5 miles!!!!!!

I ran 5 miles!!! I ran 5 miles!!!!!

Yesterday was a beautiful morning. Hubby wasn't leaving for work at any specific time, so I headed out around 6am. It was still dark, but there was a rosy glow on the eastern horizon. I felt pretty good. My long run goal for the week was 4.75. But I new 5 miles wouldn't be impossible since it would only be about a 10% increase over last weeks 4.5 miles. I like to get my long run in as early in the week as possible so I don't have to be pressured if things don't go well later on in the week.

My adrenaline got pumping a little bit when I saw a smashed pumpkin in the subdivision behind us. Then all down our road south of the subdivision I saw vandalized pumpkins. Many smashed right in the middle of the owners' driveways. I was so angry at the obnoxious brats that have fun at others expense, I wasn't surprised when my mile time was 12:40. However as I crossed the bridge and turned off our road the rest of the pumpkins were intact, and I calmed down. But I still was at about a 12:40 pace.

Our town is really small, I don't know if we even have 5 miles of roads. (The opposite corner of town is only a 1 mile run) I went about 3 miles snaking through town. I felt so good I decided to try for 5 miles, so I circled the "neighborhood" on the opposite corner of town until I was up to 4 miles. Then I just had to run home. I was amazed my pace was still about 12:45, but I knew the last quarter mile would be uphill so I didn't expect to keep it up. I was amazed at how good I felt at 4.75 miles. I had told myself I could walk then if I wanted, but I felt so good I decided to run faster.

I ran 5 miles. My time: 63:10!

That is a 12:38 pace! I kept that up for 5 miles!

My goal for October was 5 miles. I think I will "rest" next week. Meaning I won't try to add distance. But I will still be well on my way to my goal of 6 miles by Thanksgiving.

I never ever thought I could or ever would run 5 miles. Just WOW!

Autism Society 5k race report

Did my first 5k race today. It was the Autism Society 5k, at a local park/municipal running trail. I went to the race all by myself as my husband is harvesting. My mom came over to watch my girls and brought them at the end of the race. They didn't quite make it in time to see me cross the finish line. But I don't think they would have easily found the finish line anyway.

3 other gals from my MOMS group came together to run the race. They graciously let me hang out with them before the race, and I even started running with them. But they are faster than me so I dropped back after a bit.

We crossed the starting line at 17 seconds into the race. It wasn't chip timed so I made sure to notice that. My previous fastest 5k time was 39:49. So when they called out 10:37 for my time at the 1st mile I knew I needed to slow down. But I was impressed that I could go that fast without being wiped out. I dropped to my comfortable pace. I decided to focus on my race and not worry about people passing me or how far behind I might be. And actually, now that I think about it, after about the 1st half mile nobody passed me, but I passed plenty of people. I was pretty much running with lots of room the last 2 miles.

Unfortunately the race was very poorly marked. There were several Y's where people went both ways. There were no race volunteers to direct people the correct way. So lots of people ran the route incorrectly. I however had looked over the online race route, so I thought I knew where I was going.

I did follow the right route. Except there was a turn around point. It was supposed to be at a different park connected by the running trail. They must have figured the distance wrong originally or something. Because well before the next park I passed 2 blue arrows facing each other. After I passed that I noticed that none of the runners coming towards me up ahead had race #'s on. A lot of people seem to use that running trail on Saturday mornings. Also I knew where the next park was and it just seemed awfully far based on where we had run already. I looked back and saw people turning at the blues arrows so I ran back. And people didn't seem to know for sure if that was the turn, but they were turning anyway. When I finally passed some race volunteers, I asked them if that had been the turn. They say "yeah" and "it was obviously a problem". Can't imagine how much extra I would have run if I actually ran all the way to the next park . I probably spent 30 to 45 seconds extra missing the turn around.

Fortunately at the next turn they did have someone telling you where to go. They had someone calling out your 3 mile time, which I thought was goofy since you only had a tenth left. My 3 mile (plus some) time was 37:05. Which was impressive considering I went past the turn and I started 17 seconds in.

I was so confused by that time, I didn't remember that that would be the time to sprint toward the finish. I did speed up. I think I crossed the finish line at 38:14. I don't have the official results, though they should be posted online sometime in the near future. A lady was standing in the way to rip off my little tag just a few feet past the finish line so I was trying not to run her over. I think it was 38:14? I figure I can at least subtract the 17 seconds from the start, which would give me a time of 37:57? Speedy for me. And yet in reality I was even faster!

