Day 76 of Training: 3.5 Miles

Saturday came around and it was the start of a new training week. I was supposed to run for 20 minutes, walk 5, then run for another 20. I did pretty well at first and made it through my first 20, I started to walk, slowed down to catch my breathe and then started running again.

I don't know why I didn't think this through but I was going the same route I do everyday which is about 3.7 miles. Well, I realize I'm going to run out of my route before I run out of time so I'm trying to decide where to go. After considering some longer routes I finally decide that I'm just going to pass my house, keep going to the end of the street, take a left (which is a dead end) and then come back. In my head I'm thinking this should be about right. So I pass my house, wave to a neighbor that's working in his yard, run my new route and start heading back towards my house. I wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch... I still have 5 minutes left!! I pass my house again and run to the end of the street which took considerably less time than I had anticipated. I come back toward my house wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch. I still have 2 more minutes! I decided to just bag it. My neighbor was starting to give me odd looks, my legs felt like jello, my sides were hurting and I think there's only so many times you can pass your own house and not just want to collapse onto your porch. My second time around was only 18 minutes. Close but didn't make it.

I started to think about it and I wondered if I hadn't have stopped for the 5 minute walk how long I could have ran? I also probably would have been able to keep my same route without the slow down in the middle if I would have just kept running.

Today I decided to take no breaks, take it easy and slow and see how long I could run. I was pretty excited as I came up on my 20 minutes, then 25, then 30 and I finally decided to stop and cool down at 35. I felt like my legs were getting tired and I was coming up to my house. 35 MINUTES!! I was pretty excited.

I was getting really nervous about the 5K that I signed up for on October 10th. I was worried I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing but now I feel like a weight has been lifted. I did 3.5 miles in 35 minutes... I know, only a 10 minutes mile. I'm going to keep it here and try to get a little faster before the 5k.

I'm so excited to be jogging for more than 30 minutes! That means I can officially start my marathon training program in a couple weeks! Yay for 35 minutes!! I thought I'd never get here!!

Day 67 of Training

Saturday. I love Saturdays!! I get to sleep in a little. Zach doesn't have to rush off to work so I get to take my time trying to do good things for my body. I woke up around 8am which is about 2 hours later than normal. I'm not sure why, maybe it was all that extra sleep, but I felt like trying to run for 15 minutes today.

I danced out of my bed and slipped on my running clothes. I'm excited that it's sunny outside and I can wear my shorts & t-shirt instead of my long pants, jacket and hat that I've had to wear lately to keep warm. I get warmed up, turn on my music and do a quick walk for 5 minutes. I don't get far when it's time for my 15 minutes of jogging to start. I'm taking it slow and I'm still amazed at how easy it is for me to do this now. I remember the first couple of times that I ran and how I felt like I was gonna die and I had only ran for like... 30 seconds. It's amazing how when you get it right it's so much easier.

I'm on the rail trail and the sun is streaming through the trees making a picturesque seen in front of me. There's also all these tiny little bugs floating in the air. I keep trying to breathe without actually inhaling the bugs. It makes me wonder if they're always there and I just don't see them because there's no light at 6am or if they show up when the sun comes out. I don't want to think too much about it. The idea that I continuously swallow bugs without realizing it is kind of making my stomach turn.

About 8 minutes have passed. I get to the part of the trail where I would normally turn around and head back. I realize that I'm going to need more mileage if I'm going to run the 15 minutes twice. I decide to cross the street and go an extra mile. There aren't any trees on this part of the trail and the sun is getting hotter. I can see the end of the trail ahead and it felt like forever but I finally made it. I turn around and start walking for 5 minutes. Wow! Not so bad!! I did it!! I ran for 15 minutes. I was a little tired but by the time my 5 minutes of walking was up I felt good enough to do it over again.

I made it about 10 minutes and then I started to feel really tired. My legs started to feel a little more like jello than muscles and my breathing wasn't as easy as it was before. I thought about stopping, calling it good. I did try to do the 15 minutes 1 day ahead of schedule. Technically, I shouldn't have started until Monday. Maybe I should just give myself a break and call it good. Then I decided... I probably wasn't going to hurt more or feel more tired in 5 minutes than I do right now. BUT... I knew that emotionally, I would feel totally different if I went through and finished or if I stopped and called it good. It became the difference of winning or losing. The difference was knowing I did it or quiting. I decided to do it. As the timer ticked down to zero I was practically on my front porch. I did it!! Then I thought... I ran for 30 minutes today. With a 5 minutes walking break but still... I ran almost all of 3.7 miles!! That's pretty awesome for me!!

It's good to feel like I'm progressing and it's fun to look back at where I've been. It makes it mean so much more to see how hard I've worked to get here. Oh!! PS. I signed up for the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon this week. I heard it's awesome and I'm pretty excited!! I also signed up for the 1st 5K that I will be RUNNING... or actually jogging. : ) It's the firehouse run at HAFB. I'm more nervous than excited about it. I really want to be able to run the whole 3 miles without a walking break in the middle. It's 20 days away... wish me luck, cross your fingers and pray for me! I need all the help I can get!!

Day 62 of Training: 10 Minutes!!

Today I got up, didn't feel like moving so I kind of sat in my closet for about 20 minutes deciding if I really wanted to try to squeeze into that sports bra today. I finally did and just as I was on my way out the door my 2 year old, Anneliese, woke up. Considering how happy she was I knew there was no way she was going to go back to sleep.

I bundled her up and walked her out to the garage. I have one of those really awesome bike trailers that converts into a running stroller that costs more than my mountain bike did because it's so easy to use, so easy to convert, safe, etc... Well, I couldn't figure out how to detach it from my bike "with one easy to remove latch". So I ended up taking our regular, cheap, bought in an emergency at the WalMart by Disneyland stroller.

