I had an interesting experience at the Hamster Wheel today. I had been complaining to Mike for about a month that I couldn't wear my favorite gym pants for my faster runs anymore because I kept having to hike them back up. Well, today I was at the gym for a resistance workout, which includes a 1 1/2 mile running warmup at a pretty easy speed. And, I realized today that I am going to have to retire my favorite pants. I was hiking them up so much it was interfering with my run. So, while I am sad to be losing my favorite pants (*cry*), I am ecstatic for a shopping trip to find new ones!!! BUT, while I was pulling up my pants at the gym, I started to realize just how far I've come in such a short time...
From January 1 to August 17
1. Weight Lost: 4 pounds
2. Body Fat Percentage Lost: 0.3 percentage points
3. Pants Size: About the same if not a little bigger
4. Furthest Distance Run: 1 mile on a treadmill seven years ago
5. Average Pace of a Mile: slow...I couldn't even hazard a guess
From August 17 to October 9
1. Weight Lost: 10 pounds (14 total)
2. Body Fat Percentage Lost: 1 point (1.3 total)
3. Pants Size: About the same
4. Furthest Distance Run: no change
5. Average Pace of a Mile: no real change
From October 9 to now
1. Weight Lost: 9.5 pounds (23.5 total)
2. Body Fat Percentage Lost: 4 points (5.3 total)
3. Pants Size: Lost two sizes, almost down another one
4. Furthest Distance Run: 5.33 miles
5. Average Pace of a Mile: from 16:06 the first week to 13:27 this week
While I am super excited that my pants were falling down (haha!), it belies the fact that I am getting so much more in shape and really enjoying myself. Mostly, I am really happy at the fact that I am getting faster and being able to go so much further on each run. After my not so fun injury recovery, I was able to come back stronger than before and set four PRs in my first three runs...besting PRs for the one, two, three, and four mile times. And I personally expect to best both my five and six mile times on Monday on my longest long run yet. To give you all an idea, I have taken 3 full minutes off my mile since the end of October, 2 1/4 minutes off my 2 mile time, almost 3 minutes off my 3 mile, almost 5 minutes off my 4 mile, and a full 14 minutes off the 5 mile time. Plus, all of those were running!!
Before October, I had run one mile in my entire life. This month, I not only ran over 5 but ran for a continuous 75 minutes. Some very dear friends said to me in August that I could go further than I thought I could and that my mind would give up before my body needed to. Others told me that running would hurt my knees and that I shouldn't push myself so hard because that would lead to injury. And one person who has become a very good friend said to start slower than I usually did and breathe deep and steady from the first step. And that was the very best advice of all. Not just a "you can do it" or a "don't hurt yourself" but a "here's how...and I believe in you" that started it all. I'm starting to believe that the six miles I will run on Monday is just the tip of the iceberg.....
Showing posts with label personal record. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal record. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Planted Seeds
I went into last week a little wary. It was a new week of new workouts..longer intervals, tempo runs, and a 75 minute long run. I was armed with lap times, doing MUCH better with pacing, but the idea of the new runs (and a really fricking long one) made me doubt myself a little. Until I was given a heads up that the FOLLOWING week, I should be prepared to do a five mile long run. WHAT? Are you kidding me??? I can't run five miles! I'm still working on consistently having the four mile under an hour! But, the seed of five miles was planted anyway....
So, I headed to long intervals (2/3 mile, 1/3 mile recovery) and was able to complete them well, setting a 3 mile PR in the process. Excited by my success, I looked forward to the longer steady state run of 3 miles (new distance) and was able to complete that one with success too! My first tempo run (run at race pace) was a little daunting but I was able to come in with a little faster lap times than I was aiming for. I was looking forward to the steady state run (2 1/2 miles) the next day and went out (as usual) a little too fast. But, I was fine with the speed so I kept it up and was able to run my 2 1/2 at very slightly slower than the tempo speed goal from the day before. I was ecstatic by my run but tempered the excitement with a few nerves because I knew that I was blowing my goals out of the water (meaning newer, harder goals were coming.....) and because I was a little worried that I had gone too fast and really had done a tempo run instead of really doing the steady state I was supposed to be doing. As for the next day, my intervals turned into a steady state run (a real one) so that I would be refreshed for the long run on Wednesday.
