“If running was my boyfriend, I’d guess you’d say we’ve been fighting all week.”

With the start of half marathon training, new gym schedule and restarting strength training after taking a one month+ break all on the same week, I was destined on a one way road towards train wreck that may somewhat equate to that picture of red-lipsticked Britney sitting on the sidewalk crying.

Monday: In anticipation of a very hilly 10k (461’ gain for a straight 2.75 miles) AND HM (703’ minimum elevation gain – yikes!), I tried to run a new route filled with taunting hills. Result? My eyes brimmed with tears at mile 4 and I negotiated a compromise with myself to where I won’t stop running if I cut out the second half of the hills I had planned. After the run, I was so exhausted to where I could not even pet my cat and my eyes were glazed and staring at the wall. You can say I was traumatized. emoticon

Tuesday: I woke up somewhat sore and it was hard to get out of bed. I attended a Super Sculpt class which seemed easy but that night, some more soreness came on. Good thing I skipped the Pilates class!

Wednesday: I could barely drag myself out of bed to get DH ready for work – and OMG my butt was so sore!!!! Just sitting bed made me wince. Could it be from all the butt squeezes in the sculpting class??? I went on a short run which felt like it took foooooooooorever but it helped shake out the soreness. I decided to skip a yoga strengthening class and opted for a stretching class instead. Ahhh!!!!!!!! Me likey.

Thursday: I did an hour aerobics that concentrated on legs in the first half hour and waist up in the second. TORTURE!!!! We worked on muscles I haven’t called upon since the first half of December and my confidence plummeted as I took (gentle) orders from the super-fit should-be-on-the-cover-of-Oxygen-magazine instructor. She is no joke. I went home beyond exhausted – I collapsed in bed at about noon and didn’t get up until about 6 pm. (DH didn’t appreciate that I was bouncing off the walls at 9 pm though – heehee)

Friday: Tempo Run day: 1 mi slow jog, 3 mi 8:39 pace, 1 mi slow jog. I’ve been agonizing over this because I’ve been practicing on slowing my pace that I wasn’t sure if I could do it anymore. In addition, I’ve been SO EXHAUSTED! To combat my fear, for the past few days I used visualization exercises, which calmed my jitters a bit. I decided to use my regular route. WRONG DECISION – my regular route is hilly!. At about mile 2.5-ish, I broke down to a walk (or “pathetic crawl,” as some would describe it) for about 1/4 mile and from there, slooooowly jogged and completed fartleks instead (I even ran up to the 6:34 pace – wow!!!). Plus, did I mention that it was 75 degrees in the morning???? Holy cats. I finished the mileage (with a beet red face!), came home for a snack (I almost threw it up) and sat a good few minutes in shower on the floor. I wasn’t sure about attending a yoga class an hour later, but I’m glad I did! Thanks to the class, I came out once again a relaxed, less sore, and a little more optimistic. Gotta love yoga.

Of course, I can’t just vent and leave it as is. Tough times are excellent opportunities to learn and grow – and this week definitely fits squarely in the box called “challenge.”

Firstly… (I got this idea from one of my favorite Sparkteams)

I ACCEPT that I bit off more than I could chew this week.
I ACCEPT that my body needs rest.
I ACCEPT that I am exhausted.
I ACCEPT that I am afraid of the elevation involved in the HM.
I ACCEPT that I can’t hold up the 8:39 pace on a hilly route, and especially when I am exhausted.
I ACCEPT that I need to recover.
I ACCEPT that rebuild will follow breakdown.
I ACCEPT that I have a long way to go.
I ACCEPT that I need to learn patience.
I ACCEPT that this is hard because “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
I ACCEPT that this time will pass at its own time.
I ACCEPT that my body has a timetable separate from my mind and heart.
I ACCEPT that I am turning 29, not 19.
I ACCEPT that I needed change and challenge, which will help me grow.
I ACCEPT that everyone needs to start somewhere.
I ACCEPT that I am not listening to my body close enough.
I ACCEPT the heatwave blanketing SoCal.
I ACCEPT that I need to work hard.
I ACCEPT that hard work does not always feel good.
I ACCEPT that the finish after hard work is delicious.
I ACCEPT that not every run will be glorious, but most will be.
I ACCEPT that my body may crave more nourishment.
I ACCEPT that the harder I work, the more my body needs me to listen.
I ACCEPT that I need to “trust the process.”

Secondly, my plan.

1. With the exception of yesterday, I am not eating enough carbs. With the mileage I’m putting in, I should be aiming for 225-250g of carbs for energy and NEVER below 200g. The exhaustion could also be coming from the lack thereof as well. The body is like an employee – you can’t crack the whip without extra compensation or risk your employee going postal on your booty. With this in mind, heavier training means MORE FOOD. I need to hammer this into my head.

2. Possibly find a new route to do the tempo runs. My regular route is hilly, but with long runs on the monster hills, it’s too much for me right now. I need a flat stretch of road.

3. Use the iPod again? I ditched my iPod awhile ago because it was sooo much more fun to just run on my own, but never underestimate the amount and power of motivation that comes through music! I’m not sure about this though because I like to be aware of my surroundings and I feel a lot safer without it. Plus, music gets annoying when I’m trying to concentrate on breathing and form. Hmm.

4. TEA DOES NOT HYDRATE. What was I thinking??? I’ve been drinking my jasmine green tea first things in the mornings, but it seemed to do nothing but dehydrate me during my run today. Water rules!

