Training Day 14: Squeezing it all in

Spring is here..baseball, lacrosse, along with the usual karate and gymnastics classes. So, even though I am getting to do my runs, they are about a day or two apart from each other and my blogging even further. Time seems to be my enemy! I ran Sunday after church and a too big brunch. This morning was supposed to be my next run but I think I will have to go after school since I am teaching a before school math program for a few weeks. I am crazy to squeeze this all into one day. It would be easy to give up this running project and just go back to walking and classes but what fun would that be? Running in races is fun and exciting and something I can do anywhere!

So after church on Sunday, I left the kids home with my husband and went to the  gym. It was nice to not have time pressure like in the morning and I was feeling full of calories after bruch so I had a lot to burn! Since this was my 14th day, I decided to try and run 3 min/ walk 1 min....and guess what! I did it! I found my 3 min. spurts much easier than last time, but I still think my one minute breaks are too short! I barely catch my breath and its time again to run! I ran/walked for 45 min. but this was my longest running session yet, I ran for about 30 minutes! That was double my original first run so I am gettting there very slowly but making progress! The only bad thing is that I felt something pinch in my left ankle near the end of the run but kind of ran it out. Now, two days later, I definately have a sore ankle. Not sure what to do...this would be an easy out since Austen keeps on reminding me that running is not the best sport on the joints..especially for a knobby knee girl like me. (Thanks Nurse Austen!) but I know that runners deal with body issues like hamstring or knee problems, so I feel part of a group with my own "running" injury! But really, what does that mean? Should I wait a day and run tomorrow or just ignore it and push through? I will see how I feel later and give myself one more day if I feel like I need it. Just don't want to go past 3 days without running because I think it will keep me from progressing and I don't want to go backwards.

Just keep aiming for my first 5K on May 22 at Rockland Lake. That's just my first goal...off to "run" into my day!

Day 13: Getting Easier

Made it to day 13! It definately getting easier! This morning I dragged my butt to the gym at my early 5am time and was not expecting a miracle on the treadmill. I had missed two days since I last ran because of the lovely "spring" snow and a busy schedule so I thought it was going to be tough. Plus I just wasn't into it at first. When I pulled into the parking lot and there were 10 cars, I thought that I was crazy to push myself and should have slept in. But I knew that once I finished, I would be happy I did it. So, off I started running. I did the usual 3 min run at 4 mph with a one minute break in the middle of each jog. I actually found that I was able to run the 3 minutes much easier than I had. I also was able to only break for one minute instead of two minutes for the whole 45 min. run! My endurance is getting better and I feel stronger. Still red faced after but it should get easier if I keep it up. So, I am going to continue one or two more training days until I push to the four minute mark! Imagine?! I can't for me but hope I get there. Little by little, I am making it to my goal. Now if the weather would cooperate, I would love to hit the road outside and try out my skills out there to see how I will do!

Training Day 12: Don't Give Up

Now is when it gets easy to give up..newness of running is over, not losing much weight, wishing I was progressing faster by now, winter has decided to return making it harder to get up in the mornings in the cold (and snow yesterday..really!?) So, it is a conscious effort to remind myself of all the great things that will come out of this when I push myself to fit running into my day. I will feel that amazing sense of having accomplished something hard in my day. Each day I am getting stronger, although it doesn't seem like it sometimes. I am buring calories, exercising my heart, and getting time alone to think and process my day as I run out the stresses I have dealt with. An added motivator to get out the door has been my kids. They actually ask to go to the gym with me! They like the kids room so that is great when I want to sleep in another hour and go after school instead. I have also tried a new way to keep myself from getting bored....sensory overload! I watched TV on captions mode while I played my Ipod to some pumping music...found my minutes of running went a little faster and kept me distracted from my own sweating and redness. ( My face gets so red despite the heartmonitor telling me I am not too high..I don't know). So, after listening to some great music and getting some news in at the same time, I was able to run/walk 3 min/1 or 2 min. for 45 minutes! (Just started weight watchers and turns out that is 9 activity points! Whoo hoo!) It was hard some times but I kept imagining myself running that 5K or running with a friend along a street chatting as we jog, or running around Block Island in the summer. This weekend I went to the city with some of my best girlfriends and there had been  a half marathon that morning. I saw runners coming back to the hotel wearing their medals and thought, "I want that to be me!" One of these days..you never know! Looking forward to a new opportunity to enjoy the outside this spring and summer...and becoming a runner!

