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

[bubba73]

Corinna - I think I owe you, Dave, Debra and so many others a huge thank you. I owe you all a thank you for giving me a fire that I haven't had in several years. I am going out there and pushing myself pass limits that I had put on myself. I had been telling myself that since I couldn't run for any type of distance that I not even need to try. I would do cardio but it always on the elliptical machine at the gym. I would never get on the treadmill or hit the track. Well, since then I have gotten on the track and even walked on the road and have already accomplished between a 4-4.5 mph pace. If I can get that up to a 5 mile an hour pace and get my distances up to about 10 miles, I will be more apt to do a .5 marathon. But for now, I am going to just try to keep getting better, improving upon technique and improving upon speed.

Thanks everyone!
Bryan

 

[corinnak]

Bryan- It is great to hear that you have found inspiration here and elsewhere on WISH - When I started, I did not figure on inspiring anyone, but was, instead taking a lot of inspiration for myself. I'm so glad I (along with others) have passed a little on to you. It sounds like your walking is going well - 4 to 4.25 is a GREAT place to be - there are lots of events you can do at that pace, for sure - and I'm certain you will only gain speed as time goes on. It comes slowly and when you're least expecting it, so remember be patient with yourself.

My Crazy Week - I've been walking the invalid dog a good bit - most days, 2 miles. It makes him sane and gets me out there, anyhow. Over the weekend, DH was out of town, so it was me, the kids and the dog, all out walking, walking, walking. Sunday was warm and humid and just a wee bit miserable for afternoon walking.

I ran again yesterday. I was going to do 2 miles, but the weather was PERFECT once more - low 60's, overcast, no wind. So I did 3 instead. I do feel like I've lost some speed and some hill conditioning, but so far, the mileage is not really a problem.

I registered for a 5K fun run - not timed, but there will be a clock at the finish. I am truly going to run it as a fun run - happy pace, whatever that may be, and enjoy the day. If there's no chip, there's no need to plow through it, right? Good to have an event to "train" for, even if it is a "fun run." There's also that 10 miler on July 4th.....which is coming up DARNED fast. I'd better get going on those long, slow runs again. If I even have time to train up to that. Don't want to get injured. I SURELY don't want to get injured. I wonder if I started back in with a 6 this week if that would be too much, after a few weeks off. Look out - my inexperience is showing again!

 

[kimwim8]

Well, C. I'd have to say that to jump into a 6 miler would be a bit much. You still have a good 5 weeks until July 4th. I'd do no more than 4-5 miles this week and slowly creep up. Take it from a gimpy girl....it's NO fun!!

 

[corinnak]

Kim, it is SOOO good you are here to keep me real. I'm going to take that advice and run with it. That was so bad, it could have been said by Inspector Gadget! Do I really have 5 weeks? Maybe so!

 

[kimwim8]

Hey, I think we are good at keeping it real for each other. I know that you really excel in the long runs and it's so tempting to try to "catch up" with a nice long one....but deep down in side, you know better.

Keep training smart...and be patient!!!

 

[postesf]

Well, C. I'd have to say that to jump into a 6 miler would be a bit much. You still have a good 5 weeks until July 4th. I'd do no more than 4-5 miles this week and slowly creep up. Take it from a gimpy girl....it's NO fun!!

Yep, Yep, Yep...I agree w/ Kim! Don't over do it!!!

Glad to see you have signed for a Fun Run. I do hope you have FUN!!! Way to go on that 3 miler! I really need to get back into things!

Stacie

 

[deekaypee]

Corrina,

I hope you're taking care of your sweet running self, and seeing those miles creep up slowly but surely. I'm trying a new approach from here on out. I'm trying to train smarter and harder, but not longer. Mainly because of the time crunch--I so like my moderate effort, but I need to push myself if I want to improve my January performance. Anyway, "smarter and harder" sounds a lot like Kim's sage advice, so I offer it to you as well.

No Goofy for me this year--I'm doing it every other year because of how much training time it took during the holidays. (Or maybe I'll get smarter about the training and will be able to eventually get to every year.) I'll just be doing the marathon--how scary is that statement--and plan on volunteering for the 1/2.
What's your plan?

 

[corinnak]

Hoo-boy. It's a little dusty in here.

Sadly, "my sweet running self" has been not so much on the running just lately. Life took over, got a chokehold and is shaking me HARD. OK, things aren't that bad, per se. Just kind of harried. And my DH is more like my D-estranged-H lately. We're getting along pretty well, except that he's just never here, which makes it hard with my still-recovering running buddy to look out for and kids and stuff. It's a season, and it shall pass. That's my theory.

