Wow another month gone

I can't believe July is here tomorrow. I didn't run tonight - Friday night is usually Date Night for us, but we took the girls out to see Cars tonight. Great movie. Larry the Cable Guy really makes that movie :) If you haven't seen it, take your kids (or borrow someone elses kids) and go see it.

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I'm glad I took a week off for a vacation, but man, it's tough getting back in the swing of things at work. I have two weddings and a couple of sessions that people keep calling about. I know they are just excited to see them, but I haven't gotten to the point of giving up my control over proofing yet, so I'm doing it as fast as I can myself.

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Running has been good for me. I forgot how good it feels to have a little soreness in your legs, but it wears me out! I want to go to sleep earlier now. Which I guess can be a good thing since my sleeping habits are horrible.

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It's been interesting reading everyones blogs. I've read a couple of them here & there since Edwin has met other runners, but I have been checking out all the HRB members blogs and it's kind of neat to get to know everyone thru their thoughts. Plus it lets me know who I would be able to run with if ever given the opportunity.

Questions

OK you seasoned runners. A couple of questions for you.

1. Is it more important to run your miles as fast as you can or run continuously for as far as you can??

Tonight I decided that I need to run for 30 minutes, regardless of how far I went. So I ran slower on purpose so that I wouldn't get tired. I also wore a heart rate monitor so I would know how much work I was doing. Not that I fully understand that yet either.

Mile one, continuous running - Time: 11:30 Avg Heart Rate:172
Mile two, walked first 30 seconds, ran continuously rest - Time 12:28, Avg Heart Rate: 179
Walked one minute - ran 0.43 mile, Time: 5:03, Avg Heart Rate: 179

Total time 30:01; 2.43 miles

Question 2:
Someone explain where I want my heart rate. I'm mostly wanting to be in fat burning mode right now and everything I've found online says my heart rate should be lower, but I can't run and keep my heart rate out of aerobic mode. So confused . . .

Anyone care to help me understand? I'm 31 if you need to know that.

Gooooooaaaaaaallllllllll!!!!!

Too much soccer in the background I guess :) Anyways, tonight I reached my first goal. I ran one mile continuously. I know all you seasoned runners think "Big Deal". But it IS a big deal.

Pedro was hiding tonight so I couldn't run in the neighborhood. I got Edwin's watch instead, as it can keep track of Laps, and went to the track. Took me a while to figure out how to use the darn thing. I've got so much to learn about the technical gadgets of running.

I ran with his mp3 player on and it was easier than running with no music. When Nellie came on it was easier to run faster, though I had to try hard not to start dancing, as the track had about 15 people running/walking. It's tough when "Shake your tail feathers" comes on to keep running in a straight path.

First mile (did I mention I ran the whole thing??): 10:18

Second mile: 11:43

I'm doing pretty good making this a habit, but summer is slow in my business, only 3-5 sessions per week, I hope to make this a good strong habit by the time my fall/winter rush hits.

I forgot to post on Monday. I ran two miles that day too, but much slower. Mile one, 10:46. Mile two 11:54.

Next goal is to go out for 30 minutes - run/walk.

I need a female running buddy . . . . .

Back to the real world

Well, we made it home from a week long vacation today around 6pm. We took the time to unpack, start laundry, pick up some Sonic tea (which I've missed terribly!) and mexican food, then I started my 2 mile run. I can't wait for the day I can run the whole thing. I went a different route tonight. I stopped at the end of the block to talk to our neighbors who went to the same vacation spot we did but we never met up with them. THen started my run. First mile was 10:43, second was 11:33. I"m finding out some very interesting things about running.

First I can run a mile faster if I walk a little more in there. When my legs would get tired, I'd walk fast for 30 seconds then start running again. My second mile I realized if I took longer strides, I could run for a longer stretch. Don't know why, but even running more of the mile I was slower than taking the 30 second walk recoveries. Strange ..... but what do I know?

I realized that several years of listening to Edwin talk about fartleks, speedwork, overpronators and other things that I wasn't really interested in at the time, some of the things came to me as I was running and finally made some sense. I"m definitely an overpronator, meaning unless I really focus and pay attention I just look like a duck running out there, with my toes wanting to turn out. So especially when a car would come towards me I would focus on bringing my toes forward so I didn't look stupid. I think you have to "look" like you know what you're doing out there too, try not to look like your dying or out of breath.

