A New Beginning

I keep coming on here and making big promises that I don’t seem to keep. This time, I decided to get a week under my belt before I start talking about running again. Some friends of mine decided to get together once a week to weigh in and support each other while trying to lose weight. One of them has been doing WW for years, so she convinced us all to join her. I bought the books off ebay, and have been following it religiously for about a week. I’ve already lost a couple pounds! As part of losing weight, I need to get in shape. That means I need to get off the couch and start running again.

I’m easing back into it slowly since I haven’t run in about 6 weeks. Between the cold snowy days, and short daylight hours (and my laziness), I’ve been sitting around doing nothing since the 10K in December. And it shows. I’ve gained 15lbs I didn’t need in the last few months, so now I have even more to get rid of. My goal is to run 3 days a week. Last week, I only planned to run for 20 minutes at a time, and I’ll slowly build up from there.

I climbed out of bed before having a chance to talk myself out of it on Tuesday. I only ran a S.L.O.W. 1.5ish miles (1.57mi; 21:53; 13:56 pace), but it was wonderful. I kept thinking about how much I missed being out in those early morning hours. I love watching the sun come up while I run, and once it’s over I feel great the rest of the day. I started off running, but my legs just weren’t ready for that, so I walked for about 2:30 to warm up first. After that, I felt great. The best part? I was out there in pants and a long-sleeved technical tee with a short-sleeved shirt over it. That’s it! And I got warm!

Thursday, I did it again. I checked the weather before I left the house, and it said it was about 10 degrees colder than Tuesday so I grabbed a light-weight jacket. It was freezing! It took longer for my muscles to warm up, so I walked a longer warm-up. The cold ended up pushing me to be faster, so I shaved about a minute off Tuesday’s pace. (1.59mi; 20:27; 12:52 pace). I would’ve been fine if I’d have put on tights under my pants, and worn a hat. I did happen to think to grab my gloves which helped a ton.

Friday, I felt so great that I put A in the jogging stroller and we went for a 30 minute walk. It’s hilly here, so pushing my 30lb. kid in a 25 lb. stroller was a lot of work! It was chillier than I thought it would be, so I bundled A up well. This is the first time in a long time she’s sat in a stroller since it’s been such a fight with her for a long time. Now it’s a novelty, so she enjoyed pointing out everything she saw.

Saturday, I did something new. I got in the car and drove to a park to run. Part of why I’ve been so lazy about running lately is that I’ve been bored. I’ve never left my neighborhood before. I end up doing the same route day in and day out, and I just haven’t wanted to run anymore. My goal is to find new places to run on the weekends to beat the boredom. Saturday, I drove to this relatively new park just a few minutes from here. I didn’t see a soul the entire time I was there. The park itself is really nice, but it’s in a strange location with ugly manufacturing plants to one side and the freeway on another, so no one ever goes there. It’s a shame. The park is even half-finished even though it’s been open for a few years now. It looks like they’re still working on the trail system, but I managed to get in a good run. (1.78 mi; 21:39; 12:10 pace)

I’m back!

Colorado Springs is 14th in Runner’s World 25 Best Running Cities list! What’s my excuse for not getting out there more often again?

I’ve been such a running/blogging slacker lately.  The holidays took over around here, so there wasn’t much time for me to blog. 

Our culminating MIM race was the Rudolph’s Revenge in Littleton.  Back when I registered, I’d opted to run the 10K because I had great plans for training.  Yeah.  Didn’t happen.  I still ran the 10K, but the hills killed me.  Did you see the elevation map?  That was the longest, biggest hill I’ve ever had to deal with!  That little uphill just before the major downhill kicked my butt, and I knew it was going to be nothing compared to the hill to come.  After seeing the elevation map for the race, my goal was to complete it in 1:15 and not come in dead last.  I finished in 1:11:58!  I was the last of our running group to complete since the slower runners decided to do the 5K, but at least I didn’t come in dead last.  

 I was 222 of 236.

At the halfway turnaround point, I slowed down to drink a little water and take off my sweatshirt.  I looked at my watch and realized I was at 33:50.  Had I run the 5K, I probably would’ve PR’d! 

MIM is taking the winter off, but our coach emailed us about the “Winter Series” races here locally.  I think I’m going to sign up for the shorter distances on all 4 races.  It starts with a 5K on the 13th and ends with a 10K on Feb. 24th.  It’s just what I need to get back in the saddle and start running consistently again.  Plus, it’ll keep me going until MIM starts up again in March.

I’m not dead, just a slacker

I need to dust off the cobwebs on my poor, neglected blog.  I can’t even remember when I wrote last.  I’ve been finding it so hard to run now that it’s dark all the time.  The only time I run is on Saturdays with the group.  Bad!  Tonight, I will get out there and run!

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we all ran a local Turkey Trot 5K.  It was a prediction run, and the 5 closest to their times got a turkey.  I didn’t win a turkey, but I beat my predicted time by 18 seconds and that was definitely better than the turkey!  I didn’t PR, I never expected to since I’ve been slacking, but I still came in at 33:55.  Our next race is the Rudolph’s Revenge 10K—2 weeks from Saturday!  The longest I’ve run is 5 miles, and it’s been a long while, so I really need to get some miles under my belt before then.