So the dog - my efforts to keep him sane conflicted with my efforts to get him healed - he ended up with some foot-dermatitis and they x-rayed again AND....it's not healed well enough yet. SO they got out the big-boy splint and he's really immobilized now. They also gave me some tranquilizers for him, cause he's feeling so bored and crazy lately. I gave him the suggested dose yesterday, but he was SO dopey that we are cutting it way back to see how little we can get away with. I don't want him out of it - I just want him to be able to rest and heal. He is worse than all of us about wanting to get out there and do his thing when what he really needs is to chill out and mend.

I am on the bench right now, dudes. I walk the dog a couple miles a day, and that's about it. It's pleasant but does not feel like training. I just can't seem to swing the schedule with DEH completely out of the picture. Or maybe I need to retool and get out there EARLY, especially now that school is out, that should be a safer bet. Cause we are always in a scramble to get out the door in the morning and I have hesitated to complicate it with running and all that that entails. Tomorrow is, as we used to call it when I was a kid "Ahhhh! First Day!" Meaning the first day of summer vacation. I'll start back in tomorrow morning, bright and early and on my own.

I have the "fun run" on Saturday and I'm going, whatever my condition. I am going to go and have fun. Not sure if I can get up to 10 miles by July 4th this year. It may be the 3 mile once again for me. That wouldn't be SO terrible, I guess. I can't believe how easy it still is to get out of the habit. The shame. OH, the shame.

So for a moment, I am going to remember where I was at this time last year. I had run my first 5K and was nervous about not having a treadmill in Michigan cause I didn't know how I'd do with running outside. Well, at least this year, I just finished my first 15K, and I know that I LOVE to run outside. That is some kind of progress.

 

[corinnak]

Stacy and Kim - don't worry about me pushing too hard. If anything, I'm "under-doing" it at the moment.


Debra - my plan is to run the Half and scream team for the full. I was going to volunteer, but plans dictate that I leave Sunday, early in the afternoon. - and maybe they could accomodate that, but I think I will be staying at the Contemporary and thought I could just go out and scream-team before leaving. I like your "I can only do the Goofy every other year - too time consuming. I'll just do the full." It makes me and also cause that's pretty cool.

 

[corinnak]

In an effort to stave off any speculation or gossip, DH and I are not actually estranged, separated or broken up. He didn't win himself any points by Grossly overscheduling himself for the months of May and June, but it's not a deal-breaker so long as he never does something like this ever again! Like what?

Moving his store. He had been in the old space 10 years and the lease was up, so it was time to renew, move or close. He wanted more space, so he moved about 4 doors down. What he does is: he sells comic books and other related merchandise. And at the same time he was moving 10 years of inventory and fixtures and STUFF, he also decided to upgrade his register system to something that is designed specifically for comics. The cash register he had been using has a finite number of bar-codes it is able to accept and beyond that, sorry. You can't sell anything new. And it doesn't even give you a warning when you're down to, say, your last hundred or whatever.

And then he had his heart set on being in a show that starts performances the second weekend in June. He's really great at performing Shakespeare and he was so excited about this show. However, I question the sanity of doing it in spite of the fact that he was moving and installing a new register system.

I support the moving of the store and I support having a register that's not going to unexpectedly run out of the ability to sell new merchandise and I support his occasional participation in theater, even though it means I have to cover a lot of evenings at home and transport of kids to activities without his assistance. HOWEVER, I do not condone the attempting of all 3 at one time.

Add the invalid dog on top and we've been living in a pressure cooker.

The show opens in another week and a half. The store is entirely moved and becoming more unpacked all the time. The new register system....apparently still causing problems and he has a long way to go.

Whew. Now you're all caught up.

 

[kimwim8]

Man, girl. You make my life sound like a cake walk. I'm done complaining.

I do wish we lived closer to each other, as we could always child-swap and help each other out. I think you just need to pack up and move east. That sounds completely logical.

 

[corinnak]

Man, girl. You make my life sound like a cake walk. I'm done complaining.

I do wish we lived closer to each other, as we could always child-swap and help each other out. I think you just need to pack up and move east. That sounds completely logical.

Kim, I don't think I'd for your recent troubles. Bursitis, IT and knee trouble followed by, oh, say, allergy to antibiotics leading to worrisome dehydration....thanks, but no thanks.

I feel like I whine and complain about how harried things are here - it's mostly a lot of solo-care-giving duty, which is something, I guess. And if I were a nanny instead of a mom, I'd at least get one day off a week.

