This is What I've Been Training For

I RAN AN ENTIRE 5K WITHOUT STOPPING! Hallelujah. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't awful. I was prepared to run the path in Wash Park, but the road was a little steeper and a little harder than the dirt path. Regardless, I wasn't last. I sprinted across the finish line to have a time around 41:30 minutes (unofficially). And it felt goooooood. I was just reminiscing about the first 5K I did back in October of last year and how AWFUL I felt during/after. I think I only ran about half of it, and finished thinking I was going to die. Oh how far I've come!

Anyways, enough patting myself on the back. Time to shower, eat and get back to this paper writing! :) happy Sunday!

Oh, and GO PACKERS!

Run, Run, Runaway Run

Maybe someday I will find someone to run, run, runawaaay. Maybe someday, maybe someday. (Yes, I just quoted a Hanson song.)

Well, today was my last run before my 5K on Sunday. I was going to run inside on the treadmill and do some "speed" training, but it was so nice outside that I couldn't help myself. I just did the loop around campus, which is about 2.11 miles. Last time, I ran this loop in 27:21 minutes; today I finished the loop in 26:48 minutes. My pace was 12.7 minute/mile. Granted I ran the loop the opposite direction than last time, but honestly, I think this direction was harder.

Regardless, it felt good to run, and I'm still confident that as long as I keep my slow pace during the race, I'll run the whole thing no problem. :)

FALL IS HERE!

As you may have noticed, I didn't make a post yesterday about my Thursday weigh-in. These past few days have been HOT MESSES. I had my first huge media law exam, so we studied and drank wine/ate pizza the night before. Then, something messed up my back that night so I didn't sleep well, and I couldn't exercise. Then we went out AFTER the exam to celebrate surviving. Basically, I haven't exercised in two days AND I've been over on my calories for the past three days. Everyone wave with me as the wagon drives away. *waves*

But this morning, I knew it was time to step it back up. Got up at 7am and went for a run in the brisk, chilly 42 degree air at Wash Park. It was a little TOO cold at first, but once I got going, it was perfect. Unfortunately they are doing a lot of construction on the park's paths, so I had no idea how far I had actually run until I came home and mapped it.Turns out I ran 3.36 miles instead of the 3.1 I was aiming for, but that gives me hope in the 5K I'm running at Wash Park in a week. It took me 45 minutes and 30 seconds, which is a pretty slow pace of 13:50/mile. Now I KNOW I can run the whole 5K, no problem, but now it's the matter of keeping my own pace--I always have the issue of speeding up when others are running around me to keep up. BAD IDEA. We'll see.

And today I promise to be UNDER CALORIES! Well.....at least until tonight when I drink wine. Oops. :)

So I'm Feeling a Little Cocky

Maybe I should say confident. After my completion of a 5k in the gym this weekend, I decided to sign up for a real 5K in two weeks: Fit for Fire 5K in Wash Park on October 16th. It will be my 4th 5K, but I'm hoping that it's the first one that I run all the way through.

The first one was in October 2010 in Erie, CO. It was rough since I had JUST moved to CO and was still adjusting the to lack of oxygen and I had JUST started running and there were fires that made the air all ashy (okay, that last one might just be an excuse...). I have no idea how much I actually ended up running but I had my friend with me so she definitely pushed me farther than I would have pushed myself. Official time: 39:13 (technically it was only 2.8 miles) for a avg pace of 14:01/mile. I finished 387/490.

The second one was the Turkey Trot back home in Indiana on Thanksgiving morning. I ran it with another friend, though we were both kind of not super into running at the time. It was cold and rainy and not so fun. Regardless, I tried to run as much as I could; I ran the last half mile faster than normal since my dad doubled back through the course to catch up with me. Suddenly, I had the urge to impress. Official time: 42:57 for a avg pace of 13:50/mile. Better. 765/796. Wow.

The third one was "That Dam Run" which ran through Cherry Creek and over the dam. I ran the 5K while my friend ran the half-marathon. I was definitely more prepared for this one (March 2011), but it was the first one I ran alone. I ran the first mile straight, then broke the rest up into walking/running intervals. Official time: 42:44 for avg pace of 13:47/mile. Better. 401/441. I swear I must be the last "runner" to finish and the rest are walkers.

