Run…done

I found the motivation to get out the door for a run this morning…yay!

I told myself I couldn’t watch the French Open Final unless I went for a run…ha, and I bought it!! 😉

The weather was a bit warm and humid (71 degrees with 90% humidity) but thankfully it was also cloudy with a little breeze and few spritz of rain. I went to put on my Garmin watch but it said ‘low battery’ so I had to run without it today; instead I wore my Vivofit and I always have my phone & app.

I figured I might need some extra electrolytes so I dissolved a Camelbak tablet in water and drank about half before I left; I took plain water with me.

I had already used Mapmyrun to plot my course to include a few big hills in the neighborhood and a total of 4 miles. I set the app to my normal intervals and decided I would make this an easy run since I had skipped my runs during the week so I purposely started out slower than normal. Once I got my feet going I just fell into a a rhythm and tried not to force the pace.

I made it through the whole workout and I ran during all the run segments even when they were on the hills…yay! And my average pace was under 13…yay again! The even better part is when I finished 4 miles I knew I still had enough in the tank to go another 2 miles so hopefully next weekend’s 10k won’t be too bad. Now if only the weather will cooperate and not be both sunny & humid

Vivofit

C25K app

ttfn…watching the French Open now and will be sewing later.

 

 

 

Consistency

I’ve been doing pretty good keeping with the Zero to 10K program in the RunDouble app…today was Week 6 Day 2. I’ve been running Tues/Thur/Sat but it rained all day yesterday and I just didn’t have it in me to run in the rain so I waited until this morning.

Temps were in the low 50’s and the sun was shining, my idea of perfect running weather! I had a few thoughts of not going until later today but I got dressed and just got started anyway!

Based on the stats from my app and my Vivofit I improved a little over the run on Tues…woot, woot gotta love that!

There’s a little bit of difference between the two stats but it’s only a matter of a few seconds so…whatever!

C25K

Vivofit

I guess I should start looking for a 10K do to in January when I finished this program…don’t wanna waste my momentum. Once I finish this, I’ll start ramping up training for the Half Marathon in March.

…ttfn…

Week 6, Day 1 – new gadget

This is my birthday week so I asked for (translated: bought myself) a new tech gadget to help with my overall fitness.

I joined Weight Watchers at the beginning of November and I’ve lost a few pounds but it’s been v-e-r-y slow, so I figured I needed to move more. I checked out the plethora (ha! never get to use that word!) of fitness bands and based on a few key features I decided on the Garmin Vivofit 2.

1. I like that it’s not a rechargeable battery – it takes a watch battery that runs until it dies and then you replace it. Yay, one less thing to remember to plug in at night.
2. Weight Watchers connects to Garmin Connect and automatically updates my activity. Yay, one less thing I have to do manually.

This little band has really opened my eyes to just how much I’ve been sitting – wow! It makes a chime and shows a red bar when you haven’t moved in 1 hour and keeps chiming every 15 mins until you do. I wore it for the first whole day on Monday and it chimed at me 3 times before lunch! Each time I would get out of my chair, march in place for about 3 minutes, which made it happy and then it reset.

This band will also monitor how restful your sleep is based on movement which means I had to wear it to bed (by the way, this thing is meant to be worn 24/7 – shower and all!). I had a hard time the first night because I’m not used to wearing anything when I sleep – nope, nothing! Here’s what last nights’ sleep graph looks like:

You put the band in SLEEP mode when you get in bed; the pink bars show awake time, the blue are light sleep and the dark is restful sleep. I think I have some issues – LOL! I’ll wait until I get a little more data built up before drawing any conclusions 😉

Today was my first run with this band – it was easy enough to start and stop the work out and was pretty accurate when compared to the C25K app on my phone. The only downside is it doesn’t record Splits, just average pace and total time – not sure how I feel about that yet 😦

Vivofit2

C25K

That’s about all for now…gonna go watch Jordan Smith win The Voice!

 

Same focus, different day

My focus continues on running and sewing…I took a little break from the baby quilt I’m making and whipped up another 1 hour basket – I think I’m procrastinating the applique step for the letters and flowers!

