If At First You Don’t Succeed…

2010 is wrapped up. Remember this goal from January 1, 2010? Yep, I failed. I only ran 640.57 miles in 2010. Ok, failure isn’t exactly the right word for it since running that much is a pretty big accomplishment, but being that it’s January 1, 2011, it’s time to try again. This morning I reset my Nike+ running goal for 750 miles in 2011.

My biggest hurdle is going to be getting through the summer months. They are just flat out miserable. Warm, humid, blech. I need to push myself this year to get through that.  I fell behind miserably during these months last year, so hopefully this year won’t be a repeat of that.

I don’t know what this year will bring running-wise. Maybe another half marathon, maybe a triathlon, I don’t know. We’ll see. I still have a decent base from my half marathon training, even though I did take a week off after the race to rest. I hadn’t done that in too long. It’s been a bit rough trying to get back into it from the motivation standpoint, but I’ll get there. I remember this from last May when I took a week off. Luckily now  is my favorite time to run since it’s nice and chilly in the mornings.

I’m hoping to drop my averages too. Nike+ does a great job of telling me my averages per run, month or year. 2010 was a 10:42 average (there was quite a bit of walking during those summer months!) and I burned roughly 68,000 calories. It’s pretty amazing looking at those totals.

So here’s to 2011 and a new goal.

Success.

It’s official; I’m a half marathoner.

Today I finished the Thunder Road/Amica Half Marathon. I was about 8 minutes off of my goal time of 2:15, which is fine. My unofficial time was 2:23:53. I finished.

Mile 4 was 100% uphill and about a quarter of the way through that, I said screw it. I was planning on running the whole thing, but it got to a point where I figured I’d rather finish and feel good about it instead of getting to the finish and being miserable. So I walked. There are actually training plans out there that have you do a combination of  walking and running, but I have this thing where I’d much rather run the entire thing. It’s a mentality I guess. I have nothing against those who walk/run (because obviously I did this this time), but it’s a personal preference that I run the entire thing.

Training these last couple weeks was long. Those 5 milers at 5am were pretty miserable. I found myself a little burned out on running, so I didn’t have a ton of motivation to get them done. I did them, but I wasn’t thrilled about them. The funny thing is that these runs, once I got about 2 miles into it, were easy. I guess that’s what happens when you’re doing 9 and 10 mile runs on the weekends.

During the course of this training, I also gained 5lbs. 5 freaking pounds. You’d think that with the increased activity level, I’d at least have maintained, if not lost. Nope. Not me. Turns out that as you train for distance events, your body starts burning calories more efficiently. Granted, I did occasionally fall into the “I ran today, I can eat this” trap, but overall, my eating wasn’t too bad. But still, I need to work on reversing that number on the scale. I got up to 151.8, eek.

My pace hasn’t been anything to write home about, but I have successfully completed the training program. Not only that, I successfully completed my first half marathon. Not bad for barely being able to run 5 minutes back in May of 2007.

Progress.

Obviously I haven’t made progress in trying to sit down and write twice a week, but I AM making progress in my half marathon training. That’s something, right?

I’m currently in the middle of Week 6 (YIKES!! That means this thing is in less than 2 months!) and things are looking up. I ran a 4 miler yesterday with an average pace of 10:31/mile, which is better than 11:00+/mile. Still not where I want to be, but at least I can say I’m trying. I busted out 2 miles this morning in a 9:59 average pace, but that was about all I could do at that pace. My race goal is 2:15, so that’s what, a 10:20 pace? Doable at the rate I’m going… I do need to bring down my longer run paces though. Right now I’m going at a leisurely pace instead of a workout/training pace, but I’m concentrating on getting through those distances at the same time. That mental block is still (somewhat) in the way, but at least I am running 100% of the time now. I do have an extra week built into my training schedule, so if needed, I can repeat a week. So far, so good though.

I do have to confess I’m failing miserably at the strength and cross-training aspects of this training plan. I get to the pool to swim and I have no motivation. I think part of my problem is that I’m trying to do it only once a week, so it’s easier to sit and talk to the lifeguards than it is to get my ass in the pool. The other thing is time. With our basement being all out of order for the past few weeks, things haven’t been where they belong and I haven’t taken the time to put them back. C did put the weights back the other day, but now I need to find the time to use them. I have no excuses. I just lack the energy and motivation.

One shameless plug before I sign off for the day… for my birthday, I asked for a hand-held water bottle. One of the things I’ve always been awful about is staying hydrated. I’ve talked with a few people on some message boards and via Twitter and they all suggested getting a water bottle with a strap and also using some gels/bloks to keep the energy levels up. This is the water bottle I settled on.

