Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day

Especially when planning on running over an hour! I didn't get out of bed in time this morning to eat a bagel with cream cheese. But I still thought I would still be fine. Unfortunately, I was not.

I got there right at 7am and saw the most beautiful sunrise. Then we took off. I had no idea what we mileage we were going to do however. We totally took a different route than the last time I was out there (3 weeks ago).

My hands were again hurting, pins & needles. I tried to ball my hands into a fist but still nothing would help. I finally noticed that the pain was no longer there around 1.59 miles into the run and it felt NIIICE! I was also talking in the first part of the run. I thought that might have something to do with how hard it was but I'm leaning towards the no food.

We stopped around 3 miles for some Gatorade and started up again. This time I was keeping the same pace but everyone around me seemed to be speeding up! By the time we got to 3.5 miles, we were all split up. Luckily, I could still see the people in front of me so I knew where to go cause by that time, I was totally lost!

Other lessons learned: bring a snot rag with me to blow my nose into. I think I spent more energy sniffing and messing up my breathing.

It was also the first time that I wore my heart rate monitor outside on a run. Very exciting.
This was me towards the end of the run. Heading south, where the wind was coming from. Immediately after that my eyes started tearing up from the wind and my eyelashes starting freezing more so than they were before.

When I got in my car, I sat down and my butt was so cold, frozen! It hurt every time I hit a bump, it was like pins & needles all over again. Last night I was looking for pants to wear on top of my Under Armor ColdGear tights & under my jogging pants. Hind Women's Drylete XPT Pants. They're loose and will work in cold weather. I was thinking of the Arctic version of the pants but since I am going to wear the UA tights under them, I should be fine. I'm also gonna look for another top too. My fleece pullover was soaking wet which made me very cold when I stopped.

I stopped at 5.84 but everyone else continued around the loop to finish up with 6 miles. I just couldn't run anymore. Here's a photo of them making their way around. It looks like a Nike ad! Running in the snow!!

Next Saturday should be just as warm so I'm looking forward to another run outside!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 844 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 01/31/09 Up/Downhill: [+127/-127] Time: 07:04 AM Difficulty: 3.1 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 14 F temp; 83% humidity 14 F heat index; winds S 15 Performance Distance: 5.85 miles Time: 1:00:21 Speed: 5.8 mph Pace: 10' 19 /mi Heart Rate: 166 bpm (Avg) Calories: 627 184 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 19 +0' 00 5.8 -0.0 150 -4 ft 2 10' 15 -0' 04 5.8 +0.0 163 +14 ft 3 10' 23 +0' 04 5.8 -0.0 173 +10 ft 4 10' 15 -0' 04 5.8 +0.0 172 +13 ft 5 10' 22 +0' 03 5.8 -0.0 171 -32 ft end 10' 46 +0' 27 5.6 -0.2 168 0 ft Versus average of 10' 19 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 6 miles, pictures, Sycamore, winter running

Heart rate & cadence

Training Zones	Heart Rate	Objectives
60%	137	Fat burning and re-energise glycogen stores
70%	151	Develop oxygen transportation systems
80%	165	Improve lactic acid threshold
85%	172	Lactic threshold
90%	179	Speed

Tonight was such a good run for me! I was debating whether I should do a Tempo run, a Speed workout or the fun Hill challenge. I decided on the Tempo even though I sorta already ran one on Monday. My normal run speed is 6.5mph which is around 9:37 pace. Tonight, I did the 4 mile tempo run at 9:05, with the last mile at 8:57.

The above table is what I should be hitting with my heart rate when my resting heart rate is 54 and my max heart rate at 192. Tonight, I should have been in the 80-85% area. I was running around the 170's but didn't think that it was high enough, so that's why I upped it to 8:57. Lo & behold, I increased my heart rate to 182-184. Hmm, now I was reaching speed pace. I unfortunately, didn't have this chart available on me so I didn't know. But now, I will print this out and keep it with me in my running bag (well, at least try to remember it!).

I even counted my cadence tonight. Counted the right foot landing in a minute. 30+30+24=84.

...most elite runners maintain a cadence of 85-95 regardless of pace or distance of the event...

Unfortunately, I didn't enter that range. I was just 1 step shy of it. But I sure as hell felt like an elite! Especially as I was drinking out of my bottle. I remember last year, watching the New York City Marathon and seeing Paula Radcliffe drink out of bottle with her left elbow sticking out. I just felt so cool! And the best thing was that I was in the front row of the treadmills so people got to see it all and wonder how I could be going so fast and drinking out of my bottle and still look so cool and collected. HA! My sports tank was drenched though I noticed once I got to the locker room.

It was a good run. I'm looking forward to hopefully finally running outside on Saturday!!

Categories: cadence, heart rate, treadmill runs

Clothing

Top: my shorts (and 1 running skirt); right: shirts, short-sleeved, long-sleeved & sleeveless; left: running tanks (and a few cotton ones in there too!); middle: sports bras.

Two of the running blogs I follow (the marathon mama & Run To Finish), have now mentioned their stinky running clothes. And another friend has mentioned her running clothes. So I figured I would follow suit as well.

When I first started running, I only had a few shorts & a few sport tanks. They're expensive items to buy. Especially bras, why & how they can charge $20 for a bra, I don't know how (more on that later). I bought a lot of my items at Wal-Mart and a few at Target, the upper-class version of Wal-Mart. Luckily, they did have some "wicking" products so I bought those mainly in the shorts. However, my bras & tanks from Wal-Mart were cotton. Not quite wicking!! More like sucking and staying!

Because I only had a few, I would only wash them on the weekends but that meant I would run in them the outfits two times. No more than two, however. I didn't run that much or that long so I never really stunk them up so bad.

