I Just Wanted To Be Athletic - And Now, I Am! (comments welcome)

[corinnak]

I am still just muddling along, trying to get back to regular food logging/points counting. I am going to do some treadmill tomorrow, I think. It's warm out and I see people out running, but there is ice out there and it is thin, invisible and slick in places, so I am just too nervous with the weather being kind of melty and kind of freezy.

I keep thinking about how this is just a two steps forward, one step back process for me right now, and I am NOT going back another step. BEcause if you keep going two forward, one back, the progress is slow, but definitely forward-moving. I also today thought about how many times the average smoker tries to quit before they are ultimately successful. And I don't know that statistic, but I know it's a lot. So while being fat is not about a physical addiction like with nicotine, I think both involve a huge, hopefully permanent lifestyle change that's not necessarily that easy to achieve the first time out. Or the second, or third, even, or ever, but it is possible.

I got an email from my trainer today reminding me of my sessions that are ready to go, I just need to schedule them. It is a little embarrassing to go back, having gained back some fat and lost some fitness, but the only way to put things right is to return to the things that were working, or find new things that will work. So tomorrow, I will also call and schedule a couple of sessions with Becky, cause I need them.

 

[corinnak]

So I used the treadmill again today. I don't feel like I can say "I ran" though I did, but I did walk a lot today, too. It shouldn't be getting harder, should it? That doesn't seem right.

I had another music setback today - my cat, Phineas Nigellus Black-lips chewed through the wires on my headphones which I had left in the cupholder of the treadmill. Evidently, that is a BAD place to leave them. One of the kitties had previously mostly chewed through the safety string on the TM as well. Crazy. So no music, which never helps.

 

[corinnak]

Well, the running is coming back OK. I have finally found peace with the treadmill again. I ran 5 on Sunday and 4 yesterday (with fasty sprinty things, a quarter mile on, a quarter mile off), and 2 speedy miles today, and it was all pretty good. In spite of my ice cream making injury from Monday:

A year ago, at the cub scout winter day camp event, I bought an ice cream maker shaped like a ball. We had never used it, so when we were heading down to our friends' house on MLK day, I thought I'd bring it along. And it came in perfectly handy when we needed a distraction from the power struggle du jour. So I said, "We could make some ice cream." But we didn't have rock salt, only table salt. And the debate was: would it make any difference?" And The Google seemed to indicate that it wouldn't make much of a difference. So we used every scrap of ice in the house - you fill one part of the ball shaped ice cream maker with ice and salt, and this surrounds the ice cream chamber that you fill with milk and sugar and vanilla. (OK, it sounds like an unhealthy, inappropriate tangent, but stick with me a little longer) And the four kids and I rolled the ice cream ball around on the carpet for about 10 minutes. It was going so well, but then my friend's daughter got excited and picked up the ball and tried to TOSS it to me, which is just not a safe plan. The thing weighs probably 7 pounds and it's HARD. Smash - hit me right in the shin. My friend says "Do you think maybe you should put some ice on it?" and I said "Dude - there is NO ICE!" Anyhow, the ice cream turned out pretty good, and the kids mostly had a great time making it. But I am still feeling that bruisey shin when I run.

So it seems like my fast speed is getting marginally faster and my slow speed is getting marginally faster, but I'm frustrated by the subzero weather and the fact that I am pretty much stuck with running inside for the moment anyhow, mostly because the treadmill is a thing unto itself and I wonder how I'm doing outside. Not important, right now, though. I have to Just Keep Running.

I've been trying to plot out a training plan for the Minnie 15K, and am coming to the conclusion that for the plans in this book, I have way too much time. I could maybe make up one of those custom workouts on Runner's World, though. That might be a good thing.

Also, I am thinking (As you know, KIM) that I am going to do the 5K and the 15K over the Minnie weekend. Double medals, double fun. I have been planning to train for the Minnie as though it were a half marathon, which might be a crazy plan. I'm going to keep pondering.

 

[kimwim8]

Your mileage already for January is AWESOME, girl! Sorry about the ice cream shin injury. That's one for the books. (sorry, I'm sure it hurts)

I didn't realize I had been gone so long from your journal, but I gotta say - I just loved your "quitting smoking" analogy. It's SO true. We really don't need to be so hard on ourselves when we do take a step backwards. As long as we have each other to get ourselves moving forward again.

