Week 3, Day 1 - Racing the dark

So, as winter gets closer and closer, it become harder and harder to get in my run before nightfall.  I want to keep running outside so my body can get used to running in the cold and the small changes in elevation that I'm sure will happen in the race, but if I can barely get home before dark, how am I supposed to run before dark?

So, yesterday was pretty tough.  I wasn't in the running mood, and I knew that if I didn't go right after I got home from work, it would be too dark to go at all, so I had no down time.  The 2.5 minute run was pretty tough as well.  As I work and work and work at this, I wonder how the heck I managed to do the 5k this summer.  I've already done a 3 mile obstacle course!  Why starting over like this so hard??

All I know is it's kicking my butt, hopefully right in to shape!  I just have to keep myself motivated through these times right now when it's really hard...  I know I can do it!

Week 2, Day 3

Week 2, Day 3 - complete!

Does anyone else have problems getting in to "the groove"?  I've noticed that I don't have a good running gait until about the 3rd run segment.  The first two have really short, quick strides and just feel really disjointed...  It def takes me a while to remember what I'm supposed to be doing!

I'm also afraid I may be developing shin splints... I was going to double do today and run the same day twice, but it felt like my left shin was bruised or something and kind of hurt when I run.  It's not extreme pain yet or anything, but it's certainly distracting.  I really don't want to have to go out and buy compression sleeves, but it may be in my future.  Like I said yesterday, running is expensive.  You think it's just you, the shoes, and the road - only to get started and realize you need better socks to keep those blisters at bay (I get them right on my instep!), a better sports bra to keep bouncing to a minimum, better shirts to wick away moisture for layering, better tights to keep you from freezing your buns off, compression sleeves to hold off shin splints, & a face mask to make the air breathable.  *Sigh*

Anywho, so I finally get in to a groove today and all the sudden I feel like I'm training for hurdles rather than a race!  I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, and then WHOA!  Poop in the trail!  Leap over the poo!  Not once, but three times!  And then the same three piles on the way back.  People - take the dog over to the side!  For the love....

PS - watching ducks trying to swim in about 3inces of water in the drainage canal is very entertaining!  Rather than a swim, it's much more of a gliding waddle :)

Boo Ya! Week 2, Day 2

So, I know it's not a milestone, but today I'd really like to lead off with a "Boohoohooooo Yah!!".  I felt great during my run, and more importantly - I did it and I did it all.  I left work with a headache and a bit of a grump and was totally ready to just sit on the couch and not do a damn thing.  I'm not quite sure how I got myself in to my running clothes, but I'm sure glad I did.  I also realized, I need some actual cold weather running clothes.  I think the leggings I wore are from 8th grade...  high school at the very latest.  And I definitely need my face-masky-scarfy thing.

I expected to be hurting from the start since it's only 37 degrees outside, without including the windchill factor, so I knew my lungs would not be happy with me.  They did surprisingly well!  I was about 3/4 of the way through before I started getting the unhappy blood tasting cough.  I know things are only going to get colder, so I'm going to need that scarf ASAP.  I also need to figure out what kind of coat I'm supposed to wear....  It's all about the accessories - am I right? :)

So, anybody else feel like the program knows when a hill is coming and plans for you to start running right before you hit it?  I swear, I wind up running every hill!  I guess that's good for endurance and such, and I'm sure there will be hills on the 10k course, but for right now, jeebus man!

PS - I have found two of my power songs - Firework by Katie Perry and St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr.  Odd combo, I know, but Katy Perry kind of started this whole running thing for me, and Firework is pretty motivational.  I put St. Elmo's Fire on the playlist I made for myself and when it came on today I felt awesome!  I felt like I was running across the finish line with my hands in the air, friends and family cheering me on.  Obviously, not the case, probably won't be the case at the race either because I'm sure my family won't come for that since they didn't even remember I was doing it in the first place, but whatever.  They weren't there for the Devil Dash either and I still made it!

It's off to a nice steamy bubble bath to try to convince my lungs to breathe again without hacking violently and to convince my muscles there's really no reason to cramp up...  Tune in tomorrow for our next installment! :)

Fail...