Now I just need my own iPod .......

First beach run experience

Well yesterday I had my first beach run. I waited until 8pm to run thinking it would be the best time to go. I didn't realize you have to be careful running out there when it's getting dark - dodging sandcastles, jumping over motes, watching out for people just strolling along not paying attention to you.

It's a good thing Edwin brought "Pedro" - a GPS watch/mileage tracker thingie I bought him for Christmas - I would have passed our hotel if not for Pedro as it was dark by the time I completed my 2 miles.

My times were much much slower. Don't ever run after a day of sun, a drink and a sunburn. Not good combinations. Plus the wind blowing in your face feels good but it's hard to run against.

My first mile was 11:53, second mile 13:46. I know, terribly slow, but hey I"m just starting out. It confuses me because I've always been somewhat athletic, up until maybe 3 years ago. Cheerleading, tennis, basketball, raquetball, aerobics. Not saying I was good at any of it, but I could do it and enjoyed it. So now something that should be simple like running - heck my 3 year old runs everywhere! And it's kicking my butt!

I am c0nsidering some races - just to see if I CAN do them. I've done one 5k in my life. It was pretty sad :) I think it took me 40 minutes or so to run the 3.1 miles or whatever a 5k is . . . . I even offered to pay a police officer $100 to drive me to the finish line. He just laughed at me, the nerve . . . .


Anyways, vacation is going great. We wish we could live here and not have to go back to the real world. It's so nice just being a family and doing fun things together, hanging out at the beach, the pool, playing tennis (we bought the girls little raquets too), went to Schlitterbahn today. We haven't been much of a family lately so it's nice to remember how to do that. And the girls have been so good, not fighting or anything like that. Nice.

I'm officially a spitter now

Well, I've officially crossed a "line" today. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've actually SPIT in my life. I'm such a girlie girl. I may wear a ball cap alot, and not wear dresses often, but I'm still a girlie girl. But today I had to spit while running. Several times in fact.

I drank a ton of water an hour before we headed to the track but still, this Texas heat even at 5:30pm just makes you feel gross. I told Edwin later and he just laughed. But I found myself having to spit every lap or so.

I made it 2 miles in 22.5 minutes. My first mile was 10:09. Not a bad time for me. But after three laps on my second mile I told him I can't go any more. He told me to walk 30 seconds, run 30, walk 30 etc. I was able to finish out the second mile, but much slower than the first
mile. Second mile was 12:18.

I really don't see how people can continuously run 26.2 miles! Marathoners have a new found respect from me. Well, I think they are crazy, but I still respect their stamina.

I wish I had another woman close by who could run with me. Edwin does his speedwork at the track, so we are at the same place at the same time, but not actually running together.

Good news is I've lost about 3 pounds in the past week. So that's encouraging!

Off on vacation tomorrow, headed to Padre Island for a whole week, so I'll get to run on the beach for the first time!

Another day, a better run

I ran 1.81 miles in just over 20 minutes. I actually ran most of that way, i found that once I was tired, it was actually easier to keep running at a slow pace than to start walking, walking hurt . . . . weird . . . .

Going to do some ab work.

Goal: to get back in a comfortable 8 again, a 6 would be nice. Maybe by Christmas?? 20 pounds is the ultimate goal.

My first post

First of all I'm not a writer. Never have been.

Second I'm not a runner. Never have been.

But life had gotten mundane, marriage rocky, my physical self out of control. It's time for a change. I started running - if you want to call struggling to go one mile running. With a marriage that is taking on a new, better direction, and the need to drop 20 pounds I guess I'll try anything.

Plus if it gives me and my husband something to do together I'm willing to try, although I really hate running.

Today I went 1.5 miles at the track. Walked first lap, ran one, walked 100 meters, ran rest of lap and so on until I finished 6 laps.

Then off to the pool to cool off. I tried to swim laps, I'm so out of shape though that 4 laps killed me.

Maybe I'll start doing situps tonight too.