5K recap

A week ago today I ran the Bluenose 5K run…. which coincidentally fell on the same day as my 28th birthday.

That was a good/not so good thing for me.  I was super excited to do the run ON my birthday however there were several events leading up to the race that prevented me from training and other events that did not help me physically in the race! (Hello, birthday drinking!)

At any rate the day was fantastic!  It was a beautiful and HOT sunny day which helped keep me in good spirits!  Yay, spring is here & summer is just around the corner!

We had a great group of spectators cheering us on: Jen, Cat, Angie, Jaime, and my boyfriend Dave. 

A few of us girls ran/walked the 5K: myself, Les, Lynn & Tash.  We also had a few visitors from out of province:  Tara ran the 10k and Marie ran the 1/2.

Pre-race we headed out to Les’s house who did a fantastic job hosting the carb-loading dinner.  Spaghetti with some salads.  mmm!  I was up later than I’d hope to be that night but I didn’t want to miss out on spending time with the ladies.  As soon as I got home I got my race day gear all laid out which was a great idea since:

a) I am forgetful and

b) I am NOT a morning person!

I knew it was going to be a warm-ish day but I didn’t know how warm it was going to get.  I ran in a lulu tank, Nike shorts, my Zensah compression leg sleeves and a lulu headband.  It was hard for Dave to see me running since I was all in black with only a little bit of my pink sportsbra showing and the spandex part of my shorts was pink.

Waking up that Sunday morning I was slow-going.  The late night and busy birthday weekend had really gotten to me.  As excited as I was for the race, a bigger part of me just wanted to enjoy sleeping in on my birthday!  Finally I rolled out of bed, had a sip of coffee and got ready to go!

We met up with the crew (less Tara & Marie who were already off & running) at Starbucks then made our way over to the starting line.  The energy at the race was incredible!

 

All of the people lined up for the 5K were eager to get started and I fed off of everyone’s energy!  I got goosebumps when I heard Eye of the Tiger playing.  This is it!  We’re finally here!

Les & I were quite a ways back in the lineup so it took us a few minutes to cross the starting line but when we did we were off!  The race starts with a minor incline and there were still tonnes of people finding their pace so it was a bit discombobulated.  Thankfully Les squeezed her way in and out of people so I followed.  She was running at a quicker pace and kept looking back at me, but I had to shoo her to go!  Run girl run!  Don’t worry about me!  I know that girl can give’er and I am a much slower runner so I wanted her to give it what she had and not worry about me!

Once she left I was alone with myself and was doing alright.  Then dehydration started to set in (thank you alcohol….) along with the temperature rising outside and it started to get tough.  The first water station was fairly early in the game (I THINK it was about 1.5km in I could be way off though) but I grabbed that cup o’ water and chugged it down.  It was after the 1st water station where I started to take my walk breaks.  The heat was seriously getting to me and I could tell how dehydrated I was because I felt like I was foaming at the mouth.  I was chewing gum at the same time (still not sure if this was a good thing) which seemed to help keep my mouth moist but it was a temporary fix.  When we hit 2km we were at a straightaway on a street that offered a lot of shade thanks to the large puffy trees.  The shade was welcomed but I was hurting for more water.  It was during this stretch were I really took many walk breaks.  In hindsight I think back and wonder if I could have pushed myself through it a bit more because here’s where I lost a LOT of time. 

The only route marker I noticed during the whole race was the 2km flag.  The rest was kind of a blur and I had no idea how much longer I had to go.  I did have Garmin set up to finish me in 35minutes so I watched my pace, but when I realized my pace kept getting slower than my target pace I think I got a little discouraged.  I would run a few minutes and catch up, but be panting and foaming at the mouth so bad (or what felt like it anyway LOL) that I ended up walking more than I’d hoped.  There were groups of women nearby that I used as my own pacers.  I tried to stay behind them or jump ahead of them when I could.  This helped because I knew I wasn’t getting too far behind.  I never really set out to ‘pass’ anyone and gain time because my head couldn’t stop thinking about how thirsty I was. 

The second water station came up and I guzzled that down which seemed to temporarily help.  It wasn’t too far after the 2nd water station where I saw the finish line… and I saw the incline it was on.

For most, this really wasn’t much of an incline but for me, my body was hurting, my legs were jello and I was ridiculously dehydrated at this point.  I knew I wanted to finish running rather than walking so I took advantage of a walk before the final stretch then pushed to finish strong. 

I remember seeing the finish line and just beyond that I saw the start line.  My head was so messed at this point and I started to think that someone would play tricks on us and have us run THROUGH the first red sign (finish) only to have to keep going and actually finish at the second red sign (the actual start).  My thoughts were nonsense at this point.