First up, I got in a 3 mile run yesterday – oh man, it was a soupy, humid, overcast morning but I didn’t let that stop me. I got out the door at 7:30, a little earlier than I had been, and I was able to finish just as the sun was popping through the clouds. I’ve stopped using the C25K app for GPS tracking and only using it for the 3:1 interval cues (it’s been taking forever to find a satellite and it keeps adding extra tenths to my distance); I have my Garmin for distance and time tracking.

I had a banana and a GU packet before I left the house, figured I would need a little extra energy with the mucky weather. I started the 165bpm music, the Garmin and the app…and away I went. The first two miles weren’t too awful, in fact I was able to keep with the 3:1 intervals pretty closely. The last mile was a bit tougher – I was close to the house and thought about just ending the run at two miles…but I told myself that I could finish 3 miles even if I had to walk the last one. I finished it using 2:2 intervals…so not too bad.

This is actually my best overall time for 3 miles since January…WIN!

~~~

Now on to sewing – I did finally iron the letters and flowers to the baby quilt, it doesn’t look like there is much difference but trust me they are ironed on!

Now the next (daunting) step is to applique them on. I’ve decided to use my machine to do the stitching so I whipped up a ‘test’ piece last night just to see how I would do…um, I think I need a little more practice. I didn’t take a picture of the test piece but it wasn’t a total fail…just not as pretty as I’d like so I think I’ll do some more testing tonight. The problem is my machine is pretty old and the only speed control I have is the foot pedal (or manually turning the wheel). It’s ok when I’m on a straight section but when I need to do just a few stitches it’s hard to not go too far on the pedal. Practice will help.

While I was stewing about the applique I decided to make another 1 hour basket. This time it did only take about an hour…woohoo! I pulled out some animal prints & the In-R-Form plus and away I went. I remembered almost the whole pattern but double checked myself so I would make the right size this time!

Measures 9″ wide x 7″ tall

Stuffed full of fabric goodies

I think I actually like the first basket better…it was about 1/2″ shorter in height and seems to be a better size for all the fat quarters I have. I guess I’ll just have to make another one that size to make a final decision 😉

ttfn…

Running & Quilting

I’ve been so focused on finishing my quilting project that I forgot to post about my last few runs. Since the Half a few weeks ago, I’ve been a little lax in following my normal running plan (run 2x during the week with a long run on the weekend). That said I only have 3 runs to post:

Sat May 23:

K came over to my house and we ran 4 miles around my neighborhood. There may be a few hills but the tree lined streets offer a lot of shade! I forgot to wear my Garmin so I only have the C25K stats…once again it calculated a few extra tenths, not sure what I’m going to do about that but I like having the 3:1 cues so I may just deal with it

Sat May 30:

K was out of town so L came over my house and we ran 4 miles around my neighborhood, I wore my Garmin this time! We got a bit of a late start so we had to deal with a little more heat…during miles 3 & 4 we were running one tenth then walking one tenth.

Mon June 1:

I got out there this morning for a quick 30 min run. I wanted to try out some new music I downloaded that was specifically 150 BPM…unfortunately it was a little too slow for running but it still seems to have had a positive impact on my time 😀 I’ve downloaded a different track at 165 BPM and will try that out on Wed.

And now for my new quilting project:

I had a request from a friend to make a baby blanket for some expectant parents. They already know it will be a girl so I get to play with a bunch of pretty pink fabrics. I found this cute little ‘chick-a-dee’ fabric and then bought the pinks to coordinate. I cut out several 6″ squares from each fabric and made 9 patches…then I cut them to make the Disappearing 9 Patch pattern. Now I just have decide if I like the way I’ve laid them out.

All opinions are welcome…in fact, I implore you to let me know what you think. Before piecing together it measures 33×52, I’m thinking of putting on a border of light yellow polka dot (left over from my last project) to tone down the pink. I’d like to use flannel or minky for the backing and they’ve asked for a shade of lavender – ha, that won’t be hard to find!

That’s all for now…G’night

Running and sewing

Running and sewing seem to be the two main themes in my life right now. I’m getting close to my next big run (I don’t call them races because I don’t ‘race’!), it’s a half marathon in Sunset Beach, NC on May 16. This will be my second Half and unless I let myself get talked into it again, it will be my last. I’m really not a fan of running more than 6 miles so I think I’ll stick to 10Ks in the future.

