Hello, 11's

I'm still running.  Slowly, but still running.

Adding a running partner was the best thing I ever did for my progress.  He's significantly faster than me but drops down to just above my pace so I'm forced to work a little harder than if I was running by myself.

A few weeks ago we signed up for a 5k and the morning of the race we woke up to ice covered EVERYTHING!  All of the trees, sidewalks and streets were covered in a sheet of ice.  Walking was difficult, driving was difficult, I could only imagine what running would be like!

We slid our way to the starting line and found the race organizers had moved the course to a perfectly cleared route.  We set off on our run and I felt pretty good.  I ran the entire route without stopping to walk, which is huge for me.  When we got to the finish line I noticed our time was just over 30 minutes.  I knew something was off because there is no way I ran 10 minute miles.  It turns out, when they moved the course we lost about a quarter of a mile.  I was still pretty happy with the run though, I came in at just over 12 minutes a mile.

I knew I was progressing, albeit slowly!

After the confidence boost from that run we headed out a few days later for a run after work.  I felt like I was flying but I did my best to keep up and not walk.  I took 2 short walk breaks and after 4 miles I finally saw an average pace in the 11-minute time frame!  I was so excited.

Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I set out on my own run and despite a few walk breaks I still averaged in the 11's.

I'm 19 weeks out from the mini-marathon I want to run so it's time I start focusing on distance and endurance.  I think speed will come naturally. I'd like to run the half between 10-11 minutes per mile.

Someone suggested I download a playlist with songs that run at 160 bpm so I might try that!

A Running First

Tonight, after work,  I headed to the Metro Park again for my run with a goal of 4 miles. On my way to the park I received an offer for some company if I wanted it.  My initial reaction was no way!  I am a mess when I run.  I'm slow, I breathe heavy, I stop and walk when I feel like it and I certainly don't look pretty when I'm done.  He does Crossfit regularly and is a seasoned runner.  I shocked myself when I said "sure".  I warned him that I was slow and it wasn't a pretty sight to watch me run. 

He caught up with me around my halfway point (2.5 miles) and ran with me the rest of the way. It was weird to run with someone else, especially someone that is way faster and far more physically fit than I am.  I definitely pushed myself a little harder than I think I would have if I had been alone.  

In the end, I finished 5 miles with a 13:12 pace.  I was initially disappointed with that pace, especially since I felt like I was working really hard.  My heart rate was at the higher end of my "high" the entire run.  I log my miles with Map My Run and I scrolled back to a month ago and my pace was 13:54.  I'm definitely improving, it's just a really slow improvement.  

He offered to run with me again, which I'm actually going to welcome.  I think training with someone who's better than I am will push me.  I just hope he doesn't get sick of dropping down to my snail's pace.   

One day, maybe I'll just run slower than a herd of turtles...without the peanut butter ;)

I'm taking rest days until Saturday morning, when I hope to get my pace under 13 minutes.

It's only going to get colder...

It's only going to get colder.

That was the thought running through my head tonight after work as I got dressed in my running clothes.  The thermometer in my car said 49, which isn't really that cold but it was dreary and overcast out and it sure felt cold.  I didn't think it was cold enough to warrant my cold-gear running tights so I just wore regular long leggings and the long sleeved tech shirt from last years Turkey Trot.  My ears are the first things to feel the cold so I wore a thin headband over my ears.

The park I was running at is about a 20 minute drive from my house, which gives me lots of time to think about everything under the sun.

Some of tonight's thoughts:

"49 isn't that cold"

"what are you going to do in December or January when it's colder, and there's snow on the ground"

"You're an idiot for picking a half in early Spring"

"You're an idiot for picking a half"

"I hope these leggings aren't see through"

"I hope my legs and lungs cooperate"

"I should move"

"I wish it was still summer"

"I want a poptart"

"I want pizza" 

I'm usually all over the place before and during a run.  Most of it isn't repeatable but I try to think of anything and everything, except for the fact that my legs and lungs are tired.

I haven't run in a little while and I could feel it today.  I only made it mile before a walk break.  I was pretty disappointed in myself but I plugged along.  I squeaked out just under 3.5 miles and had my fastest mile (my first). I'm still running after that 10 minute mile.  

I know I'm getting stronger, it's just a really slow progression and it's really frustrating.

I'm going to have to figure out this cold weather running. Today my legs were fine, arms were a little hot but my hands were freezing!  I might have to start running with gloves when the temps dip below 50.  It's funny that I think it's "cold" now but come spring 50 will seem warm.

Until my next run, which is hopefully better than today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harsens Island

Yesterday I had a 40 mile bike ride planned out on Harsens Island.  I got a little nervous when I woke up and saw frost all over the grass and cars.  I dressed for the forecast, which was sunny and somewhere around 50° during the ride.  Harsens Island is about an hour east of my hometown so we left pretty early and it was still pretty cold!

When we got to the ride registration it had warmed up to 41° but the sun was shining.  You have to take a car ferry across to the island and lucky for us, bikes and pedestrians are free :)  We took the short ferry trip across the St. Clair River and we were off on our ride!

