Getting back into it after giving blood last week

Rule #1: don't give blood if you haven't been properly hydrated both the day before and the day of giving...you may (will!) faint

Rule #2: don't plan any runs for a couple days afterward

So now we're at a week, and I ran 3.1 miles in 90 degree weather at 3pm.  Tired, sweaty, but a good run.  Not my fastest, but I didn't have to stop.

Committed...

Not to an institution, but I've signed up for the half-marathon on Sep 25th!   The race is:  http://www.trimomprod.com/oceanhalf.html.

Now I have to train!

Mind over matter or why I hate treadmills

So a couple of days ago I was feeling too sick to go running.  Yesterday I thought I was going to be ok, but decided to run on a treadmill in case I didn't feel well.  I ran for a mile, and then stopped.  Today, I was still mixed, feeling about the same as yesterday, but finally convinced myself to run in the nice weather.  I pushed myself through the pain, and ran 5 miles!  Afterward, I felt better than ever.  Of course, at certain points I needed to use my mind to overcome my body, but it was worth it. With a treadmill, that's much harder to do...it's much easier for your mind to win the argument.

Whoever said that running was a mental sport more than a physical sport was absolutely correct.

Another 4.3 today...a little easier

Despite the heat (low 80's) I ran around 11am today, 4.3 miles.  It was hard, but I didn't need to walk any of it.  I still don't know how I'm going to carry water with my longer runs.  I found last time that the fanny pack either bounces too much, or I have to tighten it down too much and I get abdominal pains.  Not good!  A backpack, I think, is a bit overkill and will be lousy as the temperature rises.

Tomorrow looks like I might not be able to fit an outside run, so it may be treadmill time.  Have to look for a good action flick!

Getting back into it...again

So I started getting  back into it this week.  Two days of not quite 3 miles, with walking, then a break day.  Then a day with 3 miles, then 3.5 then 4.3 (a bit too much, and some walking after that).  That was yesterday.  Today is a break.  I'll see how I feel tomorrow.  I've found it hard this time to get back into it--it has felt unnatural for some reason and more of a challenge.  Hopefully this is just because I let it go too much, and not because I'm getting old.  :)

Springtime - getting started

So I'm signed up for the St Pats 5k, which is in 2 days.  Because of weather, and scheduling, the race will actually be my first outside run since last year!  Yikes!  This is good, because even if I do terribly, it will get me in gear to train for a half-marathon later.  I'm planning on doing the Rock and Roll Half in Providence, Aug 7.

The training begins!

5 miles - back on the road

I ran 5 miles yesterday. I’m still having trouble running 2 days in a row (mostly scheduling). I plan on running on the treadmill tonight. I really need to get on the schedule to get up to 13 miles by the end of the summer!

10k PR

So I did a 10k in 1 hr 16 minutes, in Woodstock, which is a PR for me because I've never run a 10k before.  It was a very nice race, and I ran with my friends the Kozeys.  The weather was beautiful, so I believe that my curse of rainy runs is over.

I liked the distance.  5k seems a bit too short, but 10k is a pleasant distance to run.

6.3 miles at noon.

A bit hot of a run, but I did 6.3 today (with a bit of walking).  I did 4 miles on the treadmill a couple days ago.  The first mile is torture (which is new), but then after a while, it all seems to fall into place.  I hope I get over that first mile bit...it's really annoying.

4 miles..and still feeling it

I ran the Bryant 5k on Saturday, which was pretty good but I felt out of shape.  I had run 5k the previous Thursday, and nothing for a while before then.  10k coming up in a few weeks!

I need to get back into trying to run nearly every day.  Now that the semester has eased up, it will be easier I think.  I ran 4 miles today, and really felt it.  It's annoying that if you take a few weeks off, it is as if you are starting again.

Worst...5k...ever...

Not an official 5k, but I have one this weekend (2 days away), so I figured I'd run one tonight just to get back into things.  I'd been a couple weeks off, and it showed.  I had to walk parts of it, I felt sluggish the whole time.  Horrible!

I can't let myself get like this again, and am not looking forward to doing this in front of other people on Saturday, but it will help get me on the ball hopefully.

Trying to Get Back on the Wagon

Job- found.
Cross country road trip- done.
Dissertation defense- Wednesday.

Since things are getting a bit more normal, I am trying to work running back into my schedule for stress relief, getting back in shape, and hopefully to burn off the 10 pounds I gained during the crazy spell.

The Mountain Goat is out the window. I could attempt to do 10 hilly miles, but it is not worth the risk of injury and pain. So, I am looking for a 10k to do around Memorial Day and looking for a late summer race in Michigan so I can keep running after I move.

Started back up last week with run-walk intervals. Have been going for about 40 minutes with 5 min walk to start and end and then starting with 4 min run-2 min walk intervals. Will do those probably through the end of the week and then pick it up a little. I don't want to ramp up too quickly because it is kind of nice running without knee pain!