We finally get going. I decided I was going to walk 5 minutes & run/jog 10 minutes today & repeat it once. I start walking around my corner and up the street out of my neighborhood. I can't quite figure out exactly how to hold the stroller. I still wanted to move my arms so I tried to one hand it. It didn't last long. I couldn't control the stroller very well and Anneliese was heading to the middle of the street and then to the gutter, depending on which arm I was holding the stroller with. There was no way around it, I needed to use both hands.

My 5 minutes of walking is up and I'm jogging. It's a little bit harder because I have the extra weight of pushing the stroller. I'm going slightly uphill and I check my watch, only 2 minutes have passed. Hhhmmm... I think I'm doing pretty good. I don't think things could get much worse than the way I feel right now if I keep my pace. I start to take larger strides. I'm feeling pretty good until I take a step onto the back of the stroller and try to kill myself with this super stunt. I kind of do a... um... very graceful... spin to the ground. OUCH!! That's gonna leave a mark! I get up and scrape myself off. I remember my iPhone in my pouch and I'm grateful that I have it. It's just my normal clumsy self that will end me up in the hospital or stuck on one of these trails with no way to get home except to call for help. I smile as I take note of my smarts of always bringing my phone. Luckily, I'm just fine, no ambulance needed today. : )

I decide to keep my steps short to avoid tumbling over the top of my 2 year old. I've also slowed down a bit. I'm not going to win any races at the pace I'm going but I'm OK with that. I'm still moving toward my goal. I ran 10 minutes TWICE today. I'm pretty darn excited about that! On my way home I ran past a neighbor that was just starting her run. She's lean, she runs marathons, she WINS marathons or is always at least at the top of the list. She has a smile on her face. I remember that she just won the women's division of the Bair Gutsman. She's gorgeous and pretty amazing. We don't say anything but "Hi" as we pass. Neither of us wants to stop. I know I'll never be like her, I know I'll never be winning races. I'll probably always be in the middle (or more at the end). I'm fine with that. I'm more than fine with that. I'm just pretty ecstatic that I'm doing it!

Day 57 of Training (Epiphany: Go Slow)

I've had an epiphany today. For all these weeks, any number of my friends that have given advice have said "just take it easy at first" or "go slow". Well I thought that meant... don't try to do all 3 miles of running right off the bat... build it up slowly. So I've been trying to sprint for five minutes & walk for five minutes. Until today.

Let me back up... About two weeks ago I had to take some antibiotics. I don't do very well with any kind of medication and I was SO TIRED all the time. We went on a little vacation around the same time to Cedar City to watch the Shakespearean Festival. While there my Husband and I were like "Hey! We're on vacation!! Let's eat anything and everything that we would never eat at home" My diet was mostly carbs, grease and sugar while there. I came home feeling like crap. I felt physically ill. I think my body just couldn't function with all the drugs & the awful food. Lesson learned... I'm not garbage so I shouldn't put garbage in my body. Of course, I HAD to take the antibiotics but the food? Not necessary, I need to be kinder to myself.

Well, when I came back I couldn't even run for 3 minutes. I had really gone backwards. I was so frustrated so I just kept pushing harder. I was trying to power through the run. I read an article that said I should just try to relax while running. I tried really hard to relax my upper body while I was running. Relax my arms and my neck, shoulders, etc... It did seem to help a little. I wasn't as tense and I seemed to use less energy.

Then yesterday I went walking with my Mom and she said that she had read that it's easier on your body and you go faster by taking smaller strides. Hhhhmmm... I'll have to give that a try.

I also read an article that was about the biggest mistakes that beginning runners make. One of the things that stuck out to me is that I should be running slower, jogging. Well I thought I was jogging. I didn't really know the difference between a jog and a run other than one is slower. I'm running slow. I assumed I was jogging. Then the article explained how I should feel. It said I should feel relaxed, my breathe should be easy and not strained, I should be able to talk while I run. I thought about how I feel when I run and I wouldn't use any of those words to describe my feelings while I run. In fact... kind of the opposite.

I decided to give "slowing my run down" a chance. So this morning I warmed up in front of my house and started running... slowly... I guess this is what jogging is... Side note: I feel pretty cute this morning because I just bought some new exercise clothes yesterday. My old ones were to big and to my delighted surprise I was 2 sizes smaller than I thought I was. OK, back to this morning: I came around my corner and I mentally tried to make my strides small, I relaxed and went slow. Hhhmmm... I wasn't losing my breathe yet. I wondered how long I could go? I jogged nearly a third of my route before I thought that maybe I should go into my walk. The part that I ran usually takes me about 15 minutes to walk so I think that I might have been jogging for TEN MINUTES!! I was pretty excited. I think I could have kept going but I wanted to make sure I wasn't over doing it with my new found comfort of running.

I started walking. Now, usually by the time I start walking after a run I'm gasping for air and I feel like grasping hold of something to try and catch my breathe. Not today! Going in and out of walking was easy and such a smooth transition. I walked for just a couple of minutes and started my jog again. I'm sure people could visually see the little cartoon light bulb click on over my head. "OH!! Go Slow!!" Everyone was telling me the whole time but I somehow misunderstood! I thought I was such a smart girl! Maybe I was over analyzing what everyone said, who knows why it didn't make sense until just now.

I'm confident that I could run/jog my whole course. It almost seems easy to me now. Of course I can't sprint the whole thing, what was I thinking? Running doesn't have to be sprinting. I enjoyed it so much today, it was so awesome to be able to run and breathe all at the same time. hahaha I'm laughing because you wouldn't think you would have to explain how to "run" to someone. Like I said at the beginning though... I've never done this before. I'd bet that I'm the most un-athletic person you'll ever meet... but THAT is changing.