However, then came the longer runs and more frequent runs during the week. The clothes started staying stink. Even after washing them, I would star running & immediately smell my stink at the YMCA. I knew something had to be done.

I read online and saw that some used white vinegar to get rid of the smell. I tried that. I didn't notice a difference at all. Then I read on Runner's World of a new detergent that is supposed to help get the smell out of runner's clothes. It's called WIN. I was shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods, saw a bottle and immediately bought it. I've been using it and after my first bottle ran out, I picked up another one! I haven't noticed the stink anymore, even after running!!

There is another brand out there at the time called Sports Wash. When I was in St. Louis I picked up a sample of it for .99 and used it for a load. Smelled the same when they dried.

Then now I see that one of the blogs above, compared Pro Wash to WIN. Another brand of sports detergent. She says that they both got out the stank but felt that Pro Wash made her clothes softer.

I don't know what drying does to these wicking clothes but I have never dried mine in the dryer. I always get out my laundry ladder thingie (there's another name for that but like hell if I can think of it now) and dry them on there. Only takes overnight since they're so lightweight.

I also have another thing to mention about these running clothes. I am tall. And I actually have a longer torso than legs unfortunately (my mother once said that I probably wouldn't show in a pregnancy until the 6th month). So when I buy my sports tanks, they usually ride up on me and show off my little belly pooch. I have YET to find a tank that will stay low. I thought I found it with a Nike tank on clearance. It looked really long! I was so happy. But when I bought the small and ran in it, it's actually too small! I can still wear it but the bottom rolls up on me.

This happened when I bought a Nike sports bra. I have 2 Under Armor sports bras and I love them, in a size small. So I bought Nike the same size. It's very tight around the chest. The same goes for the shoes, remember. Size 11 in Asics but 11.5 in Nike! I'm thinking that the Nike brand just runs small.

Speaking of bras, as I said I have 2 Under Armor sports bras and 1 Nike sports bra and a cotton Wal-Mart bra. I really like the silky wicking feel of the Under Armor. I went looking for sports bras when I was shopping the other day and unfortunately, could not bring myself to buy one at $20 a pop. I looked online last night for some deals, even on eBay but nothing I thought was good enough. Luckily, my sports tanks have a sports bra built into them so I can get away with have 3 and a backup.

Recently, I have gotten to like my legs and how I look in the Nike Tempo shorts. They aren't as baggy as my no name shorts from Wal-Mart. I have yet to buy those compression shorts and run in them. I don't know if I ever will have the guts to do that! Especially in the gym while on the treadmill and everyone can see my ass cheeks bouncing up and down. *shudder*

I have also received twice now, a catalogue of running clothes from a place called National Running Center. Since this winter has been pretty harsh in terms of temperature and I can't go outside to run when it's below 25. I am looking at getting another pair of winter leggings to wear over my Under Armor ColdGear leggings and to wear under my bright blue jogging pants (which are cotton lined so they can get drenched pretty fast. In their catalogue they have a pretty neat legend of Base layer, Thermal layer & Outer layer and which items work best where. Also which temperature their COOL, COLDER, COLDEST works best in. My next running purchase will be something from this place, that's for sure.

The shorts have a built-in panty in them which is nice & convient since I then don't have to wear cotton undies and get them all sweaty. Some of them are old now so the elastic has run out and not quite as staying on or around my butt cheeks any longer. However, with the leggings, I do have to wear undies as I haven't quite gotten to the commando with them yet. However, I have seen wicking undies on Skirt Sports and this National Running Center. I'm really digging the GirlShorties on Skirt Sports. And even the regular Shorties too. That's also on my list!

So there ya have it. My running clothing blog post. A lot more detailed than I thought I could make it!

Categories: clothing

ANGER!!!

Can I have a redo on this day?

First, I get up around 7:30a and dressed for a treadmill run at the YMCA. Shorts, tank, new shoes, heart rate, jogging pants, zip up fleece, and my jacket. Leave around 8:10a and I go outside to drive across the street to the Y. Yes, I live within in a 6 minute walk to the Y but when it's -2 outside, I'd rather not. And I'm glad I did for as soon as I went outside the first breath I took hurt my lungs and my nose hairs froze. But I get to my car. And it doesn't start. *sigh* Not again. It happened last week and weekend when the first deep freeze came on through.

So instead of just giving up, I go back upstairs to put on another pair of shoes, grab my fleece headband and neck gaiter and decide to trek my way across to the YMCA. I finally make it over there and walk to the Workout Center. I tell the guy my situation and it looks like the treadmills are not that busy about 6 are free. He says that's fine, it shouldn't be a problem. So I pick one out, still sign up for the 30 minute but he knows that I want to go for longer. I take off my pants, change out my shoes (I didn't want to walk through any snow with my new shoes) and I finally get going around 9a. But I was frozen to the core.

It starts filling up around that time too. I worry a little but since I know that I have my treadmill until 9:30a no biggie. I finally get in the zone in the last few minutes of that 30 minutes. I notice this kid jumps on the treadmill next to me. His friend is waiting behind him. I don't really give it too much thought though. Then this YMCA lady Nazi comes over to me saying that someone signed up for this treadmill after me. I tell her (mind you while still running) that can't they run on one of the other 5 treadmills open? She said his friend running on that one (points to the one where the kid running) and he signed up for this one. I told her that I'm in the middle of my long run and I cleared it with the guy behind the desk. She said that "today is his first day and he didn't understand the way the sign up worked. You can only sign up for 30 minutes." I asked "can't he use the open one on the other side?" She said "no, he wants this one and your time is up. You can get off and use another treadmill and sign up for another 30 minutes."

