week 5 and week 6

i have gotten a bit behind on my posting, but wanted to catch up a bit. i have been doing really well. i have been running more often and walking less. and what's great is that my knees are feeling wonderful!! i have also begun using the P90X lean program as my cross-training. i will say....those workouts are intense! but i have really enjoyed them so far. the last two saturdays have been 6 miles and the last one i ran all but 6 minutes of it! it is wonderful to get into a nice rhythm and then the run just flows. every now and then it is tough. this past monday was one of those days. but i fought through it. i started back to school this week so my "sunrise" runs will have to be replaced with "sunset" ones. i love running in the morning, but i am hoping that running in the evening will be just as pleasant. as long as the temp and humidity keep slowly dropping, all should be good!

thanks for everyone's continued support. if you would like to cheer me on when i run the race, mark your calendars for october 17th! you can visit this website for more information: www.columbusmarathon.com

week 5 day 1

upper 60s and humidity around 85%. tried to run more today than i did on saturday. my original plan was to walk the first mile and run at least 2. ended up walking 1 running 2.7. felt ok this morning. had a bit of a twinge in my knee that made it hard to really get into a comfortable rhythm. overall, i am pretty pleased, this was the longest consecutive distance i have run. and i feel good! no knee pain right now.

splits:

mile 1: walking 13:00

mile 2: running 10:43

mile 3: running 10:43

did total of 3.7 miles in 42 minutes, overall pace was 11:21 and felt good. i get an extra rest day this week!

week 4 days 5 and 6

Sometimes, training is not a priority. yesterday i got to spend time with my family, some from out of state. a house full of 40+ people made for a long but wonderful day. towards the end we all were witness to my cousin's boyfriend (these were the ones from out of state) propose to her! it was unexpected and wonderful and emotional and a moment none of us will soon forget. so...needless to say, i did not do any cross-training yesterday, but it is all good.

this morning, i woke up early and went for my walk/run around my parent's house. this was my favorite run/walk ever...as well as my longest. It felt great, and my time was good! i walked the first 2 miles, ran the middle 2 and finished out by walking the last 2! knees felt really good, even during the run. did my fastest walking mile to date, and it was my last mile! awesome!!

splits:
mile 1: 12:44
mile 2: 12:58
mile 3: 10:16
mile 4: 10:20
mile 5: 13:00
mile 6: 12:10

next week is a bit of a break for the "long" run of the week, i only have to do 4!! i could have gone longer today, so i am very pleased. overall my pace was 11:55.

week 4 day 4

holy humidity batman!! it was 71 degrees with 96% (yep you read that correctly) at 6:15am! went 3.32 miles in 42 minutes. about 12:38 pace. tried to have negative splits and achieved my fastest walking mile time! but, it was so humid, almost couldn't breathe! got it done early tho!

splits:

mile 1: 12:50

mile 2: 12:49

mile 3: 12:16.

getting closer to that sub 12:00 minute walking mile...it will come soon!! off to enjoy some fun in the water with out of town cousin and her family! can't wait.

week 4 days 2 and 3

this was a tough morning. it was 78 degrees and 85% humidity when i went out at 7:45 am!! made it really hard to push too hard....so i didn't. i tried to go at a comfortable pace. ended up being pretty slow. i walked a mile, ran the second mile, and walked the remainder. i was able to run for a whole mile without stopping. first time i have done this in a while. the neighborhood i went in this morning had some very uneven sidewalks, and as a result, i tripped 4 times and fell once. thankfully, i fell on my hands while i was walking so the only thing that hurts is my right pinky. i was able to get right back up and finish...but it threw me off for the rest of the route!

splits:
mile 1: 12:50 (walking)
mile 2: 10:58 (run...LOL)
mile 3: 13:58

overall did 3.2 miles in 40 minutes for a pace of around 12:30. i really took it easy on the last mile. i just wanted to finish! may try the cardio p90x tonight...we'll have to see how i am feeling.

week 3 day 7 and week 4 day 1

yesterday was supposed to be a rest day...but i have to do my challenges on sundays. did 85 squats, 51 situps, and 36 pushups. after doing some back to school shopping, i took the kids and all three dogs for a walk. we just did a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. ended up being 1.13 miles in 21:51. like i said, just a stroll...but it was so nice last night, we couldn't resist!

this morning, i woke up when kyle's alarm went off, and couldn't fall back to sleep. i guess this is not such a bad thing, since i will soon be having to wake up at that time anyway, but it was not a happy moment for me. i finally got out of bed a little after 7 and went out for my walk. i am trying to do my 3 workouts this week while walking and then incorporate some running on the long run this saturday. this morning was a little disappointing. i was hoping to better my pace from saturday....and the first two miles were not too bad. however, mile 3 was really slow...and i can't figure out why. my overall pace was not at all where i wanted it. hoping wednesday is better. i really want to get closer to 12:00 for a walking pace.

