WEEK 7

Greetings,

WEEK 7 comes to an end today. Here's a brief recap of this week, if you haven't been keeping up:

• Monday, Wednesday & Friday: Easy 2 miles.
• Tuesday & Thursday: Light cross training.
• Saturday: My First 5K!!!
• Sunday: Rest
• TOTAL MILES RUN: 9.11

Injury/Health Report: Still feeling strong, no injuries to report. However...

• Knees: Felt a bit achy about an hour after the 5K on Saturday and I was about to ice them. But the discomfort was short-lived and they feel absolutely fine now.
• Heart Rate: I was also a bit concerned about my heart rate during the 5K. According to my FR 305, my heart rate was above my maximum threshold for the latter half of the race: ~185-190 beats per minute (bpm), maxing out at 205 bpm at one point. Even though I knew I was exerting more effort than during training, I felt completely fine. I have to do a bit of research on this to make sure I'm not over-taxing my heart when I push myself a bit harder. I'll keep you posted.

Tech Report: I purchased some new technical running gear this week: my first running skirt, and a pair of calf-length tights. Both by Nike, made from their patented moisture-wicking material, Dri-FIT. I really like the running skirt; it fits pretty well (waistband slightly too big, but I just folded it down to fit more snugly) and it looks super cute! The tights fit and looked great too, but they made this annoying swishing noise between my legs when I ran. I though I was going to start a fire, but thankfully the noise stopped once I started to sweat a bit and the material got a bit moist.

In summary, this was an EXCELLENT week!

The goal for WEEK 8 will be to stick with 2-3 mile runs but up the intensity of my cross training a bit.

I'm headed to Mexico for a week-long vacation on Saturday, so I don't want to be spent during my vacay. I fully intend on running a bit while I'm there, but nothing too strenuous. However, when I return for WEEK 10, I will be coming off of 2 easy weeks of training, so I plan to ramp it up a bit.

I'll most likely have my laptop with me on vacay, but I'm not sure if/how my broadband will work in Mexico, or if the resort will provide free Internet access. So, you may or may not hear from me while I'm there.

Almost Thirty

DAY 48: MY FIRST 5K WAS A BLAST!!!

Greetings,

My first 5K was FREAKING AWESOME!!!

First and foremost, I gotta give a shout out to my family and friends for all the encouragement and support going into the race! It really meant a lot to me.

Abridged Race Report:
I finished. I had LOTS of fun. I felt great during and after the race. AND much to my surprise, I won my age group!!! SWEET!!!

Un-abridged Race Report:
This was a very small race (~100 runners) held by the Philadelphia Unemployment Project. My best friend forever (BFF) ran with me for support. Even though she didn’t train much, she rocked it!

I was really looking forward to getting one of those timing chips that everyone talks about, but unfortunately, they didn’t have them. But I did get to pin my first number bib to my shirt! #1939. And I got my first race t-shirt. NICE!!!

The course was completely flat, a simple out-and-back along a closed road running parallel to the Schuykill River near the infamous Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was about 75*F and the air was pretty muggy. The skies were overcast with lots of clouds threatening to pour rain, but the sun ended up breaking through eventually.

The start line was very unofficial and the race began with some guy yelling into a bullhorn. People were just sort of standing around chatting, when he randomly yelled “GO!” No ‘1, 2, 3’ or ‘On your mark, get set,’ just “GO!” So, my BFF and I ended up crossing the start line about 30 seconds after the race actually began.

We went out slow and comfortably, just like all my serious ruuner friends suggested. My BFF felt we were going too slowly because EVERYONE took off past us while we were putting along. But she followed my ‘slow’ lead and we ran the first mile in 10:22. As we picked up the pace just a bit during the second mile (9:59), we gradually started to pass people as they started to lose steam and slow down. I was still feeling just fine. My legs felt strong and I wasn’t huffing and puffing. When we hit the beginning of mile 3, I began to pick up the pace a bit more but my BFF started to get side cramps. Running along side my best friend was more important than my finishing time, so I slowed down with her. But when the finish line came into view at about the last half mile, I took off without her (she gave me her blessing) and came in at 30:29, according to my FR 305. However, I think my ‘official’ time was 31:08 according to the digital clock at the finish line.