Thankfully the finish line WAS, in fact, the finish line and I ran through it.  As soon as I ran though I saw Les who came up to give me a hug.  I don’t know what happened but I wanted to burst out crying.  I was hurting, hot, dehydrated and exhausted.  Also a little disappointed in myself for not being able to push through it more.  I held in my tears and didn’t cry and Les reminded me that it doesn't matter what my time was…. I FINISHED IT.

She was so right.

My time was 39:40 but my actual chip time was 36:29.  My goal was to do it in 35 minutes or less but I psyched myself out during the race when I saw my pace was too slow… which I think made me give up a little.

Boo.

I’m still thrilled that I finished it.  I really had a lot of fun and I want to do it again.

Here are my results:

Place 931
Time 39:40.9
Chip 36:29.0
Category Women 20-29
Category Place 131/194
Gender Place 612/980

Garmin had me finish 3.11miles in 44minutes so I’m not too sure what the difference was there.  I didn’t stop Garmin at the finish line but I definitely didn't start it until I crossed the starting line.

I can’t wait for the next one.

I was so full of energy after the race.  We went into Lululemon and I was going to treat myself to something, but I didn’t have my wallet with me and it was crazy busy so we left.

It was on this walk where I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday and have a drink.

So, we went for breakfast and with my eggs, hashbrowns, perogies & bacon I enjoyed a nice cool, refreshing Ceasar.  Mmmmmmm.

I could feel the alcohol running through me and this helped to calm me down a little and also helped me go for a relaxing afternoon snooze.

I have decided to start from scratch and start a whole new learn to run training plan.  This one starts off with a LOT more walking which I am going to use to take advantage of just enjoying getting outside, as well as use to get used to the hills in my area.  Most of my previous 5K training was done indoors but after running the race I could tell my body was thinking “F-U” because of the crazy differences! 

There is a race in the valley in October (10-10-10) and my training plan should have me finishing a 10k race right around that time so I have a few months to train my arse up, mentally prep myself and do that 10K.

I’m doing it.

1 Week away!

Alright, so I know I’ve been MIA for a while.  I will likely still be in and out here and there but I want to ensure I have something written down (for me to reflect on) when later on I read about my first 5K race.

Seriously folks, it’s 1 week away from today!!

Even though I haven’t been blogging, I’ve still been training when time permits.  I haven’t ran in almost a week but if you click my daily mile widget to the right you will be able to track my shizzz.

Right now I’m in kind of a freak-out mode.  Seriously… one week away.  6 days ago I finally completed 5k in my training plan… huge accomplishment for me… but it took about 50 minutes to do that.  I’m wanting to run my race in between 30-35 minutes but I have zero confidence that is going to happen.

Trying to stay positive here and really trying not to be negative about it…but it’s like I haven’t been able to push past a running mental barrier with myself.  I read about the fantastic progress other people have made (Hello, and so i ran! You inspire me like you have no idea!!) and then assess my situation and I feel like I haven’t really accomplished much.

I’m still running at a SLOW pace on the dreadmill (4.5-5ish).

I’ve still got CRAZY heavy feet that I can’t seem to push through.

I still find ways to talk myself out of pushing past the next minute in training (“oh, just walk an extra minute instead of run…”)

Blah.

I would freaking LOVE to run the 5k through and through, no walks… but I can barely manage 3-5minute runs!  How the frig can I run 3.1miles straight through?

Angie sent me an amazing email last week that really got me pumped.  It was perfect timing and of course said all of the right things… I just have to get past my own mental blocks and figure this out.

Regardless, however this madness turns out, I AM going to have fun!  It’s my birthday and I’ll be running a 5K, AND super special girls from the West coast will be here to cheer me on, AND I’ll be running the race with super special local girls!  There’s no way it won’t be fun!

I bought myself a pair of cute running shorts over the weekend – I was going to get a super cute running skirt, but I’ll be wearing black Zensah leg compression sleeves so I decided to just stick with shorts.  (fashion faux pas?)

It’s SO windy here and where I live is quite elevated (which equals even MORE wind) so I decided to do tonight’s run indoors.  I got dressed, accessorized with Garmin & Zensah, went downstairs to the treadmill but damn… the light was on which meant someone was already in there.  (I don’t do small spaces well and I don’t want to run in a mini home gym when someone else is in there LOL). SOOOOOOOOOOOO because it’s already 8pm I’ll be postponing my run to tomorrow. 

The training schedule is to run 10 walk 1 until I hit 5K but I’m going to just try running the sucker and taking walk breaks when/and if needed throughout – while maintaining a focus on running straight through.  It’ll be like a mini race trial.

We’ll see how that goes!