I'm bummed that I can't be there to cheer you on for the 15K , but I'll take what I can get, and hopefully that is to be able to run the 5K with you! (you'll be bringing your camera, right?? - I think mine is too big to run with )

Well, all in all, keep up the wonderful work, girl. You are a constant inspiration to me and a great friend.

 

[corinnak]

No, go ahead and laugh at my injury. It's not so bad, really. If I can run on it and it doesn't get worse, that's hardly an injury at all, though it hurt like the dickens when it happened.

I'm glad you approve of my mileage - I felt so draggy at the start of the month, it really is a testament to just plodding away. And adding in the warm up and cool down walking, too. That probably adds up to an extra 5 miles or something!

Hey, don't worry about the 15K - I am just excited that you will be there that weekend and we'll (hopefully) have the 5K to enjoy together!!! I will absolutely bring my camera! And water bottle. And visor.

You're a great friend, too, Kim, and very inspiring. You've had so much to contend with this year and you are still hanging in there, excited to get going again. Tenacious!

 

[Caitsmama]

Hey there girl!! How are you!! I've missed chatting with ya! Can't wait til May!

 

[postesf]

Hi Corinna. Thanks for stopping by my journal! I see you are doing the 15K and the 1/2 marathon. I am thinking about the 1/2, but wanted to finish the 15K first. It seems it's filling up fast so I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long...

Did you ever workout your training plan for the Minnie? Someone suggested to me I just work on my base and then 8-10 weeks before hand start increasing my mileage. I think this is what I'm going to do. I've only done the 5K this past January so just having a "base of 3 miles" for my LR on the weekend will be challenging. Then 8 weeks out I'll follow Hal Higdon's plan. Hope you find something that works for you! Keep us posted. I'd love to see how others are prepping...

Hope you have a good day!
Stacie

 

[corinnak]

Hi Stacy! I've missed chatting with you, too! May is going to be a super-fun blast! Either that or humid and gross, but I am going to assume the best! I am not yet registered for the 5K but am thinking that if that's the only chance to see Kim, I'd better plan to do it instead of just cheering.

Hello Stacie! Thank you for stopping by MY journal! For what little it is worth, I think you should boldly register for the half. There is no better way to make your dreams come true than to commit to making them happen. Of course, you can probably wait a little longer before deciding - I think the first rush of Goofy registrants and a larger group than ever probably accelerated the fill-rate for the half at least a little. Maybe it will sit around the halfway mark for a while now.

As for my training plan, I am still waffling a bit. It seems like there is a lot of variation in the plans i am looking at - and they are all half-marathon plans because there are relatively few 15K plans out there. Some are 3 days of running, some are 5, with two short runs. I don't know how to evaluate what would be the best, even.

I just kind of haphazardly trained for the 13K last fall, and that turned out pretty good, so I'm not sure it's worth all the agonizing! Base building followed by mileage increase is a good plan. My long run at this point is down to 5 miles, but I was up to 8 at one point. Every time I'd increase, I'd think, wow, that's about all I've got. But then the next week, I magically had a little bit more. I guess that's the way endurance works, but it never failed to impress me, because I am still that NEW!

 

[corinnak]

Today is quite a day. First of all, it was -10 this morning. Brrr.

I have a hair appointment this evening and OT for one of my boys this afternoon, SOOOO, this morning, I did the first half of the Pilates for Dummies DVD - yeah, just the first half. It was good, but I was kind of itching to do the Yoga one and had limited time. I did all 12 poses on the yoga DVD and forgot how GOOD yoga makes me feel. I used to take a Sunday afternoon Yoga class at the YMCA, but it's been a long time.

Then this afternoon, after preschool pick up, I ran 3.55 miles, and it was those pace intervals that are always such a joy. I did OK. 4 quarter mile intervals at 6mph with 2 1/2 jog breaks in between. The first two felt great, the last two felt not as great, but I got 'em done. I am remembering my dream to run a sub-30 minute 5K, and while it's starting to be a recurring theme, I think I need to reign in the food to help with that. Yeah, still struggling, but at least i haven't given up entirely!

I also got put on a challenge team today - hopefully it will be a lot of fun and added encouragement to get the mileage in. I am starting to think I look like a rube with my cute little mileage at the bottom of my signature. I like keeping track, but I don't want to look like a dweeb with all the cool kids. I am going to try keeping track in an actual paper journal. I haven't decided if I'll just take it down in February or what. I know. Fascinating.

