In case you noticed…

I’m not sure what exactly my problem is but I have not completed a run since Jan 21…that’s 10 days!  It’s been bitterly cold here in the south and we got snow/ice last week; I think I’ve used that as an excuse to keep myself in the house hibernating…I feel like such a slug!

As if that’s not bad enough, I have three straight weeks of business travel in front of me and I’m notoriously bad about running while traveling.  I fear that I’m not going to be able to complete the 10K with my Run for God group in April and that makes me sad.  One bright spot is that my broken toe is doing better, it’s still a tiny bit swollen and I notice some discomfort if I try to wear shoes that are a little tight in the toe box, but I can’t use that as my excuse for not running.

I reviewed the R4G program last night and I can get back on track if I start today…so if the weather won’t cooperate, I’m going to the gym to put in the prescribed 4 miles today.  I may have to walk a good part of it but, dang it, I’m going to do it.

R4G 10k, Week 2

This week’s program is almost identical to last week except the LSD run on Saturday will be 3.5 miles.  Today called for a tempo run and until last week I didn’t really understand what that was.  I’ve learned that a tempo run should be done at just slightly less than 5K pace and I’d like to run a 5K at a 12:00 pace.  Our group meeting was tonight and the plan was to run with the group afterward, however mother nature made it very unpleasant so I opted for going to the gym and hitting the treadmill (I’m not sure how I’m going to handle running outside when I finally get to again!).

I warmed up with a 5 minute walk and then I set the treadmill at 5 mph.  I planned to run 18 minutes straight and I was doing well up until the 13 minute mark when I backed it down to 4.5 for a minute.  To make up for the time I lost I finished the last minute at 5.5 and completed the 1.5 miles in 18:02.  Woot! Woot!!  It was hard but I want to maintain running for longer periods so I’ve got to start somewhere.

Tomorrow is the 2 mile easy slow run and the weather is not supposed to be any better so I’ll be back on the treadmill again…this time I’ll set the speed at 4.7 and try to complete the 2 miles without slowing down…we’ll see!

Back at it

I didn’t work out Thursday or Friday to give my toe a break (no pun intended) so I was ready to get back to it today.  The RFG program called for a 3 mile long, slow run today and I just didn’t think it would be good to put my toe through that yet so I decided I would give the elliptical machine a try.  Since it doesn’t require me to actually land on my foot during the movements it seemed like a good idea.

I warmed up for 5 minutes and then I restarted the machine on the ‘weight loss’ program which included changing the resistance several times.  I’ve never used the elliptical before so I wasn’t quite sure I would get a good workout…oh boy, did I get a workout!  I finished 2 miles in 25:45 and had to restart to complete the third mile.  My quads and calves were killing me but I didn’t want to stop short…good news was my toe was feeling just fine!

I finished the third mile in 14:00 which is slower than my normal pace but hey, the program called for a long, SLOW run 🙂  Overall, I’m happy with the workout but I’ll be grateful to get back on the treadmill (or outside when it warms up) to run.

I may be getting ahead of myself

The Run for God 10K program called for a 2 mile ‘easy, slow run’ today.  I went to the gym and hopped on the treadmill bound and determined to get it done.  For the first 5 mins I warmed up at a slow walk and I could feel my toe starting to ache but I soldiered on.  I increased the speed to 5 mph and ran for a mile before slowing to walk, I could feel discomfort in my toe but I figured I was halfway there so I might as well finish.  I increased the speed but only to 4.7 and ran for 1/2 mile and slowed to walk again…I repeated this until I reached 2 miles.  So YAY! I completed the run but I can tell you my toe does not like me right now!

The RFG program calls for another 2 mile run tomorrow…however I think I need to give my toe a rest.  I was wondering if using the elliptical would make a difference, I wouldn’t be pounding on my foot as I moved.  Does anyone have any experience on the elliptical?  If that doesn’t work, I guess I’ll get back on the stationary bike.

Moving again

I started back on an exercise routine yesterday and so far my broken toe has been holding up pretty well.  I decided it would be best to try the stationary bike which would not put a lot of pressure on my foot, and I was right.  I rode for 7 miles and the only thing that hurt was my butt!  I think I got a pretty decent work out because I let the machine dictate my course which had several small inclines; the machine said I burned 227 calories in 40 minutes…not too bad.

The next Run for God kick off meeting was tonight but I couldn’t go because it’s my FIL’s birthday and we always take him to Texas Roadhouse for dinner on his birthday.  I did pickup the RFG book early and it called for a 1.5 mile tempo/speed run today.  I was a little anxious about running with my toe still tender but I decided to give it a go and gave myself permission to stop if it got bad.  I went to the gym at lunch and started with a slow warm up walk at 2.5mph for 5 minutes; I could feel my toe but nothing too bad.  I changed the speed to 5mph and ran for 12 mins before I slowed to 3.5 for a minute to walk.  I pushed back to 5mph for a few more minutes and because I wanted to make up the time I stopped to walk, I pushed the speed to 5.5 for the last two minutes.  First, I can’t believe I could do it all since I haven’t run since 12/26 and second, I can’t believe my toe wasn’t screaming at this point but it really wasn’t…yay  🙂  I finished up with a slow 5 min walk and called it a day.

