This and that and running, of course.

I promise I have not abandoned my dear WordPress blog.  Lately, I haven’t been plowing through as many books as usual so I don’t have reviews to post.  I’m currently reading three books, which is probably why I haven’t finished one: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Marathoning for Mortals, and The Girl Who Stopped Swimming.

To say that I’m slightly obsessed with running would be an understatement.  Luckily, my husband is supportive and listens to me prattle on about it without complaint.  Last night, we watched Spirit of the Marathon on Netflix Instant Watching, and it was really inspirational.  It’s a documentary about a group of very different people preparing to run the Chicago Marathon.  I really enjoyed seeing how people of all different abilities prepare for marathons.  There were two elite runners they followed, a couple that wanted to qualify for Boston, and some folks like me who just wanted to finish.  If the half-marathon doesn’t kill me, I might do a marathon one day.  The movie is available to watch free on Hulu as well if you’re interested and don’t have Netflix.

So far I’m up to 6.3 miles.  I have the Turkey Trot 10K on Thursday, and I’m so excited!  If you tried to tell me a few months ago that I would be excited about running 6.2 miles, I would have asked you what you were smoking.  Getting into running has been a really positive change in my life, and I love having races as goals.  After the Turkey Trot, I’m running the Virginia is for Lovers 14K and the Shamrock half-marathon.

I have several knitty things I’d love to share, but I can’t until after Christmas.  I can show the Ravenclaw scarf whenever I get around to taking a picture since Dan has known about it all along.

Filed under: Books, Movies, Running , Exercise, Review

Running Update – 10K Achieved

I have been a bad blogger for the last week because last week was a hellishly busy week at work.  By the time I got home at night, I was too fried to read or blog.

I have good news about my running progress.  While I was in the Outer Banks with my friends last weekend, we ran 6 miles.  Woohoo!  I’m ready for the Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving Day.  My friend ran the Outer Banks Marathon on Sunday, and that was really inspiring.  She improved her time from 5:00 to 4:13.  Maybe I’ll be able to do that one day.

Because I’m completely insane, I’ve decided to sign up for the Shamrock Half Marathon on 3/21/2010.  I printed out this training schedule, and I’m going to change it a little since I have 16 weeks to train.  I would also prefer to actually run 13 miles once before race day.

Running turns out to be much more expensive than you would think.  I had to buy special shoes that cost an arm and a leg.  Now that I’ll be running through the winter, I need a moisture wicking top, which was super expensive at Dick’s.  Now that I know my size, the rest of those will be bought online for a discount or at race expos.

I’m really excited about running, and I hope I continue to stay motivated.  Having goals like races really help to keep me moving.  I’ll need to sign up for some 10K’s between now and March.

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Shamrock Half Marathon, Turkey Trot 10K

Sprints are evil.

My training for the 10K is continuing nicely.  A friend sent me a training plan that incorporates sprinting days to work different muscles and help up my base running speed.  Yesterday was my first day of sprints, and it was just as hellish as I expected it to be.  I did 4 400 meter sprints with 200 meter walks between them.  I should really say that I tried to do that.  The last two sprints were probably closer to 300 meters.  I am just not a sprinter.  I enjoy my long slow runs.

At least I have a goal for my sprinting days.  I can’t expect to breeze through them on my first try.  My legs are sore today, which is a good sign that I’m working my muscles in a different way since I haven’t had any soreness since I first started training.

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running

Countdown to 10K – Making progress!

This Saturday, I ran the Race for the Cure 5K with a friend, and it was a really good experience to learn how races work since I’ve never run one before.  The only problem was that the course was actually 1.6 miles, which is only half of a 5K, the advertised length.  I was disappointed since I trained for a 5K, but I contributed money to breast cancer research and ran in memory of my grandmother so it was well worth it.

My friend decided after the race that she is going to do the 10K race on Thanksgiving Day (the Turkey Trot) with me.  At first I was a little worried because she runs faster than me, and I had a hard time keeping up with her on Saturday.  Apparently, because she has been training with her husband, she runs faster but has no endurance.  We ran this morning before work, and she followed my pace and liked it a lot better than hers.  I’m glad to have a training partner, and I’m looking forward to our runs.  We both agreed that we wouldn’t have made ourselves get out of bed early on a cold morning like today if someone wasn’t counting on us to get up.  I’m also going to try to add one day per week of cross-training because I should be doing more than just running.

Today, we ran 3 miles, but last week I ran 3.75 so I’m on my way!

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running

Countdown to 10K

Last week was another week where I didn’t get to run as much as I wanted to.  I was in Cleveland, OH for a conference Wednesday through Friday for work and didn’t think the area I was in was a safe running neighborhood.  I went running yesterday and ran 3.73 miles.  Yay!  I’m slowly but surely closing in on my 6.2 mile goal. 

