week2-day 2 (4mi) -3 (3mi) -4 (6mi) + weekly weigh in

my absence of posts in these last few days is testament on how hard it is for me to stick to things, even things that i enjoy doing. so i'll just start where i left off.

a couple of days after my last post was my eighth wedding anniversary (yeay for me & the husband/coach.) we went out for breakfast, as it is the only time we were kid free, and we had plan to have a sushi dinner at home after the kiddos went to bed. i had decided beforehand that although i was going to count points i really didn't care if i went over. so i ordered a breakfast sandwich with egg and cheese and a blueberry scone for an astonishing value of 17 points! i knew i had to go out for my 4mi run and it was such a hot day that i had almost made my mind that i wanted to go to the gym to use the treadmill, you know, in a nicely controlled environment. but then i thought it would be kind of romantic if the husband/coach (h/c) and i went out together for a run so i reluctantly braved out the heat and out i went. now, when i say running with the h/c means that we walked together from our house to the beginning of the trail and then i didn't see him until i was about to reach the 2mi and he was already on his way back. but even if he wasn't a way faster runner than i am, i'm not sure i'd enjoy running with him... i'm pretty sure i'd feel like when i drive and he's in the passenger seat, i'm always tense...sometimes he makes little comments here and there like 'ah you could've gone faster' or 'didn't you see that pothole you drove into?' but for the most part he's pretty good at refraining himself from any comment...but i know he's thinking it...lol. so the same with running, i love running, not feeling judged, doing it my way which is the best way i know how, it really is very personal for me, it's me with me and i like that. so back to the 4mi... it was soo hot that i was afraid i was going to pass out, i didn't but i ran very slow,  so pretty much it took me an hour (58min14sec) to complete the run. but i was proud of myself because i really did this grudgingly.

the next day for my 3mi i went out again with my running buddy. i forgot to turn the chronometer on so i don't know what my time was but i'm assuming it was very similar to last week's since my running buddy is pretty good at keeping her pace. and even though it was after 8pm it was still very hot... around 90F. so i took a shower when i came home, had some yogurt and then went to bed....at which point my stomach started acting up like i've had something weird to eat and of course, i couldn't sleep... and neither could h/c since i kept tossing and turning and getting up. then he started worrying that i was dehydrated but i couldn't bear the thought of drinking water or anything for that matter. the next day i was fine. h/c  insists that it was dehydration but i'm not so sure, i've been very conscious about my water intake everyday. whatever it was it did not feel good.

finally yesterday i went for my long 6mi. run. i was kind of nervous because it had been so hot but like a miracle that day was nice and cool. i mean, honestly, i couldn't have asked for more perfect weather... which brings me to this petition: 'dear universe, i beg of you that the day of the marathon the weather is as perfect as it was yesterday. i thank you before hand. -mery.' i enjoyed this run so much for so many reasons. one, 6mi.!!! omg!!!! this is the longest i have ever ran!!! i just get excited thinking about it!; two, i paced myself so well (translation in non running lingo: i went really slow but fast enough not to feel like i was walking) that it didn't feel horribly hard, you know, i didn't have to talk myself up to keep going or try my hardest not to think about how much longer i had to go, those kinds of things. i could just enjoy myself doing it! even the uphill parts, i was just fine and it felt awesome!; three, the biggest treat of all. when i was starting my last mile i bumped into the husband/coach and crazy kid #2!!! (they were on their way out for h/c's run of the day) aaahh... i can't explain it, i know it doesn't seem like a big deal but i just felt such a spark of happiness, like when you open your mail box and you receive something unexpectedly good... you know? like that! so i made a mega quick stop to give a kiss to crazy kid #2 and to h/c and off i went for my last mile feeling really good! my time was 1hr28min or 14min12sec mile. so still slow but good. (i still have to remind myself, 'i don't care about the time' 'i don't care about the time')

and finally the weigh ins. during the training i'm treating the whole point system as an experiment to see what works for me right now. so for the past two weeks i've increased my points from 23 to 28 (the 35 weeklys divided equally through out the week.) so last week i lost 1.4lbs. now, this week because of the anniversary breakfast and dinner i not only ate my daily points, but also my weeklys, my activity points and then some...at the end of the week i was 21.5 points in the red. so i went to the meeting today not knowing what to expect and i lost 1.2lb....yeay! a fluke? maybe? i don't know. all i know is that this training is my great body experiment all around.

so up to today my total weight loss is: 81.4lbs. i really should post some pictures, although i don't have many... i should get someone to shoot a picture of me full body with my hands on my hips because i've noticed that's the pose of preference for the 'after' pictures.

so that's it for the week. for week 3 i'll try to mash up all the training days together so i can be done by thursday because i'll be going to nyc (by myself, thank you very much! -and thank you husband/coach!) for the weekend and i don't want to have the long run hanging over my head. i'm still bringing my running shoes because who knows, my friend and i might be able to get a run in there ...hopefully in central park, like anne hathaway and kate hudson in that movie about the brides...you know?

total mi for the week: 16mi  total overall: 31mi.
 
tomorrow: 3mi.

week2-day1: 3mi.