Trying to stay on the wagon

So I ran 4 miles on Saturday, but it has been tough.  I'd like to run more today (Monday), and hopefully I can make the time.  It's been hard to stay on the wagon, but I want to make sure that by the end of May I can do a 6 miler in my sleep.  :)

6 miles in great weather

Nice weather today, although a bit warm and sunny for running (but I'm not complaining).  It was a hard run, and my longest in a while.  I want to get up to around 15 miles, and a few 5 milers in the middle of the week.  If I can consistently maintain that kind of running schedule through the nice months, and back off a bit for the winter, I'd be satisfied.

The pay off

5 weeks until my first official run, a 5K in Woodstock. I was feeling really good about my progress through the first week in March, however; since starting a new job I hadn't fit running into my new routine until today. I had always run in the morning before breakfast but no earlier than 7:30. Now, I am in the car by 7 and can't bring myself to wake up at 5 to fit in an hour run before my normal hour "get ready" routine. The solution seems to be running an hour after dinner at 7:00pm. Part of the reason it took so long to make this adjustment is because I'm finally starting to get over a cold that turned into a sinus infection, draining me for the last three weeks. I've been on medication since Thursday night and although I still am not feeling 100%, I felt well enough to put in a couple miles. I ran 2.5 miles today. I had to stop because my chest was all scratchy feeling from the infection. Water is helping now.

So, yeah, most awesome moment so far since I've started running. When I went to a walk in clinic on Thursday to get treatment for the sinus infection, a fairly fit looking nurse took my blood pressure. Upon getting the reading, she said "Wow, are you an athlete, do you run?" Now, I am not built like a runner, I've got plenty of pounds I'd like to drop just to be a healthy weight, so I was surprised she asked that question. I explained how I had been running consistently until a few weeks ago, to which she responded that she could tell, that my blood pressure reading had me as possibly the healthiest person in the building. At the moment I'm sure I was beaming with excitement. I didn't realize how impactful running would be on my health so quickly. I'm glad to see that there is already some pay off to this enjoyable hobby.

Going forward, I've got a strict 9 week schedule I will be following until the 10K race on May 31st. It's game time.

Derailed!

So I had a week with a stomach bug, at the end of which I ran a few miles.  Then a week in Florida, when I had no chance to run.  Then I get back, recover for a few days, and then my wife gets a baby shower invite the same day as my half-marathon, so now I have to look for another one.  Finally, I go running yesterday, doing 4 miles, and now my knee hurts...annoying!

It's hard to motivate myself back into things now.

Crazy Life

Running has taken a back seat to the job search for the past 4 months, but this is coming to an end! I have two offers- one from Michigan Tech and one from Portland State. I have decided to go with Michigan Tech!

I was so excited last night that I went for a half hour run after the basketball game, which apparently was a bad idea because my knee is absolutely killing me today! Ah well, I am running that race on Saturday regardless.

Post Saturday race, I am embarking on an adventure with a fellow Bryant alum. We will be traveling cross country for the next week and a half. Going from San Francisco back to New York via the southern US. I am pumped and hopefully will get to run in several states!

Once I get back to NY, I will begin training for the Mountain Goat and hopefully get back into a regular routine again.

Miles for calories, not calories for calories

Whenever I had used a treadmill in the past, it was to burn off calories and drop pounds. I'd painfully watch the calories rack up one by one until about 300 or 400. With a pound consisting of 3600 calories, an extra few hundred burned, didn't seem to make much of a difference, and therefore I'd never give the extra effort to improve my daily burn. Calories burned was not much of a motivator.

My goal since November, however, has been to run distances. I'd like to run an official marathon. Seeing my distance improve weekly, is a strong motivator to jump on the treadmill and push myself harder each time. I ran 5 miles on Saturday. It took me just under 60 minutes. Every tenth of a mile I ran past 4 miles felt like a major achievement, with 4 miles being my best to that date. The best part of running is the improvements you make over what you have already accomplished. It might be the hardest physically but the improvement is why I jump on the treadmill every other day in the first place. It just so happens, that with these incremental improvements, the calories burned seem to rack up on their own. 5 miles meant 750 calories burned. 750! That to me is just insane. I have never burned that many calories at one time, ever! Obviously more distance equals more calories, but it is the difference in mindset between the two strategies that I find so interesting.

Rack up the miles if you want to burn calories....don't aim to simply burn calories because you'll always feel like you are not getting anywhere!

4 miles on the treadmill...

...while watching battle scenes from the lord of the rings goes by much faster.  :)  I've been trying to run 4 times a week, with the long run at the end,  but I've only managed to do 3 a week, with the long one 3rd, and sometimes get the 4th in the next week.  I have to basically say that my week starts on Wednesday, because realistically I can't run Tuesdays (classes start at 9am, and I don't finish until 8:30pm).

I've been a bit more sore lately.  I need to stretch more!  That's my biggest failing, because sometimes it feels like it takes forever...just get me to my running already!  I do know if I don't stretch, then I will eventually get inured, which is no good at all.

Break day...and perhaps tomorrow

Ran 5 miles yesterday, and am starting my second week of training.  A break day today after the longest run of the week.  Tuesdays are crazy, and I might not get a chance to run tomorrow night, but I'd like to.  It will make the rest of my week a bit better.