Head throbbing weekend

This weekend was a total write off for me.  boo.  Saturday I woke up to one of *the* worst headaches of mankind and it had me sitting on my couch all day.  Later that night I headed out to Superstore since there was no food in the house.  That wasn’t the best idea since I was driving with some weird blurred vision.

The good news is that I picked up all yummy, healthy treats.  TONNES of fruit:  Cantaloupe, Honey Dew Melon, Blackberries, Strawberries, Liberte Raspberry Yogurt, Clementines, Skinny Stix, and Skinny Cow fudgesicles….. and a huge bottle of Advil!

My whole night was mowing down on all of this fruit and watching trash TV on the computer (Bad Girls Club.)

Unfortunately when I woke up today the headache hadn’t gone away. WTF?!  I popped WAYY too many Advil but nothing seemed to help so it was day 2 of sitting my arse on the couch. 

I did manage to go out for a run late in the evening… I kind of forced myself to so that I could actually BE back on track with my running schedule.  Even though I still had a throbbing head, it was nice to get out and catch a tiny bit of sun!

Here’s an update.  I was suppose to run on Saturday but due to my massive head problems I took a rest day and pushed it to today.  That ends my "easy recovery” week and I move on to my 5th week of training.  The numbers in red are edits – I somehow programmed my session to only run 5 times instead of six so I was short 5mins

Here’s Friday’s run:

Here’s tonight’s run:

My 5k race is less than a month away (May 23rd) and I’m still fairly nervous about it.  I haven’t set a time goal yet but I do want to perform well.  I’ll have to do some thinking about that.  I’m still finding these shorter runs difficult and not sure when the 5, 10min runs will happen – they terrify me at this point.  Heck, even my session tomorrow is leaving my comfort zone since my walks will me 1 minute instead of 2 minutes. 

Eek!

Ahh well, either way I’m going to give’er. 

Yeah bitches

This has been such a busy week, and it’s not getting any lighter BUT I’m so proud that I’ve been able to keep to my (adjusted) running schedule and not letting anything get in the way.

YAY me!

I had quite an agenda of things to do when I got home from work, so I just hopped right to it. 

• - bake cake so I can decorate it Thursday
• - help with supper (make asparagus while Dave BBQ’s turkey burgers)
• - go running as per my training schedule
• - make homemade fondant
• - clean the kitchen (after a cake AND homemade MMF it was bananas!)
• - vacuum floors
• - wash floors
• - clean kitty litter
• - do laundry/fold laundry
• - have shower

Pure bananas…. BUT each one of those things now has a checkmark next to it.  Phew!

Earlier I posted a question on Twitter about what dinner ideas anyone had for turkey burgers minus the bun.  I got a couple of great suggestions but dingbat me forgot that I had to run to the grocery store anyway so I picked up a bag of Sobeys “In the thin” buns.  Crisis averted.

We BBQ’d the burgers & topped them off with some lettuce, tomatoes, onions & some good ol’ ketchup & mustard.

On the side was some yummy asparagus. 

So damn good! 

After dinner settled we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we got today and hit the pavement outside.  It was really nice to have Dave come with me because he can really push me through my difficult times.

On the agenda was the same run as yesterday (5min warmup, 3min run/2min walk x6, 5min cool down)

Check out the split info below.  The ones highlighted in red were the CRAZY inclines that I had to push so hard at.  #10 was REDICULOUSLY difficult.  It was at this point I was humming and haaing (aka, COMPLAINING) that I couldn’t do it.

Dave told me to shut up and stop saying I couldn’t do it and just DO IT!  He even ran behind me pretending to be a zombie and chasing me.  At this point my head just wasn’t in it anymore.  The hills were getting the best of me and I was psyching myself out.  My legs felt like ANCHORS but I kept moving.

After #10 I started to gain a bit of confidence and something came over me.  I turned almost vicious.  My “motto” that I kept saying over and over to no one in particular was a vulgur “Yeah bitches.” With that was a mixture of “I’m doing it.”

Even though the start & end were quite difficult for me, I can damn well say I did it.  I’m still a new runner and it’s taking a while for it to get easier for me but I’m doing it.

Pain in the arse!

After yesterday’s run fail, I am proud to say I kicked fail in the butt and got back on the horse treadmill!

I decided to go as soon as I got home from work – that way I didn’t give myself time to procrastinate and I also noticed that no one was in the gym.  The coast was clear!

I had a small bite of a wrap with pumpkin butter & a banana and I was off! 

Once again my calves were annoying me the most.  Seriously, they feel like lead!  I am able to deal with the out-of-breathness, I am able to deal with the exhaustion (physical and mental) that comes, but it is hard to find a way to get my legs moving and keep them moving!  My calves just want to sit still and I often worry about simply just putting one foot in front of the other without tripping and falling right smack on my face.

