Today's Workout

Speed work
20 minutes
Run/Walk intervals
139 calories
127 average HR

Bicycling
10 miles
1400 calories according to walkrunjog.net. I dunno about it being that much, but it's definitely over 1,000. I would say I was going 13MPH with a heavy tail wind.
HR unknown

I might do some more walking later on.

9/29/08 run

Stats:

3.1 miles
39:25:34 time
356 calories
147 HR average
12:43 pace average

I also did a TON of house work today in preparation for my aunt arriving tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my speed work. I should have just rested, but I really felt up for a run and I feel pretty good. :)

Today's LSD Run

No, I didn't take any drugs before I went out to run. The LSD run is the Long Slow Distance run.

I intended to do about 5.5 miles today, but I did 6 miles instead. I don't have a pedometer, so, yikes. But I feel pretty good and a one mile increase after a month or so of improving my time at 5 miles is pretty good.

Here are my workout stats for today:

Walk - 2 miles, long warm up and cool down, LOL
Run -
6 miles
1 hour 16 minutes
830 calories
164 HR average
Pace: 12:44 min./mile (not bad for there being a lot of traffic)

And it was POURING about 3 miles in and has not let up since. There was also a lot of traffic at one point, so I would say my pace was pretty good. Long and slow and steady. :)

Oh, and my mom started the Couch to 5K program today along with my dog Sophie! Awesome stuff. She's 52 but she's done the NYC Century Bike Race a few times and rides 12 miles on her bike to and from work every day.

Training Schedule

A few of you have expressed an interest in my training schedule. For now it looks like this:

Monday, Wednesday:
Bike - 6 miles, Pilates - 40 minutes
Tuesday:
Run - Easy 3-4 miles (miles will change as Sunday runs become longer)
Bike - 6 miles
Thursday:
Long bike ride, miles variable
Friday:
3-4 miles, moderate pace 2 miles, 10 min. pace 1-2 miles
Saturday:
Rest or walk
Sunday:
Long distance run (increase of 1/2 mile each week - this Sunday is 5.5 miles, next Sunday is 6)

This is subject to change, of course.

Plateau

Well, I weighed myself on my at home scale this morning and since it read the exact same weight as it read the week before, I decided not to go to Weight Watchers. I suppose I really should have gone for the support of the meeting, but I know what I have to do.

I have to cut my calories again. Insert groans here, please.

Maybe I should log all of my food for this week--be really strict, and see where that takes me.

I want to be 181.4 by the end of October. Ideally I would like to be less, but 181.4 = 75 pounds lost.

I was fiddling around with Cool Running's Pace Calculator last night and pouted a bit when I saw half marathon and marathon predictions. I need to get faster and more efficient! I have a year, but right now everything feels so stagnant because of this plateau. I hate plateaus. I tried measuring myself to make myself feel better, but my inches haven't really changed since last month. Is that possible? I have lost weight. I work out 5X a week, sometimes 6. I look in the mirror and I feel like I look different?

Frustrated. Very frustrated.

It's raining, it's pouring

It's pouring and my running buddy is sick! Oh no. I was supposed to go running with her in half an hour, but that's not going to happen. I'm going to wait until the rain lets up. I've run in the rain before, but it started raining while I was already running and "in the zone". Nothing can stop "the zone". Going out into it? That is quite different, LOL.

I weighed myself just now and I am STILL at a plateau. I have exercised hard 5 days in a row so far and it's actually a blessing that it's pouring because my legs feel so so heavy, like lead weights. And there is lots of creaking going on. Perhaps it's time for a day of rest and catching up on my reading.

I really hope I lose more than .2 at my WW meeting on Saturday. Yes, I lost .2 last week, when I hadn't gone the week before. The .2 was for two weeks. And I've been busting my butt. Ah well . . . maybe I should cut back on the protein shakes. I have one every morning. But they're so tasty . . . that makes me sad.

My first tempo run, unexpectedly

I went running today with a friend. Unbeknownst to me she decided it was 10 min./mile time and I pooped out after one time around the Dyker Beach Golf course (2.17 miles), but holy crap you guys! I keot up a 10 min./mile pace for over 2 miles! That is exciting. I was wondering why I was struggling and my legs were getting tired. I thought I was just tired from biking all week to school, which I guess played a role in my legs being tired, but jeeze.

I was just very happy that I was able to keep up with her. She's usually faster than me. Not today! We kept at the same pace.

Bike miles this week: 18
Running miles this week: 7.17

Tomorrow morning we're doing a long distance run . . . 5.5 miles. I wanted to do 6, but slow steps are better. I think we might also squeeze in a few more miles on Sunday.

Potentially looking at a 15.6 mile week for runs, 33.6 miles overall.

Told you I was hardcore. ;)

Oh! Plus I did Pilates twice this week. Good core strength workouts.

Chris Hoban pictures!

Two professional photos taken at the race, showing off my crappy form, LOL.

First Post

If you're reading this, welcome! This blog will be all about my journey to getting fit, losing weight, and participating in the NYC Marathon, possibly next year. Yikes! I have a lot of training ahead of me! But that's okay--I'm armed with books, the interwebs, plenty of support, and a best friend who is also my weight loss and running buddy. :)

What you can expect to find here are weekly weigh-ins and training reports, as well as race reports as they come.

On Sunday I did my very first running race. It was a local race honoring the memory of a cop who died in the line of duty. It was a great first race--lots of camaraderie, lots of spirit, and my mom even went to cheer me on! It was an amazing feeling--my friend and I didn't stop once and we even kept at the same pace for the entire race.

Now that I have my first race under my belt, I'm looking to train for a half marathon. In the meantime, I expect to participate in lots of 5K races. More on those as I sign up for them.

If you want to see my results for the Hoban Run, you can click here. I'm #496. A 12:32min/mile pace is not bad, right?



Now that I've got my first race under my belt, I've been looking into improving my form, so after rooting around the internet I've discovered that I'm a heel striker and I need to correct this ASAP before I start doing LSD runs (Long Slow Distance).

I went out today with the intention to practice forefoot running (striking down on the ground with the balls of your feet FIRST before touching the heel to the ground), but I ran into a few issues and needed to come home hanging my head with defeat. First, it automatically made me run much faster than I am used to so I couldn't control my breathing the way I wanted to, and second, I was wearing loose sweatpants. I had no idea just how loose until I started running and was almost pantsed by gravity. Argh. Next time will be different!

When I talk about runs here I will talking about my usual running routes (Ft. Hamilton running track, Dyker Beach Golf Course, and around Caesar's Bay). Oh, and I may also talk about biking as I have recently picked it up. I ride my bike to and from school, which winds up being about 1 hour and 20 minutes round trip. I do that 3X a week, and usually run 2-3 times a week.

Whoever's reading, I hope you get something from this blog. :)