1 week down

So this title really has nothing to do with running, but I am just keeping track of the passage of time until my honey and I are living together again. He moved in with my sister in VA last week and I kept pretty busy most of the week with running and work that it wasn't so bad that he wasn't here. But last night sucked, I had no one to talk to and Friday night TV is pretty lame. I took my dog for a walk, I should have ran because it was beautiful, but I haven't ever run 2 days in a row with my VFF's so I am a little hesitant about doing it. I can feel the muscles in my feet building. They have been a little sore (not pain, but usage sore) so I don't want to overwork them. I figure in 5 weeks when I step up to my half marathon training I will have to start running 4 times a week so that will involve 2 days in a row, but until then I am building slowly.

Tonight I am going to do a 4 miler... N~ has his girlfriend over and she is leaving at nine PM, so I want to squeeze my run in before we drop her off. That means leaving a 17 & 18 year old alone in the house together. I sure hope that they keep their pants on. I am going to tell them that I may be running 1 mile or 10, but I am not telling so keep your hands to yourself.

I was going to keep using the Ease to 10K program but I am kind of sick of the run walk thing. SO this week I switched back over to the Hal Higdon's 10K novice trainer. I am also using him for the 1/2 training too. So off to cook up some curry... well attempt to anyway. I am sure that is going to sit well when I run, we will see.

Phone post

So I am at work, but I am done listening to people argue about timelines, so here is a quick post about my newest reason for excitement. I emailed my family last night to tell everyone officially about my impending move. In doing that I also let them know that I am running a half marathon in December. I extended an invite to all on the mailing list... I had a taker. My sister J~, who is pretty athletic is going to run too. Now honestly I am freaking out a little, until now everyone who committed hadn't ever run that distance, I had a little piece of me who knew if I didn't follow through they probably wouldn't either (that sounds bad but don't judge, I am not yet fully confident in my body's ability to carry me 13.1 miles). Now I feel like I can't quit, it's a blessing really, but it is making me a little nervous..

Trained by a Bitch

Yesterday I went out running twice in one day. I got up early because it was moving day for K~, he starts his new job in Virginia today. (I can’t wait to know the details of my transition to VA. Incessantly checking my email 45 times an hour is getting old. I just want some plan to be able to plan/execute…wait back to the story…) So after shooing him out the door at 7:30AM, I changed and got the dog ready for a run. We did our warm up 5-minute walk and then started our first run. About 3 or four minutes into it she decided to stop running. She NEVER does that, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t feeling like running. I promised myself I would never push her, and I would always listen to her subtle cues when we were running. So I stopped and we walked home. I let her off the leash when we are in sight of the house and prompted her with “Run HOME!”, off she went running hard toward the door with me hot on her tail (no pun intended) spurring her on with taunts of “I am going to beat you!” (this would never happen in a million years, she has twice as many legs as I do and weighs over a hundred pounds less). And with her tail wagging and her eyes alight she was begging me for more. She didn’t want to run our normal long slow run. She wanted fast and quick, she wanted to dominate and be happy about it. I am a sucker for the puppy dog eyes, so she won and we did sprints. We didn’t do tons of sprints but enough so that I knew I exerted myself in a new way when I went out alone for my long slow run last night, and today, well today my muscles aren’t really sore, but a little tired.

I actually liked sprinting, it didn’t feel like work, it felt like a girl outside playing with her dog. I think it actually made my evening run more enjoyable, I wasn’t tethered to a leash and I kept my own pace, no potty, poop or sniffing breaks..well none that weren’t my idea.

My speeds weren’t horrible either:
Mile 1: 12:36 (this is with a 5 minute warm up walk) –am guessing without the walk this was in the upper 10’s, that is what it looks like on my graph anyway)
Mile 2: 11:36
Mile 3: 12:16
Not sure about the last .6 miles I’d imagine that time was much slower, because a large portion of it would be the cool down walk.

I decided that I am going to start using my Nike+ GPS app for keeping track of my runs, the Ease into 10K app was off by A LOT, my 3.6 mile run according EI10K was 4.1 miles. I verified the distance with a third source and it matched my Nike+ GPS app, so I guess that is the way to go. I may also start subtracting the warm up and cool down walks so I can get a better indication of my speed.

See my nifty graph from Nike…I am easily amused and the app was cheap, someday I will be in the market for a real GPS but until then I am going with what I have.



There will be 4 runs this week to make up for my 2 runs last week. With K~ gone I should have no real excuses as to why I can’t get my training done. Just the fake excuses I can come up with on a whim. Like, I almost didn’t want to run today because I was going to go to Travel Country (travelcountry.com for those more brave at online shopping than I) and pick up a second pair of VFF’s (classics are on sale), but seeing I couldn’t get the deal in-store I decided it wasn’t worth spending my money on something I couldn’t be sure fit the way I wanted them too. What can I say I am still not a fan of online clothing and footwear shopping, I want to know the fit and the wear ability of something before I pay shipping…any maybe return shipping on it.

Going Up....