LOVE IT.

I did a 6 mile run with it last weekend and it took a little getting use to, but overall? I’m in love. Not only did it make me drink water throughout the run, it really didn’t bother me like I thought it would. I did switch it from hand to hand occasionally because my hand got sweaty, but I’m sure after a couple more runs I won’t even think about it. I highly recommend it for runners (or walkers) who need some sort of water bottle that doesn’t get in the way, especially for those like me where they can’t stand to have something like a fuel belt wrapped around their waist. I’ve got enough giggling going on, I don’t need more!

What did I get myself into?

So… a couple weeks ago, I kinda-sorta registered for a half marathon.

Ok, I registered for a half marathon for December 11.

Now let’s review the summer. It was hot. Humid. No different than any summer in the South, but trying to run at 5am in 75+ degrees, 90+% humidity is not my idea of a good time. Most people think that running in general isn’t a good time, but I like it for stress relief. Summer outdoor running isn’t stress relief to me though, but I’d rather do that than run on a treadmill… so I’m stuck.

Now, I still have that pesky 750 miles in 2010 goal, and I won’t even begin to say how far behind I am on that. I have a slight chance of catching up, but it’s doubtful at this point. We’ll see.

I do better when I have a goal (AKA race) to aim for. Enter the half marathon. This summer I was unmotivated when it came to running; I would get up and get out the door, but I would run a mile, walk a bit, run some more… you get the idea. That 7.5 mile continuous run I did back in May? HA. It’s a dream right now. Hopefully soon it will be a reality though.

Last week I started my official half marathon training. Week 1 is complete and it wasn’t pretty, but I did it. My average miles are atrocious (11:00+/mile) compared to my winter runs last year (9:30-10:00/mile), but I’m working on building my endurance back up. I’m still running roughly 1.5 miles, walking about .1-.2, then running the rest. It’s a mental block right now that I need to break through. The mornings are still warm and humid, but hopefully that will be over soon. I’m following Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training Plan for Novices, which, so far, so good. The 4-miler was especially rough, but I’m hoping this week’s will be better. Actually, it HAS to be better considering Week 3 brings a 5-miler. Yikes. What have I gotten myself into?

Month 4: Catching Up!

April brought cool morning temperatures, which I love. My ideal run is during a sunrise, just above 40 degrees, on a nice, peaceful Saturday morning. Unfortunately I don’t get to do that too often, but this month I did get a couple opportunities. My other runs varied throughout the week, typically after I got off work at 9am. It was still reasonably cool out at that time, perfect for running.

With the 750/365 goal, I find myself worried about catching up from my early months of illness and injury. I caught up this month. A lot. In fact, I’m now 20 miles behind my goal. Not bad considering March 1 I was almost 40 miles behind. This catch up can be attributed to my record-breaking distances, 7 and 7.5 miles. Who knew I could run so far? I’ve always said that 6 miles (or 1 hour) would be my breaking point, that was enough. While I’m still unemployed from full time work, I figure I have enough time to continue running, so why not? I’m even toying with the idea of training for a half marathon. I know, I know, pretty crazy, right? But… if I have the time and energy, why not? It’s still up in the air, but we’ll see. I’m toying with the idea but there aren’t any half marathons in the area until October, so I might delay it a bit.

Overall, I feel good. One thing I need to work on a bit is my weight. I was reading an article by Leigh Peele, which basically says that over time, your body adapts to the form of training and you burn fewer calories during your run and then also fewer calories during the day. It makes total sense; your body adapts and becomes efficient when you do something over and over again, leading to less effort being exerted. That 4 mile run becomes easier over time. It’s time to switch things up a bit, including adding a weight program back in since I dropped out of NROL4W.

We’ll see where the next month takes me, I’m hoping to get my weight down a bit and get a good, solid training program in that includes a bit more cross training.

Month 3: A Little Bit O’ Progress

30 miles behind. I caught up a whopping 10 miles this month and it felt good.

I’m in a groove, running 15-18 miles a week and loving it. I don’t feel burned out, I feel strong. The temps are still quite chilly, which is nice. I dread the warmer temperatures that are right around the corner. I do so much better when it’s cold. I haven’t been taking Jackson much lately, mainly because of the length of my runs (a lot of 4+ miles), but I can also concentrate on relaxing and enjoying the run.

We’ll see how the month of April goes, I’m hoping to catch up another 10 miles!

Month 2…Still behind.

