Sunday, June 26, 2011
In sickness and in Health
Unfortunately, after the awesomeness on Thursday, I promptly caught a stomach bug and have been out of commission for the entire weekend. Thankfully, my boyfriend was here to help me out. Not only did he make me a stake dinner with corn and mashed potatoes for a pre planned meal, but when my stomach felt quesy, he even made apple sauce from scratch at 2AM. Hopefully now i can get better and back with the running.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Weekend Warrior
I first heard the term weekend warrior in some magazine. I probably read it cruising along on the ellipticals. But wherever I read it, the term has sort of stuck in my head. Now whenever I do a hard workout, I repeat the term in my head and smile to myself.
Today, was one of those days where I felt like a warrior. After the slightly failed interval workout, today was supposed to be a cross training. Last night, I planned on waking up early at 5AM to get an easy run in. Well, I promptly woke up with the alarm, took one look at the still dark morning, and fell back asleep until 7AM, making a run out of the question. I decided that a run wasn't meant to be and made plans for the spinning class. After all, it was a day meant for cross training.
Then to my surprise, I found myself lacing up my sneakers and heading out at blazing hot 3PM. The good news was that I ran the 3.5 miles and found a very scenic route. It was the perfect route to cruise along with a good friend. But this wasn't the only thing that clinched my status as a weekend warrior. An hour after the run, I went to the spinning class! Not only that, I pushed myself to work my hardest numbers or not.
This great feeling of being fit and healthy diminished when I walked in to my apartment after some bubble tea. On the floor, in a location that I can't ignore, there was a dead bee! I don't even know how that got there, because I sure didn't see a live bee flying around the apartment. Anyways my grand delusions about being a warrior disappeared after having a hysterical fit for about 10 to 20 minutes. I shall take this as fate putting me in my rightful place and reminding me that I've still got a long way to go.
Today, was one of those days where I felt like a warrior. After the slightly failed interval workout, today was supposed to be a cross training. Last night, I planned on waking up early at 5AM to get an easy run in. Well, I promptly woke up with the alarm, took one look at the still dark morning, and fell back asleep until 7AM, making a run out of the question. I decided that a run wasn't meant to be and made plans for the spinning class. After all, it was a day meant for cross training.
Then to my surprise, I found myself lacing up my sneakers and heading out at blazing hot 3PM. The good news was that I ran the 3.5 miles and found a very scenic route. It was the perfect route to cruise along with a good friend. But this wasn't the only thing that clinched my status as a weekend warrior. An hour after the run, I went to the spinning class! Not only that, I pushed myself to work my hardest numbers or not.
This great feeling of being fit and healthy diminished when I walked in to my apartment after some bubble tea. On the floor, in a location that I can't ignore, there was a dead bee! I don't even know how that got there, because I sure didn't see a live bee flying around the apartment. Anyways my grand delusions about being a warrior disappeared after having a hysterical fit for about 10 to 20 minutes. I shall take this as fate putting me in my rightful place and reminding me that I've still got a long way to go.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Hitting my stride
So I think I've finally learned to enjoy my runs. My last post had been about my horrible running week. Well, that Saturday, I ended up getting 3 miles in after all. Additionally, for the first time, I ran in the humid, hot environment of central New York. It also helped that I was visiting my boyfriend's family so it was a new place to run. Did I mention that I had my boyfriend and his dog tag along? It turned out, this run was just what i needed. Because of the dog, for the first mile, I had to stop a few times along the way so that he could cool off in the nearby stream. I also ran it at a relaxed pace of 9:15min/miles. In addition, I figured out how to use the auto lap function on my garmin, so i even had mile splits. And this was after owning the watch for 2 years!
After the encouraging run of the Saturday, I headed out again on Sunday to get in my long run for the week of 5 miles. Even though I was heading out by myself, the dog insisted on coming along, so I took him for the first mile. Then I had to stop by the house and trick him into not following me for the rest of the miles. It's an Aussie with a lot of black fur. I didn't want to be responsible for killing a dog from heat exhaustion. Because his dad has a farm, the dog wasn't on a leash, which I prefer. I'd rather not have to concern myself with wrestling with the dog to stop it from getting distracted when I'm trying not to pass out from exhaustion. The rest of the five miles went smoothly.