I’m trying to decide what to do when it starts to get dark right after work.  I’ll run in the morning on my evening to work and on the weekend.  I guess I’ll have to use the gym one night a week.  They have an indoor track, but you have to run around 11 times for a mile so that seems incredibly boring.  I may just run twice a week and have the one evening workout be a cross-training day of swimming, elliptical, or stationary bike.

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running

Countdown to 10K – New Kicks

Did you notice that the title of this post says 10K?  That’s because I’ve run around 3 miles the past three times I’ve been running so I have a new goal!  Wednesday I ran 3.25 miles, and today I ran 3 miles.

I finally bit the bullet and went to Running, Etc. at Hilltop in Virginia Beach.  I’m not sure what kept me from going for so long because the staff was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic about my running goals.  They had me jog in my old shoes, without shoes, and then with a few different pairs on until I decided which ones were most comfortable.  I ended up with a pair of Saucony motion control shoes, and I could definitely feel the difference during after my run today.  My feet and knees were not sore.  Apparently, my old shoes hurt me because they were too small for running in addition to the fact that they weren’t made for over-pronators. Before, my feet would roll inward, which was really hard on my knees, and now my shoes force my feet not to roll in.

I picked up a flyer for the Turkey Trot 10K while I was there so I just need to sign up and commit to it now!

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running

Countdown to 5K – Confidence Restored

My last post was a bit of a downer because Thursday I had my first run where I didn’t meet my goal.  Well, several factors combined made me have my best run so far today! I ran 2.9 miles, almost a mile more than I’ve been running.

1. I had 3 days of rest, which is the longest I’ve gone without running since I started training for the 5K.  I really think this was a huge factor.  I need to remember not to wear myself out.  Now I know I can run a 5K since I was just .2 miles short, and I could have gone further if I knew that I was just short of the full distance.  I’m feeling much more hopeful about the 10K on Thanksgiving Day.
2. I bought Single Ladies by Beyonce and some of the more upbeat Glee tracks on iTunes.  I was way into the music since I love the show, and that really made me want to keep moving.  I will need to run some without music since I won’t have my iPod for race day.  I needed the extra push today after being a little down about my run last Thursday though.
3. I think I run much better after work because I’m not hungry.
4. It was much cooler and not humid at all this afternoon.

I still haven’t been to the running store to get new shoes.  Hopefully, I will get that done soon.  I know the shoes I’m wearing are not the best for my flat feet.

Thanks for reading!  I’ll give another update Wednesday evening after my next run.

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Glee, Running

Countdown to 5K – 22 days remaining.

I didn’t quite meet my goal this morning.  I was hoping to run 2.5 miles, but after 2 miles I just had to stop.  It took me about 25 minutes so I’m still at a 12 minute mile. Ugh. I think my running partner is faster so hopefully I can speed it up a little before the race.

The lovely cool weather has left us unfortunately, and the humidity and heat was killing me.  Hopefully I will be able to make it a little further on my next run.  We are going to Albany, NY for a wedding tomorrow, and I’m trying to decide if I should bring my shoes with me and go for a run on Saturday morning or wait until Sunday when we get back.  I wouldn’t mind running up there in the cooler weather, but I have limited luggage space for extra shoes and clothes because I have to fit two dressy outfits in.  I’m just taking one of those suitcases that is small enough to be gate checked.

Hopefully I can work up to 3 miles in 22 days. Today is the first day that I’ve felt like it might not happen, but I think I just set my goal for this morning a little too high.  Next run, I will say 2.25 miles is my goal, and maybe it won’t be so dang humid! Any tips or words of encouragement are welcome!

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running

Slow and steady wins the race?

I have signed up for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K on 10/17/09 in Virginia Beach. A few weeks ago I started “training,” which consists of running as long as possible without puking. Now I’m up to 2 miles so I only have 1.1 to go to be able to complete a 5K. I figured out that I’m running a 12.5 minute mile. I asked Dan – the husband - was that horrible, and he said, “Well, you won’t be in the Olympics anytime soon.” Hopefully that isn’t too bad for a beginner.

I would like to also be able to run a 10K on Thanksgiving morning so I hope to work up to 6.2 miles by then.  I have a buddy who is going to do these with me as we are at about the same level of fitness.

I have been remiss about blogging lately so I will document my efforts to finish a 10K here.

My first need is a new pair of running shoes.  I have very flat feet so I need shoes that are made for my duck feet.  A friend who runs marathons told me that the right shoes should solve my foot pain problems.  I need to go to one of those running stores where you run on a treadmill and they tell you what shoes you need, but I’m a bit shy about going into one of those stores not being much of a runner.

One very positive thing is that my move from Raleigh, NC to Virginia Beach means starting to run is MUCH easier. There are no hills in this area other than Mount Trashmore, which is - as you might imagine – man made.

My next run is tomorrow so I’ll be back to report!

Filed under: Running , Exercise, Running