Mind you, I'm really really angry at this time. I just finally got in the zone, comfortable with doing 6 miles on a treadmill and then this happens. So I stop the treadmill and start to grab my items and the lady comes back to me saying that the treadmill on the other side is open and he said he can run on that. I just looked at her and said "I just stopped my treadmill, I can't get those miles back now!" She said Thank you. And I just wanted to scream!!!!! I go over to the sign up sheet, pick another treadmill and sign up for 30 minutes.

I go over to pick up my items and saw the kid was already setting up his speed. I asked if he saw the mileage on it. He stuttered and said "Um, no, no." Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! I think it was 32 minutes and I was running at 9:40 min/mi so I can figure it out on Runner's World. (32:34 min @ 9:40 min/mi = 3.37 mi)

I got to my treadmill but I already lost my rhythm. It's the first row so there's that. This treadmill seems lower or I seem higher above it. Then it's crooked so I wasn't lined up with the folks in front of me and it totally threw off my kilter. I just wasn't feeling it anymore. I was still fine till about the last few minutes then my heart rate started to sky rocket. I knew that was because my body started to not like this distance. So at 30 minutes, I stopped which was 3.11 miles.

Total of 6.48 miles for the day. I think. I have no idea since my run got interrupted! I was not about to go outside and run at a -2. I pushed my heart rate monitor up too high thinking that it was falling and it needed to be higher on my chest so at one point the number was really low. Then I lowered it when I saw the 60's and I pushed it down a bit and it started going right up! I was keeping around the 170's except at the end when it went to the 180's.

But I think next week, if this keeps up, I'm gonna to go over earlier. It was easy to get out of bed when I knew that people were waiting. But when I know that I'm going to do a treadmill run and it would be there all day, I had no rush to get out of bed. Stupid mind.

And if this weather keeps up, I'm gonna have either a personal worst in the marathon run OR go from the marathon to just the half marathon. I'm never doing a Spring marathon again. Have I said that before? :-)

Ohhh and I also found out why my Garmin is not telling me my calorie count when using the heart rate. It's because Garmin does their calorie count by speed and/or elevation and not by heart rate. This is the web page that I read told me this. Makes sense now.

Now since I didn't eat anything this morning before my run, I'm going to eat a bagel and take a shower and then just chill out in my apartment all day long. Maybe tomorrow my car will start. I want Pie!!

Oh but my shoes were good! The red part of the bottom makes it really smushy and soft. So I liked that. However, I think I put on my left shoe wrong because my toes kept going to sleep on me. So I have to adjust the shoe laces. But otherwise, I like them. We'll see how it goes once I get in the double digits. Whenever that might happen.

Categories: cold weather, garmin, heart rate, shoelaces, treadmill runs, YMCA

New kicks!

I got my new trainers tonight! And they fit B-E-A-UTIFULLY! WOW. I put them on and I could not get over how good they feel. Plenty of room.

Now they're unusual for me. They are size 11.5 and Narrow. I normally wear size 11, normal width in Ascis but I guess Nike is different. I was afraid with them being Narrow that I was gonna notice it and feel it but alas, I didn't! YAY! I didn't get on their treadmill but tomorrow I'm going to give them a spin. Best news is that since they're Nike's they have the Nike+ built right into it so I can slip my sensor right in the shoe! Not it really does any good, the calibration is off but once I can run outside again, I'll recalibrate it with my Garmin to match up. I own the Nike+, I might as well use it.

I need to get going on the long runs again. Soooo... I'm hoping to go to the Y tomorrow morning and get my run on. A long run on. I plan on going early and being honest with the people behind the desk in the workout room. That I would like to get at least 6 miles in. That's 1 hour of running. That's my goal but more would be best; maximum of 10. I will leave if I need to, as in if all the rest of the treadmills are full but otherwise I'll just stay until I get kicked off.


Anyway, after I got the shoes (which by the way were FREE!! thanks to a gift certificate from a raffle at a local race), I decided to run to Dick's Sporting Goods and buy new running clothes. I have decided that I needed new shorts mainly since the elastic in the liners of my current shorts are losing well, they elasticity. Not fun trying to not get a wedgie while you're running. All the clothes I bought were on Clearance. 2 Reebok shorts, a Nike Tempo short & a match shirt. I have the same Nike outfit but in pink and I like the feel & texture of them so much that I wanted them again. Wasn't that much of savings however. I plan on wearing the black shorts tomorrow to test them out.

But I'm excited about my run tomorrow. In fact, I think I'm gonna hit the bed now and read a little bit more of Once A Runner by John L. Parker and get up early for a long run on the treadmill. Windchill advisory tomorrow.

Categories: clothing, shoes

Frustration

Grrr, I totally feel like quitting my step aerobics. It's frustrating. It takes me a few times to get the steps down. And I feel like a complete fool doing both the steps & the arms. No worries, I'm still gonna stick with it but geeze, I really feel like a fool. I think that's my problem. But I do like the situp & stretching we do at the end of class on a mat. It always makes my abs burn with joy!

Anyway, tonight was one of those nights. But it was a little different too. I wore my heart rate monitor! I got to watch my heart rate go up and up. Unfortunately, during some of the moves, the strap was dropping lower on my chest and I could tell because my heart rate number kept going lower and lower; almost down to resting! But yet, I was still moving on the step. So throughout the hour, I kept tugging at my sports bra. I'm sure that looked classy in the mirror. I think I need to make the strap just a bit tighter, if I can. I just put it on as it came out of the box and it seemed to fit fine. Yesterday during my run I didn't have a problem with it.

But my calories are still not working on this thing. So I have to find out how to make it work, if I can. I haven't read this article yet but it seems like one I want to read to learn more about it.