All in all it was a good experience. I ran the whole way. As I passed people walking red faced and breathing so hard, the important of pacing really hit home. I also discovered I can run faster than I thought! So I am going to push myself a little more. Since I will be using the treadmill mostly, I have a better idea what I could set it at. I actually had pretty low expectations for the race. I already knew I could run that far. And I knew I wasn't going to place. So I didn't quite see the point of doing but to say that "I had run a 5k" Now I see how doing the race pushed even my so non-competitive little soul. Now I have a set point to see how much I improve. (I do wish I had a more accurate time, but it will be easier to improve ;)

After the race my mom treated the girls and I to Panera. My chocolate pastry tasted soooo good!

Struggles and Accomplishments

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I was going to write a blog post titled "struggles". But I was too tired to bother. Today is a different day where I want to write about my accomplishment!

39:49!!!

That was my time for the first 5 kilometers I ran this morning! I accomplished my goal! Then I ran for another 5 minutes, so I know in a race situation I could even finish faster. I ran a total of 3.5 miles. (3.76 miles including my warm up and cool down walking)

I noticed how long it has been since I posted. Life got busy, between my 3 y/o's birthday, vacation, new computer training at work, my mom's group starting back up, etc....etc... But, I have still been running, some days better than others. A lot of the time I have been struggling. But struggles are a part of life, an integral part, as that is where we learn. So here is what I learned about running through some struggles of the last few weeks:

1. If you eat badly, you will feel badly when you run. I discovered this on vacation. The first morning I ran I felt pretty good. Then after eating too much food, and food that mostly fell into the categories fried, rich, or sugary; I felt awful when running. Plus I gained 4 pounds. It took me a couple of days to recover, and I still have 2 pound to go to my pre-vacation weight. SO: eat well to run well!
2. Sleep is crucial. This one I couldn't control much this week, but sometimes I can. My 16 month old threw up in the middle of the night 3 nights in a row. When I tried to run on 4 hours of poor sleep I just ran out of gas. I probably would have been better off with a nap SO: sleep well to run well
3. Don't run where you know you might run into obstacles. I decided to try running north again, the first time I didn't encounter the dog, but I did burn some time and energy watching for him. The second time, sure enough he came blasting/barking out into the road, and I twisted my hip in my quick turn away from him. Truly my best runs have been my runs south. That route lets me concentrate on my running form etc... not on what I might encounter along the way. SO: Choose your route wisely.
4. A few bad days or a bad week doesn't reflect reality. I went on vacation and thought I had set myself back for weeks, but then I had 2 really good 3+mile runs a few days after I came home. This week I had a really bad 3 days of running, then today I met my goal! SO: keep running it will get better.

My new goal is to run 4 miles by October 1st. I don't think that should be too hard to reach. The trick is that I usually only have about 45 to 50 minutes to run (including warm up/cool down). So I need to get a bit faster to run 4 miles in that time frame. But I'll just keep running until I get there.

I ran 5k!!!

I ran 3.11 miles today. Ran the whole thing!!! I can do a 5k. =) I am slow. It took me 43:44. But I have 29 days to get faster.

My initial goal was to do it in under 40, then I changed it to less than 35 minutes. That seems like a lot. But when I consider that 1 month ago I was so excited that I ran for 10 minutes straight, it doesn't seem beyond reality.

Goal met!!!!

I ran 2 miles straight today! Actually I ran farther than that (2.25m) as I ran for a total of 30 minutes!

Yesterday I finished my new runner training. It was so great to go out and just run today. I did want to run 30 minutes so I set my timer when I started running. But my goal was to run 2 miles or more so I was running "to" somewhere instead of just for an amount of time. Granted my running to somewhere ended up being where I started from. But instead of checking my watch to make sure to take my required walk break, I was only occasionally looking at my watch to check my pace. So much fun to move from "how much longer before I have to walk?" to "how far/fast am I running?" I feel like a real runner!

