Thursday, July 30, 2009

I can't believe this

I just put on some jeans that are size 8. I'm not joking. This is crazy. I guess I could have put this on facebook as a status but I don't want to sound to cocky.

I'm just surprised. I guess you work hard and it pays off. Yippee.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Someday I WILL be Faster

Today I committed to running 7.5 miles and I tried to get up by 5am. Instead I was up at 6am and out the door by 6:20am, which made for a nice cool run with the sun at bit of a low blinding angle. I planned ahead and had Tootsie Rolls in my pocket so that this time (unlikely my last run) my legs wouldn't run out of sugar to burn after only 3 miles. This worked well and I enjoyed having a kick in my step the last two miles.

I ran an average pace of 11:32, but the last mile and a half I was running at around a 10:45 pace. I love the pace calculating tool at the following website, by the way, and hope you use it to: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/4/4_1/96.shtml I would love to be faster then I am and had hoped be running at a 10 min mile pace by now. I think I could maintain a 10 min mile for perhaps 3 miles, but not more than that. For now I am pleased that I have some good endurance, my legs are strong, and I don't feel any injuries coming back. I can run 7.5 miles no problem. Of course I did feel like eating everything in sight this morning (french toast by Nate and coffee and a McGriddle from McDonalds later and I finally felt full).

I hope I can run my miles in the Hood to Coast a bit faster than I did my run this morning (I think I can do that since I'll be running it in three legs with 5 hours or so recovery between each run - 6 miles, 4 miles, and then 4 miles.)

I also looked up my old records of when I ran the KC Half marathon in 2005 while training for my marathon one month later (can you believe that the results from that race are still on the Internet.) I ran/walked that half marathon with a chip time of 2:47:00 (12:45 per mile pace). I'd like to beat this time soundly when I run the Sacramento Half Marathon on Oct 4th 2009 - two pregnancies later and 4 years older and hopefully 25 pounds lighter. My goal is to run this half marathon in under 2:20:00 (10:41 min mile). It is fun to think of my 31-year-old self betting a race against my 27-year-old self.

My long-term dreams include running a 5k, 10k, and Half Marathon all at 9:30 min pace, which would be total times of 29:30, 59:01, and 2:04:32. Perhaps I'll shoot for those time goals in the Fall of 2010 after another year of training by running at least 20 miles a week. Someday not only will I have endurance (like the Energizer bunny) I'll also have speed (like a real bunny).

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Hey Peoples!

When we went to San Francisco and rode on a trolley car with our son Lincoln he was so excited he yelled, "Hey peoples! We're riding in Thomas peoples!" to all the people outside of the car.

Today I am so excited I have to just shout for a second.
"Hey peoples! I weigh less than 150 pounds peoples!"

This has been a weight loss goal for 5 years. If I can get below this (149.6) I'll be the lightest I've been since the year 2000 (so in the last 10 years).

And that "Peoples!" is worth shouting about!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Long Run in the HEAT and Long Range Goals

I went for a long run this morning a bit too late! I started at around 8am and by the time I finished it felt 90 degrees outside (although it was only 80).

Here is my route:


I was happy with my pace but hope to start out perhaps a bit slower in order to go perhaps 7 miles next Sunday. I'm trying to balance speedwork, long runs, and weight loss training at the gym.

I very much appreciate the accountability I'm receiving from my running partner Betsy, brother Eddie, and coaches Nate and Will and trainer Cesar.

I will likely meet my goal of running well (faster than last year) in the Hood to Coast at the end of August. I will also likely meet my new weight loss goal of running this race in my 140s.

I'm very goal -oriented so I often find that if I train really hard for a race and don't have something to train for after that race that I suffer a loss in motivation afterward. This happened to me in 2003 when I trained hard for a local 5k race in the Winter; I set my 5k PR in that race in Feb 2003 and made a weight loss goal by loosing about 15 pounds while training. Since I didn't really have a long-term plan for other races after that race, I quickly regained the weight and lost all the speed and cardio fitness I had accrued up to that point. That is why I've worked up an extended calendar of events to train for until the end of 2009.

Aug. 15th - EG Fun Run 5k
Aug. 23rd - Winery Relay with Betsy (5 miles)
Aug. 28th - Hood to Coast relay (14 miles)
Oct. 4th - Cowtown Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
Dec. 7th - Cal International Marathon Relay (7 miles)

I'm excited to be doing three relay races with friends and family. It always makes me run faster knowing that my efforts contribute to the success of a team.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

43 Days - Yipes

Is that what the counter says on the right hand side of this page? 43 days till my race!
That came fast.

I've been sidelined for the last 10 days with a deep chest cough. But now I'm better and feel great. I went for a four mile run today and will swim tomorrow. The Saturday morning I will run around 7 miles. Nothing like going from 0 to 60. I'm also within shooting distance of being in my 140s which wins me a coveted prize (I get to go see the new Harry Potter movie once I weigh 149 on the gym scale).

I start another weight loss challenge this Saturday and my trainer has put me in a group of people that are hard core folks (always paying to individual training and such). So essentially on my "off" days from running I'll be doing intense leg squats and weight training with this team of fit people (Tuesdays and Fridays at 6pm). The combination will leave me exercising a minimum of 60 minutes a day up until the last week before the race. I plan to be weighing close to 140 by race (which means I'll finally hit the "normal" range on the BMI chart - man that chart is ruthless - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.pdf).

Also, folks have been pretty generous this week and I'm only $110 from my minimum commitment of raising $500 for the cancer society (see http://run.to/RunForEd). I committed to doing a push up for every dollar raised this week; so far I have to do 73. I'm proud of my training partners both far and near right now who are committed to weight loss with me. Here is a shout out to Rebecca, Christina, and Betsy.