The First 10

The first 10 minutes of a treadmill run are the hardest for me.  On an outdoor run, getting out the door is the hard part.  On the treadmill, staying on the treadmill when I really don't want to be there is the hard part.  It's a little too tempting to just push that red stop button and step off if it's a hard run or you're just not feeling it...I'm not going to lie and say that I've never done this...at least once I got the TM in the house.  So, I have to get myself through the first 10 minutes.  Once I've reached that mini-milestone, completing the rest of the run is usually no problem.

Credit: www.someecards.com

Wednesday morning I chose to sleep in rather than get up and run, so I knew I had an evening run ahead of me, and I was dreading it all day.  Several times I had to talk myself out of skipping it - before I even got home!  So, immediately after I got to the house I ordered myself upstairs to change into running clothes so I wouldn't get comfy on the couch and while away the evening.  After a little procrastinating, I started channel surfing to find the "right" show to watch while running, and lo and behold, Pitch Perfect was on!  So I turned up the volume, flipped the switch on the TM, and started to move.

It still wasn't an easy run, but it was certainly made more enjoyable to have one of my favorite movies on, and the first 10 minutes just flew by!

Ten on the Treadmill

Not much to say about this weekend's long run, except I did it on the treadmill.  It had been a rough week, and I really just wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning.  But it was too dark to go do my planned miles outside on Friday night, so I sucked it up and got'em done on the treadmill.

Nothing really to report, except that perhaps watching four straight episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network seemed slightly counter-productive.  LOL.

Also, I accidentally deleted all my lap data on my Garmin before I finished, so I'm not completely sure on my total time, but I do know I was doing almost right at a 14mm.  So that's what I'm going with.

Friday's Treadmill Run:

• 10 mi; 2:20:00 (approx.); 14min/mi avg. pace (approx.)

Fitness Center & Football

I did this past weekend's "long" run on a treadmill at the LAX Marriott.  Up at 4:30 and on a machine by 5:00.  Boring, right?  It wasn't as bad as it sounds.  I had 10 miles on my schedule, but really only had time for 9 before I had to stop to get ready to leave.  I split the run into 3 mile segments, just in case I needed to relinquish the machine to anyone waiting to use it (which I ended up not needing to do).  After each segment I took a super quick water & gel break, then got right back at it.  I can't say it was the most thrilling run I've ever done, but I've got to give props to the fitness center.

They had really nice equipment with plenty of each kind of aerobic machine, and every machine had it's own TV built in to it.  Didn't bring headphones?  No problem - they provided disposable pairs.  They had stacks and stacks of clean hand towels and several different sanitizing wipe stations to wipe down the machines when you were done.  There were several water coolers, including one full of ice water with lemon and lime slices floating in it for an invigorating citrus touch!  Feeling wiped out after your exertion?  How about a nice, chilled, Eucalyptus-infused washcloth?  Amazing.  To top it all off, they had trays of fresh fruit available for a post-workout snack.  My only complaint is that the facility was too hot - it felt like a sauna in there - especially once more people came in as it got later.

I was really pleased I was able to get in almost all of my scheduled mileage - I had been concerned about whether it would really be feasible on the road.  I guess it just goes to show that it's possible with a little determination and commitment to force myself to get up and going and get it done even while traveling.  Nice.

And after the run we headed to The Rose Bowl to watch UT beat UCLA!  It was an incredible football game for us.  Add in a day at Disneyland on Sunday, and it was a great weekend!

Saturday's Treadmill Run:

• 9 miles; 2:04:34; 13:50min/mi avg. pace

Belting It Out

I always said that my handheld water bottle was enough for me and I didn't want to run in a hydration belt, but I recently realized that as much as I love my handheld, it just wasn't going to cut it for the long runs involved in marathon training.  So I asked for suggestions from my group members as well as friends who are runners.

After an exhaustive search, I finally found a hydration belt that feels good, carries the right amount of water and gels, and, that very importantly...holds my phone!!!  Yay!  Actually, I found two!  After several strike-outs, I found the Nathan Speed 2 and the Nathan Trail Mix.  I was initially going to choose between the two, but decided to keep both.  Why?  I like the option of having a "sleeker" belt - the Speed 2 - for shorter "long runs" (HM distance or less) because this will hold my phone as well as up to 3 gels.  But for any longer "long runs" I'm going to need a little more room for a little more stuff - so I'll break out the Trail Mix.