For this next one, I don't care about my time. I just want to run the whole thing. Even if I'm shuffling the last half mile, as long as I'm not walking, I'll be happy. My plan is to keep my current schedule: run Wednesdays and Sundays, hoping to run another 5K on the treadmill next weekend....

Pray for me. Ha.

Run a 5K straight: Check

FINALLY. After a year of training myself to not only run, but run in elevation after living at 500 ft above sea level for 22 years, I RAN AN ENTIRE 5K WITHOUT STOPPING. Granted, it was on a treadmille and it was at a very slow pace, but DAMNIT I DID IT. I ran into a friend at the gym yesterday who is doing Race for the Cure tomorrow, and she ran 3.2 miles on the treadmill to "whip herself back into shape." That was it. I knew I was capable of running 3.1 miles so I set out to do it.

Walk 1 minute (0.05 miles) at 3mph
Jog 41:40 minutes (3.1 miles) at 4.5 mph
Walk 7:20 minutes (0.37 miles) at 3mph

Now it's time to shower, make dinner, and relax for a bit before hitting the books again. Ugh.

5K Training: Day 60

Ran another 2 miles this morning on the treadmill (27 minutes @ 4.5 mph). It wasn't as easy as Tuesday's run, but I did it none-the-less. Even though I won't be blogging here, I'm hoping to at least get a few runs in while I'm in South Carolina--no air & dry vs. humid but plenty of oxygen. We'll see how that turns out. Haha.

Official weight this morning was 203 lbs. We'll survey the damage when I return next week. Until then...Cheers!

5K Training: Day 59

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 13

Those planks are still killing me. You'd think with all the arm work that I've been doing with this video, my arms would be shrinking--but they ain't. And now my weight is fucking around 204/205. AAGGGHH.

Oh well, tomorrow I'm off to South Carolina for a week and I'll probably blow my diet anyways. Hah.

5K Training: Day 58

Goal: Run 25-30 minutes.

Went to the gym and busted out 2.25 miles in 30 minutes. GO ME! For some reason, today felt GREAT so when I got to the 2 mile point (about 27 minutes), I wasn't exhausted and thought "might as well try for 30 minutes." I AM SO PUMPED. I am getting closer and closer to that 5K. I wonder if maybe the faster intervals this weekend with Kirsten helped me in this run. Might try that out for my longer runs since I'm obviously falling behind in distance on those. Just run/walk intervals totaling up to the long distance. Hmm... It's an idea.

Oh, and only TWO MORE DAYS until I leave for South Carolina. Not going to make my "under 200" goal, but I'm still kickin' ass.

5K Training: Day 57

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 12

Day 2 of Level 2. Not AS horrible as Day 1, but still couldn't go the whole way without a break. It's the last five minutes that kill. It's all in plank position, and I just can't hold up 200 lbs while twisting my legs and shit. Everything else I can suffer through, at least in the beginner efforts.

My legs. My arms. My shoulders. My back. OWWIE. I don't think I'm going to make my goal of under 200 lbs by June 23rd but I'll be close. If I had until the end of June, I'd totes be there though. :)

5K Training: Day 56

Goal: Run 1.5 miles

Despite being quite hungover and tired after last night, I still got up and went for a run with Kirsten at Wash Park. Beautiful day. We did run/walk intervals which was nice because she definitely pushed me to run faster than my normal speed. We did one outside loop around the park, which is approx 2.6 miles.



I only timed the parts we ran, but I'm assuming in total, it took about 40 minutes. We ran for 26 minutes (7 min/7 min/5 min/7 min) which according to my pathetic pedometer, was 1.9 miles and in reality was probably closer to 2 miles. I don't know. All I know is that I need a shower and some lunch before I head back to the park to "work on my thesis" and lay in the grass. :]

Oh & P.S. clocked my official weight yesterday morning at 202.4lbs. WOOT!

5K Training: Day 54

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 11

aka first day of Level 2. HOLY DROPLETS OF SWEAT BATMAN. The first half wasn't too bad. Didn't need a break. I was feeling pretty cocky. Then the second half and I think I took three breaks. Everything is a plank. My arms/shoulders/back couldn't handle it. UGH.

Like I said on MFP, it will be easy to see progress throughout these next 10 workouts. Whew.

And not to jinx anything, but when I weighed myself this morning, there was moooooooovement. :D I'll wait until tomorrow to log anything official since I drank last night so some of it could be dehydration.

