Crossing Over to Belief

Over the last few months, I've read articles here and there about running, training to run, technique, etc. all in an effort to figure out how to go about becoming a runner.  As multiple places have suggested, one should start off doing intervals - run for a bit, then walk for a bit - gradually increasing the amount you run and decreasing the amount you walk.  So I've been doing that. But I'm impatient and competitive and I probably haven't done enough of it.

Another thing I've read is that you should do two short to average runs during the week and then a longer one on the weekend.  I haven't done that as much because I haven't really gotten to the point of actually running much yet.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday, I headed into town to the Y, planning on doing more intervals on the treadmill.  I picked my treadmill in front of a big window, looking down on the street where I could watch the traffic and people strolling around town on a Saturday morning.  To my left was a gal that was full-on running, around 8.0 mph.  Wow.  She looked so smooth and just kept running and running...

I started off walking, working up to my quick walking pace (between 4.0 - 4.3 mph).  I figured I'd do a 10 minute warm up and then do a 12 minute mile.  I started out jogging and felt pretty good.  As I was nearing the 12 minute mark, I thought "I'll try to go about 18-20 minutes".  So I forged on. 

About that time a girl got on a treadmill to my right and started walking.  After a few minutes she started doing some intervals, jogging for a bit, then walking.  I was silently cheering her on, recognizing what she was doing.

Before I knew it my 20 minute goal had come and gone and I was feeling no pain.  My legs felt strong and solid and I was in a good rhythm. I had previously been jogging at 4.8mph but wondered how I'd do if I upped it a bit.  So I increased it to 5.0.  And it didn't really make much difference.   My main challenge all along was my breathing. I have a tendency to concentrate on my breathing too much instead of just letting my body breathe when it needs to.  So instead I focus on my music, singing in my head, and try to just forget about regulating my breathing. 

All along I kept expecting to "hit the wall" any minute. I couldn't believe I was cruising along, actually RUNNING (albeit slowly) for longer than a few minutes.  I dare say I felt a bit of that "runner's high" you hear people refer to, and MAN it felt good. 

I started philosophizing and realized that I was in a bit of a metaphorical situation.  On my left was the fast runner-girl, obviously with all kinds of endurance and strength, and on my right was the girl trying to train her body to run, pushing herself a bit at a time.  And I was in between them, literally and figuratively.  Not too long ago I was that girl just starting to train her body to run.  And I dream of being the runner that can just go and go.

I ran for 40 minutes straight, managing to go a bit under 3.5 miles without stopping. I'm not going to win any races at that pace, but I'm not worried about speed right now. I'm just going to cling to the knowledge that I AM capable of it and use it to build on.

Yesterday showed me that, for now, I'm solidly in between those two girls.  When I realized that I was crossing over into actual "I'm a runner" territory, I felt myself fill with a huge feeling of accomplishment and pride.  I suddenly was running with my head held higher and a bit of a grin on my face.  I'll admit, I even had to stem the sudden sting of tears that threatened.  I was just so damn proud of myself and surprised that somehow I had managed to teach this old body to RUN. 

At this rate, I'm starting to believe I may actually get to cross off one of the goals I set for myself in 2010.

True Story Tuesday - Bookworm

Well, look at that...it's Tuesday again. 

I have read three books in the last seven days:  Mina and Bread and Dreams by Jonatha Ceely, and Food Rules by Michael Pollan.

True story.

I think the two by Jonatha Ceely have secured themselves a place on my All-Time Favorite Books list.  I couldn't read them fast enough yet didn't want them to end. 

True story.

I was awake until 12:30am last night devouring the last hundred pages of Bread and Dreams.  I HAD to know how it ended.  And today I'm sad I'm done with it.  I already miss the characters.

True story.

 

Now that I've read one of Michael Pollan's books, I want to read the others.  And soon.

 

True story.

 

I can't imagine a life without books. 

 

True story.