Training Day 11: It's getting harder..

Today I did my best run yet it was my hardest run so far. I don't know if it was the fact that I skipped a day of training (couldn't get up and day was too busy) or that I had ate and drank like it was my job the night before. So, I climbed out of bed at 4:45 (so dark thanks to Day Light Savings!) and felt proud of myself that I made it to the gym at least. Not many people at the gym that early the day after St. Pat's. But there I was..and I wanted to keep improving and had a lot of calories to burn! So I decided to run 3 min/walk 1 min. First 3 min was ok...2nd 3 min  set was a little harder. Each minute inbetween that I walked  felt like a three seconds but yet the 3 minutes felt like they lasted forever! By the time I got to 20 minutes doing this pattern, I was so red and hot but my heartrate was not too crazy so I kept pressing on but I switched over to 2 minutes inbetween the 3 minutes run. The good news is that I finished my 45 minutes..and I ran the most minutes yet..26 minutes of running in total. So it is slow but steady progress. At this point I look forward to the day 3 seems like no big deal. For now, conquering 3 min/1 min run/walk is my new goal by day 15. Let's see if I can keep going, especially in this nice weather. Maybe time to move it outside? We'll see.. till next time!

Training Day 10: Best time yet!

Made it to day 10! It was a tough day to get to the gym but I didn't give up. Because I decided to stay up late last night and watch the Bachelor..(What was I thinking, he was so not worth it), I overslept and didn't make it to my 5:oo visit. So, I asked the kids if they didn't mind if we visited the gym after school. They are the best (and knew that they could get something out of me later) so off we went. It was tough to go because my back has started to act up in it's usual weak spot. Just a sporatic pain here and there but that's how it starts. I can get to the chiropractor to fix me up, but I was wondering if running was a good idea. Didn't want to hurt myself more.Yet I didn't want to miss day 10 either! I have been so good so far!  I decided to try and  see how it went. A couple of times it kept acting up but made it through. As I was running, my foot was starting to hurt also on the other side of my body. What was going on? Should I stop or keep going? IT was my 10th day so I had big plans...I didn't give up and pushed through and finished my best run yet...it was hard for me though! I ran for 3 minutes and walk for 2 for 45 minutes. It was definately hard but not impossible. It helped that a good movie was on.. (Meet the Parents! Too funny!) I will keep running for 3:2 for one or two more training days then switch to 3 min:1 min walk. I am proud of getting through on a day that would have been easy to just go home and try again tomorrow.  Off to bed to rest my back and feet!

Training Day 9: Sieze the Moment

I made it to the gym for my 9th training day..feels like longer but just day 9. No matter things didn't work out in the past because I would have felt like I was doing something for a long time when actually it wasn't. Anyway, had lots of excuses to miss the gym this morning. Of course the time delay and losing an hour of sleep was hard plus my wonderful cousin was sleeping over with her girls. We stayed up late having fun and hanging out. Then, I had a meeting at church at 10:30 that I couldn't miss. My house was a huge mess from the kids having fun and I am not even mentioning the piles of laundry that I have to deal with. The gym nursery closed at 1 so if I was going, I had to do it. Thanks to my supportive cousin pushing me, I ran to church and she dressed the kids for me to take to the gym. After  church, I ran in, changed in a minute, gave kisses to our cousins who were leaving and threw my kids into the car. (bribes helped!) Off to the gym to seize the moment! I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go.

Once the kids were settled in the kids room, I jumped onto the treadmill. My adrenaline was pumping from trying to get there on time so I decided to use this to run 2 min./ walk 1 min. At the beginning, it was as easy as the 2:2 run/walk but after 20 minutes, I definitely saw myself looking at the clock more counting down the seconds to get the 2 min. run over. I was proud of myself by the end of the 45 minutes that I did it! It felt more like a real run because there was only a min. space in between the running parts! It felt great to push myself to improve just a little today..one more session like this and I will try to move to 3 min. run/2 min walk. A little at a time...

I have a new dilemma though..my cousin's husband gave me a new thought. He said that running on the treadmill was completely different than running on a track or street. He made the point that the treadmill brings and pushes the steps for you. Outside, I have to do the moving alone. Never occurred to me so when do I start practicing outside? I am tied to the timer right now and like to see the distance. I could try the local track at the high school since I can clock my distance better but boring. But I am afraid I won't make the same progress. So should I go to gym some days and outside the others? At this point, getting there gets me onto the other machines too sometimes. I need to figure out a good schedule that will keep me progressing without tiring out me out. Time to do some research and think. Any advice from all you runners out there, would love to here it.