It quickly warmed up enough to take off my gloves but I'm glad I wore two long sleeved shirts and a headband to cover my ears.  We passed quite a few camouflaged boats coming back into the boat launches with guys dressed head to toe in their camouflage gear.  Duck hunting season had opened the day before in southern Michigan and we heard a good number of gun shots on our ride.  As I passed one stretch of wooded area I heard some rustling around and as I turned to look I saw a deer running away from me.  I like to count the wildlife I see when I'm out on my walks, runs and rides and today I saw quite a bit!  Today I saw an egret, a couple of swans, a duck, a turtle, a deer and a pheasant.

great egret

When we got to the turnaround spot I stopped to take a short break and wait for my friends.  I was surprised how clearly I could see the Detroit skyline from the island! It was a pretty clear day and you could distinctly see the Renaissance Center off in the far distance.

Detroit skyline, from Harsens Island

approximately mile 26

After a short break it was time to hit the road again, this time into the wind!  That made miles 19-25 pretty rough.  Around mile 25 we changed directions a little and road right along side the St. Clair River and in front of some beautiful homes! Definitely the kind dreams are made of.  I passed a couple getting out of a truck dressed head to toe in scuba gear.  I watched them walk into the river but I didn't stick around long enough to see them go under.  I wonder what they were looking for, unless they were just out for a practice dive.  It seemed a little cold to be diving for fun!

I made my way back through the neighborhoods and back to the ferry where I waited for my friends.  I've ridden long distances a few times and ride between 12-14 miles per hour without wind resistance.  This was the farthest distance one of my friends had ever gone so I was pretty impressed when they rolled up not too far behind me!  I'm not sure how I got into the habit of taking my bikes picture after each ride but it's just something I do when I ride.  While I waited for my friends I took advantage of the Harsens Island welcome sign.

33 miles, done!

We took the ferry back to the mainland and were greeted by a homemade lunch of mostacholi.  My final mileage came in just under 33 miles so their original route of 40 miles must have been a little off but it was still a great ride on what turned out to be a pretty great day.

I forgot to turn off my heart rate monitor until I was nearly halfway home but I'm guessing I burned around 1400 calories.  Not bad for a Sunday morning ;)

the road to 13.1

I've decided, once again, to chase the half-marathon dream.

During my 6-week challenge I focused mostly on weight lifting.  Cardio was a small part of our warm-up but not enough to make any mileage gains.  My initial thoughts of running the Urban Bourbon have been postponed.

Now, I'm shooting for the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon, still in one of my favorite cities!  The run is in 208 days.  29 weeks!  I won't start seriously training until I'm about 15 weeks out or so but I will be running more often and trying to increase my mileage. 

Feel free to follow along and send words of encouragement as I try and take this on!

week 6 and final challenge {done}

I made it through the full six weeks without giving up.  I will admit, my focus drifted the last two weeks but I pushed through and completed six weeks of bootcamp.

The final workout was a seven exercise challenge and included our final weigh in and measurements.

I was fairly happy with my results.  Considering I could have tightened up my nutrition a little and pushed myself a little harder in the gym the last two weeks I am happy with my final weight loss of 10 pounds and a loss of nearly 13 inches.

I am a little disappointed I wasn't able to complete all seven of the final exercises but I have to remind myself I am much stronger than when I started and I had never done two of the exercises during the bootcamp.

Here's what we were challenged to do and my results:


Suspension Tuck In - 30 {by the grace of God, I got 30 of these done!}
Suspension Pikes - 30 {I did 7 before falling}
Chaturanga Push Up - In the suspension cables, held an inch of the ground for 15 seconds {I fell flat on my face}
6 MPH treadmill run - 2 minutes {done!}
Barbell Chest Press - 30, bar only (35 pounds) {done, even if I struggled through the last 10!}
Leg Press  - 30, 120 pounds {done!}
Barbell Squat - 30, bar only (35 pounds) {done!}

Overall I was happy with the challenge, the trainers and the gym.  The only thing I didn't really agree with was the nutritional recommendations.  They gave every person the same nutritional recommendations, not taking into consideration age, sex, current weight, etc.  I did my own research online and ended up raising my numbers a little bit.  I loosely followed the IIFYM calculator, found here.  I would have starved on their recommendations but found a pretty healthy balance of weight loss and kept my sanity!

Now that the challenge is over I have to keep going on my own motivation.  I have to suck it up and use the weight area of my gym.  I'm planning on going tomorrow, early, so hopefully it's fairly empty!

I'm not stopping but I will be taking a little bit of a "break" this weekend while on vacation in beautiful Northern Michigan :)

half-way weigh in and measurements

Tonight marked the half-way point for my 6-week challenge.  We were weighed in and they re-did our measurements.  I was a little nervous heading into the gym tonight because I don't feel any different.  I've been weighing myself at home so I already knew I had lost about 5 pounds.  Some days I woke up feeling "thin" and there were other days, like yesterday, when I felt huge!

If I hadn't lost at least a couple of inches I was going to be really disappointed.  I've been busting my butt in the gym and staying within my macros, saying no to foods I really wanted!

I'm happy to report I am down 6 pounds and lost a total of 6 inches!  I lost a full 2 inches in my waist and the rest of the 4 inches was lost over my lower thighs, calves, hips, arms and chest.

My trainer was happy with my results so I'm happy.  I'll take a slow but permanent loss!

Time to kick it up in the gym!  I increased my weights and was given some new push-ups to work on.  Seeing small results has boosted my motivation!

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