 

[corinnak]

Well, I did another 2+ miles last night. And fell half a mile short of 45 miles for the month. Talk me down, but something lately has my brain thinking "Yeah, some people run 45 miles in a week." It's no way to think, I know. I do think it was pretty good for a month that I started out feeling fat and lazy. I'm still feeling kind of fat, but a bit less lazy. I kind of feel like I have my running back in a groove now, Which is a great place to be for the start of February.

I'm still after that goal of a sub-30 5K, and it sounds like it's a common goal on my "challenge" team as well. I need to get some local 5K's on the schedule. At least one in the spring and maybe a couple in the fall. When I'll be training for the half!!!!

The bad news, before I ran yesterday, I felt a cold coming on, and I have to report that it is here. By the training plan I think I'm going to follow for a while here, I'm supposed to run another 2 miles today. The only think I don't like about it is that it has me running 5 days a week, and that's a lot of sweaty sports bras. I can probably sub in some cross training for the shortie 2 mile runs, as well, though, so I'm going to say that 5 days a week is a GOOD number of times to be doing aerobic activities. If I can work it in. The thing is, if it is in a training schedule, I do tend to work it in. If it's just "I should do 5 days a week" it doesn't happen.

On with the morning!

 

[corinnak]

I almost forgot - I was reading along last night and found a quote I wanted to put right into my journal. So here it is. A Penguin Moment, brought to you by Downy.

From "The Penguin Brigade Training Log"

Three Steps forward, two steps back.

I thought that I would continue to get better and better. I thought my progress would be linear. For a while, it worked that way, although considering where I started, that shouldn't be a surprise. For several months I got faster with nearly every run. Then the progress suddenly stopped. Long term improvement is a constant cycle of getting faster, hitting a plateau, slipping backwards, regrouping and then getting faster again.

For some reason, I just found this to be very reassuring and appropriate last night and wanted to share (but DH was working on my computer at the time. ).

 

[kimwim8]

I'm still after that goal of a sub-30 5K, and it sounds like it's a common goal on my "challenge" team as well. I need to get some local 5K's on the schedule. At least one in the spring and maybe a couple in the fall. When I'll be training for the half!!!!

Um.....you're not planning on trying for a sub-30 5k in May are ya? If so, just try to wait around at the finish line for me, k?


I hope your cold doesn't last too long or get too bad.

And 44.5 miles in a month is INCREDIBLE!!! Compare that to yourself last year. Don't you ever discount yourself for doing that many miles. Stop trying to compare yourself to uber-atlhetes who train for uber-events. You are ROCKIN' your running, girl.

 

[corinnak]

Kim, I can always count on you to talk me down. I do feel like it would be better if I were an über athlete, but of course, you're right that compared to last year's January total (whatever it was, walking, zero for running!) I AM doing really well.

And no, I'm not trying for anything in the 5K during Minnie weekend - that one is just for fun. I don't want to even push myself at all, given the 15K the following day. Just a nice, easy run or run/walk or walk. Whatever you want to do. Unless you aren't there for some reason, and in that case, I probably still won't do a sub-30 that day.

My cold is feeling OK as the day goes on. I am probably going to do that 2 mile run this afternoon, even.

In unrelated news, My kitten is now in heat. We had to put off getting her spayed because of the whole ringworm thing - we expect to get our final negative test very soon. So she's just going around looking for a MAN-cat. And not finding any here. Fortunately, we got her brother neutered a little while ago, so there is no cat-hanky-panky here! She's going in on Monday for her spay, but it is going to be a noisy couple of days around here.

 

[corinnak]

Update - the cat is now spayed. And I am kind of wiped out exhausted. I'm following that 5-10K training plan as a ramp-up to the half- marathon plan, and that along with some ice skating over the weekend is kind of wiping me out. I ran yesterday's miles today. I am taking tomorrow off and running tomorrow's pace run on Thursday. Followed by Kung Fu and subsequent weapons and sparring class. I am actually leaving out one of the 2 mile runs this week, which I think is probably good. Ice skating is fun, but it has left my shins feeling kind of strained.

I am loving the poses on the Yoga for Dummies DVD, although I am already getting kind of sick of "Sarah," the woman leading the program at an incredibly slow pace. She just talks, talks, talks. I just want to move on to setting up the pose already! Maybe I need to try the intermediate work-out. I don't think I'm all that intermediate, BUT it's supposed to be shorter, which probably means leaving out all the explanations. I am going to try to do the pilates for dummies tomorrow - and get through it too.

I think I might be getting there on the "athletic," though!