I ran in the Speed 2 this Saturday with the group - and liked it!  It will still take a little getting used to, but I can see myself quickly getting to the point of not noticing it.  There was very little bouncing, I had no problem retrieving my gel, the flasks were easy to remove and replace, and refilling them at the water stop wasn't a issue.

Just goes to show that getting out of your comfort zone can be a good thing!

Saturday's Group Run:

• 8.23 mi; 1:54:28; 13:55 min/mi avg pace

Tuesday's Treadmill Run:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3.0 mi; 0:40:00; 13:20 min/mi avg pace

Hitting 200!

I hit the 200 mile mark today!  This is a great milestone, but it's almost 6 months into the year, and I'm less than a 1/3 of the way towards my goal for the year - which is 700 miles.

I'm not too worried at this point, because  most of my training in the begining of the year was for shorter races, and I'm just now getting into the "long" runs for my SanFran training.  And I know once that once my full marathon training starts, the miles will add up quickly.

I decided to try out the 2:1 ratio on the treadmill this morning.  I didn't stick with the 2:1 the whole way through - around the middle of the run I decided to do some 1:1 intervals to make sure I had enough in me to finish out the full 45 minutes.  Knowing that I'd had to slow down in the middle, I don't know why I was so surprised by my slower average pace, but I was.  Wow.  That's slower than I've been in a LONG time.  Obviously I've got some more work to do!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 45 min.; 3.36 mi; 13:24 min/mi avg. pace

Catching Up

Since I generally like to post about how I feel, things that I see or that happen, or that I learn during my runs, I haven't been posting much recently.  Not because I haven't been running, but because the most exciting thing I've learned while running recently is that Nickelodeon shows Full House reruns at 5:00 & 5:30 a.m. on weekdays...

It's just not fun to write posts about treadmill runs - there's only so much you can say.  And it's boring to read it over and over again, so to save all you wonderful people from the monotony, I haven't been posting on weekdays.

If you're wondering, though, I have managed to settle into a schedule nicely:

• Monday & Fridays
• Sleep in 'til 6am, begin normal day;
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays:
• 1st alarm at 4:30am.  Roll over & eat a mini Clif bar and drink a glass of water.  Lay in bed until next alarm goes off;
• 2nd alarm at 4:45am.  Get out of bed, wash face, feed cats, get dressed & get ready to run
• Start running (or elliptical if it's Wednesday) by 5:10am, finish by 6am;
• Begin rest of the day.
• Saturdays
• Up early (actual alarm time depends on distance to be covered).
• Sundays
• Sleep in until I wake up on my own.

So that's it.  I'll probably only be posting about once a week - after my "long" runs on Saturdays - for a while, unless something unusual happens during the week.

Running with Royalty

Well, I was up at 4:45...and nothing else was on...so I watched it.  Yup, I watched William & Kate's wedding while I ran on the treadmill this morning.  I wouldn't normally be running on a Friday morning, but I threw off my schedule earlier in the week and am still playing catch-up.

Anyway, it was fun to see, and it was a nice change from watching the news while running.  However, I'll be glad when all the hooplah is over and it's not all the media is talking about!

Two items of note:

• Princess Beatrice's hat made me think of that scene in Princess Diaries 2 where she tells the hairdresser she looks like a moose and he tells her "Yes, but a very cute moose! Make all the boy moose go waaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
• I mouthed the words to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" while they played "God Save the Queen"? I couldn't sing 'cause I was running, but I represented in my own little way...

Anybody else get up to see it?

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 35 min run; 2.72 mi; 12:52 avg. pace

We're not in Kansas Anymore, Toto

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks around here, weather-wise.  We've had high winds, tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, etc.  They're saying that although it will still be windy, the severe weather should be over for a while, so let's keep our fingers crossed that they're right!

Fortunately, since I recently started running on the treadmill in the mornings, and we were gone over the weekend, the weather hasn't really affected my running much.  Yay!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 35 min run; 2.66 mi; 13:09 avg. pace

Roller Coaster Ride-Along While Running

This morning, as I was watching the local early morning news while running on the treadmill, they did a special segment on the new Texas Giant at Six Flags over Texas. The roller coaster, which has been closed for over a year for "enhancements," is re-opening this week. For anyone unfamiliar with the ride, here's a quick blurb about it:

"This new super hybrid will have a state-of-the-art track of steel fabrication, with the steepest drop of any wooden coaster in the world at 79 degrees. The lift hill will be 10 feet taller than the original Texas Giant. The new ride will also have a record-breaking bank of 95 degrees, steeper than any other wooden coaster on the planet."