Speaking of tripping – I learned today that getting an itch on your ankle when you are on the treadmill isn’t fun.  I should have learned the technique of jumping off a treadmill while it’s spinning after watching Biggest Loser.  But no, not this girl.  I had an itch and as soon as my walk interval came on, I hopped to the side of the treadmill with one leg but tried to use my other leg to balance me… ON the spinning treadmill.

Not cool!

I swear I pulled an ass muscle while trying to keep me upright and not fall on my face!

Somehow I managed to get the other leg onto the side of the treadmill and all was well…. except for the strain in my ass!  Of all things to pull, how the hell did I manage to pull my ASS muscle out of all of that???

Anyway, here’s the details for tonight’s run.  It was 5min warmup, 3min run/2min walk, 5min cool down x6.  I kept the running pace at 4.7, and actually lowered it to varying levels of 4.0-4.5 at times due to my bum calves.  It still worked out for me, I managed to pump out 4k in 40min tonight and I’m damn proud of that!

It’s been fairly chilly here and I’m a wuss so my latest runs have been indoors on the treadmill.  I really can’t wait for it to warm up just a little bit so I can go back outside and run again. 

***

I must share this totally random but completely hilarious story.  The other day I was bugging Dave as he was doing the dishes.  I knew I hit a nerve and saw him reaching for the water spray nozzle that is attached to the sink. 

Dave was in front of the sink being sneaky and I was behind him – he tried spraying me with the nozzle…. but completely missed and ENTIRELY soaked himself.

Proof:

And THAT is why they pay him the big bucks!

He’s brilliant!

heheheh!

Love you babes!

“I’m not going”

So I have a good news story and a failure story to talk about today.  Both are running stories.

My schedule has been so out of whack and I still haven’t caught up with my regularly scheduled training days.  Which is OK!  As long as I keep running, I’m ok with being a bit off schedule.  It’s nothing a little rearranging can’t handle.

So lets talk about the good news story.  Saturday evening I found some motivation and decided to go for a run and catch up.  I was still feeling the “high” from my 3 minute runs I did (successfully) on Wednesday so I was in a go-getter mindset! 

On the schedule was 2min run/ 2min walk x6.  I lowered my pace to 4.7 again even though it was a shorter run.  My legs from the knees down felt like lead so instead of giving up, I made some adjustments to make the run more comfortable.  I ran a total of 3.35km and felt pretty good afterwards!

 

My plan was to do my next run on Sunday so that I could be all caught up and start week 4 on time.  Dave had other plans for us on Sunday, however.  Instead, we went on a road trip to the butt f*ck middle of nowhere so that he could trade one of his guitars for a bass.  The road trip was SO MUCH FUN and there are so many stories I may save for another blog post, but the moral of this story is that I didn’t get a chance to go running.  Not a problem, I’ll just stay off schedule a little.  Lex is cool with this!  Zen even!

So that brings us to Monday night.  I was in a pretty cranky mood (PMS??).  There were complaints about me wanting to go on vacation, complaints about my cake business, complaints about this, that and the next thing.  In a nutshell – THIS chick was super moody.  I did NOT feel like running.  Thankfully I have Dave to push me in my time of need!  As adamant as I was against running, he pretty much talked me into going…. but not easily.

I found every excuse in the book to get out of my running:

- I wanted him to run with me (he couldn't because of some errands he had to run)

- I couldn’t find my heart rate monitor (which was located in the spot that no one looks – the last place you put it!)

- I couldn’t find my sneakers (I wore flipflops for the road trip but brought my runners “just in case” because of the rain & snow we were getting, but left them in the car overnight)

At every one of those excuses I told Dave, “I’m not going.”  When I found my HRM, I still said, “I’m not going.”  As I tied my sneakers which I found in my car I exclaimed, “I’m not going.”

As I walked out the door, I harassed him and said, “I’m not going.”

But of course, each time I said, “I’m not going,” deep down I still had every intention to go… just very little motivation.

I walked out into the hallway, into the elevator, got down to the main floor and there I saw it.

The gym light was on.

This is where I legitimately said, “I’m not going.”

Our gym is teeny tiny.  It’s just a small apartment gym with one treadmill, one bicycle, one elliptical and a few weights.  I do not feel comfortable going to that gym by myself.  I am very claustrophobic and I didn’t feel comfortable walking into that room when someone else was there.  The light was on and I heard the treadmill going, so someone was definitely in there.

So there you have it.  All the signs pointed to it – I wasn’t going.

But…..  tomorrow – I will be making it up! 

Here’s my new, adjusted schedule (again!)

I am such a bad example!  Shame on me! 

Do not take notes from this girl!

Run Recaps – I’m workin it!!

Yesterday was the end of my comfort zone and today was the start of a scary new territory. 

