I Just Wanted To Be Athletic - And Now, I Am! (comments welcome)

[kimwim8]

Hey Corinna! Congrats on having a definite TOT partner!! That's gonna be SO much fun!!! I want a trip report when you get back!!!

Also, you really HAVE changed a lot in a short time, just from what I've read. Your mindset has changed and your body is changing (congrats also on dropping another size! That's AWESOME!!)

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

 

[corinnak]

I just did a "long" run, I think. Well, I tried to. I ran 30 minutes, a little more than 2 miles at 2% elevation and 4.3mph which is pretty good for me! Then I walked about half a mile and ran another mile and a half a little slower, a little less elevation for a total of 4 miles, if you count that walk break in there. Then I walked a little further to cool down and all together totaled almost 5 miles. I always have mixed feelings when I take a walk-break. On the one hand, I know there is no shame in it and if it helps leapfrog me ahead to a longer distance, that's good. In fact, I RAN 3.5 miles today, which is up from my longest run anyhow, so any way you look at it, I bettered myself (bested myself?) today. So I just have to get another 3 miles piled on (and hopfully with more running than walking) by October 27.

I had had thoughts of running outside, but ended up not doing that. I forgot about a little thing called pollen. Apparently my "allergic time" is here early this year. I am usually sniffly, sneezy and itchy the last two weeks of June. Well, that is OK. The treadmill is boring, but does the job.

I think I will crosstrain on Monday. This "Dance to Fitness" tape keeps catching my eye. Then I'll run again on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with the "long run" on Saturday and podfitness on T, TH.

Hot diggety, I have a plan!

Oh,Kim, I will definitely provide a trip/race report for you.

 

[kimwim8]

Hot diggety, I have a plan!

Oh,Kim, I will definitely provide a trip/race report for you.

Great plan, Corinna - and AWESOME run today! Don't ever feel bad about walking during your runs. I've met some marathoners on here that run/walk every run they do, short or long. During my long runs, I just about always walked a portion of it. There's absolutely no shame in it. You're out there, moving, burning calories, expending energy and ROCKIN' IT! Keep up the GREAT work!

And I really look forward to the trip/race report!

 

[corinnak]

There's absolutely no shame in it. You're out there, moving, burning calories, expending energy and ROCKIN' IT! Keep up the GREAT work!

Thank you Kim! I will try to think of it that way. I think I got this "run straight through" stigma from the C25K a little bit. I think I am happier increasing not by adding minutes on to the end, but instead by taking a little walking breather at the end of my longest distance and then doing another leg after that. I didn't really like the Galloway method when I tried it - I felt like I kept getting interrupted before I was able to get into a groove. I guess that different things work for different people. OH, the other hard thing about walking breaks is that it is hard to know the difference between needing to take one and just feeling lazy about running. It always seems like it would be easier to slow down, and I have to talk myself into keeping on going to a certain point even if I am not out of breath or anything! I can't believe how much of it is truly about "mental toughness."

 

[corinnak]

It was another podfitness day. Not much in the hills department today, though. Lots of 6mph intervals. They aren't such a big deal anymore. Amazing. It turned out to be over 3 miles by the time I finished, too, which was nice. What was not so nice was that as I was starting the cool-down, my kids started getting mad at each other and I ended up sending my older child upstairs just to get them away from each other. I don't love summer vacation. I finished up with a sad 3 year old, which is not the most relaxing way to end a run. Or a run/walk.

I thought I was having a crummy WW day - eating too much waiting for dinner and all that. I put it all into the tracker, though, and it wasn't so bad as all that. I used 2 of the 5 activity points I had earned on the run, but that's it. Actually, not bad at all.

My weight was down a little this morning. I am getting quite close to the next daily food allowance cut. I am looking forward to being under 175, but am not looking forward to deleting two points from my day.

The pollen is a problem. I am taking claritin for that. Taking an antifungal for my longstanding, uh, fungal issue. Taking vitamins and the chondro-relief joint supplement which seems to have helped my knees a lot. I am turning into an old person, what with all these pills.

 

[corinnak]

After every run, I feel a vague sense of dissatisfaction, a keen awareness of where I need to improve still. So much. And yet, I also have a very definite feeling of achievement.

