Sunday):  4 miles @ 12:02 pace
Day 2 (Monday):  OFF  2 miles @ 10:33 pace
Day 3 (Tuesday):  2 miles @ 11:30 pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 2 miles @ 11:06 pace ; 1 mile @ 12:05 pace (a woman was showing me up, and I couldn't have that ;))
Day 5 (Thursday):  OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 3 miles @ 11:09 pace
Day 7 (Saturday):  OFF

And since I started this, I have dropped 17 lbs and 2 pant sizes.  Very, very happy with my progress so far :)

This week will be harder because I am going to have to start working out more at night cause I cannot squeeze the workout in my time before work.  This is when it gets hard on ME because I don't want to leave my kiddos.  Must. remain. focused.

Half Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

This week has been rough.  I started out great on Sunday with doing 5 miles but unfortunately I got 2 massive blisters - 1 on each foot.  They were so painful that I could barely walk until Tuesday.  I risks running on Tuesday with some new shoes - thinking I just needed to get a size bigger.  WRONG!  I ended up pulling a muscle trying them out and then finally went to Fleet Feet on Wed.  That made all of the difference so I finally got back into the swing of things...but unfortunately by not sticking to the plan this week, it impacted my pace and strength.  I will come back stronger in week 3!!

Day 1 (Sunday): 5 miles @ 12:00 min/mile pace
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3(Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:02 min/mile pace in the AM; 1 mile @ 10:30 min/mile pace in the PM
Day 4 (Wednesday): OFF - got new shoes!!
Day 5 (Thursday): 2 miles @ 11:11 min/mile pace - breaking in the new shoes
Day 6 (Friday): 2 miles @ 10:52 min/mile pace

Holy Blisters Batman!!

I've learned my lesson the hard way...if your feet start majorly hurting during your long run and you know there are blisters forming and you do not have any protection from them on your feet STOP RUNNING!!!  I have such a massive blister on my left foot that I can barely walk.  With help from some friends that are avid runners I have discovered I need special running socks for my long runs (which is when this happened) and shoes at least a half size bigger than my normal size.  So I bought special socks and bandaids (who knew!) and will be going to buy bigger shoes today.  Until then, I just want to have it heal by tomorrow so I can do my short run!!!

Half Marathon Training: Week 1 Recap

When I started this week I was excited but really nervous.  I knew it was crunch time and I needed to do this but I wasn't sure 1) what I was doing still and 2) if I was going to be able to really "run" most of the time.  I am not technically done with my week 1 yet but I did want to provide an update and how proud I am of myself and my husband for supporting me.  Without him I honestly wouldn't be able to sneak away to the gym to train so I really appreciate his support!

So here is my recap!

Day 1 (Sunday):  Took the day off because I did 4 miles on Saturday (13:05 pace).
Day 2 (Monday):  2 miles @ 12:53 pace
Day 3 (Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:23 pace
Day 4 (Wed):  Rest
Day 5 (Thursday): 1 mile @ 9:29 pace
Day 6 (Friday) - Day 7 (Saturday):  TBD - I wasn't able to workout this AM due to stomach issues but hope to go tonight to get my 2 miles in

So when I started this journey on 1/2 I was doing 12 min miles and was making myself complete sick so I scaled it back and started doing 13 min miles.  I also could BARELY do 2 miles.  Now I can comfortably do 4 miles with a 13 mile pace (and that was last week, TOTALLY going to beat that this weekend!!!) and on my shorter runs to increase speed I am down to 9:29 min/miles?!  Holy cow!!  My goal is to get down to 8:30 min/miles running outside.  That's my bigger kicker right now - I am a chicken and won't run outside yet (mainly because I am too cheap to buy appropriate gear :)).  So we'll see how this changes come spring when I go outside for my runs when I can.  All in all I am starting to think I can actually do this and reach ALL of my goals!

Pace or Distance?