I also would like to mention this. The President's Challenge. How many people remember the President Physical Fitness test in grade school or high school? Well, this is like that but only for adults (though kids can sign up as well). You get awards along the way and you can join groups and compare your progress against other people in the same fitness. You can even go back in time up to 14 days. So I put in my runs & aerobics. Kinda interesting. It's one more thing to remember to fill out but it might be fun to see what I can "get." (BTW, I don't remember running the mile in grade or high school. But I do remember doing the stretch test and the pullups in grade school.)

Tomorrow after work, I'm heading to Rockford again to try on my new Nike's. They came in this week. I can't wait!! I hope they work for me!

Categories: heart rate, YMCA classes

Heartbreak Hills

A nod to the infamous hill in Boston Marathon. Also related to what I did tonight!

I received my heart rate monitor in the mail yesterday. I put it on last night when I went to bed to pair it to my Garmin 405 and see if I could get it to work. I did eventually after finding out that the sensors needs to be wet. My resting heart rate was 54-56, pretty much what I measured at work a few weeks ago. Garmin automatically figured my max heart rate at 185 bpm but I don't think that's right for my age. I have to figure out which one of the many algorithms to follow.

So today, I was schedule to run a tempo run. Instead of doing that, I decided to hit the hill workout. I haven't done that since my half marathon training in 2007.

I put on the heart rate monitor in the locker room. It's difficult for women to wear one though because it's goes right where the bottom of the sports bra lays. I've seen versions where you can thread the monitor strap right though it and it will lay against your skin still. But tonight I managed to get it around my chest and have the bottom of it over the top and below the strap so it works.

My Garmin 405 picked up my heart rate and everything looked normal. I got on the treadmill and started my run. Just to refresh your memory, here's what I followed:
At zero incline, run for ten minutes at a comfortable pace. Set the incline to one percent and run at the same speed for a minute. Drop back to zero incline and run a minute.

Raise it to two percent for a minute, then down to zero for a minute. Next raise it to three percent, then down to one percent, then up to four percent, then down to two percent -- all for a minute each. Then go up to five percent and down to three percent.

Work your way back down from there: four, two, three, one, two, zero, one, zero. Finish with ten minutes of comfortable running at zero. Total running time: 38:00 (14:00 uphill).
***********************************************

I ran at 6.3 mph or 9:31 min/mi. What I didn't realise is that in order for me to be able to transfer this to the computer, I have to do a training start & stop. So after running for 2:30 I hit the start button. Whoops. And I had to manually hit the Lap button since I wasn't using the GPS function. I decided that at every minute, which signifies a change in incline, I'd hit it for a new lap.

I stuck to the 10 minute warm-up. And I started the hills. I'm not gonna lie. It was tough. It really got to me around incline 3%. And 4%. And 5%! HA! But I stuck with it. I looked at my heart rate every now & then. I got pretty good and hitting the button on my watch without looking at the watch. After running at 5%, 3% felt like a breeze! At 3%, 1% felt like downhill and I felt like I got faster. I was sweating up a storm. I'm now wondering if I should do that on every Wednesday or if I should just stick to every 3rd Wednesday and still do the tempo & speed work. Or maybe instead of just tempo as speed work will make me faster.

Here's my heart rate graph:


Unfortunately, my Garmin didn't figure out my calories. Maybe that's because I wasn't actually running anywhere and it had no incline or speed to base it off of. I'll have to look to see that's supposed to give me numbers with the GPS on.

It looks like I might be heading down to southern Illinois this weekend. I might be able to get in a run down there but I think I'd be too worried & nervous. Though it might help my stress levels. We'll see how it goes.

Categories: heart rate, on the up and up

Really? 28 miles per hour, really?

So at the NITRO meeting last week, I heard my very mention of the "Super Treadmill." If you thought your local gym's treadmill was bad, wait until you get a load of this one. It goes up to 28 mph (for those jackrabbits out there) and has an incline of 40% degree and a decline of 10%. Um yea, you won't be catching me on one of those babies! I can barely make it to 7 mph on most days!

I had a dream about treadmills last night. I haven't ran since Wednesday. I could go to the Y today but well, it's cold out there. But I've been seriously thinking of getting a treadmill. This way I could still do my long runs (6+ miles). But I'm on the second floor. I'm not sure how my neighbours downstairs would feel about that. Also, I don't really have a room to put it in. My living room is too small for it. I have a bed & small computer desk in my But I was thinking that if I get rid of my dining room table (not that ever use it but for twice a year or something), I could put in there and then I could still watch TV a bit.

There's a local athletic gym that is moving and getting new treadmills. At the gym, (where our running group meets), the owner said that he plans on marking his treadmills for sale. It would be awesome to get one, even if it is a used one, for a good price. I would still have to think of a place for it here and get transportation to move it to my apartment and then up to my second floor apartment but I could figure it out somehow.

This damn weather is getting me so down, though. It's not so much the snow but the cold that I can't handle. It's 11 degrees now and feels like -2. Um yea, I can't run outside in that. And walking over to the Y would be difficult. My car wouldn't start yesterday. I haven't tried today yet. I'm hoping it will get a little warmer yet before I try.

I just hope that it warms up to the 20's with no wind chill soon. Then I can run outside.

Categories: cold weather, treadmill runs

Breathe in, Breathe out

So in January's issue of Runner's World there was an article about How to Breathe When Running. Well, duh, I said, through the mouth. I read it anyway and come to find out it should be belly breathing, not chest breathing.

That was the article that kinda helped motivate me with running on that Christmas Eve day. I tried doing the belly breathing. I tried out the Unfortunately, it was no go. I am a chest breather. I don't even know how to make my belly fill up with air! They say it's a hard habit to break and indeed it is!

