Monday, August 30, 2010

Derailment

Last week was without a doubt one of the worst weeks of the year. I knew it would be a challenging week for my family as I had an interview for a position I wasn't 100% sure I wanted, Sydney was starting Kindergarten and Scott is handling a major project. What I was not expecting was that Sydney and I would get the stomach flu, she would miss her first 2 days of Kindergarten and my training plan would fly out the window.

Sunday, as we know, was my longest run ever, 4 miles. On Tuesday I was scheduled to run 3 and did it on the treadmill at the gym and it sucked, it hurt but I got it done. I was in a lot of pain on Tuesday and come Wednesday it was ridiculous. Every muscle and bone in my body ached and I seriously thought if it was this bad how in the heck would I make it through the rest of my training. Later in the evening I knew something was wrong when it hurt to touch my skin, and sure enough I had a low grade fever. Part of me was relieved to know that it was not my training that had done this to me but the flu. Although, it really was not a pleasant 5 days.

As my body is trying to recover I'm faced with how to proceed with the week. Today was strength training and stretching which went fine, I even did a quick easy 2 miles on the bike at the gym to remind my legs that I would be expecting some performance from them tomorrow. Ideally, I would like to run 3 miles tomorrow, but I'm going to test it out and see how the body responds, if running all of it seems to be too much I'll at least walk and be sure to get my miles in that way.

Nobody said it was going to be easy, right?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I seem to be a cluster this week

So yesterday I nearly get taken out by an SUV, today I lose my drivers license.

I should be sitting here feeling so great about getting my 4 mile run in today. It's the furthest I have run, ever. As I completed my cool down walk I thought about how if I can do this, the training plan is working and I will be able to run a 1/2 marathon come race day. I felt so great!

Then, I get home and reach into my pocket to grab my key and realize my license is not in the pocket. WTF? I had to unzip the pocket and the key is still there so how is the license gone. I feel around for holes and there are none. Seriously, how do I lose one and not the other. So, now I'm sitting here stressing about not having a license and having to go to the DMV to request a new one. As I think about my run, I think that I may have unzipped and checked the contents of the pocket to make sure everything was still there (why, I don't know, probably to distract me from the run) I'm thinking maybe it fell out then. After recovery and a play date for Sydney I tried driving my route to see if I could find it. No luck, although I wasn't able to drive the sidewalk parts of my run that go up a hill, so I'll try later to go back and walk that area. I am so frustrated with myself, I've been meaning to get a Road ID but just haven't done it yet because I'm spending money on so much right now for training and the 1/2. I wasn't even going to bring it, but than I remembered how I nearly was taken out by a careless driver and decided to bring it.

Oh well, life goes on.

Week end totals:

Run: 9 miles
Bike: 16.63 miles

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Exactly why I don't have a road bike

I love riding my bike, but sharing the road with cars makes me nervous. Even Scott hardly ever rides his road bike anymore, I'm sure it has to do with his work and how many bike versus vehicle's he comes across. Today I had 30 minutes of cross training scheduled. I thought it would be a good idea to get on the bike and map out tomorrow's run. I'm thinking I'll run towards the trail that I use for my bike rides, which I pick up at Moraga Commons Park. I ride down my street and head towards Moraga. I make a left onto Old School Road that is adjacent to Safeway. The street is pretty deserted with no cars parked so I have a good visibility. I check my mileage and as I look up see a woman exiting the Safeway parking lot who has decided not to stop at the driveway nor look as she makes a left hand turn onto Old School Road. I hit the breaks hard to avoid a collision with her, just as I realize I'm going to be okay, by back tire fishtails out from under me and I think oh shit, I'm going down anyway. Thankfully I held it together and was able to stay upright. As the woman in her SUV is waving and mouthing "sorry" at me. Needless to say, I'm obviously pretty shook up by the entire event. I continue riding and hit the trail. Still pissed, I realize I need to focus on what I'm doing and figuring out how far I need to run tomorrow before turning around. I have two options, to run out further and walk the 1 mile back up my street to cool down or turn around earlier and run 1/2 mile up my street leaving a 1/2 mile to cool down. I think I may shoot for the latter, I guess we'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

I'm nervous about tomorrow, but I have to stay positive and know that I can do this.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Week 2 in the books

I have completed 2 weeks of training towards my 1/2 marathon program. It feels good, but I know in the weeks to come that it will become more challenging and push my limits more than ever before.

Today I had scheduled a 3 mile run and was lucky to be able to do it on the road versus the gym before Scott left for work. I woke up with a headache and was dreading running my 3 miles today. Knowing that I was on a time limit to get it done, I got dressed and headed out. As soon as I hit the pavement I felt great. The cool morning air was doing wonders for my headache and I felt strong, maybe a little too strong because I ran down my 1 mile street maybe faster than I should have. As I got to the 1 mile mark there was a walker ahead of me so I sprinted to the intersection to make it across the street without having to stop and wait for the light. All that effort in the first part of my run made for pain in the last mile of my run. This is my normal 2 mile route, but I added a little to it to get my 3 miles in today. On the return I veer off of the bike path and onto a pedestrian path because the bike path really narrows. It just feel's safer on the pedestrian path rather than sharing the road with the cars and bikes in this particular area. The only other downside to this, other than the obvious concrete versus pavement is, it's uphill. Typically on my 2 mile run, I get to slow to a cool down walk around the uphill portion. Not today, today I powered through the pain. I felt the pain in my thighs which was good because I knew my muscles were working hard. As I crested to the highest point it felt like I was running in place because I was moving so slow. As soon as I thought I was going to keel over, I hit the downhill portion and finally back to flat. Overall, the run felt good, I even planned the route so that I would have to run up some of my 1 mile street. We all know how much I detest hills, but I also know that hills will make me a stronger runner, so I'm working on it.