Wednesday dawned happy and well and I was excited to get started with my long run, but had a few things to do around the house. While I was cleaning and straightening, that seed (the 5 mile one) took root and grew in my head. I looked at the lap/pace time chart on the fridge and realized that I could probably aim for the five miles this week. So, I thought I would give it a try and no being disappointed if I missed it. So, I played a math game during my run to keep me occupied over my insane number of laps. Instead of really paying attention to what was going on with my lap time, I played an over/under game seeing if I could stay under the 15:00 pace needed to hit 5 miles in 75 minutes. After a couple of miles, it was intensely clear that it wouldn't be a problem to keep that up. And that run turned into the BEST RUN EVER, as I shattered four PRs in that run (total time run, total continuous distance, four miles, and five miles). Yes...you read that right, not only did I hit 5 miles, I ran for a total of 5.33!! And each subsequent mile was FASTER than the mile before it, which rarely, if ever, happens during my long runs. It started with the first mile just under 15:00 at 14:57 and finished with a 13:40. WOW! Because of the nature of my lap timing on my HRM, I don't actually see these numbers until they are in my spreadsheet, so I was even surprised by myself!
Good news from all this? Look at all those amazing PRs!! I surprised myself and am going to have all sorts of new lap times to hit by the end of the month!!
Bad news? I injured my left leg. I took Thursday off and went back at intervals on Friday but couldn't get them all completed because of the pain in my leg. I tried to push through it (set a one mile PR in the process), but ended up having to take the entire weekend off as a result. Hopefully, I'll be better and good and ready to go by this weekend!
So, I headed to long intervals (2/3 mile, 1/3 mile recovery) and was able to complete them well, setting a 3 mile PR in the process. Excited by my success, I looked forward to the longer steady state run of 3 miles (new distance) and was able to complete that one with success too! My first tempo run (run at race pace) was a little daunting but I was able to come in with a little faster lap times than I was aiming for. I was looking forward to the steady state run (2 1/2 miles) the next day and went out (as usual) a little too fast. But, I was fine with the speed so I kept it up and was able to run my 2 1/2 at very slightly slower than the tempo speed goal from the day before. I was ecstatic by my run but tempered the excitement with a few nerves because I knew that I was blowing my goals out of the water (meaning newer, harder goals were coming.....) and because I was a little worried that I had gone too fast and really had done a tempo run instead of really doing the steady state I was supposed to be doing. As for the next day, my intervals turned into a steady state run (a real one) so that I would be refreshed for the long run on Wednesday.
Wednesday dawned happy and well and I was excited to get started with my long run, but had a few things to do around the house. While I was cleaning and straightening, that seed (the 5 mile one) took root and grew in my head. I looked at the lap/pace time chart on the fridge and realized that I could probably aim for the five miles this week. So, I thought I would give it a try and no being disappointed if I missed it. So, I played a math game during my run to keep me occupied over my insane number of laps. Instead of really paying attention to what was going on with my lap time, I played an over/under game seeing if I could stay under the 15:00 pace needed to hit 5 miles in 75 minutes. After a couple of miles, it was intensely clear that it wouldn't be a problem to keep that up. And that run turned into the BEST RUN EVER, as I shattered four PRs in that run (total time run, total continuous distance, four miles, and five miles). Yes...you read that right, not only did I hit 5 miles, I ran for a total of 5.33!! And each subsequent mile was FASTER than the mile before it, which rarely, if ever, happens during my long runs. It started with the first mile just under 15:00 at 14:57 and finished with a 13:40. WOW! Because of the nature of my lap timing on my HRM, I don't actually see these numbers until they are in my spreadsheet, so I was even surprised by myself!