My family was waiting for me at the finish line, cheering me on and taking pictures. Most of the other runners figured out that it was my first race because my family was making a spectacle out of the event: jumping up and down, rolling a digital video camera, flashing several cameras and of course yelling and screaming. They were AWESOME!

Then to top things off, it turned out that I finished first in my age group, which earned me my first piece of running hardware. I would have NEVER thought I would win anything, but I did and I was flabbergasted.

CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM MY FIRST 5K


I am stoked about my next 5K race coming up on Oct 5, but I’m even more excited about volunteering at the Philadelphia Distance Run on Sept 21.

I'm going to take a 'rest' day tomorrow and go rollerblading with my mom and sister.



Almost Thirty

DAY 47: PRE-RACE REPORT

Greetings,

Tomorrow is the big day and I am super excited! My first 5K race!

However, I won't be approaching it as a race, per se, because I'm not running to win, or to compete against other runners. But I have set some goals for myself.

Goals for my First 5K:

1. Not to go out too fast. Advice from several fellow RWBF formites. (Runner's World Beginner's Forum)
2. To finish.
3. To have fun.

Simple. No finishing time goals. No pacing strategies. Just to do what I've been doing for the past 7 weeks: just run and have fun doing it.

I didn't do anything special to prepare for Saturday, but I skipped all the 'hard' cross-training at the gym. And I kept my morning runs to 2 miles, so I should be well rested for tomorrow. I feel great, no aches or pains, and my legs feel strong, literally. My quads are getting stronger and unfortunately bigger. My jeans are feeling a bit tighter around the quad area, but it's all good.

A few people have asked me what I'm wearing and if I bought a new running outfit for the occasion. My response? No new or special running outfit. Just something I've been running in thus far. I did get a new running skirt this week that I love, but I won't be wearing it.

Bottom line: I'm all set for tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it.

Wish me luck,

Almost Thirty

WEEK 6

Greetings,

Another pretty good week for me. Here's a recap:

• Monday: Awesome run on the dreadmill. (see DAY 36: FEELING SLUGGISH...RUN 2.5 MILES! post)
• Tuesday: I killed myself on the StairMaster for 30 minutes. Instead of doing my usual level 5, I cranked the difficulty up to level 10 to challenge myself. I was huffing and puffing 15 minutes in, and if I was wearing a heart rate monitor it might have issued a warning to call 911. I was so winded, and my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Next time, I'll work my way up to level 10, rather than make a leap from level 5 to 10.
• Wednesday: Brutal 30 minute run after work. (see DAY 38: EXHAUSTED... post)
• Thursday: Easy cross training day. 20 minutes on the recumbent bike and 30 minutes lifting weight. Taking it easy was a good idea.
• Friday: Excellent run at 5:30 AM at Kelly Drive. I thought it was going to be tough but I was rolling along after the first mile.
• Saturday: REST DAY
• Sunday: Awesome run at Valley Green at 7 AM. I almost got my mother to join me but she backed out at the last minute. Anyway, again the first mile was the toughest. Then things were smooth sailing from there, for the most part. A bit of labored breathing on an uphill incline, but that's to be expected.

Injury Report: I don't really have any injuries to report. They're more like minor annoyances that I want to keep an eye on.

• Knees: During the first 2-4 minutes of every run, my knees feel stiff and achy. But after I get warmed up, they feel fine during the run and after the run.
• Ankle: My left ankle started to bother me about 2 hours after my run on Friday morning. I didn't feel any discomfort while running or immediately after my run. The pain came from the inner side (same side as the big toe) of my ankle and grew worse as I put more weight on it. The weird part was that the pain came and went, it wasn't consistent. By the end of the day on Friday, it was fine again, and it has been a non-issue since then.