shouldn't have waited this long to write, now i'm too sleepy so this will be brief and boring.

i started my week a day earlier so i could take a day between the short and medium runs. it was quite warm today which means i ended up sweating more than usual and feeling like my shirt was too tight! i just felt too hot! i would say my heart rate was up on the last mile, part of it because i was trying to be done with it and the other part was because it was... too... hot!  my time ended up being 41min26sec or 13min48sec/mi.

tomorrow: update about the weekly weight in

week1-day4: 5mi.

this morning i went out pretty early because there was no other time i could do it but also because it's getting pretty warm these days. it was nice and cool, around 59-60 F at the time. i did ok overall but i'd be lying if i told you i didn't struggle...maybe not struggle in the sense that i had to fight the urge to stop because even when my legs felt like lead i just had the certainty that i wouldn't stop until i reached the 5mi. but it was hard. i had to go through an underpass, on my way out was downhill but on my way back was uphill and it felt so steep, even the slight irregularities on the road, itty bitty slopes that i wouldn't normally feel that much were taxing on my legs and a bit on my heart rate. but i did it! and i enjoyed it so much! the path where i run runs alongside a canal and you can go towards one side which is not that nice (where i went running on the rainy day) or you can go to the other side that is gorgeous, beautiful scenery, nice foliage everywhere, marshes, beautiful fancy houses and so peaceful and bright.

so here's a confession: i have been a little bummed about how long it is taking me to do my runs because my times are shorter on the treadmill for the same distances. part of it is a little bit of fear, especially in a slightly longer run like today's because i'm terrified of running out of fuel, or feeling weak and jittery or light headed or passing out... all things that have happened to me before (except for the passing out) and are the most unpleasant experiences ever. i'm being very careful with having enough calories and water in me before i go out, so so far so good, plus i have to start trusting my body more. so i decided that worrying about my time is stupid! i mean come on, i'm running 5mi!  yeay me and yeay for my legs and my body that carry me through! so who cares if it takes me hours and hours and hours? i'm doing it!!!!

my time today was 1hr9min44sec or 13min56sec/mi.

with this run i conclude my first week of training, one down, fifteen to go. 

total mi for the wk: 15  total overall: 15

tomorrow: weekly weigh in at ww

ps: this blog needs some images asap!

week1-day3: 3mi.

this is going to be a short one because i'm about to pass out in front of the computer.

i went for my 3mi run with a neighbor. we had agreed to meet at 8pm and while i was putting my kids to bed and i layed down on the bed to read them a bed time story i was deeply regretting the commitment, staying in a horizontal postition seemed way more attractive at the time. but i picked  myself up and met my running buddy and we ran for 3mi and i loved it! every time i've ran this week the circumstances have been so different but all so cool in their own right. the sun was setting so everything looked so warm and yellow and there was a nice night breeze and my running buddy helped me keep a steady pace, i had to push myself because she was running a bit faster than i'm used to but it was great! oh yeah, and it was the first time that i swallowed a gnat... gross!

my time was 38min51sec or a 12min57sec/mile.

tomorrow: i rest :)







 

week1-day2: 4mi.

so today i felt really committed to this, like a 'real runner' if you will, because today i had to go out and run in the rain. and no, i didn't want to, i was making all kinds of excuses for myself, like i can get sick, i'm just coming out of a horrible episode of strep throat and blah, blah, blah but the husband/coach made an executive decision and sent me out in the cold rain with and oversize anorak and a baseball cap.

i have to say that i kind of liked it. it was cool and very quiet, the trail was completely empty (o.k. one person, i saw one scary looking dude, he wasn't running, just walking in the rain.) i guess the only thing i didn't enjoy was towards the end where there were more puddles and water was getting in my shoes and i could feel my socks getting really wet, and you know how wet socks beget blisters, but since it was during the last 1/2mile i was fine.

all in all another enjoyable run. time wise i did better today too, although i still haven't gotten down the whole pace thing. this time i ran the first mile really, really sloooow and then i picked up the pace to a comfortable speed. so my time today was 53min19sec which is an average of 13min20sec/mile still slow but much better than my 14min26sec/mile of yesterday.

tomorrow: 3mi.

week1-day1: 3mi.

today was the official first day of the marathon training program that i'll be following for the next 16 weeks. it was a short run of 3 miles.

i guess i should mention two things: 1)the most i've ever ran at once is 5mi and 2) i'm a very slow runner...like
12min mile is the fastest i can go....with effort (see? slow like molasses.) but whatever, right now i'm only    worrying about getting more mileage in. the other thing is that i've only ran outside twice before today (so far the  treadmill had been my top choice for running) and today was the first time i ran without music, which i was really scared about but it wasn't bad at all.

it was really nice out so that was a plus. i guess i must have been way too excited because i did the first mile a bit under 9min effortlessly but then of course i got really tired and it took me forever to complete the other two, so it took me a total of 43min18sec...yeah, that's too slow even for me! but i never stopped to walk and the husband/coach says that's a common rooky mistake. so i guess i'll be learning a whole bunch of stuff along the way.

tomorrow: 4mi.