Then instead of my tempo run next week, I'm going to run hills on Wednesday. I used to do this last fall for my half marathon training. It was a good way to get the mind off of treadmill running and get in some fun new activity on the treadmill. I mentioned it back in this post. But here it is again.
On the up and up
At zero incline, run for ten minutes at a comfortable pace. Set the incline to one percent and run at the same speed for a minute. Drop back to zero incline and run a minute.

Raise it to two percent for a minute, then down to zero for a minute. Next raise it to three percent, then down to one percent, then up to four percent, then down to two percent -- all for a minute each. Then go up to five percent and down to three percent.

Work your way back down from there: four, two, three, one, two, zero, one, zero. Finish with ten minutes of comfortable running at zero. Total running time: 38:00 (14:00 uphill).

It's pretty heavy duty but also a good way to break up the monotony of treadmill running. Why don't you give it a try sometime?

10 Most Annoying People At The Gym.

Categories: breathing, on the up and up

GPS drawing

This is too awesome not to share! I wish I had creativity like this.

Categories: funny, video

NITRO

Tonight was the first meeting of NITRO for 2009. NITRO stands for Northern Illinois Trail Runner's Organisation.

Unfortunately, when I read NITRO, I think of nitroglycerin, which is used when people have a heart problem, which is why people start running to lose weight and lower their chances of having a heart attack. I just find that kinda funny.

Anyway, our dues were discussed. A new website is now available. There's gonna be a race scheduled at a Honda dealership & racetrack. 10k, 5k and a kids fun race at 9am on May 30th. The website has an electronic sign-up if anyone would like to sign-up! :-) Unfortunately, I might be volunteering at one of the water stations. The 10k & 5k will be out and back heading in different directions of the Great Western Trail from Sycamore Speedway and then we'll come back and finish around the racetrack. Kinda cool right? Logos for the group & the race will be finished up soon.

So, anyway I'm excited about it this year. I plan on participating in more of the group runs on Saturday mornings at 7am. It'll help out with the motivation aspect.

Categories: NITRO

Speed work, oh how I loathe thee

Today was yet another snow day for my work. Yay education system. So my speed work was done during the day and not after work.

I finally got up around 9a and went out to the living room and still laid on the couch until 11a. I had a bagel & some Gatorade to help me with the run.

I headed over a little after noon. About half full. My plan was to do a half mile warm up, 1 mile run, 0.5 mile jog, 1 mile run, 0.5 mile jog and 0.5 mile cool down, total of 4 miles and then I would walk another 0.5 after I was done. I set the treadmill for the interval setting. Jog of 5.5mph 10:54 min/mi and run at 7.0 8:34 min/mi. The plan said to do 8:37 so I figured that was close enough.

The first mile I was saying, Yea, baby, I can do this! Until 0.7 mile into it and then I started to feel the pain. Wow, that was hard. The treadmill said my heart rate was at 189. 1/2 mile jog at 5.5 but turned that down to 5.2 and it didn't last long enough. Another 1 mile at the run pace but I turned it down to 6.9 which is an 8:41 min/mi. The first half went by well and at the .55 mark I sped it back up to 7.0 and finished it off. I was urging myself out loud to keep going at quarter mile left and then I really urged myself at with only .15 left. I was DYING at the end. Heart rate was 185. I jogged for a mile at the 5.5 mph pace. Then I walked. In the middle of walking I was feeling like my heart was getting back to normal but it was 124.

That was tough. I am still half & half on the speed work. It's short & fast but it hurts so much!! Grrr...

Categories: speed work

Feel the burn

These Y classes are seriously kicking my @$$ but that's good since they should be!

Last night was my first Monday night in which I did everything that I scheduled myself to do.

Running. I got to the Y late so I only had about 25 minutes to hop on the treadmill. I could only pound out 2.75 miles. I did a quick 5 minute cooldown before heading to...

Spinning. I tried to stay with the class but when the instructor kept telling us that we're going to climb higher & higher, I decided to not up the resistance. Sometimes I would, sometimes not. Then I was able to eat a Luna bar and cool down before...

Pilates. I've taken the session before about 3 years ago. It's the same teacher but she's really good. I have a Pilates DVD and it was just like following that but I know that if I do it at home and not go to class then I'll never end up doing it!

Today while getting up from a stint of sitting at my desk, I could feel it in my glutes and my thighs. Tonight while doing the Step Aerobics, I was fine but when we did the floor part (abs mainly) I could feel it there in my stomach. Which is why I skipped the Get on the Ball class. But that's good. I'm supposed to feel it. Cross-training day. I told co-workers what I did yesterday and they all thought I was crazy. I was at the Y from 5p to 7:30p! Like I said, Gym and I are gonna be BFF!

I've been in a sad mood since Saturday evening and I have felt it in my energy levels a bit. Tomorrow I have speed work. I've been in a crying jag this evening. I'm definitely gonna feel it tomorrow in terms of motivation. I'll just need to keep driving right to the Y. I may not do the toning class after all and just do the run and that's it. When I'm happy, I want to run. When I'm sad, I don't want to and just curl up in bed and hide under the covers. Weird how that works. I hate speed work. Tempo runs I can do but speed work... not so much.

Categories: YMCA classes

I'm hardc0re

OK, so maybe not. Just because I ran in the snow, wind coming from the north at 17 mph and a temperature of 25, does not make me hardc0re. But I think it does make me a little certifiable. :-) (The picture's blurry cause of the falling snow and while it was in my pocket during the run, it was getting warm and fogging up a bit when I brought it out in the cold.)

I got home last night from the bar at 12:30a. The roads were horrible. But I was pretty sure that the run was going to go on anyway. So I set my alarm for 6:00a. Was out of bed by 6:15a and got dressed in my bathroom (smallest place that could heat up fast). I looked at my Garmin and it only had 32% battery life yet so I decided to hook it up to the charger while I was getting dressed. Well, I went and left without it. A half mile or so, I realised that and turned around to go back & get it. Luckily, it didn't make me late.