The coolest part was that they did a LIVE "ride-along."  You can see it here.

I'm a huge roller coaster fan, so this was very exciting for me! I was also nearing the end of my run, so it made for a fun two minutes when I'd normally be trudging along! I'm thinking there's definitely a trip to Six Flags in our future sometime soon so we can experience the new ride in person!

Today's run:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 2.31 mi run; 0:30:00; 12:59 min/mi avg. pace

Seriously Sleepy

"He sees the world through half-closed eyes and always seems to be talking through a yawn.  Perpetually nodding off, Sleepy could easily recline anywhere to get some sleep.  A rare talker, when he does have something to say, it is always straight and to the point – even though he’s too tired to know it." - http://crushable.com/entertainment/fun-facts-about-the-seven-dwarfs-from-snow-white/

I was seriously Sleepy earlier today.  This morning I got up early and did my run before work.  Since I start work at 7:30, I was up at 5:00 a.m. to make sure I would have time to run, shower, dress, etc. and still get to work on time.  Wow.  Worried about oversleeping, I set 3 alarms.  THREE.  I feel great now, but before I stepped on the treadmill I was still half-asleep, and having some serious misgivings about embarking on the endeavor.  So, why, do you ask, did I do such a thing?

Here's why: it was a test run for me (pardon the pun).  As the heat of summer quickly approaches, I'm tossing around the idea of switching my weekday runs from post-work runs to pre-work runs.  My thoughts are that since it's getting hot, all my weekday runs will be on the treadmill anyway, so why not run in the morning and reap the benefits of an early morning workout?:

• Easier to get it done - many fewer conflicts at 5 a.m. than at 5 p.m.;
• Gets me up and going - oxygen's better than coffee!;
• Experience the "runner's high" all morning;
• Revs up my metabolism for more effective fat burning throughout the day;
• I'll fall asleep faster/earlier & sleep better at night;
• It's cooler (treadmill room has western exposure, so even with the A/C it can get pretty warm in there in the afternoon/evening during the summer);
• Establishes the morning workout routine for both my body and my brain, and will hopefully make it easier to wake up early on Saturday mornings for long runs.

And, in order to get some consistency, on non-run mornings I'm going to try to get back into doing my Yoga for Runners and cross-training on the elliptical.  So I'll be seeing this a lot more often:

Wish me luck, and we'll see how it goes!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 2.64 mi run; 0:35:00 min; 13:15 min/mi avg pace

Catching Up

Wow, what a weekend!  We took lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  Here's my super-condensed trip report:

Friday: Arrived to stormy skies at LAX at 10:30am and, after grabbing lunch at IN-N-OUT Burger, headed west to see the beaches (Venice & Santa Monica), made a quick spin through Hollywood to see the Oscars prep, then headed to the hotel to change.  Went to the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, then back to the hotel to collapse - all the travel and the time change had really caught up with us!

Saturday:  Up early Saturday morning and headed down to the hotel gym to get in a couple miles (on the fanciest treadmill I have ever seen - you gotta love L.A.!).  Grabbed a quick brunch in the hotel cafe then leisurely got ready for the wedding.  Checked out of the hotel and headed to the church for pre-wedding pictures.  The pictures were slightly hampered by a 10-minute hail storm (crazy, huh?) but then the sun came out and all was fine.  The ceremony was at 3:30 with the reception from 5-10pm, then we drove down to Anaheim afterwards.  We made good time and checked into the hotel about 11:15.

Sunday:  Up even earlier on Sunday morning to drop a friend off at the Anaheim train station for her trip down to San Diego to visit other friends, then crossed the street to go to Disneyland when it opened at 8am.  We spent the morning in a surprisingly uncrowded park and got in almost all of our "must-dos" before noon (including getting a boat all to ourselves on Pirates - amazing!)  Since it was a Family Fun Weekend celebrating Mardi Gras, we split an order of Mickey-shaped beignets and a Mickey-shaped brioche throughout the morning inbetween rides.  Then we grabbed hand-dipped corndogs on Main Street for lunch and headed over to California Adventures.  We spent the afternoon and early evening riding rides and watching shows at DCA, then picked up our World of Color Picnics (yum) and watched the 8pm WOC show (spectacular!).  After WOC, we walked back over to DL to see the Wishes fireworks and finish up the last couple of Fantasyland rides and re-ride Big Thunder and Space.  Since we were (literally) freezing,  we decided to go ahead and leave at 11:15 and headed back across the street to the hotel.