True Story Tuesday - Brought to you by Puffs Plus & Dayquil

I have been fighting some crummy bug/illness since Thursday. And while it started out as a simple annoying sore throat and a little stuffiness, it has evolved into a full blown snot-fest, complete with incredible sinus pressure, neck achiness, a barky cough and a headache that multiple Canadian codeine tablets only barely helped.

True story.

The whole time I have been under the weather, I have been worried about my training.  Like, how far am I going to be setback because of this stupid bug?  And it's making me very cranky to think that I'll have to start off walking again, instead of continuing to increase my running.  I'm VERY ANXIOUS to get back to the gym. 

True story.

I have layed around and watched more crappy TV in the last two days than I have in the last six months.  Prime example of my illness is the fact that I watched multiple episodes of Real Housewives of Orange County.  On purpose.  Me watching that crap?  A sure sign of sickness.  And boredom.

True story.

BUT. I think I may be on the mend.  After calling in sick to work for two days (which I loathe doing) I'm actually upright and showered this afternoon and feeling a bit hungry, something I haven't felt in days. 

True story.

True Story Tuesday - Blech Edition

Yesterday I strayed from my healthy eating plan, back to my old ways.  Zoe and I had to return something at the mall and she was hungry so we shared a personal size cheese pizza and breadsticks at Target.  I barely made it home, I was suddenly SOOOO sleepy while driving.  I came home, crashed on the bed and zonked out. 

True story.

For dinner, I made shredded chicken tacos and only had two.  And I felt like I'd eaten a horse.  I ached like a bloated cow.

True story.

I decided a beer sounded good with dinner so I indulged in one.  It tasted wonderful but I was left with a headache and feeling mildly queasy.

True story.

I don't think I'll be eating two meals like that again in the same day.  I felt horrible!  Even though I didn't eat a large quantity, it was the quality of the stuff that really did me in.  Ugh.  I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

True story.

Chasing Pavements

I'm happy to report that I've been pretty consistent with my workouts the last few weeks.  With the weather being nasty and cold, I go to the gym on the mornings that Zoe has preschool (which is Tues/Thurs).  Then I try to sneak a workout in on the weekend.  With the addition of modifying my eating and really keeping track of what I put in my mouth, I am feeling GOOD.  The scale has remained steady at a number that makes me happy and yet I don't feel like I'm heading into "scary thin" territory.  With the workouts I've been doing, I've been consciously making an effort to eat enough protein, cut my carb intake down a little, increase the fiber and calcium and keep taking my vitamins.  I've recently added fish oil to my vitamin repertoire after doing a bunch of reading on the benefits of it.  And considering we aren't big seafood eaters, and the fact that I don't care for salmon, I need to get my Omega 3s somehow.  I've even started giving it to the kids in liquid form. But that's another post.

The last week or so the weather has been surprisingly spring-like.  While California is getting hammered with storms and tornado warnings, those of us in the Seattle area have had lovely days with temperatures in the 50's.  I'm not sure it's going to last much longer, but I've sure been enjoying it.  I even caught myself starting to think about my flowerbeds and garden and thinking "I need to get started figuring those out!" and then I caught myself and remembered it's still January.  Duh.

Craving a little fresh air and wanting to test myself a bit, I headed out for a walk/run on Thursday.  I've been doing some intervals on the treadmill at the gym but wanted to see how actually pounding the pavement felt.  So I headed out, warmed up by walking the first 3/4 mile then actually managed to run the next mile!  Without stopping!  And there weren't even any rabid dogs chasing me!!  Go me!  (And by "run" I mean that geriatric amputees could have passed me.) Even more impressive was that I managed to make it up a decent hill I encountered without having to stop to hork up a lung.  After that, there were two baby hills that I showed who was boss then it was flat to the mile marker.  I walked the mile back, then ran the 3/4 mile home.  And then I collapsed and died and my 4 year old did CPR and revived me. 