 

[corinnak]

Quick note - I did go out and run this morning. 3 miles. It's not what it used to be, but it was OK. Nice day for it - overcast and cool. I took the dog for another mile walk after that. With his splint, now, I'm thinking we should change his name from Skippy to Ahab! Good to be out there again, I must say.

 

[postesf]

Wow girl! Lots going on! Never seems like we can catch a break!

How cool that your DEH is performing in a play! That is awesome. I have this somewhat creative bone that makes me want to do that kind of stuff, but I wouldn't even know where to start, plus, I don't have time for the all the prep.

Hope your pooch heals quickly! Maybe the kids out of school you can get into some type of routine. I've had trouble too. I don't even have kids. I just can't get out of bed!

Take care!
Stacie

 

[corinnak]

Stacy, that is so realistic of you to realize how much prep time it takes. I wish my DH had had that insight that before he signed on for a show at this particular time. You should give it a try sometime, though - community theater is lots of fun. I know what you mean, though that it's hard to know how to get involved or where to even look.

I am already enjoying the kids being out of school - less time pressure in the morning, less dropping off and picking up. For as long as it lasts - we have some camp for them in a couple of weeks and then more camp in Michigan, too. My older son is already bored, if you can believe it! Kids these days. I tell you.

 

[corinnak]

Oh, Kim. Keep an eye out for a nice house on your street, would you? It would be very cool to live near you on the East coast. We have thought about moving back East, but then there's this new store with a new lease and all. I should take some photos cause I picked the paint and it turned out really pretty. Holy subject change, Batman. ::cop:

 

[kimwim8]

You know I certainly WOULD look for a closeby house!

I'id love to see pics of the new paint!!

 

[corinnak]

I'll see about some photos of the store.

Today was the Heart of the City 5K. The best thing I can say for it is that it wasn't too far away and I knew where to park. It's associated with a fairly well regarded 1/2 marathon, but the 5K is a lot smaller. At first, it felt like a bit of a repeat of the New Prague, but being a smaller 5K associated with a 1/2 marathon is about where the similarity ends.

It supposed to be a "fun run" but instead it was a bit of a "crap run" if I can be brutally, bluntly honest. My training just wasn't there, the way the month has gone, I've lost a LOT of ground, and I felt it right away. I was slow and tired and just wasn't feeling it this morning. On top of that, it was two laps of a loop through a "revitalized" suburban "downtown" area, which would be fine, except for the two laps thing. And this particular loop was kind of cruelly hilly, I thought. I walked quite a few times.

If you can believe it, the race ended on an uphill!! How mean is that, to have the finish line be halfway up the biggest hill? Worse if it was at the top, I guess. But why didn't we run the loop the other direction and end on a downhill? I'll probably never know. I left my camera at home, and that's OK, cause I don't want to relive this race in my mind especially. I finished a little after 36 minutes and felt almost as bad crossing the finish line as I did a month ago crossing in under 30. The best I can say is that the weather was OK, but there were foreboding clouds from the time we were at the start line. Fortunately the skies waited to open until after I was safely in the car, so that was good, anyhow.

There were no refreshments after the 5K - some jugs of water on a table with cups - pour it yourself. I've never seen the like. I sound so spoiled, but I think the fact that the finish for the associated half-marathon was located somewhere else entirely and I think that's where all the food was. I ran the ugly stepchild race, I'm afraid. The 1/2 runners also got goodie bags. All I got was a lousey t-shirt.

Not every race is going to be a great one, for sure. And given the fact that my training has spent most of the month in the toilet, I guess I did OK. I didn't just skip it, I finished, and I know not to run it again in the future.

 

[bubba73]

Corrina,

Sorry that you had such a bad experience. I haven't actually done a 5k race yet so I have nothing to comapre it too. I will say that your time was something that I am still shooting for. I went out for a walk tonight and was only able to do 2 miles. Plus, I was very slow (18 minutes per mile) due to the fact that I stubbed my little toe today and it has been very sore all day long.

I know you didn't really "enjoy" the race but I am still proud of you.

Bryan

 

[corinnak]

Thanks, Bryan. I don't feel bad about the race - it could have been worse, and have never really had an experience like this one, where I just felt completely unprepared and struggled with pacing and was disappointed with the post-race support. Which, in a year of racing, probably means that I was due. On the plus side, there were lots of volunteers along the course in green t-shirts cheering and clapping. It reminded me of the WISHers. If only they would have stationed one or two of them at the water table, but never mind.

Yow - a stubbed little toe? That would slow anyone down, I'm sure. Have you been icing it? Gotta love the ice. Don't say "only 2 miles" cause 2 miles is 2 miles! Not every day is going to be the best day, as I have clearly shown. Are you registered for your 5K yet?