We had a terrific time in Iowa for Thanksgiving.  We took off as soon as I got out of the shower after the race.  It was one of those rare trips where we got to see everyone on both sides.  My grandmother cooked the best, juiciest turkey I’ve ever eaten.  I’m drooling just thinking about it!  Spending a week at a lower elevation almost killed me on Saturday, though.  We all met here at the retirement community then walked across the street to killer trails in the park.  It is so hilly!  I’m glad I never run there.  I ended up walking most of the way home because I was feeling light-headed from the altitude and my legs were killing me.   

Snowed In

I haven’t been able to run in almost 2 weeks because D’s been gone.  Now that he’s finally home, there’s a blizzard out there!  We’ve already gotten a good 3 inches of snow this morning, and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon.  It’s so windy and difficult to even see the house across the street.  Can I go to Hawaii now?!? 

Hawaii Bound!

D got home from his annual meeting last night.  He was named Executive Director of the Year!!  He also won an all-expense paid trip for two to Hawaii!  We get to choose the island and hotel (from a list I’m sure), so I need advice.  We won’t be going until some time next year after we’re settled in the house.  Any suggestions on which island to go to?  What about hotels, places to eat, and kid-friendly things to do?  We’ll be taking A with us, so all we have to buy is her ticket.  We even get a daily food allowance! 

I ran a 10:49 mile!

On Saturday, Vanessa had us jog to the track.  Once there, we were to run a mile.  The first lap would be at an easy pace, lap 2 should beat lap 1′s time by 15 seconds, lap 3 was another easy lap, and lap 4 should beat lap 2′s time.  Amy and I managed to run the entire mile in 10:49! 

1. 2:52
2. 2:29
3. 3:14
4. 2:14

 This morning, I finally decided to try out the trails in the regional park right across the street.  I’d been avoiding them because they looked really hilly, and I once took A in the stroller and about died climbing up one hill right off the parking lot.  I started in the opposite end of the park since there’s a trailhead across the street from the gated entrance into the retirement community.  It was such a fun run!  At least in the beginning.  I kept thinking “This is what I’ve been dreading?”  I crossed a creek and saw several deer.  About 20 minutes into my run, I came across a fork in the road.  Straight ahead was a nice flat-ish path, and to my right was a steep hill.  The hill was big, but it didn’t seem very long so I decided to be dumb brave and take that path.  It turned out I could only see a very short part of the hill.  Every time I’d turn a corner, it was even more uphill!  It seemed like it would never end.  It did eventually level off, but I continued to climb.  I had to take several walk breaks to make it up.  It looked like the trail would eventually take me to the bottom part of my hilly loop, but I didn’t make it that far.  After about a mile of climbing, I turned around and enjoyed the descent. 

I just updated my mileage in the sidebar and realized that I’ve officially run more than I did last month!  Unfortunately, D’s going be travelling off and on for the 10 days, so I won’t be able to run too many days.  I may have to try pushing the jogging stroller.

46:43/3.66 (12:46)

I was lazy Tuesday, so I ended up skipping my run despite the weather clearing up later in the day.  We did get some snow, but it melted by late morning.  D got home from work late, so it was dark by the time he got home. 

I almost skipped yesterday’s run even though I’d planned on making up some of Tuesday’s missed miles.  When D got home, we went to the grocery store, and A threw the worst tantrum to date on the way home.  She calmed down when we were close to home, but started up again inside the house.  I felt guilty leaving D with her, but I went anyway. 

It was one of my worst runs ever.  I underdressed, so I was freezing in the beginning which made me start off too fast.  I ended up crashing early on, and almost went home when I ran by my street about 1.5 miles in.  I decided to just keep going to that stop sign, then around that corner.  By using these little goals, I managed to complete my 45-minute run.  Despite having such a crappy run, I’m still proud of myself for getting out there and doing it even though I really didn’t want to. 

47:01/3.72 (12:38)

The in-laws were in town for the weekend, so I’ve neglected my blog.  I haven’t neglected to run, though.  I did skip Friday’s run because I had too much to do before they got here. 

I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed running with my group until we started up again Saturday.  We had so much fun running together again.  This time, we’re planning on some mid-week runs too.  I also convinced them to run the Turkey Trot 5K the Saturday before Thanksgiving as a warmup run to the 10K a couple weeks later.  There are a couple new people, so we only ran a little over a mile. 

Sunday morning, I got up and ran another 5.06 miles!  It’s ironic that it ended up being the exact same distance since I didn’t run the same route.  I finally got the nerve to tackle the big hills outside the property again.  I’ve been using this awesome website to map my runs which shows the elevation too.  It turns out that from my house up the top part of the loop to where I turn around is a 288ft. climb over almost a mile-and-a-half!  And none of it is downhill until I turn around.  I’m really enjoying these long-distance runs so much more than the shorter runs.  It’s much easier to get into a good rhythm.

Tomorrow will be a big test.  We’re supposed to rain/snow showers overnight and through tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s high will be 41!  It’ll be my first winter run. 

Saturday: 15:10/1.23 (12:20)

Sunday: 1:02:33/5.06 (12:22) 

Today I became a *real* runner…

by going to the running store and buying some Body Glide!

I went for a short, easy run last night and noticed I’d chafed after my 5-mile run.  It’s only on one thigh, right where my shorts tend to ride up, but it makes me feel like a real runner.  It’s like a merit badge on my leg. 

My run was uneventful.  I took off right when D got home, so I was in a hurry to get home to my family.  Plus, I was still sore from Tuesday’s run, so I cut it short and came home.

20:26/1.58 (12:56)