Monday, I was able to go on an easy 4 miler. By Monday, I was back at school and ready to conquer the hills that I've been avoiding for the last week. Intentionally keeping the pace above 9 min/miles helped me to enjoy my run.
Tuesday was a first for me. The schedule called for cross training and for the first time in my life, I cross trained for training. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep myself focused on a stationary bike, I went to an hour long spinning class. For some odd reason, all the school stationary bikes didn't have a rpm tracker or mile tracker. Since I am an enginerd, numbers mean a lot to me. Music and the instructor wasn't enough to make the workout enjoyable. I had no way of knowing my exact resistance, distance, or rpm. There was nothing to shoot for.
This brings us to today. I had originally set my alarm for 5AM for an early morning intervals, but sounds of rain and thunder made it easier for me to make excuses and sleep in. I tried to run the intervals on the treadmill, which wasn't ideal. The plan called for 15 min warm up, 2 mile repeats with 2 min rest in between, and another 15 min cool down. I changed it to one mile warm up and cool down, 2 mile repeats with 0.25mile rest in between. Unfortunately, I couldn't complete the interval even with Bones playing on the TV in front of me. I hit the speeds I wanted for the warm up and the repeats, but I ended up not finishing the cool down for a total of 3.5 miles. warm up- 9:12 mile repeats - 8:27. Maybe I should strive for a slower warm up and cool down and maybe slower intervals?
Two nights before weekend!
After the encouraging run of the Saturday, I headed out again on Sunday to get in my long run for the week of 5 miles. Even though I was heading out by myself, the dog insisted on coming along, so I took him for the first mile. Then I had to stop by the house and trick him into not following me for the rest of the miles. It's an Aussie with a lot of black fur. I didn't want to be responsible for killing a dog from heat exhaustion. Because his dad has a farm, the dog wasn't on a leash, which I prefer. I'd rather not have to concern myself with wrestling with the dog to stop it from getting distracted when I'm trying not to pass out from exhaustion. The rest of the five miles went smoothly.
Monday, I was able to go on an easy 4 miler. By Monday, I was back at school and ready to conquer the hills that I've been avoiding for the last week. Intentionally keeping the pace above 9 min/miles helped me to enjoy my run.
Tuesday was a first for me. The schedule called for cross training and for the first time in my life, I cross trained for training. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep myself focused on a stationary bike, I went to an hour long spinning class. For some odd reason, all the school stationary bikes didn't have a rpm tracker or mile tracker. Since I am an enginerd, numbers mean a lot to me. Music and the instructor wasn't enough to make the workout enjoyable. I had no way of knowing my exact resistance, distance, or rpm. There was nothing to shoot for.
This brings us to today. I had originally set my alarm for 5AM for an early morning intervals, but sounds of rain and thunder made it easier for me to make excuses and sleep in. I tried to run the intervals on the treadmill, which wasn't ideal. The plan called for 15 min warm up, 2 mile repeats with 2 min rest in between, and another 15 min cool down. I changed it to one mile warm up and cool down, 2 mile repeats with 0.25mile rest in between. Unfortunately, I couldn't complete the interval even with Bones playing on the TV in front of me. I hit the speeds I wanted for the warm up and the repeats, but I ended up not finishing the cool down for a total of 3.5 miles. warm up- 9:12 mile repeats - 8:27. Maybe I should strive for a slower warm up and cool down and maybe slower intervals?
Two nights before weekend!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Demotivated
Lately, I haven't had much motivation for running other than visiting home at the end of summer where I get to run by the beach. I plan on doing the 5K, but I still am not signed up for it and a 5K isn't proving to be a much of a motivation. Probably because I know that if I had to, I can get off of my couch right now to run/job 3.1 miles. Additionally, I've had sort of a lack of energy, maybe because other than today, I've been trying to go to the treadmill for my runs. Despite having no hills, I find treadmill running very discouraging. It always seems like I need to expand more energy for the same distance and speed. Whatever the reason, this whole week probably will be my lowest milege yet. :( I've only gotten in 6 miles this whole week. I ran 3.5 miles the Tuesday, first day on the treadmill. Wednesday was supposed to be a tempo run, but I think I set the tempo pace too high. After 2.5 miles of majority warm up miles and only a few minutes of the tempo, I was done and I shut off the treadmill before I fell off. Thursday wasn't any better. After a long day at work, I headed over to the treadmill, and before I even got to a mile, I stopped. Friday was supposed to be my rest day, so I took off Friday too.