I came to the realization today that I haven’t taken the elevator at work in at least 5 weeks. Well maybe I have been in it once, but it wasn’t my choice, I was going to lunch with the guys and they took the elevator. What was I supposed to do tell them they all needed to take the stairs with me? They do, but that isn’t my place, so I bent to the pressure and took the easy way. But normally I make a conscience effort stairs up the 3 flights to my office. I even try to go outside once a day to see the sun and meander around the building. So that is at least 6 flights up per day…and do the math with me…six flights down. After 5 weeks of that, I thought I would be pretty conditioned to climbing stairs, so today I decided to take them 2 at a time and you know what…it kicked my ass. I am once again humbled. No worries though, the stairs may have won this battle, but not the war.

for 'vette

a friend of mine wanted to know about experiences with VFFs so here are some of my opinions. i love em...

*********the following is an exerpt from an old blog on a site that doesn't exist any more that explains why I migrated to VFFs******

I decided a while back that I wanted to be a minimalist runner. Like running barefoot. There were multiple things that lead me to this decision. I will walk you through an abridged version. I originally bought Nike running shoes, for extra support of my arches and lots of cushion for my knees. All was well until I hit about 3 weeks into my running when my hip started KILLING me. I switched shoes to my New Balance, I love New Balance. They were much less cushy and I was really hitting my stride in them. I had even worked up to 4 miles (longest I have EVER run in my life). But my left knee was starting to bug me a little bit (PFS). So after doing some research I looked into VFF's. There were multiple claims to helping resolve the nagging bits that develop over a period of running. So I bought a pair of Bakila's and I loved the way they felt on my feet. I worked up slowly to be able to run a few miles in them. They take some real adjustment. You have to rework your whole style of running. <-- that was written after the adjustment period, the one below was before I was adjusted…

This a quote form my blog in November, right after I got the VFF’s
“I bought new running shoes. Vibram Five Fingers (google em, they're funny looking) Then I ran in them once, only about .5 miles. I couldn't walk for 2 days. So I allowed myself to take the week off to recover.” <--I thought my calves were going to fall off… no joke. I had never experienced pain in that way before in my life

You REALLY have to EASE into them…

glancing back, running forward

Today I decided to try to log onto my old Nike+ account. Apparently, I have a memory like an elephant because I logged in first try. I wanted to see my progress during my last running cycle. See where exactly I fell off the wagon. Who ever thought that run history would come in handy. I was pleased to see that I am not running that much slower then I was last fall. Ironically it was not long after I got my Vibram Five Fingers that I quit, great investment in +$100 shoes. I had a lot of calf pain when I first started to run in them. My hip and joint pain went away as soon as I started using them but then… calves from hell. I really wanted to highlight was that I STOPPED running regularly in December last year. Essentially my last run was December 13…then there were a smattering of runs (no more than 3 miles until I really quit on February 3.

March 13 was my official comeback day…. I am already running distances equal to those I was at the end of my training; I guess I haven’t lost too much. I am also running exclusively in my VFF’s. I can’t even explain how awkward it is to put on normal running shoes, I tried one day and only made it to the front door before I changed out of them. I like the minimalist feel. I can tell when I am pushing too hard. There is sensory response from body parts that used to be buried in cushion. I haven’t even gotten a blister since I switched, I kind of thought that having stuff between your toes would cause more friction, but they fit like a glove. I did end up with some hot spots yesterday right where the balls of my feet meet my arch, but after doing some research I found other people who have had these problems in VFF’s attribute it to poor form. I believe that because I was really struggling last night and I could hear my feet kind of slapping the ground a little near the end. Next run…CONCENTRATE ON FORM.

I haven’t been running 3x a week like I am supposed to but that is my goal for this week. I believe that my feet and legs are fully adjusted to the VFFs and I don’t get calf pain anymore. In fact I don’t even really get sore muscles, sometimes they are a bit tired..but never sore. It’s strange…maybe it’s a result of the mid-foot strike, or could it be I am a baby and don’t push myself hard enough? I do know that I need to start a better stretching routine. I tend to rush the stretching a little so that can hurry up and update either my dailymile account or this blog. I don’t want to risk an injury because I am shortchanging my legs. I was enjoying Yoga at the Y, but I don’t have that membership anymore and I stopped going because the woman was too aggressive in her practice and I was too proud not to push myself and wouldn’t you know, I hurt myself... and now I am scared to find a new Yoga spot.

on current trajectory...

So today I mapped out my training plan, I have to keep myself occupied somehow. I am done with 3 weeks of Ease Into 10K. Continuing on this path I will be done with the 10k training by June 5! I planned out my ½ marathon training strategy too. I am going to do two rounds of the Hal Higdon half marathon trainer, one at novice level and one at intermediate level. The novice is mostly just for conditioning yourself to run 13.1, the intermediate one works in some speed work and tempo runs. I am hoping that by then I will actually know what those things mean and that they will help improve my speed.