Training Day 8: Its getting easier!

After a difficult last session, I was wondering if I would be able to do better today. Last night I had a fun night out with my friend and we wound up sharing a bottle of wine and staying up having some "friend therapy" until almost midnight, plus it was pouring buckets! So, I missed my first morning run. As the guilt set in after three small cookies at our faculty meeting, I decided to run after school and not miss my training day.

Maybe this was just what I needed..an afternoon run! I hopped on the treadmill and was glad to see right away that my energy was strong (probably from those darn cookies!) As I started to do my 2run/2 walk at 4 mph, I was happy to watch some fun tv to keep me distracted. (Thank you Ellen and Oprah!) I quickly realized I was able to do my run portion easier than the other day! I actually felt like I could run a little faster also but decided to enjoy the moment and stay at 4 mph..I was feeling strong and proud. Before I knew it, the treadmills around me started filling up and I noticed they were running faster than me...much faster. I glanced at their screens. The girl next to me was running a 10 minute mile and the guy on the other side was running an 8 minute mile! Ready for mine?....a 15 minute mile. Yeah...ok. So I started to think maybe I wasn't doing as well as I thought. Maybe this was a mistake and I would always we be the slow girl trying to run on the treadmill. Then it started to occur to me that it is so easy to look around at others and see what they can do better than us or easier than us but I should just be looking at myself and my personal growth. I have be improving as a runner over these last 2 weeks and feel stronger every day. It is so easy to think about what you could do better or what you haven't done, but in this moment I was running easier and faster for me so I didn't want to lose that good feeling just because others were in a different place than me. So instead of choosing to see all I can't do or what I haven't accomplished yet, I am choosing to see what I can do and have accomplished to keep me going. (By the way, those "faster" runners didn't last as long as me and were done running after like 20 minutes....wimps. I am just saying...

Today's stats...2:2 run/ walk at 4 mph/3.5 mph. for 45 minutes and felt good at the end! Less tomato red face too...a little at a time!

Training Day 7..Need Inspiration!

I did it!...made it to day 7..13 days ago I started this quest to become a runner but I already feel like running out of the race. Why do I have so much trouble sticking to an exercise routine? As I dragged my butt out of bed, I couldn't find my keys. Time was ticking and I thought about just giving up but I have to say that this blog is keeping me going on my running because it would be easy to say forget it and go back to bed. But I am playing on my personality weakness of caring what people think.  Knowing I would have to get on here and say "I didn't go" is not an option or at least enough to motivate me to get out of bed. I don't even know if many people are reading this or care but I will go with the illusion of it.

So, as I was running today and finding it hard to get my energy up, I started to think about why I am already losing my excitement. It definitely may have something to do with the scale...has hardly budged and I thought I would have at least lost 2 pounds..nothing. A little discouraging. Also, I have hit a plateau already in my running and am not really improving my speed and time in the past two runs. I was hoping today would feel easier but it actually felt harder to push through my minutes. Then I realized the biggest lack of motivation was that I was probably bored. The morning news shows I watch on the treadmill TV are ok but not enough to motivate me to run, especially with all those commercials. So I flipped the channels in between by 2 minute runs and found some of the infomercials about exercise programs they are selling..insanity, my turbo fire, p60 rip...but as I watched them, it reminded me of what I am going for and what I hope to achieve...a strong body that can handle a challenge. So, I began to run a little easier as I saw the body transformations of people who didn't give up...I am not giving up either. I am going to push through this phase of giving up and wanting to try something else and see where it takes me. This is my pattern..I did this with the kids when they were little when I tried a new routine. I used to abandon it within a few weeks if it didn't show amazing results...but that is not life. Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring (from my sorority days...I think that was the "Motto"..funny to use that again!)  So, I endured another day without quitting...I ran/walked at 4 mph/ 3.5 mph at 2 minutes run/2 minute walk. I did it for 45 minutes which is a 15 minutes improvement from the beginning. Little by little I will do this and try to keep it going.

Training Day 6: Hitting my challenge...