And now that brings me to today, where I headed out for a brief 0.5 miles and stopped. At least, this was outside and the breeze was nice even if I felt like a loser for giving up. One thing that did contribute to my lack of running today is that my garmin wasn't able to catch a signal. That's been happening a lot lately, maybe it's time to retire my garmin. As a person obsessed with numbers in my runs, this is a disaster. But maybe it'll make me run slower? It's the opposite of my ultimate goal, but I think I should start doing my easy runs way slower for me to really enjoy the sights and just the feel of my legs moving.
I'm going to end with a happier note, since it's a sunny Saturday morning and I don't want to be too down on myself. I think I might change my training plan in hopes of running a half marathon at the end of summer. 13.1 miles seem totally doable, but at the same time, I can't just run a 13.1 miles on a whim. And I love distance. I like to just steadily chug along. I think I might sign up for the Turning Stone Half Marathon.
Happy weekend!
And now that brings me to today, where I headed out for a brief 0.5 miles and stopped. At least, this was outside and the breeze was nice even if I felt like a loser for giving up. One thing that did contribute to my lack of running today is that my garmin wasn't able to catch a signal. That's been happening a lot lately, maybe it's time to retire my garmin. As a person obsessed with numbers in my runs, this is a disaster. But maybe it'll make me run slower? It's the opposite of my ultimate goal, but I think I should start doing my easy runs way slower for me to really enjoy the sights and just the feel of my legs moving.
I'm going to end with a happier note, since it's a sunny Saturday morning and I don't want to be too down on myself. I think I might change my training plan in hopes of running a half marathon at the end of summer. 13.1 miles seem totally doable, but at the same time, I can't just run a 13.1 miles on a whim. And I love distance. I like to just steadily chug along. I think I might sign up for the Turning Stone Half Marathon.
Happy weekend!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Avoiding Hills
I got awesome runs in during the weekend, when I was visiting Rochester. I got to run by quaint houses for a mile until I got to the Erie Canal trail where miles of road stretched out before me next to the canal. Best part about it was that the whole course was flat. The only eventful thing happened during the canal run, when a deer decided to play chicken with me. It started running towards me from afar. I just kept on running because I was too tired to move off the road. Luckily, the deer chickened out first and ran into the trees at the last minute.
Unfortunately, weekend ended and I had to face the hilly roads of my home. For some reason, I still have a mental block against running outside here. For a few days, I actually haven't run outside on my usual trails at home. I just can't bring myself to run up the hills. The sad part is that they aren't even that bad. There's one big hill and the rest are gradual inclines. Tomorrow is the tempo run, so I definitely won't be running on the trail. I don't think I can keep my tempo pace when there isn't a treadmill to stop me from running slower.
Even though my plan for the next four weeks is to increase my speed, it hasn't been working well so far. Any pace faster than 8 min 30 sec seems unbearably fast on the treadmill. Hopefully, I can pick up a faster speed on the roads.
Friday: Rest day!
Saturday: 5.4 miles along the canal at a 8:58min/mile
Sunday: 3 miles recovery long 9:01min/mile also along the canal to burn off the funnel cake from night before
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 3.5 miles 8:43min/mile
Unfortunately, weekend ended and I had to face the hilly roads of my home. For some reason, I still have a mental block against running outside here. For a few days, I actually haven't run outside on my usual trails at home. I just can't bring myself to run up the hills. The sad part is that they aren't even that bad. There's one big hill and the rest are gradual inclines. Tomorrow is the tempo run, so I definitely won't be running on the trail. I don't think I can keep my tempo pace when there isn't a treadmill to stop me from running slower.
Even though my plan for the next four weeks is to increase my speed, it hasn't been working well so far. Any pace faster than 8 min 30 sec seems unbearably fast on the treadmill. Hopefully, I can pick up a faster speed on the roads.
Friday: Rest day!