I found out where the place was by following another person there (that I actually didn't know was going until he turned into the park). Got out and one guy, Dennis, remembered me. There were 2 other women and another man in the group. Dennis helped me put on my YakTrax and a few minutes later, away we all went.

We started out really slow, 1st mile was 11:14 but that was fine since I wasn't sure of my footing and my YakTrax. But the wind was fierce. We were heading east and the wind was from the north. The snow was still falling too and coming in sideways. Cutting into my eyes pretty strong. A snow plow went by us and we said that he probably thought we were crazy. We also watched one woman try to get out of her uphill driveway. When she made it, I threw my hands up in a victory sign and when she drove by us, she smiled and waved.

At 2.5 we stopped for Gatorade. One woman's husband tailed us in his SUV. That was pretty cool. Making sure we were alright, not falling or injured and then gave us a supply of drinks. When we stopped, I didn't have my Garmin set so that it would stop the time when I stopped. So it just kept on ticking while we were waiting. But it was very hard to get going again. I was using the SUV for a shield and to get back out into the snow & wind was pretty harsh.

At 3 miles we turned around and Dennis and I got ahead of the group. At mile 4, my YakTrax started to hurt my feet. Like the balls and then my arch too. Not a good feeling. I complained at 4.66 miles. But I sucked it up to keep them on til the end.

We ended and waited for the other three to come on in. They were all going to Panera to have coffee but I was thinking of heading north for some skiing. But one of the women said that the Winter Advisory was supposed to be cancelled at 6a had been extended until 1pm. So after hearing that and knowing how the roads were this morning, I decided against the trip north. Maybe tomorrow.

When I got home, I took off my jacket & fleece and my shirt was so wet that I got cold just standing around. My jogging pants were all wet too. I think that was mainly from the snow. After my shower, I laid everything out and took a picture of it for documentation. My core warmed up pretty fast but I was still glad I had on 3 layers. My feet had 2 socks on, my hands had 2 pairs of gloves on. My pants only had the UnderArmour cold weather tights and my jogging pants but I was fine there. I was wearing my new head face mask and a fleece hat. Grateful, I remembered my fleece hat when I got home last night (I laid everything out beforehand). But it was my hands that caused me the most grief right away. My hands were cold because I had my gloves off to put my YakTrax on. When I finally put them on, they were cold; too cold to warm themselves up. My left hand was fine surprising but it was my right hand, fingers, palm and all, that I had to make into a fist inside my glove to try to warm them up. Thumb inside and outside trying to figure out the best way. Finally around mile 3, I didn't feel the stingy pain of them anymore. They're always pretty bad; home, office, driving, doesn't matter.

But for now, I'm just happy that I was able to accomplish my first winter running experience. It's still snowing out now and I think I'm gonna get a hot cup of cocoa and watch some TV and do some laundry.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 867 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 01/10/09 Up/Downhill: [+108/-108] Time: 07:09 AM Difficulty: 2.9 / 5.0 Weather: Light Snow 25 F temp; 91% humidity 25 F heat index; winds N 17 Performance Distance: 6.00 miles Time: 1:05:58 Speed: 5.5 mph Pace: 11' 00 /mi Calories: 644 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 11' 12 +0' 12 5.3 -0.1 +36 ft 2 10' 30 -0' 30 5.7 +0.3 +10 ft 3 14' 40 +3' 40 4.1 -1.4 +13 ft 4 10' 02 -0' 58 6.0 +0.5 -16 ft 5 9' 59 -1' 01 6.0 +0.6 -7 ft end 9' 40 -1' 20 6.2 +0.7 -36 ft Versus average of 11' 00 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 6 miles, clothing, Great Western Trail, pictures, winter running

To long run or not to long run; that is the question.

There's a group meeting at 7am Saturday morning at a local park to do a long run. It's better than the 5am that another group meets at many weekends.

However, it's cold outside. I'm not talking 40's & 50's that you southern people have to deal with. I'm talking 23* with a feel of 11* for 7am on Saturday. Winds are at 14 mph. It's also gonna snow up to 4" until 6am.

But I'm desperate to do a long run. I need to get out there. I know that 11 miles on a YMCA treadmill is NOT in my future. BUUUUT, I have never ran in this type of weather before. Sure other people run in worse weather than this but I haven't.

How will I even know how to dress? I realise layers are the key but what if it's still not enough? 2 socks? 2 gloves?

And water. How do I carry water with me if it freezes at first contact of outside? I guess if worse comes to worse, I could just eat snow. As long as it's now yellow snow.

Footing. I just got the YakTrax so I shouldn't be too worried about footing but with the 4" of snow we're supposed to get up until 6am, I don't know if anything will be plowed to run on.

Plus, the worse part. How will I be able to get up that early on a freezing Saturday morning? How will I urge myself to get out from under my heater blanket at 6am??

Oh and I'm going out to a bar tonight to see friends that I haven't seen in a very long time. I only plan on having a beer or two but it's not that that I'm worried about. I'm worried about energy supply; being tired and the like. I don't want to leave them early but if I'm serious about this April marathon, I have GOT to get on schedule and do this! I just hope they'll understand if I leave at midnight or earlier to get at least 6 hours of sleep.

Categories: cold weather, winter running

Thum, thump. Thum, thump.

So I did in fact manage to go out to the YMCA and do my tempo run. .5 mi warm up in 5min, 3mi @ 8:57 pace in 26:53, .5mi cool in 5 min. I was supposed to do 1 mile warm up but I always feel like I waste my energy on them. At the end of the 3 mile tempo, I checked my pulse and it was 179. Wow, that's high.