Ok..it's official. The newneses and excitement of doing something new is already wearing off. I have an admittedly short attention span when it comes to these things. Pilates one week, biking another, gym, then "natural exercise", no dairy, eating organic.... Can you tell I am a Gemini? Variety is the spice of life they say.

As I listened to the torental downpour at 2 am, threatening to float my house away last night, I thought about actually missing the gym due to the fact I didn't have a boat to get there. Then I thought of plan B: I would just drag all three kids after school  to a dentist appointment and feee them dinner and then head to  the gym to do my goal. (I know it seemed unrealistic but for the sake of sleeping a little longer after being woken up by Gavin's fear of the rain outside, I wasn't thinking straight). When my alarm went of at 4:45, I didn't hear the rain anymore..could it be safe to venture out? Well, it was fine by some miracle. As the flood waters subsided, I dragged myself to the gym.

As I walked in, the gym was pretty empty except for the seven treadmills  I liked to use so I was forced to use another kind they have. Probably the same to most people but I prefer one over the other so I got onto the "older" treadmill. Happily, I noticed right away that the tv reception was better on this one so I felt a little more inspired to run. I did my settings, stretched out and began my 2 min walk, 2 min run. My new goal is 4.0 mph when running. I was also happy to see that you could watch your time and see yourself "running" around the track on this model...that would be different! Quickly in, I realized that it is probably not good to see our time ticking away as "you" creep slowly around "the track." At times, it felt like the 2 minutes of running was long and it felt harder today. By the end of the 2 minute block, I was anxiously slamming the mph back down to 3.5 for the 2 minute walk. (Small progress...I can actually jog faster than I can walk!YEAH! )  But I definately felt this was a challenge to do the 2:2 at 4 mph. The thought of facing my blog as a "failure" and  quitter was enough to push me to reach my goal and by the end, I had run/walked for 45 minutes, covered 2.56 miles and had done it at 4 mph! I know it was my most challenging run yet because my face looked like a tomato for almost 20 minutes after I finished and I was worn out. But at least I found my top fitness level for now...so for the next 4 training days, I will try to feel more comfortable at that speed and pace before more improvements.  I think I will look for improvements to my eating habits and scale in the meantime. It hasn't realized we are trying to get back in shape...the scale has actually crept up a pound..Really? Time to focus on how much I am eating while I try to keep up the runnning...till day 7!

Training Day 5: Progress...

It's been 5 running days, 9 days since starting and I am actaully seeing progress already! After lots of talking about running this week, I have been getting some great advice from people. The most interesting advice came from a new doctor I met for my daughter. She was also my age and had just ran her first 10K at Disney! Who knew that Disney had different runs at their parks...how fun is that? Like me, she had never been able to run before so she set out on this goal to run a 10k. When asked how she did it, she told me she followed a running site that gave advice. She told me about a running guru named Jeff Galloway who had a great program where you run a certain amount of minutes and then walk 2 minutes inbetween a run. Off I went to check out the website. I feel like I could do that...

So, adjustment to my new plans. My new goal is to run/jog 5 minutes and walk 2. I think that is in my reach. When I went to the gym today, I decided to embrace my new motivation to get to the 5 minutes mark and maybe do a run at Disney, and pushed myself try and  run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes (Thank you to my very supportive friend Kimmy who told me to try that even when I didn't think I could do that yet). Surprisingly, I was able to do it! And I pushed my time to run/jog for  45minutes at 3.7-4.0 mph!  I am trying to actually jog faster than I walk. What a rush to feel like I could do it! There is hope yet. This wasa  hard week time wise with a very busy working husband, a babysitter who was out of commision and our usual crazy schedule. It would have been easy to not run this week, but I am so glad that I was abel to stick to the schedule of running every other day and improve each time. So often it is easy to see what we haven't accomplished but I am trying to focus on the fact that after one week, I am making good strides in my personal goal and am motivated to get another 5 days down on the training schedule.  Here's to baby steps and not giving up!

Next goal: Keep up running to 45 minutes,  keeping it at 4.0 mph at 2:2 run/walk for next 5 training sessions.(Bonus...maybe run/walk for an hour by training day 10) Let's see!