So, I was all set to try my first run in the snow last night, and guess who left her gym bag at work?  This girl!  So that means I haven't done diddly for the last 3 days and I feel it and it feels gross.  That also means I will have to run both Saturday and Sunday and I usually like to take weekends off...  I guess that's the price I pay for being forgetful!  I know I'm also running pretty behind on where I wanted to be for this 10 k, so I'm really gonna have to boogy!  Time is running out and I really want to be able to run/jog the whole race - even if it's just  "wogging" (walk/jogging).  BTW - for my race buddies, I run about an average of 4mph right now.  I don't know if we want to try to stick together on actual race day, but if so, I'm thinking we need to try to train to the same speed:)

Rain, rain, go away!

So, we have another day of rest today due to inclement weather.  I'm all about training in the colder weather, but I still have a wheeze in my chest and random coughing bouts, so I'm thinking a frolic in the cold rain/snow/sleety grossness outside is not my best laid plan.  We're gonna have to put the pedal to the medal tomorrow!

Rest day

So, I wasn't planning on resting today since it's the last sunny day we'll be having this week, but it was getting dark by the time I got home, so it was kind of forced.  I did the 4 minute workout I found on Pintrest and that actually had me huffing and puffing like whoa!  I don't believe for one second I burned as many calories as I did on my runs, but I got my heart rate up, so that's better than nothing!  Tomorrow will be my first workout in inclement weather... Let's do this!

"curfews" suck!

So, we're on week 2, day 1 of the program and it went pretty well.  There were def some points when I was sucking air, wondering when I got to walk again, but other than that, life was good.  I had some nice Zen moments when I just totally zoned out and realized, oh hey, this is actually fun!  Who knew?  I was ready to do 2 days in one, but then I noticed the sun was getting pretty close to set, so I had to get on home.  Which brings me to the title of this blog.

Dear bad guys, go away!  I should be able to run until just after dark if I want to without worrying about being abducted and cut in to bits.  This is not Detroit, this is not downtown NY, this is not Gary, IN.  I should be safe running around my own neighborhood!  But nooo!  The CO creepers have to step it up a notch these days and try to abduct everyone from little boys, to little girls, to 20-30 something women, making sure no one is safe!  How can I train outside in the winter time if I can't run outside without looking over my shoulder every 5 minutes?!  I am almost 30, I should not have a dusk curfew!  So thank you Creeper McCreeperson for ruining my Zen moments.  I blame you, I shame you, and I hope they pull out your toenails when they catch you.

Day - unknown

Ok, I have gotten so discombobulated with this program.  Did you know that if you don't hit "complete" at the end of a run, it doesn't show that it's done?  Also, did you know that you have to progress to the next run manually, it doesn't just jump to the next one for you?  Yeah, didn't know these things.  So the other day, I did 2 again, and 3.  Last night, rather than moving on to week 2, day 1, I repeated w1, d3.  *sigh* 

Either way, I ran last night, for which, I am proud.  I was at work for 11 hours yesterday and all I wanted to do was go home, but I still went to the little gym at my work and ran.  I've discovered since my cold/flu/plague thing, my balance is worse than usual.  I almost fell like 3 times!  Not a problem, except there were 4 other people in there!  Nothing quite like being not only the fattest person in the gym, but the least coordinated as well.  Someday, that will change!  I need to track down a tape measurer so I can start tracking weight loss, not in lbs, but where it actually matters - in inches!  Hopefully we get to inches...

I still haven't gone to 24hr fitness yet.  I don't know what I'm waiting for, but I just haven't gone.  I'm always nervous about going to the gym and classes and such.  Oh wait, yes I do!  Please see above :)  Anywho, I need to just do it!

C's dad paid for my ticket to South Bend the first weekend of November for the football game cand C's new niece's baptism.  I'm not quite sure why he wanted me to be there so badly he's willing to shell out $200, but whatevs!  So, for C's last relative's baptism, he commented that he was a fat hairy guy, and he thinks it's going to be the same for this one.  So now I'm working not only for me, but to encourage C to get up and lose some weight and diet!  I think i'm going to go to Sprouts and get all the south beach week 1 stuff and just make a ton of food and freeze it so we can just grab and go.  I'll keep you posted

Back to Day 2.

Ok, I'm back on the wagon.  Today I redid Day 1 on accident, so I did Day 2 as well.  I'm thinking that may not have been my best plan since I'm def still recovering from being sick.  I still have this nasty cough that makes me taste blood in the back of my throat every time I cough.  Add that to the wind that was blowing, and the muscle lethargy that's developed during my off time, and it was a really rough run today.  I'm glad I did it, but I'm going to be huuurrrting!  I'm really glad I got Carey that foam roller so I can massage out my leg muscles.  BTW girls, you might want to look in to one of these - they're great for rolling out sore backs as well!

