Sunday, October 31, 2010

New Plan

Eating today has been a total wash. Last night I had Mexican food. I am such a sucker for it. Good Mexican food in Southern California is so easy to find, and there just happens to be one down the street from my house. I got a chicken soft taco but I ate the beans and chips. Oh well. This morning I ate pumpkin bread, pop chips, toast, and this lentil and qeenwa (don't know spelling)- that is about the healthiest thing I have eaten today.

So I have a new plan I put together on my own with the help of Runners World and Hal Higdon. I think this plan will fit me better based on my history. I know it seems wishy washy, but I am still learning and after testing the waters on the Runners World plan I can tell it is a tad too advanced for me. So, this is gonna be the game plan for my sub 2 hour Half Marathon in February.

I am gonna weigh myself tomorrow, even after the junk food fest so wish me luck!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Starting From Scratch

So I feel like I am starting from scratch on running again. I went out for a little over 4 mile run which I was supposed to run on target pace (9 min mile). I don't have a Garmin so I never know my pace till I get to what I think is a mile (from map my run). My first mile I think I did about a 7:30 - crap...too fast. So I had to walk to come back from that one. Mile 2 and 3 was a mixture of fast, slow and walking. Mile 4 was sprinting all out and then walking (I was using streetlights as my start/finish). I really enjoyed mile 1 and mile 4, mile 2 and 3 sucked. The whole thing took me about 50 minutes - all in all not bad with all the walking I did. I am thinking if I can't figure out what a 9 min mile feels like - I am going to have to invest in one of those fancy watches.

So with all the walking it really made me feel like I was starting all over again. When I first started I was doing the whole run/walk thing. It kind of sucks to have to go back to walking when I know 4 miles is not too bad when I am cruising at my 10-10:30 pace. Since I now know that it is a process I will have patience and just go with it. I keep having to remind myself "Trust the process."

Eating-wise, I think I am on target. I am still not really following anything, I am just portion control and still keeping away from white flour, corn syrup, high processed foods, etc and eating more whole foods - I still eat my almond butter - I just cut it back to 1 TBSP a day instead of 2. I'll weigh myself on Monday and let you know if it is working.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

First Day at the Track

So today was my very first day at the track (since like High School - which was about 14 yrs ago - eek). I decided to go to OCC which worked out well since they acomidate the public. I had so much fun. I LOVE running fast. I don't know why but I just adore it. Just an FYI - "fast" is really not that fast. It was so different then plugging along - which I also adore. This training plan is very differnt then Hal Higdon's milage increase, but I think I am going to like it.

This was the workout today:

1x1200 Pace Intervals which I am targeting a 9 min mile pace, I did it in 9:39 - I wasn't too sure what a 9 min mile felt like so I started out running too fast and then had to stop to get a drink 3/4 into the mile...this time includes the stop(400 meter recovery)
2x800 Cruise Intervals which equals 4:16 target for 2 times around the track (200 meter recovery). I ended up only doing 400 meters, but I stuck the timing at aound 2 minutes each lap.
4x200 Speed Intervals which is 1:01 target (200 meter recovery). I was able to do ALL of these at target pace.

Phew!

By the way - I entered in this give away at Run Eat Repeat. I am linking for the double entry!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

New Goal

Ok so my new goal is a sub 2 hour time for the 1/2 Marathon by February (I promise not to freak out if I am like 2 minutes off). I picked my plan from Runners World. I am going with the intermediate plan, since I have the mileage covered. It is pretty complicated so I had to print it out and really study it.

Starting Monday:
* I start my new training plan
* I'll watch what I eat a tad bit better (since I am only losing like a pound every couple weeks) I've got 20lbs to get rid of so I think 4 months is ample time with the holidays coming up and all.
* I'll work on my core 3 times a week for 15 minutes(that may seem mild but right now I am random with my core so 3 times will be an improvement)

Wish me luck!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Long Beach 1/2 Marathon

I have been dreading this post since I knew it was going so take me so long to recap everything that happened. In one sentence, it changed my running goals.

So the night before, I slept like a baby - way better then my other 2 races since I drank some Thera-Flu (I was still sick and decided I was still gonna run - the only thing that would have stopped me was maybe the stomach flu). When I woke up, I jumped in the shower and made my smoothie that I was practicing with. My neighbor Eddie decided to run with us so he showed up around 4:30am along with my mother in law who was watching Jesse. I didn't lay everything out the night before, only my outfit and a few other things so I was running around gathering everything first thing - never again.

Traffic was less then I expected so it wasn't that bad. We did the pre-paid parking so we just went to out spot. While walking up to the area I had to pee, so we decided to stop at the Hyatt (right in front of the race). This was the BEST idea. We ate a bagel, drank water and went to the bathroom twice - no porta potties and small lines. Oh, by the way I saw Monica from Run, Eat, Repeat - one of my favorite blogs - very cool!

Here we are pre-race:



We got to the race area and I checked my bag (bad idea - more on that later). I also got talked into leaving my new hand held water bottle behind since there would be so many water stations. We then decided to go to the bathroom for the last time - I know it seems like we spent the whole morning in the bathroom, but remember I had a smoothie, coffee and water and I had nerves. The port-a-pottie lines were crazy and we should have gotten there earlier since we missed our start time. We went in the 5th line which was fine though since I am slow anyways. The only problem was we were in the back and we had to go around tons of walkers. I feel like my pace was faster since I was trying to pass a bunch of really slow people in the beginning.