Tech Report: My Garmin is great! It performed marvelously on a heavy wooded trail with little to no exposure to clear skies (Valley Green).

There were several valuable lessons learned while training this week:

• Morning runs should only be missed for valid, no-nonsense reasons. Otherwise, I'll regret it later.
• Running alongside a busy street during rush hour is a BAD IDEA if you plan on breathing.
• The first mile is always the toughest. Once I get through it, the rest is cake.

With my first 5K coming up this Saturday, I plan to take it easy this week. So, my goal for WEEK 7 is to run 2 miles on Monday and Wednesday, 1 easy mile on Friday, race on Saturday, and rest on Sunday.

Almost Thirty

DAY 38: EXHAUSTED...

Greetings,


The title of this post is a double entendre. Keep reading to find out why.

I was excited about today's run because my Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived yesterday and I wanted to take it for a test drive. But I ended up having to wait until the afternoon after work because my co-workers wanted to meet early for breakfast this morning. So, as opposed to running at 5 AM, I ran at 5 PM. Which leads to the title of this post...

First off, running in the heat after working all day is EXHAUSTING! Even though the humidity was low, it was still hot. And just being at work is draining even when I'm not doing much work, but I was actually busy today. So, my legs felt like lead, and I was pretty tired 5 minutes into the run. As you can imagine, the following 25 minutes were a struggle, but I pushed through the whole 30 minutes. The first half my run was pretty much all downhill, which meant that the run back was all uphill, since I ran a simple out-and back route. BRUTAL!!!

Second, Kelly Drive, the trail where I normally do my weekday morning runs, is about an 8.5-mile loop that runs along the Schuylkill River. Less than a few feet away from the trail is a 4-lane major artery that runs parallel to the trail, leading to and from the downtown Philadelphia area. At 5 AM, there are barely any cars on the road: it's cool, quiet and peaceful at that hour. On the contrary, at 5 PM the road is filled with rush-hour traffic in both directions: it's loud, distracting, and smelly from EXHAUST FUMES! Even though I was outdoors with seemingly an endless supply of fresh air, the concentration of cars on the road made for less-than-optimal breathing conditions for a winded, novice wanna-be runner. With every labored breath, I felt like I was sucking in muffler contents. I may as well had wrapped my lips around the tail pipe of one of those vehicles because that's what it felt like anyway.

So, I was exhausted AND sucking in exhaust fumes while running today. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel...

My new toy is freaking awesome!!! I'm not going to list all it's cool features and functions, but here is a summary of my run today, courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 305 and MotionBased software, which features Google Maps.





Hotness. Need I say more.

Excited owner of a new high-tech gadget,

Almost Thirty

DAY 36: FEELING SLUGGISH...RUN 2.5 MILES!

Greetings,


This morning, I foolishly convinced myself that I needed an extra hour and a half of sleep, being that it was Monday morning and all, and skipped my 5:30 AM. BIG MISTAKE!!!

Everyone knows that hitting the snooze button only makes waking up worse: it's basically the equivalent of waking up over and over and over again, all in the same morning. As if waking up once isn't bad enough, especially on a Monday morning.

Needless to say, I was miserable this morning, and sluggish, and unmotivated, and cranky, and...need I go on. From the moment I stepped out of my door, I regretted skipping my run. I beat myself up all day for not running, moping and dragging throughout the workday.

So, despite the fact that I was completely unmotivated and drained from being at work all day, I tried to pump myself up to head straight to the gym to make up my 30 minute run. And that's exactly way I did. I came home, changed immediately, and headed right back out the door.

I cranked up my iPod and breezed through 30 minutes on the dreadmill at a 5.0 mph (12:00-minute mile) pace, for a total of 2.5 miles. I couldn't believe how energized I felt 10 minutes into my run. I even had to catch myself a few times because I realized I was actually singing along with my tunes out loud. I was so amped!