The RFG program calls for a 2 mile ‘easy, slow run’ tomorrow…ha! I can do that since I already run pretty slow…lol

Saturday run…

My last run was Tuesday night with the RFG girls at the middle school.  I had every intention of working out Wed & Thurs doing some sort of cross-training but alas that didn’t happen.  So I made sure I got up this morning and went to Anytime Fitness to get three miles in on the treadmill (p.s. I joined!).  After I finished I realized it would’ve been a perfect day to run outside since the temps reached 72 today – duh!  But I’m glad I got my run in early because I’m sure I would’ve found some reason not to do it later.  And as much as I find the treadmill boring, I like it for keeping my pace even.  When I run outside my pace is all over the place (anywhere from 4.7-5.1 according to my C25K program) so the treadmill makes me keep an even tempo.

I still needed to take a few walk breaks but I tried to keep them above 4.0 and less than 2 minutes.  My overall pace is just slightly better than my last several runs, not sure if that means I’m getting better or I just had a good day! lol!

Keeping up with the group

Although the Run for God 5K program ended with our 5K run on 12/7, many of us have kept in touch through Facebook and continue to meet for runs.  Yesterday one of the ladies posted that she would be running at the middle school tonight so I sent her a message that I’d meet her there; a few other folks responded as well.  About an hour before our scheduled time, she had to cancel due to work commitments but I decided to show up anyway and see who else would be there.  Two other ladies showed up and we put in 3 miles…yay!  The temp was about 55 but there was a pretty strong wind which made it feel a bit colder but nothing unbearable.  I had to stop for several walk breaks…why is it some days are so much harder than others!?  If it wasn’t for the other ladies there I’m sure I would’ve thrown in the towel and ended early.

Overall, I still had a pretty decent time.

5K to 10K…really?

Well, I did it!  I committed to joining the next Run for God program which is to run a 10k or Half…oh boy!  I told them that I may not make that distance but I wanted to keep training with a group to keep me motivated.  I’m also going to join the local Anytime Fitness club so I’ll have plenty of options for cross training or running inside if the weather is too cold for me.

I think I had already made up my mind a few days ago when I purchased the 5k to 10k program through RunDouble and then proceeded to ‘test out’ Week 1 Day 1 on Saturday at the gym.  The workout was to run 5 intervals of 8 minutes with a 1 min brisk walk in between.  I also decided I would start out slow and try to increase my speed with each interval…nothing major just a little bump each time.  I started out at 4.8 and increased to 5.2 – the first two intervals were OK but by the third I was getting pretty tired so I had to stop and walk half way through.  For the 4th & 5th intervals I only ran for 3 mins and walked the rest.  That dang pesky Target Heart Rate poster was staring me down again and each time I checked my HR I was above ‘my’ zone so I slowed to a fast walk at 4.5.  Overall, it wasn’t a bad workout and I’m happy that I finished it…including the WU & CD it was just shy of 4 miles…not too bad.

ACC 5K results

I completed the race on Saturday with my Run for God group.  I have to say its so much more fun and motivating to be there with a group!!

We met at the church at 6:30am to carpool to the race and the weather was actually a pleasant 60 degrees – but there was a chance of rain.  By the time we got uptown and parked, the weather had changed quite dramatically – it was only a 20 minute ride!!  As we walked to the check-in area we braved a pretty strong head wind and misty rain – the temps had dropped to the mid 50’s as well.  I was so glad I had worn pants and a long sleeve top, others weren’t so fortunate.  The saving grace was the long sleeve t-shirts they gave out with our bibs!

As for the race, I have to say I was pretty happy that the course was fairly flat.  There was only one significant hill and it came right after the 2 mile marker.  They had a timer set up at mile 1 and I passed it at 12:36…not too bad.  My final time was 40:07; slower than I finished a few years back but I was also 20lbs lighter and in better shape!

Overall I’m very happy with this outcome and I think I might join the group for the next Run for God program which is 10k or Half.  I don’t know that I’ll really try to complete the 10k training but just meeting with the group each week will help me maintain my running plan.

Last group run

Tonight was our last group run before the 5K on Saturday.  This run was not time based rather the goal was to run 3 miles no matter how long it took.  This is the first time I’ve run three miles in almost a year…wow!  I had to stop for 4 walk breaks but I finished the 3 miles in 38:54.  Not bad, now I have a goal to try to beat on Saturday.

I looked back over my runs the last 12 weeks and my pace seems to be getting slower…not exactly what I had in mind; I think it’s because I’m taking more walk breaks than I used to so of course my average pace is going to be slower.  I guess I can always work on speed once I get the distance down.

The weather forecast for the 5K is looking promising – low 50’s with a slight chance of rain.  At least it’s not going to be freezing…yay!  ttfn