3 minute runs.

When I started my running training in Jan, I had a really difficult time progressing to the 3 minute runs.  I know for MOST of you 3 minutes is peanuts however 3 minutes is what peanuts are to allergy-stricken me:  death!

I’m still trying to get my running schedule back on track so yesterday and today were my back to back runs.  I mentioned before I don’t like doing back to back runs, I’d prefer to give my muscles a rest (and as suggested by the great Jeff Galloway) however I needed to catch up on my schedule so I could get back to the Monday – Wednesday – Friday runs (OCD me).  I figured today’s run would be difficult so I thoroughly iced my legs after the run yesterday and it felt soooo good!

Yesterday’s run was a Run 2 min, walk 2 min session (x6) which was actually quite challenging for me.  I don’t know if its because I ran inside on the treadmill while Dave was on the elliptical - which prevented me from focusing as I would normally (shouldn’t be the case…but…?), or WHAT the problem was but it was definitely not an easy run.

Here’s Tuesday’s details:

The average pace/split was missing because I was indoors – same with tonight’s run. 

Wednesday (Run 3, walk 2 x 7):

For me, at run #4 or #5 the 3 minutes became a little tricky so instead of running the 3min, I walked at a 3.5 pace and put the incline up to 6.  It gave me a bit of a break from the jogging but still had me workin’ my booty!  Overall I was PRETTY impressed at my 4.46km.  If I didn’t do the incline walks in lieu of my jogs I DEFINITELY would have hit 5K! 

Thursday is a scheduled non-run day.  I may throw in some Booty Camp Fitness DVD if I’m feelin’ up to it!  I could use some Abs & Buns workouts!!

Back on the pavement

With all of the madness and body soreness that I endured last week, I wasn’t able to get outdoors to run!  That put me wayyyy back in my running schedule and I was behind 2 sessions.  The plan was to run Sat & Sunday then Tues, Thurs & Sat however I didn’t get out on Saturday either!

The modified running plan has me running Sunday, Tues, Wed, Friday, Saturday.  This will allow me to rest on Sunday then get back to regularly scheduled run sessions.

 

I don’t really want to run consecutive days as I’d like to give my calves some recover time but we’ll see how it goes.  Thankfully this modification is still in the early part of my training so it *should*  be easier to do than if it was in the later weeks.

The good news is that I was able to get out & run on Sunday.  I almost talked myself out of it but the beautiful sunny evening definitely helped me to get my arse into gear and I did my run outdoors by my lonesome since Dave was playing Mr.Fixit for one of his servers.

The week 2 session 2 run consisted of a 5min warm-up, 1 min walk/2 min runs x7 then a 5 min warm down.  Somehow I ran the perfect distance which brought me back to my front door at the end of my session, right on time for a total of 2.99km.

The course I ran was pretty much the same as last time – with that crazy first hill to endure, but this time a “fun” addition was the wind I was running against.  I really hope to get better at this hill and not pooped so quickly.  I was lucky that this session’s runs were only 1min – when it gets longer that hill is going to be brutal!

I’d love to hear from people doing/have done the C25K.  My training schedule is very similar so I’d love to follow folks who are going through the same process as me.

Thanks to those who commented & congratulated me on my first house – it’s really appreciated!  =)  I will have updates to follow – and Ali (+ anyone else), any tips you have on DIY projects are welcomed!

Outdoor run!

The weather has been SO nice here so Monday night I took advantage of it by sticking to my running training program and ran outdoors.  It was my first run outdoors in a long while and it was great!  I got to wear my super nifty Lululemon arm warmers which made the run THAT much better!

Dave had a massive headache but he decided to still join me for the run, which was great, especially since it had already gotten dark out. 

This was the first session of my week two running program and it was 2min walks/2min runs x7.

The two minute runs were definitely a change from last week’s 1min runs but I know it’ll get easier.  I know it!

After my 5 min walk, the first run was up quite a steep hill.  Eek – I thought what a way to start this off!  The rest of the run was pretty much flat, or downhill.  To me, downhill took some time to get used to… I wasn’t sure of my footing and often felt like I could easily fall down if I stopped concentrating (must stop overanalyzing!!).

Take a peek at my specs courtesy of Garmin Connect (I am super glad I can sync this with Daily Mile now!)

Overall the run was fantastic!  It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t that hard either.  It was nice to get outside and it was REALLY great to have some activity time with Dave outside.  I’m still not at all thinking about my pace – I am just concentrating on actually DOING the run.  After reading Jeff Galloway’s book, he stresses that the beginning stages of a run/walk training program should just be taken easy anyway.  Focusing too much on time can get discouraging, especially for a new runner.  The focus should remain on proper form, and…well… having FUN!

