Joined the gym!

Well, my running has been non-existant this year. I've had a couple of hiccuped starts, but always stopped because it's too cold or too dark. Soon it will be too hot. Thinking back, when I first started running, I had a 10 minute commute to work and no warm husband to cuddle in the morning (best time to run). Now it's a lot harder to get up early.

Scott's work has a huge, very nice gym. We finally got around to getting me an access card for it. We've gone twice so far, Monday and Wednesday. The first time I tried out an elliptical (too scared to get on the treadmill). It didn't feel like much of a workout compared to running. Right before we left, I decided to be brave and try the treadmill. It wasn't nearly as scary as I expected.

Last night I went right for the treadmill. I did a 5 minute (1/4 mile) warm up walk and then sped it up to a breathless 13:30 minute mile. I was able to sustain that for 1.5 miles before deciding to go back to walking and cool down. Overall, I did 2 miles in about half an hour. I plan to aim for at least 2 miles 3 times a week until I feel comfortable working up to more.

I've also been journaling WW points for the last two weeks with a devastating hiatus over the weekend. I took Friday off to go riding and made my way to Pickett House in Woodville, TX for lunch. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peach cobbler are not conducive to weight loss. On Saturday, I met up with several friends to go out to dinner at Sambuca before seeing "Billy Elliott" at the Hobby Center. The crab stuffed salmon entree was fairly healthy, but the crab bisque soup and sticky caramel bread pudding a la mode most definitely were not!

It's now Thursday and I've finally worked myself back down into the 170s (179.0) and planning to be better this weekend.

One more item of pride. I haven't bought Girl Scout cookies in years, but I'd been dreaming about them lately. They were setting up a stand as Scott and I walked into the supermarket last Sunday. He saw the look on my face and handed me a twenty (I don't usually carry cash). On the way out, I picked up 4 boxes (note the restraint, they're only $3.50 per box). 5 days later, I've had exactly 4 cookies (Lemonades - yum!) and noted each serving faithfully in my journal. Scott tends to go through cookies like a monster, but he's been good about only touching them when I'm having a serving. These 4 boxes will probably last over a month at this rate.

Polar Bear Run

Got in 2 miles this morning with temperatures in the low 30s. I made Lucy wear a sweater. I was wearing long pants, underarmor cold gear shirt, windbreaker, gloves, and a ear-covering fleece headband. I was warm but breathing in that coooooold air was hard.

New Year, New Start, Same Goals!

It wasn't a horrible break, really. No scorched earth, no bingeing on piles of gooey sweetness. I gained roughly one pound over the holidays. Not bad at all. I'll do an official weight tomorrow (Tuesday).

But I'm back now! I'm ready to lose that last 20 lbs to get down to normal weight.

I've got some goals for this year:
- 145 lbs (down 20)
- A race (5k/10k/HM) at least every other month (or at least 6 this year)
- Get back on my bicycle and train for at least one longish bicycle race/ride

My initial plan is to start loosely counting points and being disciplined in my eating (breakfast, lunch, snack) at work. I've moved into a new living situation which will require development of a new low-points dinner strategy (cooking for 2!).

I'm also going to reboot my running schedule. I haven't run regularly in the the past month, so my first goal is to get back into shape for a 5k at the end of January/beginning of February. I'll freeze/run tomorrow morning.

2009 Turkey Trot 10k

A couple of super-flattering pictures of me running:





The 10k was easier than I'd expected. I kept my pace slow and actually managed to run the whole thing! Time was 1:20:12, which was about what I was expecting, really. I'm happy.

W7D3

Today was the big one... the last big run before the 10k.

I left the house with Lucy just after 9. It was bright, sunny, and not too cool that I was worried about being cold in my sleeveless jersey. I kept the pace nice and easy, so even when I started feeling really heavy and tired around mile 4, it wasn't too difficult to keep going. I finished with an average pace approaching 14 minutes per mile, but still in the 13s.

Came back, took a glorious shower, made some more award-winning buttermilk pancakes, and spent the day painting the house.

W7D2

It was supposed to be an easy 2 mile run. Handling two excited, tugging dogs was a little more tiring than I expected. Was a nice sunny morning on the golf course though. I think I'm really going to enjoy my new jogging trail.

Also, new low this morning. I hit 163.2, an overall loss of TWENTY-EIGHT (28) POUNDS!

WOOHOO! That's almost "round-able" to 30!

W7D1

3 mile run on the golf course this morning. It was very cold, in the mid-50s. I was concerned enough to wear a short sleeve shirt and 3/4 pants, but I warmed up nicely halfway through.

W6D3

I postponed this run until Sunday morning because I enjoyed last weeks golf course run so much.

The entire golf course loop turned out to be over 5 miles. I swallowed a bug around mile 4, threw it up a few minutes later, and felt much better for the rest of the run. Average pace was 13:22. Not bad.

W6D2

I pushed myself and managed a pace of 12:25 minutes/mile for the first half of this morning's 2 mile run. The 2nd mile slowed significantly. It's HARD to run faster.

W6D1

Very cold 3 mile run (13ish pace) this morning. I don't think I truly warmed up until halfway through mile 2. The sun was fully up though. YAY for daylight savings time!