splits:

mile 1: 12:38

mile 2: 12:31

mile 3: 12:51

overall 3.32 miles in 42:00. pace around 12:38. i am glad i went out when did, because it has gotten pretty warm already. it was in the high 60s with humidity around 85% when i went out. got warm really quickly!

week 3 day 6

woke up before my alarm and decided it was a good time to get up. today, i was going to try something new. i wanted to test my theory that my running/walking pace is not a whole lot faster than my walking pace. so...i decided to walk this morning. i had a 5 mile workout on the schedule this morning and i didn't want to go around my neighborhood, so i went out to old gahanna and went round creekside, friendship park and parts of old gahanna. it was a beautiful morning. at the end of my workout, it was 69 degrees with humidity in the 70s. GORGEOUS!!! i wanted to do 5 miles in around an hour. i ended up at 1hour 3 minutes. my overall pace was right around 12:30. this workout felt really good, and my knees did not hurt at all! my goal for the next few workouts is to get my pace under 12:00. if i can lose a few more pounds, it may take some of the pressure off of my knees and running may not be so painful... we'll see. i will walk this week and then try to run again a little next week.

splits:

mile 1 - 12:36

mile 2 - 12:21

mile 3 - 12:42

mile 4 - 12:49

mile 5 - 12:41

i am happy with this for now. i will get better!! looking forward to taking a nap today and a rest day tomorrow!! happy weekend!

week 3 days 4 and 5

yesterday morning, i went for my run/walk. it was about 73 degrees with humidity in the 70s. even though it was a bit cooler than my run the day before, it was still uncomfortably humid. started with a walk 4/run 3 pace for the first 2 miles, then walked the remaining distance. total of 3.4 miles in 42 minutes for an overall pace of 12:25.

splits:

mile 1: 11:44

mile 2: 12:04

mile 3: 13:18

i may just stick to walking. i can get my walking pace under 13:00 which is not far off my run/walk pace. not to mention, it is much less stress on my knees, and i am really tired of my knees hurting. after my run, got the kiddos (and my nephew) packed up in the car and took a trip to see my brother and sister-in-law and family in indianapolis. we had a lot of fun! got home around 9:30 and watched a little shark week, then off to bed!

today is a cross training day. got up early and got it done!

worked on my three challenges (hundredpushups.com, twohundredsitups.com, twohundredsquats.com) and some yoga.

total pushups (5 sets) 28

total squats (5 sets) 72

total situps (5 sets) 40

did namaste yoga, the warrior sequence. this was tough after doing the above, but still felt great! off to enjoy the rest of today...will be a busy one, glad i got my workout in early!

week 3 day 3

so, yesterday i decided to try a new treatment for my knees. i had a muscle massage gel that i bought this weekend. i read the directions and followed them...however, i didn't know that i would have such a reaction to the main active ingredient...capsaicin. i put some on at 5pm, and initially i thought i would be similar to icy hot. started out with a cooling sensation...then it begain to burn...really uncomfortably. and it continued... i was not able to sleep until about 3am because it was so uncomfortable. when i finally did fall asleep, we had a line of pretty strong storms move through...and that kept me awake for a while. when it was all said and done, i woke up around 9 having gotten around 4.5 hours of sleep. looked at the temp, and saw it was already almost 80 degrees with humidity in the 80% range. i really tried to talk myself out of going out for my run/walk . but i did not succeed.

on the training plan for today was a 40 minute workout. i tried something different today with it. for the first 2 miles i walked 1/2 mile and ran 1/2 mile. by the time i finished the 2nd mile, i wasn't sure i was going to be able to finish. it was like running in a sauna. so, i walked the last mile. overall, i did 3.2 miles in 40 minutes, so my overall pace was still around 12:40.

splits:

mile 1: 11:27 (this may be my best mile split time!)

mile 2: 12:09

mile 3: 14:22

i finished the workout...but it was one of the hardest ones i have done so far! lack of sleep and really uncomfortable running conditions did not help either. oh yea, and around 2.5 miles in, the burning sensation began to come back! NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THAT MEDICATION! has anyone else experienced anything like that?

another running workout tomorrow, 42 minutes. and then a road trip to see family!

til tomorrow!

Week 3 day 1

yesterday was my day of rest...and i took it very seriously. other than the necessary things, i did nothing extra...it was GREAT!

today, back to business! went for my run/walk around 8:30am....it was so uncomfortable!! wish i had gone earlier. low 70s and humidity in the 70% range. made it a very challenging workout. today, i did walk 3/run 2 and repeated 8 times. my splits got faster the further into my run i got.

splits

mile 1: 11:46

mile 2: 11:45

mile 3: 11:32

total of 3.4 miles in 40 minutes. my overall pace was 11:43. I am happy with that pace as it is lower than i have been doing. knees felt good during the workout and i am hoping they will continue to feel better as i lose weight too! have lost somewhere between 3-5 lbs in the last 3 weeks, so that is good!

sometime later today, i will do some yoga... just because i really enjoy it! i am looking into trying some yoga classes in the area, but still doing the research on that. for now, my dvr'd yoga will do just fine!