Week 1 in the bag!

I hope everyone has been enjoying this Easter weekend!  Most of us lucky Canadians were able to get Friday off work and I must say, it was SO needed!

Having Friday off allowed me to get some errands done at work and gave me the chance to have an early run.  It was a great way to kickstart the day and let me get the long weekend into action.

This was my 3rd and final run for the first week of my 5K training.  It’ll be sad to see the 1min runs go, but I am anxious to improve on my endurance and work towards longer runs!

Friday’s run/walk was 1min runs/2 min walks x7.  I mixed that up with a bunch of random inclines which have been challenging but enjoyable.  It’s nice to mix it up and helps to add some variety to the repetitive treadmill run.

Min	Speed	Incline
0-5	3.0	0
5-6	5.0	1
6-8	3.5	0
8-9	5.0	2
9-11	3.5	0
11-12	5.0	2
12-14	3.5	0
14-15	5.0	0
15-17	3.5	0
17-18	5.0	3
18-20	3.5	0
20-21	5.0	1
21-23	3.5	0
23-24	5.0	4
24-26	3.5	0
26-31	3.0	0

Hopefully one of these days I get to go outside for a run.  I live in a great neighborhood but it is VERY hilly and I’m not comfortable running it by myself yet.  Dave wasn’t up for running that day so I stayed indoors.

Week 2 doesn’t look too bad.  It’ll be interesting to see how it goes – I did week 2 earlier in the year and the 2 minute runs were honestly a bit challenging for me.  (Dang I can’t wait for the day where I laugh at that statement… 2 minute runs being challenging!)

Have a great rest of the Easter weekend everyone!

And Ang, I hope you enjoyed your birthday.  Sorry I couldn’t be there!

Just do it

The end of each month always equals crazy, busy times for me so this day was quite a bit hectic.  Not to mention, I had a bunch of errands to run after work (one included picking up my new Lululemon hoodie – YAY!) so I wasn’t sure if I’d get my scheduled run in.

But I did.

I’ll admit I was thisclose to talking myself out of it – but the internal battle in my head went something like this:

- oohhh I’m sooo comfortable on the couch right now.

- There are a bunch of shows I could be watching.

- Hey – it’s only 8:30, the run is only 28 minutes today, why not?

- *sigh* Man… I am sooo cozy right now.

- Lex, if you don’t get up off your ass and do it then you’ve totally just messed up your schedule… and it’s ONLY DAY 2.

- Do I really want to run?

- Well, no…. but I don’t really have a good enough reason to NOT go so eff this… I’M GOING!

And off I went.  I did a nice and easy 2.69km on the treadmill.  It was fast, it was painless, and now it’s over.  And now I can say I did it!!

Seriously – it is SO easy for me to talk myself out of doing something… and for what?  To sit my big booty on the couch?  For real… that sickens me.

I did some more inclines today but mixed it up with inclines at 3 & 1.

Min	Speed	Incline
0-5	3.0	0
5-6	5.0	1
6-8	3.5	0
8-9	5.0	3
9-11	3.5	0
11-12	5.0	1
12-14	3.5	0
14-15	5.0	3
15-17	3.5	0
17-18	5.0	1
18-20	3.5	0
20-21	5.0	3
21-23	3.5	0
23-28	3.0	0

It wasn’t a crazy workout but I’m pretty proud of myself for actually doing it.  Admittedly, it’s easy to talk myself into the run because the runs are still “easy” at 1min a piece.  When I start getting into the 3min and 5min runs I don’t know if it’ll be that easy for me to just simply get up and go. 

Now I have 2 days checked off on my schedule.

The Bluenose is only a short ways away and I have just under 8 weeks of training left.  That’s at least 22 more runs for me to go before the big day.

I will do this.  You heard it here, folks!

Oh – and here’s my new Lululemon purchase.  It’s the Stride II Jacket in passion/ heathered coal.  It’s much brighter than I thought but the color is growing on me (I’m not a pinky person lol).

Apparently I was in a Hulk-ish kind of mood.  I was still ooey and gooey from my run, so please excuse the mess!

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and not take the ‘easy’ way out?

Run #1 – Success!

So yesterday I talked about getting back to running and I am proud to say Day 1 was a success!

3.33KM in 34min!

It has been quite a while since I’ve done any running so I am glad that I’m starting back to basics.  The run wasn’t really difficult but it wasn’t a piece of pie either.  Secretly, I missed the 1min runs so it was nice to get back to them.  They seriously just fly by!