It must be fate because as I was looking at my training plan and comparing it to the races that I picked out of thin air my training aligned and I will be right on track to complete those races. The week I am supposed to run a 10 miler… there is a 10 miler sponsored by an Ale House (running followed by beer, what is better than that). Then during my second round of half training there is a 10K the week I am supposed to run a 10K. Something is at work here, the running gods are aligning to encourage my progress.

I will finish my second round of training 3 weeks before my inaugural 13.1 mile run. So to space it right I am going to do repeats of week 10 and 11. Week 12 ends with the HALF MARATHON!!! And if I fall off the wagon a little…I have a bit of time in there for cushion.

Here I am again picking races and attempting to actually train for a half-marathon

Last July my bestie called me up and said, wanna train for the Disney Princess Half Marathon?? After I got done laughing until my side hurt (I have/had never run more than 4 miles at one time in my life) I decided what do I have to lose besides a little time. The gains seemed so much better than the lost TV time. So I started training, did the C25k program and in 8 weeks I was running 3 miles. I managed to work up to 4 miles then my bestie fell off the running band wagon, then something else happened, then I got lazy, then it got cold (yes, I am aware that 40 isn’t cold anywhere else but in FL). Before I knew it the habit I had tried so hard to make was broken. I convinced myself “I was never meant to be a runner”. I have every excuse in the book. I probably would have forgotten all about the half and buried my defeat in the back of my mind never to be pondered again…but I didn’t. You know why I didn’t forget, because a girl I knew in HS, a girl who was no different than I was, (in fact I’d say in HS we were pretty similar in body structure) never thin always carrying a little extra weight trained and ran a half marathon one short month before I was supposed to run mine. And she kicked that 13.1 miles ass, and fell in love with running.

I wanted that to be my story. Watching her progression unfold I was envious of her new found passion, and her new found ass (but more her passion). So I picked my head out of my… well you know where, and I started running again off and on, a couple miles here and a couple there. I kept thinking, I will fall back into a habit. But I am coming to realize it isn’t as easy as that, I need a goal I need something to strive for. So today, when I should be doing something constructive like working, or writing thank yous to the 9 departments that interviewed me at the beginning of the week, I find myself day dreaming about running.

I have been running pretty regularly for the past month. I manage about 2-3 runs per week, I am working on consistency and making 2-3 turn into 3-4. I was traveling this month and some last month, but that is over for a little while so I am rededicating myself to training. I went online and picked a race that I want to train for in Virginia. I am moving in the next few months. My hubby is moving in 2 weeks, and I will follow at a date yet to be determined, but most likely June or July. I am moving to or near Fredericksburg, so I started looking near there for a half marathon in the fall/early winter. I found one… it’s called VA Runner Blue and Grey Half Marathon, registration costs a whopping $39.00. And it is put on by a local running club. I may end up joining after my transition. I am going to be a runner…I am going to be a runner…I am going to be a runner. That is my new mantra. And I am sure I will be singing it the whole way on 12/11/11 when I am running my first half marathon.

I also picked out a 10k to run in October, it’s the Spotsy YMCA 10k, and there is a 10 miler (16.1k…if I have trained up to that distance) in August. I am kind of excited about building distance and actually being able to run 6.2 and 10 and 13.1 miles without dying.

I still hope to be able to swing the Disney Half in January 2012, but I needed a finish line that will be executable regardless of funding. I know that I can afford $39.00, no matter the circumstances.

So, here’s to tangible finish lines and realistic goals.

Sports Bra Review

Since I have started running my biggest hassle has been my ability to find a great sports bra for under $40. What can I say, I am cheap. My problem in the past has been that I HATE UNI boob, but I dealt with it because I never did many high impact sports so the jiggle didn't bother me too much. But once I started running, my 38Ds were dancing to their own beat. I had some old style uniboob bras, but they just weren't keeping the motion down enough. Plus all my sporting gear was a few years old and bought when I was in better shape (ie. smaller titties).

So my journey started out at the Nike outlet. I love the outlet. I can get so much stuff for so much cheaper than retail. And 2x a year I get really great coupons. I found a bra that I thought would fit great, tired it on, jumped around a little and was satisfied with the results. When I strapped my ladies in for their first run I was thinking, finally a bra that will work for a large chested lady. After the first run the stupid bra had eaten my boob. I had an aweful raw spot under my right breast. I actually didn't notice it until I jumped in the shower and lathered up..HOLY CRAP that stung. So then I had to start double bagging because the support was good but the rubbing was not so good. Faulty placement of a seam. My quest continued..... and continued... I went to Sports Authority and I think I tried on every sports bra know to man. I was really sad and my patient husband was getting restless, but he was a good sport. Then I saw it...the mother of all sports bras, it looked like armor for my ladies.
It's a little hard to riggle into but once I am in there...NO MOTION. That's right NO MOTION FOR MY 38D's. A dream come true.

Here's the picture in case you want one. It runs $39.00 at Sports Authority and 40 online. I love the underwire. And I love that it is a racerback and there is a claps on the back and adjustable straps as well. I have run in this bra 3 times. No RUB, no RASH. No BOUNCE....