Training Day 4: Baby steps

It was definately harder to get up this morning and get to the gym. But I did it...what motivated me this time? All of the girls out there who are jumping on the bandwagon to get into the race of running. Over the past week, I have received so much feedback online and through phone calls about how many are being inspired to get back into running or my running friends who are giving me great advice to help support me in succeeding. As I climb out of bed, I think of all of them getting up as well, getting on their sneakers and running out the door to steal a moment of health for themselves. Feeling part of a group is a motivating feeling...even if they are not with you physically. Sharing in a common goal really can boost your determination to get out there and be part of it! No one wants to be the one who quit..I certainly don't so all of the words of encouragement, advice and anticipation of being able to run with some of them has gotten me out of bed this morning.

These past few weeks I have been teaching Jayna to ski. Each time we visited the mountain, she took a new step forward...better turns, holding on to the tow rope alone, getting on the chair lift, skiing down the big hill with a leash, eventually skiing down the big hill without a leash! Each time we left, I was so excited for her that she was taking these steps to becoming a skiier. When I think about running, I am trying the same approach. Each time, I am trying to do something better than the time before, even if is something small.  So, today I still ran 1:1 run/walk but I pushed my speed up a little from 3.3 to 3.9 over the course of the workout. I also wanted to reach 2 miles today (last time was 1.6 miles). So, I wound up running/walking for 36 minutes today. Baby improvements...longer distance and 3 more minutes running. May not be a lot but a step forward for me to running with friends out of the gym and doing that 5k! Hopefully my scale will start to realize we are doing this and move back down a little and my mouth will cooperate and stop eating everything in sight but that is another blog..Fighting food cravings!?   Baby steps..off to run the marathon to get my 3 kids out the door to school!

Training Day 3: Who am I?

Who am I? Major accomplishment...got up at 4:45 and went to the gym to run my half hour. I don't know what is harder...getting up that early or going to bed early the night before so you get enough sleep! Why is it at 4:45 in the morning you think that 5 more minutes of sleep is really going to make a difference? As I laid there convincing myself to get up and just do it, a million excuses were running through my head...you burn more calories when you sleep enough hours each night so is it worth it to get up and exercise or sleep another hour? Maybe I can workout later (we all know what a lie that would turn out to be)? Finally, I decided to test the theory that you would feel so much better after you are done if you'd just get up and do it! So ...I hobbled out of bed and threw on my clothes (Thank God they were still in a pile on the bathroom floor from the other day), got on my sneakers and started out the door, impressing myself that I was up that early. ( I am usually a 6:00 waker plus four snooze alarm presses so that puts me at about 6:30!) As I started the car, I frantically realized I needed my headphones to watch the tv while I ran.  In a panic, time was ticking, I couldn't find the darn headphones. Now what? At the last second, I ran up to thankfully grab Logan's headphones since he never cleans up anything and they were out on his dresser. Off I went, with a big smile on my face and feeling that beginning sense of accomplishment of getting up to go to the gym.

Next step, get on that treadmill and pump out my half hour. I really wanted to challenge myself to go a little more than the last time I had my running fiasco outside at the field. So, I decided to try jogging one minute and then walking one minute at 3.3 mph. As I started with a few minute warmup trying to get my motivation going, a girl I know jumped on the treadmill next to me. Thank God for a gym buddy! Don't underestimate the simple act of a conversation while working out...it is a great distractor when you want to doubt that you will be able to accomplish something hard. I was wondering if I was going to be able to do the 1:1 run/walk. It is definately a challenge at my fitness level, but I started my pattern as we chatted away. Before I knew it, 20 minutes had passed without much of thought that I was doing it! I had run 10 minutes out of 20! YEAH! Thanks to my gym chat, I felt so elated that I was doing better than expected. I won't lie though. When she moved on to another part of the gym, I was left with my own thoughts and limited distraction from the morning news show, so I started to realized that I still had 10 minutes left to run/walk and was feeling tired. Should I go back to 1:2 run/walk but I knew I was be disappointed in myself at the end for not pushing myself so I bore with the last 10 minutes (5 more minutes of running) and made it to my goal....15 minutes run and 15 minutes walk. To many this may seem like no big deal, but to me, I was so excited! I had run half my time!

I did feel that "You did it!" feeling that I had started off my day right and hoped it would carry through. It was worth getting up early (and going to bed early and missing a new season of Bethanny!) Thank God for DVRs....next time I am  tempted to sleep in and miss my morning workout, hopefully I will remember the mental benefit when you finish of doing something challenging and having time for yourself before your day gets sucked up by responsiblities and schedules. YEAH today!