Then tonight was another step class and we checked our pulses twice. 132 and 121. It was more difficult at the very beginning so I think I was stopping a lot more trying to follow the teacher. I almost got discouraged.

Afterwards, I went down to do the workout express circuit. Then I walked by another workout room and I saw the same teacher lady doing another step workout! She's crazy insane!!

But I've been thinking more and more of my heart rate lately. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm thinking of getting the Garmin Heart Rate strap. So I checked my heart rate numbers today.
Resting heart rate is 54. I did it twice just to make sure that it was that really low.
Max heart rate is 192.
LT (tempo run) should be at 85% of 192 = 172. So I was a bit on the higher side the other day.
Here's an Excel spreadsheet that you can plug in the numbers. (Let's hope it works)

Check it out and try it out. I hope the heart rate thing will help with Tempo Runs. Check out this blog for more information.

Categories: heart rate, YMCA classes

Motivation

I had planned on using my new shoes tonight for motivation to do my tempo run at the YMCA. Alas, that was NOT the case tonight.

No new shoes. :-(

I busted my ass to get up there before 5pm tonight. Walked in and a guy helped me. I told him I had a pair of shoes that were ordered. He took my name and pulled them out; Nike Moto+ 9. We sat down on the chairs for me to try them on. I even remembered my running socks today. But as soon I put on the first one, I was like holy cow, these are small! Put on the other one. Stood up and walked around and I looked at the shoe box. Sure enough, they were a size 11. I said "Are brands of shoes different sizes? Cause these are 11's but my feet are NOT comfortable in this." I walked over to him and he felt them and he said yea they are a little tight in the forefoot. I did the heel kick back. They were still pushing it and since feet tend to slide forward I knew that my feet were not going to stay in the back like that.

So we talked some more about shoes, different ones, etc. Had me try on my current shoe in my current size and said that I do have plenty of room in the toe box area with that brand (Asics 2130's). He said that he might be able to get a size 11.5 in the Moto+ 9 but he would go with a narrow shoe since I had some sliding room in the normal width and he didn't like seeing that.

Even though my gift certificate said that I had to get a pair of Nike's, since I was currently dealing with the owner (which I didn't know until he said so), he said that he wanted to see me with a shoe I liked and that worked for me, so he would work with his Nike Rep and he would give me the Asics instead of the Moto's.

But seriously, guys, the Moto's are amazing. Under the ball area they have a softer rubber which gives a lot more. Then also there is an air bag (Nike loves their air bags) under the ball area too. So even just standing and moving my foot left & right I could feel the softerness (is that a word?) of the shoe. The guy said that it probably doesn't absorb the shock any better. But I must admit, it sure did feel good. I ran on their treadmill so he could see my foot strike and it was different but different in that I could get used to it.

He gave me my choice of what to do. I said let's go ahead and order the 11.5 and see if they fit. My current Asics 2130's have a few miles left in them. If the Nike's don't work out then I can wear them until I really need another pair (definitely before the April marathon).

I did buy a pair of YakTrax! The Pro kind so they won't slip off my feet. That's something.

So now more waiting is to be had. I have to run tonight with no motivation to get me out there, into the cold and head to the Y for my tempo. There's a group running at 7 am on Saturday. If I can get up that early, that will motivate me but since they are not really *looking* for me going, my mind will say it's 6a, stay in bed where it's warm and they won't even know you're not there. This winter I am seriously lacking the motivation. No wonder why I didn't do a Spring marathon last year!

Categories: motivation, shoes

Corner Kick, Double Knee, Ham, Saddle Stride

Those are all terms I learned tonight in my Step & Strength class. There was a VERY HIGH learning curve for the step portion. Mainly cause the teacher would just launch right into the step and then I would stumble about and after watching her do it a few times, I could pick it up. Then she would start a new step. Luckily, I used to to the Belvidere YMCA with my mother in the late 80's and watch her do Step Aerobics so I kinda knew what to expect.

However, we started right into a warm-up and I immediately regretted attending. I wanted a workout buddy so bad at that point in time! So I could look at her for comfort or roll my eyes at her or laugh, something! I didn't move my arms as much as everyone else did cause I just felt silly. Our instructor had a bandanna wrapped around her forehead. I was waiting for Olivia Newton John to come out in a thong leotard with leg warmers.

We learned the easy basic stuff first and did a routine of that. Then after that routine all together, then we learned of other steps and put that into a routine and then we put those 2 routines together. Then we learned a few more steps and made a routine out of them. Added that to the other 2 routines. And finally did one more set of steps and a routine for a total of 4 routines all together. My head was spinning towards the end but I only missed out on a few steps mainly cause my mind wandered a bit thinking about other things.

I was the only one in the class in her 20's and probably near her 30's. I'm not kidding. The teacher herself was quite something else. She was in shape for her age, I'll give her that. She still had the "Mom" butt but her waist was kicking. And hell, she remembered all the moves. Doing this has got to help her memory (even though she had her set taped on the mirror).

Oh yea, that's right, the whole thing was in front of a mirror. However, I never glanced once in the mirror. I was watching the lady's feet the whole time. At the end of the step portion, she said that I caught on fast. It was OK, though a few of the steps I didn't quite get. Mainly those that straddled the step box.

I did have to admit that my right knee started to give me a little bit of pain. Which is why I didn't get the risers underneath the box itself. But not the normal under the knee thing, just the patella itself. I think it's still bruised from my time at the City Museum in St. Louis. I did notice that my forearms are still bruised and I do have one under my right knee.