Glad that the week is over and that tomorrow I get to work on stretching and strength training. Next week I'll be working on increasing my mileage, wish me luck. I should run 4 miles next Sunday, which will be the most I have ever run! Scary and exciting all at the same time!

Week end totals:

Bike: 15.53 miles
Run: 7 miles

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Electronics malfunction

I guess when you begin to rely on electronics it becomes inevitable that at some point they will malfunction and wreak havoc on your workout. Apparently, today was my day. Scheduled for a two mile run this morning I headed out the front door with my heart rate monitor and my i-touch (recently equipped with the Nike+ipod application. As I started my run I was only about a block away from the house when the Nike+ just stopped working, no music, no nothing. I had to actually stop and reset my workout and begin again. Okay, I should be good. As I start running again, I look down and see my heart rate monitor is no longer receiving a heart rate. Crap! As I try to moisten the sensors on the belt, it still is registering as zero. Oh well, I stop the and restart the monitor and that seems to work. Okay, so all of my stuff is going to be a little off today as I try to run and adjust all of my electronics. Good thing, I already know my route and know where I need to turn around and I know where I can start my cool down walk. As I'm running down my street, I'm thinking that it seems weird that the friendly Nike+ lady has not come on to give my my mileage counter. So I hit the button which gives me an update only to hear that it's not actually receiving a signal from the monitor in my shoe and is only tracking minutes of my workout. Like I said, good thing I already knew my route.

After another frustrating workout with my i-touch I decide to google my shuffling music issue. Oh, seems at some point I accidentally selected the shake to shuffle option in my settings. So every time I run the i-touch thinks I'm shaking it and shuffles to a new song. At least I have that fixed! While I'm messing around, now is probably a good time to update my workout playlist, as mu runs get longer I'm going to need some good motivation!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

That was hard

Sunday's will be my long run day. Scott should have weekends off pretty soon, which will actually allow me to run long days on the road and not at the gym. In my effort to work up Hal Higdon's 12 week 1/2 marathon training program, I'm using his model but my mileage plans until about mid September when I'll start his official plan. Today on my schedule was 3 miles of running. The last time I actually ran 3 miles was at the CPOA Memorial Run in May. Needless to say. today's run hurt and since it was on a treadmill it was boring. And to make matters worse, my I-touch is doing this funky thing where it starts playing a song and skips to another and then another and if I'm really lucky another. I was about ready to take it and throw it across the gym. I guess I  need to look into seeing what the problem is. For the most part, my legs felt good, it was mostly my lungs and heart that were protesting today's run. I had to mentally tell myself (repeatedly) that no one said this would be easy, that I was not a quitter, there is no such thing as can't, and I can do this because I am strong and stubborn. I tried to imagine how good I would feel once I was done and had accomplished my goal for today. Finally, the mileage counter hit 3 miles.

After a cool down and some stretching I hit the restroom. Good lord, I looked like someone left me out in the sun all day yesterday. I get red in the face when I workout, but this was ridiculous. I splashed water on my face and I still looked the same. Really? This is kind of embarrassing, hopefully the further I condition my body the better it will get.

I sit here with my new Lululemon compression socks on. This is my third pair of compression socks, I figured I would need more with all of this running. Every pair I have is slightly different. I have a pair of Sugoi compression socks that I really love, so we'll see how these workout for me.


I survived the week, that's the most important thing. I think for next week, I'll keep the mileage the same for my long run day and then increase the following week. Right now, my body is adjusting to running 3 days a week and working out 6 days a week. I'm working to try and figure out my calorie intake with my increased workouts and hopefully still lose weight, but I seem to be hungry all of the time, so I need to focus on lots of small meals.

Week end Totals:

Run: 6 miles
Bike: 23 miles

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

It's official

It's official, I just registered for my first 1/2 marathon. I asked Scott if he thought I was crazy, and his response was "yes, but good for you".

I'll blame it on all of my smofit friends who inspire me everyday. And for the opportunity to do something that I would never, ever have thought possible.

So here is to lots of "what they hell was I thinking?", "why the hell am I doing this?" and "whose bright idea was this?" over the next several months.

Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Happy Sunday

Cheers to the end of the weekend (remember my hubby works weekends), it felt like a successful week as far as exercise and family activities. I was able to get in some great workouts and keep the kids happy all weekend... maybe I shouldn't jinx myself.

We hit the gym this morning so I could get my 2 mile run in, made an obligatory pit stop at Starbucks (they know my kids by name as well... is that bad?) and then headed to Sydney's new school to meet some girls in her kindergarten class. Sydney was super excited to play on the playground at her new school with some new and old friends and Kylie, as always, loved hanging with the big girls. Let's hope I am as ready to dive into this whole mother of an elementary school child thing.

Week end totals:

Bike: 20.61 miles
Run: 3 miles

Next week should be interesting. Hoping to find sticking to a plan seamless.