I ordered a variety pack of GU Energy gels so I tried out a few new flavors yesterday – I had Vanilla Bean before my run which tastes a lot like cake frosting, not great but not bad either. I had Salted Caramel during the run…so far that’s my favorite, but I’m a sucker for anything caramel! I also tried out compression calf sleeves to see if it would help during and/or after the run. Jury is still out because I really didn’t feel anything different. I’ll give them another chance tomorrow – if I don’t notice any difference they’re going back.

I had planned to get in 5 miles yesterday morning but I had a hard time falling asleep the night before and got up late…so I decided I would hit the pavement after work. Not a real good idea as the temps have started climbing here in the Carolinas; it was 81 degrees when I left the house – ugh – but at least there was very little humidity 😉 The heat got to me around 3.5 miles and I just had to call it quits at 4. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be better.

GARMIN

C25K app

SEWING

I started a new project over the weekend – I had already cut and sewed HST units a few weeks ago so I pieced them into a top approx 32×48. I wanted to finish it with a flannel backing using a pillow case technique (sew the right sides together leaving an opening and then turn it right side out). I finished that up tonight and now I’m toying with the idea of doing a few quilting lines following the diagonal pattern on the front…what do you think? Have you made a blanket like this and have you quilted it after you’ve sewn it together? I’d appreciate any feedback.

The front is made from a variety of fat quarters I received in the April shipment which was color themed Yellow. The backing is a teal flannel I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I threw in the multi-color chevron for a little contrast.

I still need to get more batting so I can finish the yellow & black lap quilt from the “Quilt-Along-With-Me” I’ve been following. The good news is I have next week off work so I hope to be able to spend time sewing…the only problem is we have friends planning to visit which could interfere with my sewing time…I’m so torn…

That’s all for now…

G’night!

FO, WIP and exercise

I have two finished objects to share.

I followed video tutorials by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co and Vanessa of Crafty Gemini and made a bag from scraps…it’s so bright and cheerful, I really love it.

Front of bag and straps – I used two fabrics for the straps to match the ‘scrappy’ look of the bag

Back of bag

Lining – I put my clearance fabric from Hobby Lobby to good use

Over the weekend I also made a zippered pouch using a pattern tutorial from Craftsy. I used two FQ pieces from the March club shipment (admittedly two of my least favorites). I love the quilting I did on the fabric – it’s just a simple diamond pattern – I used a water soluble pen to mark the lines and then sewed away. The pen lines weren’t disappearing with steam from the iron so I dipped it into water in the sink. I squeezed out most of the water and popped it into the dryer for about 20 mins on medium and it came out fine.

This is also the first time I have EVER put a zipper in anything – it turns out it was pretty easy 🙂 Now I can’t wait to try something else that needs a zipper 😉

I’ve also started making another topper with more of the March fabric. I’m not sure what you call this block – it’s a diamond in a square – I’ve squared them up to 6.5 inches and now I plan to frame them all with white sashing. I’ve got them laid out on my ‘design bed’…LOL.

I found some pretty cheerful fabric for the backing while grocery shopping at my local Super Walmart, you can see it in the bottom right corner, it’s a Waverly fabric and I thought it would go well with all the bright colors of the top.

Last but certainly not least, I got some exercise in this weekend too. I was supposed to meet up with my running buddies on Saturday morning but things just didn’t work out. Rather than write off the whole weekend, I got out Sunday afternoon and put in just over 4 miles. The Charlotte RaceFest 10K is coming up this weekend so I needed to see how close I could get to 6.2 miles – I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine but I know I won’t be anywhere close to my time from last year 😦 That’s a bit of a bummer but it is what it is.

My c25k app was on the fritz again, I think I’m going to have to find another more reliable app. At least I had my Garmin 😉

On top of that I went out for a quick walk this evening; it felt pretty good to stretch the legs after yesterday.

That’s it for now…thanks for sticking around til the end!