When I started this "I'm going to get healthy" journey on June 14th, I never imagined that on August 14th I would be running more than 2 miles. I feel like I have given myself this wonderful gift. Actually, I feel that God has given me a wonderful gift. I never before kept up w/ exercise consistently for 2 months in my life (I don't think I ever even pulled off 1 month.) But I never found something I enjoyed as much as running before either, something that adds to my identity. Although part of me wants to qualify it - "I am slow", "I am new", "I don't go very far" - I realize those things don't matter because they are relative and/or temporary. Instead I am now delighted to say with conviction:

I am a runner.

Seeing Results !!!

OK big happy dance for running 20 minutes twice separated by 4.5 minutes of walking!!! Seeing the progress in my running is amazing! It really thrills me, and makes me curious to see where I can go with it all. However it is the progress I note in my every day life that makes me determined to continue running/exercising a very long time. Some of the rewards:

• My posture is so improved! As a PT I know the importance of good posture for all our body systems. And I can feel my improved posture. I can tell I am standing taller, and I feel confident and look better.
• I can run when necessary! I noticed this at the fair this weekend. On Saturday I needed to get some paperwork from one side of the parking lot to another. The faster it got there the better. I suddenly thought, "I'll just jog down there." So I jogged down and wasn't even slightly puffed (last yr I wouldn't have even considered running the length of the parking lot) Similarly on Sunday I jogged the length of the exhibit hall several different times when helping clean up.
• Muscle control! Ok I have an advantage here. I know (or at least used to know ;) where every muscle in the body is and what it does. But now I can actually feel the muscles in my body and make them work. Especially in my upper back, abs, and hips (the core). So lifting and toting is so much easier especially my kids and all that stuff at the fair. And proper muscle control means less soreness and injury.
• I don't feel "fat" anymore. I have only lost 8 lbs. (Or I have lost 8 lbs!) But I have toned up so much that I just don't feel like I look heavy anymore. I am still 8 lbs over my max healthy weight, but in the right clothes I don't look heavy. I wore a skirt yesterday I haven't been able to wear for years! (A classic wrap around I love to wear.)

I can't attribute all of this to running. I have been toning 3-4 times a week. But I know running works my core as well. In fact running 20 minutes I can tell. At about 15 minutes I start to get challenged. My legs and lungs are doing fine, but my middle (abs/hips) starts to struggle to keep decent form. So I decided to get back to my pilates DVD, since it is so core focused. What was really cool is that I am so much better at pilates now. I have done this DVD for several brief stints in the past. It is a beginners program, but has 2 different levels for beginners. Usually I was doing the easier level. Now, w/ the exception of teasers, I can do the harder versions of all the exercises even though I haven't specifically done pilates in a long time. I was just delighted, singing to myself "I can do the seal, woo woo woo."

Looking ahead, while looking back

I will be done with my training schedule in the next 2 weeks. I want to keep running. I think one of the things I really love about running is the progress I make. I ran for 16 minutes twice. I ran a mile and more TWICE in less than an hour. My mile times (I timed the first mile of the 16 minutes) were less than 13 minutes!! My mile last week was 13:30.

To look back and remember how I was dreading 6 minutes just a few weeks ago, makes me wonder what I can actual do next.

• My initial running goal was to be able to run 2 miles straight. Then I felt like that would be too easy. (I still haven't done it, but within 2 weeks that goal should be accomplished)
• Then I decided I wanted to do a 5k in less than 40 minutes. Well I am not there yet, but I frequently interval a 5k in about 42 minutes.

I am planning on doing a 5k on September 18th. (A nearby one raising money for autism research/services) That is well over a month away. So I want to make a new goal. I want to do it in less than 35 minutes. Maybe that goal isn't tough enough. But it seems huge to me. That would be a sub 12 min/mile pace.

So now I need to come up with a training plan to get faster. ???? I have between now and August 23rd to figure it out. I know I will do better if I have a plan written down. It is easier to drag myself out of bed at 6am or earlier when I have an "assignment"

I RAN A MILE!!!!!

I actually ran for an entire mile!! It took me 13:30, but I did it! And the amazing thing is that I didn't collapse after! Instead I walked 2.5 minutes then ran another 12.5, walked 2.5 minutes, then ran another 12. The second interval was tough, but as I was running on the bridge over the interstate a pick-up below honked (cheerfully), that really gave me a boost for the next few minutes.

I feel like I have tons of energy, I am so pumped from "really" running.