We took 2 heart rate measures. Which is good since I was thinking during the first part, this is soooo NOT getting my heart rate up to where I want it to go. It's not like running where I have a constant high heart rate. At the first one, I had a heart rate of 144. Then the second time was 120 (which is weird since we were doing more complicated moves by that time). I did sweat a little but not drenching like a run would make me. I think that after the 15th, I'm gonna get me one of those Garmin Heart Rate Monitor thingies. I'll be interesting to see my heart rate even while running! I know when I'll have a horrible run because my heart rate will skyrocket even though I'll only go 3 miles or a TERRIFIC run cause I would have gone 10 miles and only crest 130 or so. I can feel it physically but I can't see it.

After the step portion was over, we took a mat and a stretch tube with handles and worked with that for a little bit on our legs and then we did sit-ups. Oh how I lurve sit-ups!!

I'll probably stick with it though. As much as I feel so totally silly, I have to remember that this still beats sitting at home and NOT doing anything. Plus, it's a "cross-training" day. Not a RUNNING day. I didn't stick around for the toning class at 6:15. I had a half hour to kill but my stomach was growling so I had to go home & eat.

I'm trying to decide what to do about tomorrow. I have a tempo run schedule which I can't wait to do. Been ages for one of those! However, I'm really looking forward to getting my new shoes. I have a $100 Nike shoe gift certificate for a local running store in Rockford. I have ordered the Nike Moto+. They supposedly have more cushioning which is what I hope I need. But the shoe store is only open until 5p so I have to kick some major butt to get up there on time immediately after work. I guess I could go up there, get my shoes and then take them out for a test run around 7p, hopefully when the Y will be less crowded. I think that's what I'll do! YAY!!

Categories: shoes, YMCA classes

Running is my boyfriend

A few years back, there was an image I saw on the interwebs that said "Music is my boyfriend." Back in 2006/2007, I changed that to "Running is my boyfriend" and it became my mantra. Well, I'm back to repeating it again as I have lost the latter. Or maybe not Running but more like "Gym (aka Jim) is my boyfriend" as I plan on spending a lot of time there.

Since I have signed up for an April (hilly) marathon, I have decided to use this opportunity to get into the best damn shape of my life (besides just running).

Running 3 days a week; Monday, Wednesday & long run Saturday. I'm gonna loosely follow Runner's World running guide. But @keeponrunning suggested that since I'm already in shape from marathon training, I should just do 10-13 mile weekly long run, throw in a 15 miler and then and 3 weeks before a marathon do an 18-20 miler and then a taper. Sounds like a plan to me. I will probably follow the Runner's World training plan for during the week.

YMCA Classes. I found a ton of free classes that I am dying to take. Unfortunately, a lot of them are late at night which means I won't get home until well after 7pm. So we'll see how much I stick with it but I'm gonna try!
Monday: Pilates & Stretch 6:30-7:20p. I really want to take this one, I think the stretching will help me out loads. However it's at 6:30p. I did running tonight and then a circuit training loop and still got done at 5:45p. So I might also take the Toning class immediately before that one 6-6:30p.
Tuesday: Get on the Ball 6:15-6:45p. I hope this is an ab workout with the big huge ball. I love those!!
Tuesday/Thursday: Step & Strengthen 4:30-5:40p. I'm not really sure what this is about but it sounds good and I could use the step to get my thighs and ankles in shape. I know it's not Aerobics as they already have a class for that. This class is right at 4:30p so I'll have to hustle to get over to the Y on those days.
Wednesday: Toning 6-6:30p. Depending on the quality of the class I just may take both nights!
Thursday: Cardio Cycling (aka Spinning) 6:55-7:40p. Wow, it is QUITE the workout and it will KICK your BUTT. I even sweat on the back of my hands. LOVE IT!

Tonight I went running at the Y. I couldn't find a spot in the parking lot and it was nearly 4:30p. I thought I would be safe getting there before 5p! I then walked in and immediately checked out the treadmills. It was all full. Luckily, the lady behind the counter said I could sign up early so I signed up for an empty 4:45p slot and then got changed in the locker room. I could only sign up for 30 minutes at a time so I had to book it. I got 3.27 miles in 30 minutes. The person in front of me left early so I actually got on the treadmill with time to spare so I used that extra time for a quick walk cool down. Then I did the weight training express circuit. It works all the right muscles and since it's express you can only do one set at a time so you're never waiting too long or interrupting someone's workout.

As much as I love winter, I'm really not liking this below freezing weather we've had lately. I don't think I can run outside with it being that cold. So I have to do my runs inside. Unfortunately, since it's after New Years when all the New Years Resolutions people have come out in droves. So they take up all the treadmills. I can't wait until Feb/March when they realise that they fail and go home & give up. Then real dedicated people like me, can have their machines back. Harsh maybe but it's the truth. I can't stand the gym in January. Also, they don't turn on the AC either. I have never sweated so much running a measly 3 miles before but only in the summer! It was really hard to breathe too. But I'm gonna stick with the Y during the week and hopefully suck it up for my long runs on Saturdays.

Categories: running is my boyfriend, weight training, YMCA classes

Wii Fit

I didn't really have a "last" run of 2008 on New Years Eve. I still have yet to do a run in 2009. I could have done my first run today but instead I decided to get on Wii Fit instead. I wanted to see if I could do all the exercises on it. What I did was all of the Yoga and all of the strength exercises. I started on the aerobics but then I stopped for lunch when Brent called me to invite me out to a Vegetarian Deli. Couldn't pass that up! I never got back on the board after that. But I worked out on the Wii Fit for a total of 30 minutes. Oh and my Wii Fit age was 22. :-) That's 7 years my junior!

But doing the Yoga was quite tough. The balance exercises were tough. I want to do more plyometrics or balance training of some sort. My ankles & thighs are so weak. I wonder if my local YMCA will have anything like that. All my free time will be spent at the Y!

Categories: strength training