G’night!

Beautiful weather…finally!

I had no excuse not to run today…it was a beautiful spring day! Sunshine and 71 degrees – yay! I did wait until after work to run which meant it was the warmest part of the day but I didn’t mind at all…the heat/sun felt good for a change 🙂

I programmed the c25k app for eight 3:1 intervals and I even remembered to strap on my Garmin. During my warm up walk I hit my Garmin to search for the satellite and then noticed I was low on battery – eeks – I guess that happens when you don’t use it 😦  That’s ok…I had my app and I followed along as she instructed me to run or walk.

I was doing pretty well until the halfway mark when my legs started getting tired – that’s what happens when you don’t train consistently – ugh! I motored on telling myself I could walk anytime I needed to and I did walk a few times during the run intervals in the back half.

When I look at the numbers afterward I still think there’s something wrong with my app…there’s NO WAY I ran 8:51 during interval 5…just no way! I even question the 10:45 and 10:39 in intervals 3 & 4…and of course I don’t have data from my Garmin to double check it…so I guess I’ll just have to believe these numbers – yeah, right :-p

Running outside again

If you read my blog you know I’m a big sissy when it comes to running outside in the cold. After this past weekend’s 6 mile run on the treadmill I was really itching to get back outside. The temps today were just barely over 40 but windchill made it feel more like the 30s so I was not looking forward to running outside…but…I did it anyway! I could hear K in my ear telling me it’s not that bad once you get going, so I layered up and got my rear out the door.

The C25K app was giving me issues finding GPS again so I just decided I’d use my Garmin, and then 1/2 way into my warmup walk I tried again and – voila – it worked. I had on knit hat and a headband to keep my ears warm but didn’t take a scarf because I thought that would be too much; I could’ve used the scarf during the first mile but I was right to leave it at home because I didn’t need it after that. My legs, specifically the outside of my thighs were really the only area that was cold. K says that’s the area that gets cold on her too – must be the aerodynamics – lol!

I considered stopping at 2 miles but once I was ‘warmed up’ I wanted to finish. I tried to reach 3.1 miles within 39:00 but I was just a little shy of that, I’ll blame it on the cold weather 🙂 I also did a little more walking than I planned, so that makes sense.

I still can’t seem to get Garmin & C25K to agree on time and distance 😦

GARMIN

C25K

2015 runs 1 & 2

My church started up another running group only this time it’s not for a specific distance or race. The pastor is a runner and he wants to have the group meet up on Saturdays at 8am and after a short devotional we will all run our own distances and pace. Since I’ve been meeting up with my running buddies on Saturdays, it just worked out that we would all join the group.

This past Saturday was the first meeting and there were about 8 folks all running at different levels. Only one of my running buddies was able to make it so after the meeting we headed out for a 5 mile run. The pastor suggested we try a different route than we usually run, one which takes us down along the lake, so we did. The temperature was a little chilly when we started out but we warmed up after the first mile and it felt comfortable. Luckily I had my trusty Garmin with me because I had problems (again!) getting a GPS signal with my C25K app. I had to abandon the idea of prompted run/walk intervals and just decided to take walk breaks at each mile.

Because we took a different route we had to meander our way through the neighborhood streets trying to figure what direction to run so we could accumulate 5 miles by the time we returned to the church…unfortunately we were a little off – otherwise it was a great long/slow run.

GARMIN

My second run of the year came earlier today – I wanted to get outside because it’s probably the last warm day for the next two weeks! I planned a total distance of 3 miles with run/walk intervals of 1 mile/200 yards – since it worked out well on Saturday I thought I’d try it again. Thankfully both the C25K app and my Garmin were working 😉

I ran a familiar route that I knew would get me 3 miles – the sun was shining when I started but it got cloudy near the end which caused the temps to drop a little but it felt good at that point.

I stopped my Garmin right at 3.1 miles because I wanted to mark my 5K time; I’m pleased to see that I broke 39:00 – last time I did that was back in April! I let the C25K app run until I completed the third mile then I skipped to the cool down and according to the C25K app, mile 3 was faster than 1 & 2 – wow!

I felt really good running today, no IT band issues!!

GARMIN

C25K