I've read that if you can't hold a conversation while running, then you're probably running too fast; and that if you can sing out loud while running then you're probably running too slow. So, I even though about cranking up the speed on the dreadmill, but I decided to be conservative and stick with 5.0 mph. Plus, I was having a great time running at that pace!

I was completely pumped after my run! I went home, showered, did some much needed cleaning that I've been avoiding for a few days, folded some laundry that had been sitting for a week, and organized my 'shoe collection' a.k.a. shoes that had piled up all over the place because I was too lazy to put them away when I took them off.

The moral of the story is...

• In the future, I'll need a really good reason to skip my morning run. That extra hour and a half of sleep was NOT worth it.
• The next time I'm feeling sluggish and unmotivated, I'll lace up my sneakers and go for a run.
• When my apartment starts to get a little messy due to my perpetual lack of domestic motivation, a 2.5-mile run may do the trick.

Still wired from my run 4 hours ago,

Almost Thirty

WEEK 5 - GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS

Greetings,

The bad news first: Last Sunday's 3.5-4 mile run was actually about 2.5 miles. It turns out that I mapped the run incorrectly. It was only my second time using mapmyrun.com and apparently I need more practice. Instead of being bummed, I decided to make things right, which leads me to the good news.

The good news is that I ran at least 3.5 miles today in about 40 minutes at Valley Green this morning. And I ran the whole time, no walking. It wasn't that bad. I actually felt good. Cardiovascularly I felt fine; no burning lungs or huffing and puffing. I have really been pushing hard during cross training to work on my cardiovascular stamina and I guess it has helped. My body also felt fine, however by the time I hit about 30 minutes muscle tiredness started to creep into my hips. I wasn't really pushing myself, so I'm sure I could have gone farther.

Anyway, about the rest of the week:

• Monday: see DAY 30 entry.

• Tuesday: 30 minutes on the StairMaster and 30 minutes weight lifting.

• Wednesday: 30 minutes at Haverford College Track unsuccessfully attempting to calibrate my Nike+iPod system. After this second calibration, it was still off: once tracking 0.34 miles when I had only ran 1 lap, which is only 0.25 miles. It even reported that I had run a 5:11 minute mile once, which is absolutely absurd. I'm sooo slow, I run 10-12 minute miles.

• Thursday: Unplanned rest day due to car troubles.

• Friday: 30-minute run at Kelly Drive. 30 minutes is getting a bit easier, finally.

• Saturday: 30 (hard) minutes on the Elliptical trainer and 30 minutes lifting weights.

• Sunday: 40 minutes, ~3.5 miles at Valley Green. My longest run since training started!

Now that I'm well on my way to becoming a runner, I have been craving a better way to track my runs: distance, time, intensity, etc. The Nike+iPod system is not going to cut it, obviously. So, after weeks of research (I'm a scientist, remember), I broke down and purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305. It's a GPS system and heart rate monitor all in one personal running assistant, with wicked software to manage and track workouts. Most of the serious runners I've encountered use GPS systems and heart rate monitors to track runs, and everyone swears by the Garmin Forerunner 305. It costs a bit more than the $30 Nike+iPod system, but I've been told by several happy owners that it's well worth it . It should arrive this week and I can't wait until it gets here!


Overall, another good training week for me. Bring on WEEK 6!

My goal for WEEK 6 will be to continue with 30 minute runs, with at least 1 run of 3.5 miles to prepare for my first 5K, which is in 12 days.




Chilling out for the rest of the day,


Almost Thirty

DAY 30

Greetings,

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes and now I realize why runners call it the "dreadmill." It was soooo boring. And it's much harder to keep up with a steady pace, as opposed to speeding up and slowing down when you feel like it. Of course you can change the settings on the dreadmill but it's a pain.