Saturday: 5.4 miles along the canal at a 8:58min/mile
Sunday: 3 miles recovery long 9:01min/mile also along the canal to burn off the funnel cake from night before
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 3.5 miles 8:43min/mile
Thursday, June 9, 2011
New Goal
I've always wanted to do a race, but always the lack of time and lack of funds, have thwarted me in my attempt to see what I can do. Well, this time, I am definitely signing up for a race. I thought I might want to do a half marathon, but I've decided that I want to work on my speed. I've never been so slow that I'd get passed by all the other runners, but I've never been fast. My comfortable pace has remained in 8 min 45 sec mile for my entire running career. This summer, I am going to sign myself up for the eight ugly men 5k and run it at a faster pace.
One thing I'm worried about is the degree of heat. I've never been a running in heat kind of person. During the summers, I painstakingly get up at 6AM to complete my run for the day. If I happen to sleep in, I might walk to the gym and run on the treadmill. I've tried to run on Tuesday after work and ended up throwing up everything that night. I guess I'll just take it slow. Maybe I'll get fast enough that I'll outrun the heat? Well, a girl can wish.
Because I run in the mornings, I usually end up running on an empty stomach which gives me less energy. So in anticipation, I always get a bundle of bananas forgetting that I dislike bananas. I always manage to convince myself that I'd eat it when I'm at the market. So undoubtedly I always end up having to consume inhumane amounts of bananas in one day or this time, I've left it so long that only thing it was fit for was banana chocolate chip cookies. More reason to eat more and keep on gaining weight.
This was only the beginning. I now have upwards of 45 cookies to consume. At least they are more sugary and keep better than banana in its fruit form.
On a side note: The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get off your Butt and on with Your Training by Dawn Dais. She made me want to train for a marathon. She also didn't lose any weight from this running endeavor but at least she didn't gain any. This is the perfect book for when you are alone. I say alone because I made the mistake of reading it during work while waiting for some things to get done. You'd definitely look ridiculous sitting by yourself giggling.
On to boring part,
Tuesday: 1 mile in 0.2 increments 7:15min/mile (The run that made me sick) Actually instead of the heat, it might have been the whole bag of hot cheetos that I consumed before the run, but that's beside the point.
Wednesday: 3 miles in 8:42min/mile on the treadmill
Thursday: total 3 miles but ran four 200m repeats.
One thing I'm worried about is the degree of heat. I've never been a running in heat kind of person. During the summers, I painstakingly get up at 6AM to complete my run for the day. If I happen to sleep in, I might walk to the gym and run on the treadmill. I've tried to run on Tuesday after work and ended up throwing up everything that night. I guess I'll just take it slow. Maybe I'll get fast enough that I'll outrun the heat? Well, a girl can wish.
Because I run in the mornings, I usually end up running on an empty stomach which gives me less energy. So in anticipation, I always get a bundle of bananas forgetting that I dislike bananas. I always manage to convince myself that I'd eat it when I'm at the market. So undoubtedly I always end up having to consume inhumane amounts of bananas in one day or this time, I've left it so long that only thing it was fit for was banana chocolate chip cookies. More reason to eat more and keep on gaining weight.
This was only the beginning. I now have upwards of 45 cookies to consume. At least they are more sugary and keep better than banana in its fruit form.
On a side note: The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get off your Butt and on with Your Training by Dawn Dais. She made me want to train for a marathon. She also didn't lose any weight from this running endeavor but at least she didn't gain any. This is the perfect book for when you are alone. I say alone because I made the mistake of reading it during work while waiting for some things to get done. You'd definitely look ridiculous sitting by yourself giggling.
On to boring part,
Tuesday: 1 mile in 0.2 increments 7:15min/mile (The run that made me sick) Actually instead of the heat, it might have been the whole bag of hot cheetos that I consumed before the run, but that's beside the point.
Wednesday: 3 miles in 8:42min/mile on the treadmill
Thursday: total 3 miles but ran four 200m repeats.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Starting from Scratch
Ever since I could remember, running was the one thing that I could do. But three years of college has definitely destroyed any running ability that I had. This summer, I am starting from the beginning. My goal is to log at least 10 miles a week. Hopefully 10 miles a week will soon increase. Wish me luck!
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