Monday:  A super-early morning Monday to check out of the hotel, drive back to LAX, return the rental car and hop on a plane back to Texas.

Okay, maybe it wasn't all that quick of a recap.  Anybody notice a trend mentioned each day?  Not the late nights and increasingly early mornings..the food!  The crazy thing about L.A. is that the calorie content is posted everywhere - even on the "guilty pleasure" items - and no one even bats an eye when you ask for egg whites and fruit instead of hash browns...in fact, I'm pretty sure it's expected.  I think I found a pretty good balance between eating right and indulging in some signature L.A./Disney items throughout the weekend.

Since my mom is a native Californian, we took quite a few trips to DL when I was growing up.  It's only recently (the last 10 years or so) that we've been spending much more time at WDW than DL.  Before this trip I'd only been to DCA twice, so it was fun to see how much it's changed, and of course DL is always a great place to visit!

So it was back to the grind today.  I'm finally feeling normal again, and my cough is practically gone, so I figured it was time to switch back to my 5:4 intervals.  It was hard this evening, but I made myself keep going at my normal pace and push through the intervals.

Today's stats:

• 10 minute walking warm-up
• 3 mi run; 0:39:25 min; 13:08 min/mi avg. pace

Long Time No Run!

It's really only been since Friday, but it's amazing how long three days without running can feel!  I just could not get in the groove to run this weekend - even the scheduled "just two miles" seemed too far - not a good sign that there might be a much-hoped-for end to my current funk.  But, moving on...   The only good thing about skipping a workout?  It results in some serious guilt for the next week, ensuring that subsequent runs actually happen!  So, four miles tonight - my longest run so far with the new interval, and I felt it.  Four miles on the treadmill isn't fun anyways, but that last mile was really rough - and I seriously slowed down.  But I toughed it out and got them done - now I'm just looking forward to building my endurance to the point where the new 5:4 interval feels as good as the old 1:1 used to!

As an upside to a rather depressing post, I registered for the 2011 Wine & Dine Half Marathon yesterday!!!  Wuhoo!!!  We're giving Disney another chance by running this one again, and are very excited to hear about the positive changes they're making that should improve the logistics of the race!

Today's stats:

• 10 minute warm-up walk
• 4 mi; 0:54:26 min; 13:36 min/mi avg.
• 30 min resistance band strength training

Shocking!

Static electricity sucks.  Thank goodness I only had 2 miles to run on the treadmill tonight, because every time I touched any part of the machine, whether I was pushing buttons on the control panel or just accidentally brushing against the arms of the machine, I got shocked!  Since I use interval training, that means I'm changing speeds approximately every minute - that's at least a shock a minute - and not just small little zings, but hair-raising shocks (well, not really because of the ponytail, but they would've been)!  I don't know if there's an  excess energy buildup in the air due to the incoming storm or what, but this was ridiculous!

Today's stats:

• 10 minute warm-up walk
• 2 mi run; 0:25:57 min; 12:59 min/mi avg. pace

Cancelled Race Shouldn't Mean Cancelled Run

Because of the crazy cold temps and the absurd amount of ice, sleet, and snow our area has gotten this week, this morning's scheduled 5K/15K race at White Rock Lake was cancelled.

So we slept in, and then I grudgingly hit the treadmill - even though I was really not in the mood.  I completed my standard 10-minute warm-up walk and then started in on the first mile.  I figured that if I could just get going, I'd lose that "blah" feeling and get my 4 miles done as quickly as possible...

Yeah...that didn't happen.  After finishing the first mile, I pooped out, and decided to walk the remainder.  Looking back, I'm not happy that I didn't just tough it out and run the whole way, but at the time, just power walking the rest of those miles felt like an accomplishment.

So even though a cancelled race shouldn't mean a cancelled run, today it did.  Oh well...