My knees were feeling a bit weak after running on the trail on Sunday, so I wanted to run on the most 'knee-friendly' surface I could get to quickly. I wasn't in any pain or discomfort, I just wanted to give the old knees a break. They feel much stronger after cross training today: 30 minutes on the StairMaster and 30 minutes lifting weights.

Without further adieu, here are my DAY 30 stats and pics:

• Day 30 Weight: 151 lbs. One pound less than my start weight is negligible, but I didn't expect to lose any weight anyway.



• Day 30 Body Fat Percentage: 29.5%. The high-tech scale I have been using may be off, but I've lost 3.5% body fat since I've starting training, which is believable.



• Day 30 Photos: Again, no make-up. No photo shop. Just me...and my gut.

There's no need for a DAY 0 - DAY 30 side-by-side comparison, because I look exactly the same. The only things that's different in the pictures is my hairstyle (or lack thereof). I'll do another weigh-in and photo shoot on DAY 60. Maybe by then I will have started to develop a six-pack, or at least a two-pack, and then a side-by-side comparison would be in order.

Until then, stop by to see how my training is going in the meantime.

Signing off to watch some Olympic boxing,

Almost Thirty

WEEK 4 - 30 MINUTES???

Greetings,

Today marks the end of week 4 of my training and my goal was to be able to run for 30 minutes straight, comfortably, by the end of this week.

During the week, I struggled through 25 minute runs on Wednesday and Friday, which left me a bit skeptical that I would be able to make it to 30 minutes by Sunday. I was even more skeptical after I attended a wedding reception last night with an open bar. A late night and several drinks is not how I usually like to prepare for a Sunday morning run.

I set my alarm for 6 AM anyway, and I was up and ready to run by 6:30 AM. I tuned into to the news to check the weather and thankfully, the forecast was a lot cooler than it has been lately: 66 degrees Fahrenheit with hardly any humidity. Sweet! I arrived at Valley Green for my 7 AM run as scheduled.

By the way, the Valley Green portion of Wissahickon Trail has become my favorite running venue, by far. It's shaded by lots of trees and runs along the Wissahickon Creek. There are lots of birds, squirrels, other runners, walkers, mountain bikers, and hikers. Even though the running surface is a bit rugged (very rocky and occasional mounds of horse manure), I look forward to running on the trail on Sunday mornings.

Anyway, I headed out ready for an uphill battle to get to at least 25 minutes today. Fifteen minutes into my run, I felt totally relaxed. I was going at a slow and steady pace, enjoying the cooler weather and the scenery. The next time I look at my watch, I was into 27 minutes of running! I ran right through 25 minutes with no problem. I was really surprised because during the previous 25 minute runs, the last 5 minutes were a real struggle.

The last 3 minutes were almost just as comfortable as the first 3 minutes. No heavy, labored breathing, no muscle tiredness, no knee issues, just a nice, easy-going 30 minute run. I felt awesome afterward. Not just because I met my goal, but because I had a good run in general. I felt like I could have run another 30 minutes.

Thus far, I haven't been paying much attention to how far I've been running because I wanted to focus just on the length of time I can run to increase my endurance. But today I was curious about how far I ran today, so I used MapMyRun.com to get an estimate. It turns out that I ran between 3.5 and 4 miles, which is a lot farther than I thought it would be. Nice! This is a huge confidence boost with my first 5K coming up in less than 3 weeks.

My goal for week 5 will be to just stick with 30 minute run sessions and start tracking the distance I run. I will have to recalibrate my Nike+ system or return it for another one because it was way off before and after I calibrated it when I first bought it a month ago. I haven't used it since then because I wasn't concerned with distance or mile splits anyway. But I think now is a good time to start tracking those variables.

My Day 30 Weigh-In is in a few days, so check back in for some before-and-after pics and to see if I lost any weight.