The breakdown of my workout was:

5min warmup @ 3.0mph

1 - 1min run @ 5.0mph/1.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5mph/0 incline

2 - 1min run @ 5.0mph/2.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5mph/0 incline

3 - 1min run @ 5.0mph/3.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5mph/0 incline

4 - 1min run @ 5.0/4.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5mph/0 incline

5 - 1min run @ 5.0/3.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5/0 incline

6 - 1min run @ 5.0/2.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5/0 incline

7 - 1min walk @ 5.0/1.0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5/0 incline

8 - 1min walk @ 5.0/0 incline

     2min walk @ 3.5/0 incline

5 min “warm-down” @ 3.0/0 incline

Brilliant me wore my Garmin on my wrist but totally forgot to wear the HRM so I have no idea what my heart rate was at.  Oh well – at the very least it kept my programmed workout on track.

Session #2 starts on Wednesday and hopefully it’s nicer out.  It was super windy and cold out here so I wasn’t about to go outside.  The drafts are bananas by our place.   - Don’t judge -

Someday I’d like to challenge myself to get up early and get the runs out of the way.  I am not at all a morning person so I can’t see it happening anytime soon, but we shall see!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Monday!

Back to the pavement

Alright, so you’re hearing it here first.

My running training schedule *officially* commences tomorrow.  Back in January, I had started training for a 10k race in May but life basically got in the way and I had no chance to train.  Poor excuse?  Well – it is what it is. 

I started to begin stressing over the 10K.  I mean… I really, really wanted to do the 10K and a big part of me still does however I have left myself next to no training time and I’m not the kind of gal who can just pick up and run 10K.  This gal has next to no endurance.

After a lot of thinking I decided to opt out of the 10K and see if I could switch to the 5K instead.  See, 5K is doable.  I have walked one and shuffled another but I’ve never raced the actual 5K distance.  I sent an email to the Bluenose race coordinator and was switched to the 5K… easy-peasy.

I feel SO relieved!  A huge amount of stress has been knocked off my shoulders.

I can do this!

My 8 week training schedule is in place in a nifty excel spreadsheet on my computer and printed out so I can highlight my completion to my hearts desire.

Here’s a peek at week one which starts tomorrow:

W=walk, R=Run, C=Cool down

As you can see, the schedule is pretty light – but it’ll help me get back into the swing of things.

In the next few weeks I hope to be able to blog about my runs – provided time permits.  We are still EXTREMELY busy so my blogging time has been scarce.  I do know the value that blogging can provide – especially in this running journey so I want to have it written down.

Maybe by this time next year I can do the 10K or even a 1/2 marathon.  *eek!!*

Making Choices

Happy St. Patrick’s day everyone!  Today is one of my favorite days because everywhere I turn I see green, green, GREEN!  (My favorite color hands down is green!)

I haven’t been around much in blog/twitter/facebook land in the past week because my dad was in town.  He only comes down 1x a year so I like to spend as much time as I can with him.  Visiting Dave’s family and just doing vacation-ey things can make it really hard to keep up with the internet land.  This year’s vacation was pretty good – we went to the Brier (like watching paint dry for me), visited family, dropped $ down at the casino, and overall the weather remained incredibly awesome!

Dave also returned last weekend after 2 weeks away in horrible, horrible Windsor Ontario.  He’s travelled many a time before, but never here and it was never *this* hard.  Thankfully he’s back!

Life has been incredibly busy as of late and my 10k training for the Bluenose this May has been pretty much non-existent.  I haven’t trained in 3 weeks which means I’d have to start all over again to build up my endurance.  Endurance is not something this girl has and there’s only 8 weeks before the race.  If I were to run the 10K, training would be imperative.  No question.  So after a LOT of thinking, I decided to switch to the 5K run instead that day.

I have mixed feelings about it.  I really did want to do the 10K – in fact, race day is on my birthday so I wanted to use that day as one where I’d meet a HUGE goal of mine.   The stress of not being able to train, and knowing I wouldn’t be able to just “push through it” was getting to me.  I STILL wanted to run, but I wanted to feel GOOD about doing it… not stressed.  That’s how I came to the decision to switch.  Thankfully the wonderful Bluenose peoples were able to switch me without any problems!

Now it’s time to get back into the training groove.  Life has started to somewhat settle down, so I have to make the most of it and train for that 5K race and achieve my own personal record.

Might I just add – It was almost peaceful stepping away from the internet-land for a while.  I am thinking that a de-plugging weekend may be in order soon!

J-j-jambalaya!

I was going to blog yesterday but I had a major fail where all of my posts were deleted from my cake blog.  I spent a bit of time trying to put some of the posts back together and got tired of blogging so I put it to rest for the night.

Since I have committed myself to getting into running I created a schedule where I run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  I will be the first to admit that I am pretty lazy on weekends so this helps to keep me on point.  I’ve also started reading Jeff Galloway’s Getting Started Book and he suggests not running on consecutive days so that your muscles can recover.  He’s the master so I’m not going to question it!  I’ve only just started reading the book so I  hope to share new (to me) and interesting facts that I have read. 