5. Even though the classes are incredibly fun, I may need to scale back a few. Except for yoga of course. :):)

6. Fall in love with running again. If running was my boyfriend, I’d guess you’d say we’ve been fighting all week. I hate that I’m looking at it like a calorie burner these days instead of an activity that I sing Lionel Richie songs to. I think it’s time to hit the books about running again… Maybe find inspirational running quotes… Stories… Maybe even peruse my old blogs from when I did the C25k and One Hour Runner plans. Running and I need some darn good make up you-know-whats!!!

7. Implement a reward system into my training schedule? I’m atypical to where I don’t respond to rewards, but who knows. It’s worth thinking through.

Well that’s it… I’m off to the spa for some r&r. Hey – that’s a reward, isn’t it?

Hills Do A Body Good… Right?

Today was the first run since I started in August where I wanted to quit in the middle of it.

In the spirit of committing towards a hellaciously hilly mountainous 10k AND half marathon, I embarked on a new running route that I thought would provide me the hill training I needed.

Result: I nearly DIED and by mile 4, I was begging myself to quit!!! Sure I smiled at passersby, but in my head I was whining strings of creatively colorful curse words so long that it would have made the Guinness World Records, paws down.

The good thing was that in the midst of negotiations with myself, I agreed to not quit only if I skipped Part 2 of the killer hill training I initially planned, mainly because the temperature was climbing (72 degrees) and it became more of a safety issue than anything else.

But I did finish 7 miles in 1:11:34 non-stop (except for the 5 second rests at each of the two stoplights) with a modest elevation gain of 1489 feet, shedding only a few tears and a fairly exhausted me. I reflected the trauma I endured as I walked crawled home, stripping down to my jogging bra and pants from the heat – in front of an old lady and church no less! By the time I reached my front yard, I was more relaxed and thoughts of “OMG What did I get myself into?” was further from the front of my mind.

I need yoga… NOW!

See more progress on: keep running. faster. longer. stronger.

My First Tempo Run!

First of all, had I known how FUN and EXHILARATING tempo runs were, I would have incorporated it into my runs a long time ago.

My running program went like this today:

5 min warm up walk
10 min easy jog at heart rate zone 3 (70-80% max)

Repeat 5x:
15 sec run at 90%-95% effort
45 sec recovery (easy jog)

15 min easy jog at heart rate zone 3 (70-80% max)
5 min cool down walk

The crazy/amazing thing about today was that according to Garmin, I actually hit into the 6 minute mile area – HOLY CRAP!!! And the best part? I didn’t even run it at all-out! It wasn’t too long ago that I was freaking out about dipping into the 7’s but now 6’s??? At this rate, with a little extra elbow grease, qualifying for Boston could truly become a reality!

Although for hours afterwards the tempo run felt like nothing, as I sit typing at this very moment, my legs are starting to complain from soreness. I have an off day tomorrow and I welcome it!

See more progress on: keep running. faster. longer. stronger.

500 Miles in 2009: January #1

Date	Type	HRZ+	Target Miles	Time Done	Miles Done	Notes
Thu. 1	Easy	3	2 mi	0:18:31	2	First day of running in 2+ weeks
Fri. 2	Easy	3	30 min	0:30:00	2.96 mi
Sat. 3	Easy	3	2 mi	0:20:06	2.08 mi
Sun. 4	-	-	Off	-	-
Mon. 5	Long	3	60 min	1:00:00	5.71 mi
Tue. 6	Easy	3	20 min	0:23:02	2.036 mi
Wed. 7	Tempo	5	30 min	0:31:35	3.1 mi
Thu. 8	-	-	Off	-	-
Fri. 9	Mid	4	4 mi
Sat. 10	Easy	3	2 mi

+ = Heart Rate Zone level (training)

Year to Date: 17.89 miles
Miles to 500: 482.11 miles

See more progress on: Run 500 miles in 2009

500 Miles in 2009? Doable!

I decided on 500 miles because it’s a doable number; a runner would only have to run 10 miles a week to finish it in 50 weeks! And with the 10k, half marathon and marathon plans I have this year, it seems more than doable. And you know, it’s always good for the ego to achieve achieve achieve. :):)

See more progress on: Run 500 miles in 2009

OHR: Week 10, Day 3

Originally completed on Thursday, December 19, 2008

Reacting to the pressure of leaving that very a night for a two week vacation where I might not have the opportunity at all to run, I decided to jump to the full 60 minute run. It wasn’t totally random; I made sure I felt not just good but GREAT at the 54 minute mark before embarking towards the last 6 minutes. The result? Due to a technological mishap, I ended up running 65 MINUTES!!! And to boot, I felt like I could have run an extra half hour at least at the end.

Milestone!!!

In all honesty, I didn’t think I’d be as jazzed doing the One Hour Runner, being that I loved the C25k so much, but I was wrong. If you were to ask me which program I loved more, however, I couldn’t answer that one. It’s a lot like asking a mom which of her two kids she loves more. Usually she will say that she loves kid A for kid A’s tenacity but also loves kid B for kid B’s ability to make mom laugh. I loved the C25k because it made me a runner; I loved the OHR because it was what convinced me that running is my thing.

OHR’s also taught me a lot about taking my time during those long runs and spreading my pace out. It helped me knock out bad habits like going all out in the beginning rather than in the end. It pushed me to learn more about training in heart rate zones and other techniques like tempo runs. It forced me to examine how I run so that I can continue forward without injury. C25k was about introducing my body to the hard poundings of the activity and my mind to stretch beyond what I originally thought where my physical capabilities lie, but it was OHR that made me massively addicted to running and opened my mind to enjoying it fully!!!

Good luck to those who are currently in this program. May you find the joy I discovered in the One Hour Runner!

See more progress on: Do the One Hour Runner (OHR) program