Day 365– New Year

The Resolution Run was today. The Universe loved me today because we had unseasonably high temperatures (+5), no wind, no snow and no rain. I could not have ordered better weather for the run.

It was a much bigger turnout than I expected and that panicked me a little as I really don't like crowds but once we started running and the runners pulled away and the walkers fell behind, Melissa and I were in our own little bubble most of the way.

I had decided I would start running and just see how I could do. My plan was to do 10's and 1's with Melissa for as long as I could and then walk the rest of the way.

Although I couldn't keep up with her, she was about 20 feet ahead of me almost the whole way - I did manage to keep the pace and ran 4 intervals of 10's and walked 3 intervals of 1's. It was hard. No lying - my breathing was all over the place and my legs felt like they had no momentum at all. But we did it.

Time was 43:04 which I am pretty pleased with considering how crappy I felt before and during and that I walked for 3 minutes. I loved my Garmin. It beeped every 500 metres like I wanted it too, and although I had set it for 10’s and 1’s, I don’t think it actually worked properly, so I need to recheck how that part works. I couldn’t figure out the backlight while I was running so I was using streetlights (when there were any) to read it as I went so I also need to look into that, and it also beeped when my pace went below the threshold I set. I really liked it.  All in all, it was worth the investment!

Thanks Melissa and Tiffany for their encouragement, support and running with me this week. Love you guys.

Pics to follow.

Day 363, New Year

The RUN

Pros

• Shoes were awesome.
• Tiffany was a great motivator and fun to run with (as much fun as I can have running..)
• It was cold but there was no wind.
• Legs held out for 4.75 km - no hamstring or knee issues.
• Loved the Garmin.

Cons

• My breathing made it really hard to get any kind of rhythym.
• This was my first experience in the cold - the cold air was brutal.
• It was a little icy and I was scared to death of slipping and reinjuring my tailbone.
• I couldn't run more than 5 min at a time and I only did that 2 times I think so I walked way more than I wanted to.

I am not sure I will be able to keep up my running over the winter, I may have to do another running clinic/program in the Spring to get back up to 5k.  I am worried about the Resolution Run and I think I am going to have to walk most, if not all, of it - even more so because it will be dark and I will not be able to see the ice, if there is any.

I'm trying to stay positive and just look at it as a point in time and that it will get better again.

Day 362, New Year

Just about to head to the gym. I went yesterday and walked 45 minutes. Tonight is the third "assessment" with the Personal Trainer  that I got for signing up at the gym. Tonight we are doing "arms". I hate my arms. I am not sure any amount work will make me love them, but the Personal Trainer is cute and funny and very encouraging, so its well worth the hour. I might actually learn something as well! You never know :)

While waiting for a friend at lunch today I popped into Factory Shoe and headed straight for their clearance rack and found the Asics I wanted before Christmas at the ridiculously low price of $64.99. I was so happy. They are comfy and fit perfectly and a pretty purple/silver colour to boot. Can't go wrong there.  I loved my previous Asics and although I experimented with a couple of other brands, I have to admit my heart (and feet) belong to Asics.

I will wear them tomorrow for the first time on my run with my friend Tiffany tomorrow...we're going to do a practice 5k.  I also picked up my race kit and Resolution Run jacket today and will wear it tomorrow and I will also use my new-to-me Garmin Forerunner 305 for the first time....actually a little psyched about this run tomorrow, for the first time in a long time, to be honest. Let's hope it goes well. Tiffany runs faster than I do and I don't want her to feel she has to hang back because of me (you listening Tiff...just go!!, I will see you at the end).  I'm also a little worried about my breathing lately, I am going for asthma tests in a few weeks but in the meantime breathing is sometimes very difficult.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 330 - 361

It's been a while!

Happy Almost New Year to all of you out there.

What have I been up to? Not a heck of a lot. The two weeks leading up to Christmas I was pretty much off the healthy living wagon, no tracking, not really counting anything, and exercise was very sporadic or irregular (like 4 days in a row, then nothing for a week - repeat). I have to admit the stress of the holidays always makes me forget everything but the cleaning, cooking, and shopping I have to do for that one day. Now that day is over I feel like life can go back to normal. I have the Resolution Run scheduled for New Year's Eve and I am fairly confident that I am not going to be able to run 5k straight, I haven't done it in over a month and the most I have run at one time was 4k a few weeks ago. In all fairness, I did go through three weeks of physio for strained hamstring muscles that definitely sidelined my running efforts and made me question whether someone my size should be running at all if its that much strain on my body.

I might just do intervals of 10/1 and see how that goes. I really don't enjoy running. I never seemed to get that runners high people talk about and I don't get a huge sense of accomplishment  or have the urge to "go further or faster". I just do it because its a form of exercise that I can do. I am somewhat disappointed because I really wanted to like running and so many people LOVE it, that I almost feel like there's something wrong with me for not loving it. The people who do love it, keep telling me to stick with it and eventually I will love it. But the problem is that because I don't love it, I have very little motivation or inclination to stick with it. On top of that, I run slowly, so running with other people is very demotivating and doesn’t encourage me at all.

I did manage to get hold of a used (and very cheap) Garmin Forerunner 305 that I am hoping will at least keep me interested. I also have my gym membership til the end of February to get through the end off the Winter because I really don't like the cold, conversely, I don't like running on the treadmill either. I know...stop whinging and just get on with it. I am considering doing a 10K Running Room clinic in January just to keep me focused and actually doing something.

Weight wise - I gained about 5lbs when I was away for my birthday at the end of October that I haven't been able to shake and then I've gained 3 more over Christmas, so I am feeling bloated and heavy and gross. So its definitely time to get my $hit together and get back on track. Part of that is to make more an effort to fit blogging into my schedule.

I am off to read your blogs and see how you’re all doing!