5K Training: Day 53

Ran at the gym again. 4.5 mph. Two miles in a little less than 27 minutes (about 26:50). WOO! And I didn't feel like COMPLETE death when I finished--I mean, just like, half death. I even ran THROUGH the 2 mile mark instead of completely just giving out at soon as the ticker switched. Haha. That's an improvement, right?

Oh, and I'm finally FINALLY FIIINNAAALLLYYY almost back to the weight I was before I left for the wedding. Three weeks later. But that means the scale is moving even though the Shark just bit this morning. Thank you.

5K Training: Day 52

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 10

OH SHIT. Last day of Level 1. I'm a little, and by a little I mean A WHOLE LOT, concerned, about moving to Level 2. I've heard people say its a huge leap in challenge level. Merrrrr.

On other depressing news, I'm still not losing weight like I was before, although now I'm stuck at 206.6 instead of 207.4--better? UGH.

5K Training: Day 51

25 minutes on the treadmill at 4.5 mph ~ 1.87 miles

I'm impressed with this run since I was out last night until 12:30am and consumed 1 tequila shot, 1 margarita, 1 glass of white wine and 1 glad of red wine. I didn't feel too great when I woke up at 7:30, but I drank a glass of water, laid in bed another 1/2 hour, and then went to the gym. Go me.

And I guess I definitely upped my calorie intake yesterday. Haha. Let's see if that moves the scale any!

5K Training: Day 50

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 9

I'm seriously starting to get pissed off at the fact that I am still sitting at 207.4 lbs after three weeks of eating within my calorie limit each day, working out six days a week and trying to cut back on salt/dairy/soda/EVERY FOOD IN THE GODDAMN WORLD. I don't know what to do.

I guess I could try eating more calories each day but that just scares me. I thought my mini-goal of under 200 lbs by the end of June was a wimp goal since I only needed to lose 4 lbs in four weeks but FUCK ME ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN AT THIS RATE.

UGH. Shark week.

5K Training: Day 49

Seven weeks complete. And even though I'm a little behind schedule, I think I'm doing okay. I feel like I am pushing myself hard, but not too hard, it that makes sense.

Went to the gym and ran for 25 minutes at 4.5mph which was approximately 1.85 miles. Then walked for five minutes to add another 0.27 miles. It started rough because my legs were a little stiff from yesterday's hike, but by the end, it felt normal--tired and out of breath, pushing to make it to 25 minutes. Hah.

Still no movement on the scale (UGHHHHHHH) but I'm blaming this weeks's stagnant number on the fact that it's almost Shark Week and my body is probably bloated. Hopefully. I REALLY JUST WANT TO BE OUT OF THE 200s! (I say that as I'm about to go eat brunch with my girlfriends. Oops.)

Time to shower!

5K Training: Day 47

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 8

Legs were a little sore from yesterday's run when I started doing the workout, but I pushed through. I have a bad feeling that Level 2 is going to KILL me. I also need to figure out what's going on with my diet. I have been barely going over 1200 net calories everyday and I'm still fluctuating between 207 and 205 lbs. It's so frustrating.

But on a good note, I haven't had a "cheat day" (like my Sundays used to be) in a couple weeks. :) NSV?

5K Training: Day 46

Well, after Tuesday's disaster run (and after effects), today went much better. Though, as soon as I walked into the gym, I asked where the restroom was, just in case. Haha. Then I set the treadmill to 4.5 mph (about a 13 minute and 20 second pace) and went.

And went and went and went. 2 MILES BABY. I am so unbelievably impressed with myself right now, even though it took me 27 minutes. (It was slightly demoralizing when I saw a girl WALKING 4.4mph as I was stretching...but screw her!) Now I know it's not going to be easy to do it again (I remember the first time I ran a whole mile...), but now I KNOW I can so that will help push me along. Only one more mile to conquer before I have reached my 5K goal. YAY!

5K Training: Day 45

Jillian Michaels 30DS, Day 7

I actually did the WHOLE workout without stopping for a breath AT ALL. FUCK YEAH. No time to type. I need to shower and get ready to go intern. Woot!

5K Training: Day 44

Today has already started out awful. I don't think you'd believe me, or even want to hear about, what has happened in the two hours I've been awake. UGH. I was supposed to run 25-30 minutes, but unfortunately I only got to about 18 minutes before disaster hit.

1.32 miles in 18 minutes. Back to my old, slow pace. I have my internship today, so let's hope that things get better, WAAAY better from here on out.