I'm a One Hour Runner (W5D3)

The rain has been a real drag lately. I haven't run since the 3 miles on Monday morning, but I really want to progress with my program. I kicked myself out of bed at 8AM this morning with the goal of running 4.5 miles.

It was in the 50s, but bright and sunny. I grabbed shades from the truck and walked off toward the abandoned golf course/running path behind Scott's house. Lucy's tail was wagging happily and she reached her nose out to catch the light breeze.

I love being able to track distance on the Forerunner. The GPS helped me decide to turn around after reaching the end of the 4th section of the golf course (new territory for me). In all, I found that running 4 sections of the golf course gave me 4.2 miles. I doubled back on the close one to reach 4.5 miles. At that point, I was only 1.5 minutes from running for a full hour, so I kept going just long enough to give me that coveted 60 minutes!

My pace for the whole run averaged around 13 minutes/mile. I'm pretty happy that I didn't sink down to the 14s. I was feeling good, even at the end. I'm not at all worried about reaching 5 miles next weekend.

W5D1

I slacked a bit last week. Between a tight deadline at work, a really rainy day, and being exhausted come Saturday morning, my running schedule suffered.

I'm back at it this week. Today was one of the coldest runs I've ever done. The middle school marquee said 55°, but I got my 3 miles in. I averaged just over 13 minutes per mile.

A science blog I've been reading had a great post on running this morning: To Dad, from a Runner

I found myself identifying: slightly nerdy girl with her head always in a book got started running. We all get started for different reasons but in the end it all boils down to that daily challenge to get out there and get that run in. She's several years ahead of me in speed/distance and definitely an inspiration.

W4D3

Another 4 mile run this morning. When I started just before 7, it was almost completely dark outside. By the time I finished, the skies were cloudy with big patches of bright blue. A beautiful mid 60s morning.

I'm happy to report that my average pace improved slightly to 13:50/mile. I'm taking these runs nice and slow. I'm even starting to look forward to next week's 4.5 mile run.

W4D2

An easy (and sunny) 2 miles this morning. I slept in a little and left the apartment a little after 9 AM. It felt good to go out in daylight without fear of overheating.

One of my neighbors was outside working on his truck. We chatted for moment before I took off. He was a little concerned that I'd be too cold (it was in the 60s) in my sleeveless running top (bathing suit material) and biker shorts. I assured him that once I got moving, I'd be just fine.

W4D1

Got up at 6 AM this morning to run 3 miles, mostly in the dark. Lucy was thrilled to see that the armadillos were out again. The jr high marquee said 80°.

Also, new low on the scale. At 164.8, I've dipped my toe into the bottom half of the 160s.

W3D3 - New Program!

With my 10k race coming up quickly and the new training monitoring abilities available on my Forerunner, I've decided to switch to another program: Hal Higdon's 10K Novice, but only for the running distances. Following the cross training schedule there is a little bit more than I can handle. I just know I'd be setting myself up for failure.

I started with W3D3 and a 4 mile run this morning. I kept my pace nice and slow, averaging 14:11 minutes per mile (56:48 minutes running).

For purposes of "goal completion", I'm counting this run as One Hour Runner W9D3 (54 minutes minimum). When I manage a 60 minute run, I'll consider OHR completed.

My legs have been sore all day. I really hope I didn't overdo it.

Strollin' Along

I was supposed to run 49 minutes this morning, finishing off W8 of One Hour Runner.

Patricia woke me up with a 7:15 AM phone call to see if I was still planning to run at Meyer Park. I'd forgotten to set an alarm and probably would have just run locally if she hadn't prodded me.

We met at Meyer at 9AM. I was eager to try out my new Garmin Forerunner 305, but not really feeling like a long run this morning. We managed 2.5 miles at 12:22 minutes per mile average. I have to call it a "short" run.

W8D2

Kind of a weird jog this morning. I had a 9AM meeting downtown, so I got going right after 6 to give myself time to commute. It was still very dark outside. I could see stars twinkling brightly between the clouds.

Armadillos were out in force. I think I saw more live armadillos this morning than in my entire ~4 years in Texas. Lucy was impressed and intrigued.

I also managed to swallow a bug. This kicked off several minutes of alternating trying to spit it's remains out, retching, and wondering if an allergic reaction was about to start. (It didn't. I think my nose was just having trouble dealing with the amount of air passing through it after I closed my mouth.)

I think I only ended up running two 12-minute pace miles before I gave up and started walking.

YAY! My Forerunner 305 should arrive today!

W8D1

It was pouring yesterday morning, so my Monday jog had to be postponed.

This morning was muggy and ugly. Soooo hot! Got my 30 minutes in and dripped my way back home.

Komen Houston Race for the Cure 5k

There I am, bib #6801, moving along in the biggest crowd I've ever run in! Over 4000 people ran in the competitive 5k and thousands more were there for the walk that followed. Downtown was SUCH a traffic jam!

At 37:59 (2671st place, 212th in my age group!), I improved my 5K PR time by about 2 1/2 minutes. Sadly, I didn't manage to run the entire race. There were a couple of underpass hills that just looking at sapped my will to run. I did manage to hit the 3 mile mark in 36 (and change) minutes, so I'm now averaging just over 12 minutes per mile.