 

[corinnak]

Today was the "pace run" of the week and it went pretty well. I did 4 stints of 1/4 mile at 6.1 or 6.2 treadmill MPH, and jogged the little recoveries at 4mph. It was a little tough, but doable. There is a little chart in the back of my women's running book, though that offers pace per mile suggestions for various race times. According to this, to get my sub 30 minute 5K, I should be doing these pace workouts at 9:23 pace (translates to, oh, 6.5) and I am just not sure when that is going to be possible. I guess it is something to work up to.

And then the other day, I talked to my mom on the phone and told her I'd registered for the half - I had been thinking of asking her to come along, but she talked herself right out of that invitation with comments like "You aren't really built like a runner - you're not all lean and mean." And then went on to ask if I still walked with my toes pointing out like my dad's side of the family and how that would be bad for being a runner. And I pointed out that it hadn't actually prevented my father from completing several FULL marathons. And then she said something about how I wasn't going to WIN and I was just like, forget it. Moving on. No, the odds of my coming in first are virtually nonexistant, BUT the odds of my finishing and with a time I can be proud of because it reflects my hard work, those are very good! I told her to stop trying to talk me out of my dreams.

Kung Fu starts up again tonight -for real this time. Not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to keep on with that. If they ever want me to do a cartwheel for a belt test, I'm pretty much done for!

 

[postesf]

Hi Corinna! Glad you like the Dummies DVD. Have you tried the Pilates one or only the Yoga for Dummies DVD. I have the Pilates one and it's pretty descent.

Sorry about the "downer" talk w/ your mom. That's not very encouraging. Just try to let it go. You will do great and have respectable time that you will be so proud of! You are training very hard that will show!!!

Keep up the good work!!!
Stacie

 

[corinnak]

Thanks for the note, Stacie! I truly, truly appreciate it. I am just going to let go of my mom's negativity - she, unfortunately, does it without even realizing it, I think, cause that negative inner-dialogue is so insidious, and starts to seem like normalcy or pragmatism or something. Fact is, I AM a runner and I haven't signed up for any races I haven't been able to finish yet, so it was pretty easy to dismiss her comments. At least initially. I do note that I felt a need to write them down here, though.

I do have both the pilates and the yoga. I did about half of the pilates one and then decided I really felt like yoga - and they both seem to be quite good. The yoga one is a little......super......slow.....where she just talks and explains a lot. Which is great for the beginner, but after the third time through, it's like - could we not have a condensed version of this? I tried the intermediate level and it was better, but not just the same 12 poses in a more efficient manner. Oh well. I need to do the pilates workout all the way through and not get lured away by the call of downward facing dog!

Thanks again for stopping by! I was thinking about your team's name today - it's a pretty cool one. Cause when we line up for those races, I guess we really are all "warriors" of a kind, aren't we? Not fighting each other, obviously, but warriors nevertheless.

 

[kimwim8]

Hey Corinna! Don't let anyone bring you down, girl. Athletes come in all shapes and sizes! You just ROCK everything you put your mind to! We here all know how awesome you are, and how awesome you are doing with your goals. 'nuff said.

Tempo works sounds cool! That's pretty scary to know that you'd have to run that fast though for a whole 5k! I know when I'd run on the TM I'd be around a 5 for my "fast parts".

Keep it up, girly. I don't know how you do it, but you're doing great!

 

[corinnak]

Thanks, Kim - it was a bit of a surprise because I haven't contended with a lot of doubt from others regarding my running abilities. I'm spoiled by all kinds of support.

I'm not sure this book has its terminology lined up with the rest of the world. Austin and I talked about it briefly this afternoon (he and I are conspiring for hopefully a St. Patrick's Day 5K) and he seems to think what I was doing was an Interval workout. Not sure what the differences are between Pace, Interval, Tempo, Strides etc. etc. Soooo mysterious! I'm with you - when the plan says to run those intervals "at your 5K pace" it is hard to imagine keeping up that pace for the whole run. Austin assures me that interval training is an area where rapid improvement tends to occur, though, so I will reserve my judgement on my abilities. I can tell you now, though, that running for 1/4 mile at 6.2 (on the TM) leaves me feeling pushed and breathing hard, and not at a level I could maintain for....well, 29 minutes and 59 seconds.

I don't know how I do it, either - but things are feeling better now than they did at the beginning of the month, so I'm going to take that and...you know, run with it.

 

[postesf]

Hi Corinna...How ya doing???