Good news from all this? Look at all those amazing PRs!! I surprised myself and am going to have all sorts of new lap times to hit by the end of the month!!
Bad news? I injured my left leg. I took Thursday off and went back at intervals on Friday but couldn't get them all completed because of the pain in my leg. I tried to push through it (set a one mile PR in the process), but ended up having to take the entire weekend off as a result. Hopefully, I'll be better and good and ready to go by this weekend!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Why Do I Bother?
This week's training sessions saw some interesting ups and downs.
After four days of 2 mile run sessions, Wednesday dawned as a welcome day off. But, as Alexa loves to race in the morning, we took off running across the blacktop to Samantha's school. And that's where I learned my lesson in proper running footwear. Evidently, ankle boots are not the way to go. I came down funny on my left foot, overcompensated to the right, and ended up on the blacktop with a skinned knee, a skinned elbow, and a slightly twisted ankle. I was so glad that Wednesday was a planned day off.
I aborted the run planned for Thursday because of the pain in my foot/ankle and went for a nice, slow walk with Hailey instead. I was concerned with Friday but thought I would just take it slow. I was still aiming for Saturday as a 2 1/2 mile run to push myself a little further this week. Like I said, why do I bother?
1 1/2 miles into the run, I felt good and my foot wasn't bothering me at all. I was definitely going slower than usual but I was having a hard time judging because I wasn't on my usual track. I was at a 12 laps to a mile track instead and my lap times were totally different. So, I decided to aim for 3 miles instead. And, once I hit 3, I couldn't just leave it there. So, I finished off another quarter mile at a much faster pace (about 12min/mile pace). And, as I was leaving the gym, I thought to myself, I so could have gone further at that slower pace. I ended up running a little over 53 minutes, which is pretty close to that 60 minute goal.
So, new goal again? Not really..I still have two goals for November that I haven't yet really hit. The first is to run continuously for 60 minutes. Most likely, I will hit that on Tuesday with my long run. The second....to get my average steady mile pace down to 14:00. With my new training schedule courtesy of Josh (thanks!), I am absolutely confident that I will hit that before Thanksgiving!
(On a housekeeping note, I have changed the settings so all of you who don't want google accounts can now post onto the blog....)
After four days of 2 mile run sessions, Wednesday dawned as a welcome day off. But, as Alexa loves to race in the morning, we took off running across the blacktop to Samantha's school. And that's where I learned my lesson in proper running footwear. Evidently, ankle boots are not the way to go. I came down funny on my left foot, overcompensated to the right, and ended up on the blacktop with a skinned knee, a skinned elbow, and a slightly twisted ankle. I was so glad that Wednesday was a planned day off.
I aborted the run planned for Thursday because of the pain in my foot/ankle and went for a nice, slow walk with Hailey instead. I was concerned with Friday but thought I would just take it slow. I was still aiming for Saturday as a 2 1/2 mile run to push myself a little further this week. Like I said, why do I bother?
1 1/2 miles into the run, I felt good and my foot wasn't bothering me at all. I was definitely going slower than usual but I was having a hard time judging because I wasn't on my usual track. I was at a 12 laps to a mile track instead and my lap times were totally different. So, I decided to aim for 3 miles instead. And, once I hit 3, I couldn't just leave it there. So, I finished off another quarter mile at a much faster pace (about 12min/mile pace). And, as I was leaving the gym, I thought to myself, I so could have gone further at that slower pace. I ended up running a little over 53 minutes, which is pretty close to that 60 minute goal.
So, new goal again? Not really..I still have two goals for November that I haven't yet really hit. The first is to run continuously for 60 minutes. Most likely, I will hit that on Tuesday with my long run. The second....to get my average steady mile pace down to 14:00. With my new training schedule courtesy of Josh (thanks!), I am absolutely confident that I will hit that before Thanksgiving!
(On a housekeeping note, I have changed the settings so all of you who don't want google accounts can now post onto the blog....)
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