Everything was fine aside from going around all the walkers for the first 7-8 miles and then I think all of the hills started to kill me. There was no major hills, but I have been training with my long runs at the back which is very flat - no hills at all. I started to walk through water stations, then at around mile 10, I had to start walking here and there and stretching everything out. I was super stiff. The Cool Fit people were there and I had them spray me - aaahhhhh....that was the best. The last mile was brutal - I was counting my steps in my head to focus on running...I am not even sure if it was running, it was more like shuffling. There was no sprint to the finish, my shuffle was the best I could do. It took ALL I had in me to finish. Official time 2:53:46.

Getting our bag back was horrid - Bill was one of those people who went in the tent to get our bag. After waiting in line for over an hour and then holding his race number in the air for another 1/2 hour - he was over it. He said he didn't yell at anyone though - thank God - poor volunteers. Next time I will leave everything in the car.

It might sound like this was horrible, but it was amazing to me. I pushed myself to the limit - it was awesome! I have a new respect for the 1/2 Marathon and I have re-evaluated my running goals. I still have a Marathon goal, but I decided that when I run my first marathon, I want to run it well. So, I want to sign up for the Huntington Beach 1/2 marathon in February and my first full will be next year's Long Beach Marathon. I have a time goal for February now, anything less then 2 hours. I have 4 months to lose 55 minutes off of my time. Since I know I can do the mileage, my plan is to only increase mileage to 15 mile long runs (with hills this time), work on increasing time, and lose 20lbs. I am definitely open to your suggestions!

I love my metal:

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Nerves!!

Ok so I am getting so nervous about tomorrow. Whats funny is I always get nervous before attempting my long runs - since almost every long run has been a "first." Now I have double the excitement and anticipation for the race tomorrow. All of the logistics, doubts, fears, etc. are running though my head. If I told you everything it would be a very long blog and I would get nothing done. On top of it I have my bosses party tonight, I am still hanging on to my cold and I am in the middle of a new system integration at work aaaaa!! Once I start running tomorrow I think everything will be better. Funny how a run can make everything better.

So we went to the Expo yesterday and Bill was super excited to meet one of the Gladiators, Nitro - kinda cool.



I also bought a 8oz hand held water bottle. I know you are not supposed to try things out on race day but I figure I'll just empty it out if it bothers me - or I'll give it to Bill.

We went out for the traditional pasta after the Expo - Hal Higdon says to carb load 2 days before and then the day before eat lightly so you don't have to run with a full load - if ya know what I mean ; ) I am gonna take his advice on that one since I am not a public restroom pooper - I hate it.



Anyways, I am gonna take a quick nap, pin our numbers on our shirts and finish the laundry. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Stuff

I am getting nervous about the big day on Sunday. I will be running my first 1/2 at Long Beach. I doubt I will get any sleep the night before...I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. I am obsessing on parking...do I take the Blue line, do I pre-pay for parking, should I take a Taxi, what time should I leave?

On another note San Diego with the family was very cool...I only got one running day in though since I got sick. I have to say it was a beautiful run though - I ran towards the naval ships and ran back towards this huge bridge - I forgot to take pictures of the run since I was really trying to get out fast - I was on family overload. Great thing about running is that when I came back I felt great all over again. It was a total tourist trip, we went to the Wild Animal Park, a couple Museums, and Sea World:









I have still been sick with a nose/throat/cough thing - it pretty much sucks. I went to Mother's Market (health food store) and bought up all of the vitamins and herbal supplements I could afford. I have never been really keen on taking chemical stuff unless I need to (with the exception of Advil). I have been getting better - but very slowly. Hopefully by race day I will be 100%.

Oh and one more thing - any thoughts on Chia? I bought a bag while I was at Mother's and I have been putting them on everything. They seem to be the big thing on the blogs so I figure why not? Do you guys use them?

Monday, October 4, 2010

12 Miles in the Bag

So we completed the 12 miles - unbelievable. I made that shake again, but I added a couple handfuls of oats this time to bulk it up a bit (I didn't want to get hungry again). It is a pretty yummy shake, it reminds me of honey nut cheerios. We hit the beach again. I forgot to mention, I got a water belt. I tried it out on the 10 mile run and hated it. I love that everything is handy, but it was heavy on one side and it jiggled, so 3 miles into last weeks long run, I handed it to the hubby to wear. He wore it this time too. If you guys have any suggestions for carrying stuff on long runs, I am open. I ran out of Gu this time too and opted for sticking with Gatorade - I think I like it better. I took their Prime packages with me and drank it on about mile 5 (I know your supposed to take it before, but I had the smoothie so I figured I could replace my Gu with it). Then I drank mostly Gatorade all the way through, I needed water at one point. I have to say, I am a bigger fan of Gatorade then Gu - the Prime stuff is wet and when I am thirsty, the Gu sticks to my mouth. I think I might make the switch.

This time seemed much easier then the 10 mile run. It might have been the weather - last Monday was ridiculously hot, even at night. Last night was cold - ahhhh. It might have been my attitude too. I read a chapter in the Marathon book by Hal Higdon (not the novel) and some lady said she counted every step she took with her left foot to get her through. I realize I wasn't running the marathon last night, but this is the first time I have EVER run this far, so I had to count the last mile. It worked. I will be doing that again.

One more thing - I did the ice bath thing that all the bloggers rave about. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I could stand about 3 minutes max of that - how do you stay in there for 10 minutes? Not doing that again, I will stick with my ice packs and Advil thank you very much.

So Jesse and I are going to San Diego with my mom, my sister and her kids - I will be back in a few days with lots of pictures!