I will do this running thing.

I will.

Anyway – I need to show you a recipe I tried the other day.  It was another one from Dairy Goodness – Easy Jambalaya.  This recipe looked fairly simple and delicious enough to try, but I had to make some mods.  Instead of rice I used Quinoa and I used Kubasa (Ukrainian Sausage) as the meat.

Easy Jambalaya – Quinoa Version

1 cup (250 mL) long-grain white rice (I used organic quinoa)
4 oz (125 g) lean smoked turkey sausages, sliced (or 1 cup / 250 mL diced lean smoked ham)
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) water
2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 mL) Cajun seasoning (I used some chili pepper, Epicure Spices and pepper)
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) milk
1 each, small sweet green and red pepper, chopped
1 can (19 oz / 540 mL) stewed tomatoes, drained and chopped if large
Salt
Fresh Italian parsley (optional)

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add rice, sausage, celery and onion; cook, stirring, for 2 min. Add water. Whisk flour and Cajun seasoning into milk; gradually stir into skillet. Bring just to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer gently for 15 to 20 min or until rice is almost tender.

Gently stir in green and red peppers; cover and simmer for 5 min longer or until rice is tender and peppers are tender-crisp. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle tomatoes over rice mixture; cover and let stand for 5 min. Stir gently to combine and season with salt to taste. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Here are the starter ingredients sitting in the pot – looks good right?

After I added the water & milk, etc things started to look a litle interesting.  I wasn’t sure if I needed to alter the cooking times since I was using Quinoa instead of rice.  I’ve never overcooked it before and wasn’t sure what the ‘breaking point’ would be… so I just kept at it.

Things started bubbling and foaming and I started to get worried.  The mixture stayed “soupy” for a while and I worried it would just be mush.  I prepared Dave for this and he reassured me, “It’d be fine!”

I am not 100% sold on this recipe but here’s how it turned out (looks a bit mushier than it actually was).

For Dessert we enjoyed a ‘peach crumble’.  The crumble was made of oats, brown sugar and some butter.  It wasn’t too shabby.

This has been said time and time again by myself but I really hope to get back into a regular blogging routine.  I do enjoy it and miss it when I’m not blogging.  The support of the readers (if there are any out there after my flakiness lol) is undeniable, so thank you all!

Forgetful gymbo-ers

Ever have one of those nights where no matter what you do, you just can’t fall asleep?   I am sure everyone has at some point.  Well, that was me last night.  I went to bed early (for me) around 11pm.  I took the laptop in with me so I could fall asleep to some trash reality TV:  Jersey Shore.  For some reason whenever Dave leaves, I like to fall asleep to trash TV. 

So I watched episode 5.

Then Episode 6. 

And I was still wide awake!  I tossed & turned but just couldn’t get to sleep.  I blame it on Dave not being there!  He is a furnace and I swear his heat just makes me drowsy! aha! 

So of course this morning was rough.  The day was rough.  But I did make it through!

For dinner tonight I decided on a quick meal – breakfast for supper.  I fried up some hashbrowns and had some egg whites with orange peppers.  mmmm.  So quick and easy and for some reason it’s my go-to meal whenever Dave leaves. 

At the gymbo tonight I did another 4km on the dreadmill.  The run today was more difficult than the last time but farmgirl and I pushed through!  At one interval instead of running for 2 mins, we walked at 3.5 with a  incline of 7 for me, and 9 for her.  I really have to do more incline run/walks.  Frig was it a workout!!

Farmgirl and I have had some interesting times at the gym.  When we went on Saturday I did not come prepared and went to the gym in my jeans but forgot my workout pants, and she forgot her mp3 player.  Thankfully she lives like 2mins away from the gym so we ran back and picked up said pants & mp3 player. 

Tonight when we went she forgot HER workout pants and I forgot my heart rate monitor.  Her pants were workoutable (new word?) as they were polar fleece and I didn’t really need the monitor so we decided to just get the run over with. 

Note to selves: Plan & pack your gym clothes the night before!!

That poor girl got so heated in her fleece pants! LOL  She rolled them up to her knees and was running like a goofball at one point to make sure her pants didnt’ roll down and I almost fell off the treadmill and/or peed my pants laughing!

It is so much fun having her as a dreadmill buddy!

Tomorrow is our weekly Zumba session!  I am happy to announce that Jen attended her first Zumba session tonight and LOVED it!  I’ll leave the rest up to her to blog about!  For real – I think everyone should give Zumba at least one try!  Either you like it or you don’t but if you do, you’ll have SO MUCH FUN!

Gnight my loves!