Today marks the end of month #2 of my 750/2010 goal.  I definitely kicked the running up a notch this month since for the majority of the month I was feeling pretty good.  I did have a nasty cold for a solid 10 days, but that didn’t stop me, just slowed me down and made me cut a few runs short.  It’s not exactly pleasurable running with a dripping faucet in 25-30 degree weather.

The good news?  I had four (!) runs over four miles.  The bad news?  Nike+ tells me I’m 40.86 miles behind my goal of 750 miles.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love that thing but hate it at the same time?  The other day it came on and told me I had my longest run yet (4.58 miles), but yet today I had to watch as the yellow bar crept that much further ahead of the orange “current” bar.  Ugh.

My longest run was this past Thursday.  I wasn’t in the mood to run, but I made myself get out in the nasty wind and get going.  I was a mile in and I felt fantastic.  I quickly decided to change my route and make it a 4 mile run, but at 3 miles in I changed it again and tried to make it over a 4.5 mile run.  Goal accomplished.  The difference between this run and the previous 4 miler was that I dropped 35 seconds per mile.  Unbelievable.  I averaged a 9:53 mile, which is fantastic for me.  Most of my 3 mile runs are about 9:45 (with the exception of the last couple which had been 10+ min/mi…yipes!), so a 9:53 mile put a huge smile on my face.  Even today’s 4.11 mile run was a 9:57 average, which is exciting.  The best thing is the 4 mile runs haven’t seemed like work, they’ve been relaxing and enjoyable.

I’m doubting I can catch up even 20 miles next month, but realistically I’m hoping for 10.  February meant 43.97 miles of running, if I can get up over 55 miles I should be doing pretty well.  I know that once it starts to get warm my 4+ mile days will be done, running in 80 degree weather is just downright miserable.  But for now, I’m hoping to get up to the 5-6 mile range a couple days a week, enjoying it along the way.

The Morning After

Last night we got a somewhat unexpected snowfall.  C and I also celebrated Valentine’s Day since we didn’t know what the weekend held with my work schedule… and it’s a good thing we did since he’s been sick in bed all day and I’m still not feeling 100% after my week-long cold.  We enjoyed the snowfall, a movie, a great bottle of wine and our Giordano’s pizza that we brought back from Chicago in November.  It was a perfect night in!

This morning was absolutely gorgeous.  We ended up getting about 4″ and it made me think of growing up in Wisconsin.  I do have to say I definitely enjoy the Southern weather and not having to shovel the snow for several months out of the year.

After I stood at the window smiling for awhile, I looked at the clock and realized that even though I had slept in (work was delayed an hour), I still had time for a run.  So I took the dog for a run with me for a change:

He was a good little running partner.  I used to take him with me all the time, until I started focusing on speed and distance.  It’s good for him though, I need to take him more.

Behind Already.

Well, January wasn’t such a great start to the 750/2010 goal.  I was basically out of commission for two weeks while I let the pulled muscle in my foot heal.  It was a pesky little pulled muscle, and I still can’t figure out how in the world I pulled it.  Imagine the arch in your foot and go straight over, right under that last metatarsal.  That’s the one I pulled.  Instead of running, I was able to start walking more at work and now my running shoes are a permanent fixture in my car, ready to go for those walks around the pool deck at 5am.  Ok, not 5am since I’m too busy talking to my co-worker, more like 7:30.  I do wear my pedometer and aim for 7500 steps in my four hour shift.  Not a bad start to the morning!

The total for January came in at 35.69 miles.  This leaves 714.31 miles to go.  According to Nike+, I’m behind my goal by 31.32 miles.  Thanks to that little tidbit of information, I now have a love-hate relationship with that little sensor.

New Year, New Goals

I don’t make resolutions.  Never have, most likely never will.  This year though I’m making a goal.  What’s the difference between a resolution and a goal you ask?  To me a resolution is a change to a current lifestyle or habit.  A goal is something you set out to achieve, continuing on with a habit/lifestyle that you already have in place.

The goal for this year?  Run 750 miles in 2010.  That equates to 62.5 miles per month.  15.625 miles per week.  This is going to force me to do some longer runs, which I dread and typically find a reason to not do them.  It’s a pretty lofty goal for me and it’s going to require 4 days of solid runs per week.  We’ll see.  I’ve got my handy dandy Nike+ to help me out; I have reset my runs on my iPod to only show the runs for this year.  This means I get Lance or Tiger to come on and tell me again how this run was my furthest yet or that run had my fastest mile yet.  The best thing about this little gadget is that I can keep track on the website under the “annual” tab and it’ll tell me my distance for the year, making updating the ticker easy as can be.

The plan is to give an update each month on how far I’ve gone and how I’m feeling.  I’m hoping I can accomplish this and also stay injury free.