As for my other "fitness aspect", I've stopped Boot Camp.  It was time for me to send in my next payment and realized I was paying $40 a month for only 2 classes a week.  Not smart when 24 hr Fitness is only $25 a month!  I'm going to go back to 24 hr and get back in to classes.  I'm actually pretty excited.  I am going to wait to do that until I'm completely healthy again though.

South Beach also isn't going well.  You really do need to prep a lot of food and I just don't have the time.  It's also hard when Carey doesn't want to 100% commit so there's still booze and bread and such in the house.  Also, carbs just taste better than veggies!  We are trying to at least commit to phase 2 since Carey has decided he's gotten fat.  Hopefully we'll help each other through our cravings!

I think the wagon is running me over...

Ok, so I have developed a cold.  This should not be the end of the world, but it's certainly throwing a wrench in my running plan.  That wagon?  I think it just smushed my face in the mud....

Day 3...ish

Ok, so, you may have noticed Day 3 has been a long time coming.  I've fallen off the wagon a bit.  With the wedding (which was awesome!) it has been a bit hard to work out.  Monday I just was not feeling it, Tuesday was softball (watching, not playing), and today I'm working on what threatens to be a pretty nasty cold.  Liz brought to my attention that we only have 10 weeks left, and that was a bit of a shock to me.  December is so far away, in a not really kind of way I guess.  So, like i've said a million times, tomorrow is when it really starts.  Girls, I am really gonna need your help...

Day 2

So today was Boot Camp - no running, just boot camp.  And today, boot camp was brought to you by the letter k, as in kickboxing.  It was awesome!  I boxed way back in the day in college and apparently I've still got it ;)  It was so much fun and I just felt amazing afterwards.  I can already feel myself getting sore, so tomorrow will be fun.  But it'll be a good sore - the kind you earn by kicking ass and making progress!

Day 1...ish

So, today was technically day 1 of the 0 to 10k app on my iPod.  Now, to be fair, I did do an obstacle 5k on 9/2, but it wasn't really all that impressive.  I was "wogging" (walk/jogging) for most of it and I'd really like to get to a much faster gait for the 10k and not want to hack up a lung at the end of it.  So, in an effort to "do it right" I'm starting from the beginning and trying to work my way up to a solid 10k in December, and then keep on going to half marathon/Tough Mudder in June.  I'm also trying to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle, and so I have a 3 part process right now: Running, Boot Camp, & South Beach.

Running: Today's "run" went really well.  It was only a 25 workout with a 15 minute mile, but I felt really good afterwards.  I never felt like I was pushing myself to the limits of my endurance, but I still worked up a good sweat and was breathing pretty heavily.  I'm actually looking forward to the next run and seeing how much harder I can push myself now that I know the format of the program.

Boot Camp:  I didn't have boot camp today (it's Tuesdays and Thursdays through work), but I've been to a total of 4 classes thus far.  I've missed 2, including last Thursday, and so I'm pretty nervous for tomorrow.  Last Tuesday, the instructor said that last week was the end of the acclamation period and that this week we'd start really working at it.  Seeing as last week's cardio "warm up" had me gasping, I'm definitely scared for what tomorrow will bring.

South Beach:  So I'm supposed to be doing Phase 1 of South Beach starting this week, however, it's Customer Service appreciation week and all week our bosses are giving us treats and such.  My will power is just not strong enough to resist that!

I'm hoping to lose at least a few pounds by this weekend for one of my best friend's wedding.  I'm in the bridal party and right now, I can fit in my dress in the morning before I eat, but not at night.  So, I know I'm going to have to invest in a pretty solid gut-sucker, aka "shapewear", and I am not excited about it.  I'm so aggravated with myself that I let my body deteriorate to this point and that I left actually getting in shape for so late in the game.  I've had this darn dress for months!  I just was never as aggressive as I need to be.  My biggest challenge is that I'm going to need to be balls to the wall for the next 9 months until Tough Mudder.  That kind of endurance and "stick to itness" is really not my strong point.  Staying with it is going to be tough and I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Well, the longest journey begins with a single step.  Here goes...