While I am training for this crazy half marathon and just really trying to get myself healthy and improve the quality of my life, I am noticing that I am (no surprise here) way too hard on myself.  I know I have posted about my conflict on whether to run or walk but what I am now questioning is, is it better to improve your speed/pace or go longer distances?  I've noticed my version of walking is faster than most and my version of "jogging" (I would never go so far as to call myself running) is a lot faster than others.  But when I "jog" I cannot go as far as when I "walk" at a faster pace.  So which is better?  Help?

Exercise Confusion: Walk vs Run

I had it all planned out - running was going to be my new thing. My plans always have kinks in them. I ran for 3 days straight. The first day was awesome. I felt great. Well, except for almost throwing up a few times afterwards. The second day was harder. I thought I was going to die on the treadmill but I didn't give up. Then I almost threw up afterwards. The third day I could barely walk and my joints hurt so badly that I felt like I was 90 years old. Still, I didn't give in and did 2 miles. The fourth day I gave in and did the elliptical and man oh man that felt good. I wasn't sick afterwards either.

So this week being #2 I was really excited. I thought this is the week I am going to run and not get so sick afterwards. I decided I was going to make my journey public with everyone and then join up for the gym's weight loss challenge where I will totally win the grand prize (ha!). Then Kelley entered the picture and she threw everything off. She mentioned that her and the teachers at my kiddo's daycare are going to do a MS Walk in the spring/summer (cannot remember which) where they walk a total of 50 miles. I thought - walk. Huh. I love to walk...but WAIT!! I signed up for a half marathon and had already decided I was going to be a RUNNER and not a WALKER! Then I listened to Kelley talk about how much she hated running and prefers walking. So. huh. Walking. I've been so focused on running this half marathon and I never even thought about walking it.

So me being me I experimented this morning on my workout. I decided I was going to walk and see how much of a time difference there was and how I felt afterwards. I am going to do it tomorrow too since day #2 is always the hardest for me. Today I felt awesome. I easily did 2 miles at a pace of 13:45 min/miles where I was running at 12:00 min/miles. And I didn't get sick afterwards. Huh.

So...what I am confused about is what would you do? Would you stick to walking? Do a combo of both (kinda what I am thinking)? Continue to push through the pain to run?

I am SO CONFUSED!!

Oh, and I still joined the gym weight loss challenge. So that is totally happening no matter what :)

Half Marathon Training Plan

This is my plan!  I am excited and nervous!!

Goals

I'm starting a journey. I'm excited and nervous. Will I succeed? Will I fail? Will I give into the distractions of life and continue to not make my life and health a priority?

I set some loft goals last year and succeeded in very, very few. To make sure I actually did not have any room for excuses I did a couple of insane things before the end of the year last year.

1) Rejoined the gym. Ok so this isn't insane but given that I couldn't get my large booty downstairs in my freakin' basement to work out, spending money on a gym seems kinda silly.

2) Signed up for a half marathon in April. I've always talked about doing a half marathon.  In college I was regularly running 8 miles 5-6 times per week.  I was in excellent shape.  What I have to remember is that was 11 years and two kids ago.  I am not the same girl as I was then nor do I have the same body.

3) Talked with my Dr for a little help in the eating department.  That's right folks.  This lady is on medication to help her curb her appetite.  It was a hard decision and it took me and my Dr months to finally decide it was what was necessary to shrink this ever growing belly.  I've been on the pills for about 3 weeks and I have lost almost 8lbs over Christmas.  I'm finding myself struggling now but I think it is more in my head.

So that's what I did last year.  This year, besides training for the half marathon in April I am also going to attempt a competition at my gym to lose the most body % from Monday until early March.  The winner gets something I don't really care about and a Kindle Fire.  You see what I want, huh? :)

I'll be using this blog, in addition to posting regular posts about my adorable family and friends to also cover this new journey I am on to accomplish these insane goals.  I hope you will follow along!