Then on Saturday my friend Paula came out to run with me.  She has been a great encouragement and motivator in my desire and attempt to become a runner.  I took her on the same route that I went on Thursday but we went even further.  I was able to run that same mile, up the hills and everything, even though Paula did kind of smoke me on the uphills.  It's okay.  I know I'm just starting out and it's not a race.  Yet.  :)   She gave me all kinds of pointers and tips, although I'm not sure I really was able to put any of them into practice mid-run, what with not being able to feel my legs and all.  We completed about 5 miles, running probably at least half of that.  I came home tired (and ravenous), but feeling proud of my effort.  I have to confess, it was my first time running with someone.  EVER.  I probably didn't give Paula much of a workout, but her company was certainly appreciated and enjoyed.  I hope she'll run with me again. 

It feels good to be challenging myself this way.  I like focusing on my health and my fitness.  I've always loved physical challenges and pushing myself to see what I'm capable of.  I grew up being very active, played sports all through high school and played softball and soccer in my early to mid-20's.  Now that my kids are a bit older & independent, I'm hungry for those challenges again and the sheer fun of it.  And I'm trying to set a good example for them by living healthily and taking care of myself.  They and their daddy are, afterall, my main reason for living.

Monday Hodgepodge

It's Monday again.  This week, it's a good thing as it means a couple days off after working all weekend.   But a day off after working the last three means lots of catching up, laundry, cooking, cleaning and doing all the things that didn't get done.  So forgive me, but I'm resorting to a bulleted post because otherwise this post would be very random.

~When the calendar turned over to a new year, I renewed my dedication to better eating.  I figured if I'm going to be busting my behind trying to get in shape, the least I could do was not sabotage my efforts by rewarding myself with french fries every time I walked further than the bathroom.   So I've revamped my diet and have been keeping track of what I'm eating with this cool site.  For me, journaling what goes in my mouth keeps me aware of where I need to improve and helps me track important nutrients, like fiber and calcium.   I'm happy to report that in the last 10 days or so of doing this, my scale tells me I'm down 6 lbs.  My goal isn't to lose weight per se, just to make better choices and give my body better, healthier stuff in order to get the most out of my workouts.  Apparently, my body likes this and is rewarding me, which is okay with me.

~One of my goals for the year was to find a babysitter and I'm happy to report that I think I can cross that one of my list.  One of the mom's in Zoe's preschool class has a teenage daughter, and it occurred to me that maybe she would be interested in babysitting. So I talked to the mom who said that J, the daughter, had been asking her if she knew anyone who needed a babysitter.  I think it'll work out perfect: J has two little sisters of her own so is used to dealing with younger kids, she only lives about 6-7 minutes away, she's technically still in high school but is doing Running Start and has lots of free time.  She's going to come over this week to meet the kids, see where we live and get the lowdown and hopefully we can put her to work soon.  Date nights, coming up!

~Last Wednesday my puppy, Tessa, ran off to the neighbor's cow pasture and didn't come home.  I last saw her at about 3pm and both Hubby and I spent the evening looking for her, calling her, asking the neighbor's if they'd seen her, driving up and down the road, but to no avail.  To say I was upset, well...that would be an understatement.  I woke up at 5am with a crying hangover after a fitful attempt at sleep.  When Josh and my dad headed out to work that morning, he spotted Tess over in the same pasture where I'd last seen her and went over and got her.  I think she was actually stuck in the pasture and couldn't figure out how to get back to where she got in.  I was SO thankful to have her home again. Even though we've only had her about 6 months, I've gotten very attached to her and not having her underfoot felt like a member of the family was missing. 

~ I had a lovely day with my friend Paula last week and I think she's going to help me with my running.  Having done several marathons herself, and striving to do a 50k (which, uh, is like 31 miles), she assured me I could easily run a half.  Well, I'm not sure it'll be easy but it helps to have someone who's "been there, done that" on my team, who can help me train the right way.  I think she's going to be a bit of a taskmaster if/when I run with her, but it's probably what I need. 

And with that, it's time to work on another one of my goals:  less computer time. 

Bye!

At A Loss

I just learned that a childhood friend who has been battling cancer for the second time in her short life has lost her battle. 

Please, if you have any prayers or positive thoughts, could you send them to Trina's family?? 

I'm at a loss for words.