Today's stats:

• 4 miles; 1:02:59 min; 15:45 avg. pace

New Interval

Switched it up a little today.  Changed from a 1:1 run:walk interval to a 5:4.  Instead of run 1 minute then walk 1 minute, it's now run 1:15 and walk 1.  It's a great way to build up a little more endurance over the coming weeks, and shave a little time off my average pace.  It's only 15 extra seconds per run interval, but I felt every one of those extra seconds towards the end of tonight's run, and don't have much to show for it since I was on the treadmill!  :o(

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3 mi; 0:39:22 min; 13:07 min/mi avg pace

Unimpressed When Not Compressed

This evening I decided to run in a pair of my TX Longhorn Nike Tempo shorts - I was only doing 3 miles and was running on the treadmill so no worries about running in public in shorts (something I just don't do!).  Obviously I've gotten used to running in my compression capris and tights - maybe too used to it?  [My theory has always been to use any tools available to me to make my running easier/better, and once I discovered compression, I hopped on that bandwagon and never looked back!]  Who knows, maybe it's a mental thing, but I just didn't feel that tight, slightly springy feeling that I've gotten used to feeling.  I don't know that it really made a difference pace-wise, at least not on a 3 mile run like tonight's, and not on a treadmill, where I'm slower anyways.  As much as I love my compression gear, I don't want it to become a crutch, so I think I'm going to go back to doing at least one of my weeknight short runs in non-compression bottoms and save the "springs" for the longer runs on the weekends.

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3 mi run; 0:40:38 min; 13:33 min/mi

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

As a girl who would be barefoot at all times if she could, and whose non-running shoe of choice is a flip-flop, you can see why I'm not a fan of biting cold like the kind that blew in today.  Temps in the 20's and wind gusts up to 30 mph - no way in the world was I running outside in that kind of weather!  So it was back on the treadmill for me...

Today's stats:

• 0.5 mi warm-up walk
• 2 mi run; 0:26:29 min; 13:15 min/mi
• 30 min resistance band strength training

Blood, Sweat, and ... No Tears!

I swapped tomorrow's run for today since tomorrow's going to be so busy.  As I was having trouble working myself up to anywhere near my normal running pace for the second day in a row, I was flummoxed!  Surely my poor diet over the last week couldn't have had that much of an affect, right?  After all, it's never seemed to matter this much before...  Then it hit me - I'd given blood on Monday night.  DUH!  Although blood volume can be replaced within several hours to 48 hours after donation, red blood cells take longer to be replenished.  So I'm guessing that the blood donation, along with the poor diet the last week or so made for an especially bad combination this time around.  I'm really hoping that by resting tomorrow, I'll be in better shape for Friday's long run - I'll just have to see I guess!

Today's stats:

• 3 mi; 0:52:18 min; 17:29 min/mi avg.

Christmas Junkie

Yup, I admit it.  I love everything about Christmas: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes - especially the tastes.  Not only am I a Christmas junkie, I'm a Christmas junk food junkie.  Up until the last couple of days, I was doing pretty well - a few indulgences here and there, but I was trying very hard to be mindful of what I was putting in my body.   All that started to slip this weekend, and then went completely out the window the past couple of days at work...and I felt it today during my "run."  I was sluggish, tired, and hurting.  A three mile training run turned into a three mile stroll on the treadmill.  It was a HUGE wake-up call that with just over two-and-a-half weeks until the race that I can't afford to routinely put crap into my body, because that's what I'll get out of it - crap.  So, to continue the metaphor, with the exception of the "big" meals coming up over the holidays, it's back to the "high-octane" food fuels for me!

Today's stats:

• 3 mi; 0:53:06 min; 17:42 min/mi

Back at it!

Well, after an awesome week with Mickey (which, unfortunately, meant over a week of not running), tonight was my first night back  it.  Between packing for Disney, being at Disney, and recovering from Disney, my planned runs for last week went completely out the window... On the other hand, it's not like I sat on my butt all week - because there's only one speed for my family while we're visiting The Mouse - and that's all-out-take-no-prisoners-full-speed!  So even if it wasn't actual running, there was plenty of activity with all the running around we were doing.  Speaking of running around WDW, it was amazing how many times  we found ourselves saying "In five weeks we'll be running through here..." or "This is where such-and-such happened last year..."  No doubt about it - we're definitely getting excited for Marathon Weekend!

Trying to make up for the week away, tonight was another late night at the office, and I would've loved to do nothing but fall into bed when I got home, but I told myself that that missing another training run was not an option.  So I quickly changed into my running gear and hopped on the treadmill just as Biggest Loser was starting, and lo and behold, it was the marathon episode - talk about motivation!  So, while the last 4 contestants ran their marathon, I did my 4 miles, and felt good getting back into the groove of things.

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 4 mi run; 55:45 min; 13:56 min/mi