Relaxing after a great run,


Almost Thirty

DAY 27

Greetings,


Here's a recap of week 4 so far:

Monday: Still exhausted from the party I hosted on Sunday, I dragged myself out of bed at 5 AM for my 20-minute run/1-minute walk/7-minute run training session. Totally unmotivated, I began my warm-up around 5:30 AM at Kelly Drive. About 5 minutes into my run, I realized that I felt fine, as opposed to sluggish and tired. My brain was telling me that I should've skipped this morning's run and caught up on some much needed rest, but my body was saying I could definitely run through the tiredness...and I did. This run turned out to be a breeze, even though I still felt like going back to bed afterwards.

Tuesday: I stayed up until midnight on Monday night working on a presentation for work, so I was completely set on skipping my 5:30 AM cross-training session at the gym on Tuesday. However, I pulled myself out of bed again at 5 AM, much to my surprise. When I arrived at LA fitness, I was still in a sleep fog. But after a few minutes on the StairMaster, I was completely pumped. I hashed out a good half-hour on the StairMaster and a quick half-hour lifting weights with no problem. I was completely shocked that I pulled through this workout, considering how tired was from a lack of sleep. I eventually lost steam at work around 3pm, so I left early and hit the pillow as soon as I got home.

Wednesday: With my goal for this week in mind (30 minutes of running with no walk breaks), I pushed through 20 minutes and hit 25 minutes. It was not as easy as hitting previous goals, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The last 5 minutes was a bit tough, but I made it through.

Thursday: Cross-training at the gym for 75 minutes. I took the day off from work, so I focused a little more time on weight lifting. I really think the leg strengthening exercises are helping with my knees. They have been feeling fine this week.

Friday: My attempt at 25 minutes this morning was a bit more labored than Wednesday's attempt, but I made it happen. I was pretty tired afterward, but we'll see what happens on Sunday. I really wanted to give it another go on Saturday before my last run of the week on Sunday, but I'll let it go and REST as scheduled.

Saturday: I rested as scheduled, but it wasn't easy. I can't believe I've gotten to the point of WANTING to run on my days off. I actually look forward to running. However, I keep reading about how important rest is for recovery and injury prevention, so I will stick with at least one day of complete rest per week, no running nor cross-training. I'm sure I'll look forward to those days off when my training get more intense down the line.

Sunday: Will I be able to meet this week's goal and hit 30 minutes? Check back in tomorrow to find out!



Ready to run tomorrow,


Almost Thirty

WEEK 3

Greetings,

If you have been following, you pretty much know how week 3 turned out. I reached my goal of running for 20 minutes straight, but I ended up taking off yesterday and today to give my legs a rest (although I didn't rest at all today).

I'll keep this one short as I am EXHAUSTED from throwing the birthday bash of the century: my sweet-baby-niece turned one and I hosted her birthday party. It was a blast, but I digress.

I'm going to get back out there tomorrow morning and pick up where I left off. My goal for week 4 is to be able to run for 30 minutes straight. I don't know about that; 20 minutes is still tough for me. But we shall see...if you stay tuned.




Totally pooped,

Almost Thirty

DAY 19

Greetings,

This morning's run was horrible.

Again, the weather was hot and humid, however more bearable than Wednesday. I planned to run another 20-min run/1-min walk/7-min run session, but 18 minutes in, I was ready to stop. I felt tired and winded, but I kept going. I walked for 2 minutes instead of 1 and I still struggled through the last 6-min run. This was the first time my legs actually felt tired. No weird knee issues or pain. Just plain tired. I REALLY wanted to stop, but I didn't. I pushed through, but it wasn't fun.

Maybe it was the weather, maybe I'm over-training, or maybe it was just a bad training day. Whatever the case may be, tomorrow is my rest day and this will be the first rest day I am actually looking forward to. I may even take Sunday off too, depending how I'm feeling. I really want to get back out there and push onward. But I must take the advice of many of my new running buddies to listen to my body. I'd rather take another day off and come back strong, than to keep pushing and have another bad run.



Listening closely (to my body and to advice from experienced runners),

Almost Thirty