Tonight, I ran the first mile of my run at 5mph on my treadmill. I ran the whole mile at that pace which used to be my sprint. I really did. I took a little walk break and then ran the next mile at 4.3mph. Which is still fast for me, actually. Another little walking break and then the last 5 minutes at 5mph again. With the walking breaks, it doesn't actually even out to being much faster than if I just slowly plodded through the whole thing, but it is kind of fun to mix it up, even so. My legs actually feel worse than they have recently, which means....I don't know what. They don't ache or suffer, really. Just a little tired feeling. And the sweat tonight was.....well.....copious. Which, along with making me feel kind of moist and icky, also makes me proud. I am sweating copiously from vigorous exercise! It's very exciting. And a little gross.

 

[kimwim8]

Hey girl. Hope all is going well for ya! Those last few runs were AWESOME!!

Keep on sweating, Corinna! You ROCK!!

 

[corinnak]

Oh, I sweated this weekend. Lots of sweat. I accompanied my son to cub scout camp from Friday night to Sunday afternoon and it was hot, humid, buggy and exhausting. Yesterday, my feet felt as though I had spent about 3 days at Disney World but had somehow ended up covered in bug bites with a sore back. Oh, and the food was not as good, but I still ended up probably eating too much mediocre cafeteria food.

We spent the nights in a two-person canvas tent on a platform. There were little rickety cots with thin mattresses on top which were fine, but much better when I got the mosquito netting set up. Thank goodness for that mosquito netting. It wasn't so bad inside the tent, but the netting made it actually nice with no buzzing in the ears or anything.

I didn't do a formal run, but did have to dash back from the pool to the campsite twice. Once to get goggles for the swim test, the second time to get swimsuits for a swimming session I had failed to anticipate happening before a break. It wasn't too far, but it was hot and humid so I didn't have either the speed or the endurance I would have liked. There was LOTS of walking at this large beautiful scout camp, though.

We had a good time and there were many firsts for my boy this weekend. First pony ride. First time paddling a canoe. First time sleeping in a tent, even! We got home yesterday all exhausted and bug-bitten despite liberal use of the bug repellent, and at bedtime, I got a BIG, BIG hug. I asked him if he was trying to say that he loved me or thank you and he said both. Then he said "I had a GREAT time." He is not usually so dramatic in his positive response to things, so I think that in spite of the challenges and the need to "toughen up" a little, or maybe because of those things, the whole long, hot, buggy weekend was completely worth it.

I am planning to run tomorrow. And I have less than a week until we leave on our next adventure. Seriously. We're going to Michigan next. Leaving on Saturday. I can't quite wrap my brain around how much packing I have to do. I haven't even done the laundry from this weekend yet. It is good to be home, however briefly.

 

[corinnak]

Oh, I forgot that there was one especially silly story from the weekend.

It was Saturday night, time for the small, community camp fires and DS was looking around for kindling for the fire. All of a sudden, I hear him exclaim "D@#n sticks don't work!" And I storm over to him and say "You can't talk like that at camp!" and he says "What??" And I say very quietly, "You said
"Damn sticks don't work!" And he says "No I didn't." But I had heard him! He said "I said DAMP sticks don't work." Doh! Of course. They don't. I said "Next time, say MOIST sticks don't work or WET sticks don't work!"

 

[kimwim8]

Hey Corinna! That story is TOO funny. I would have thought the same thing with the damp sticks.

How awesome that you got to share that time with your DS. That's something he'll always remember. I'll bet you got in some serious miles over the weekend.

How did your run go today?

 

[corinnak]

It was an amazing weekend in a lot of ways and I am thinking we are both going to remember that trip as the years go by. It has been rare for he and I to have so much time on our own together since his brother was born. Also, it is good to be a mom at scout camp. It is the only place I have experienced there being a line for the men's restroom and one other person in the women's.

My run yesterday - I am glad you asked because I spent the whole day not doing it, got home late from visiting dear friends we won't see for a while, and then I got your message when I got home at about 9pm. I thought - well, I had been planning to run, but now I really HAVE to run!

So I decided to do what I considered to be the best of the podcast workouts that I have gotten so far - treadmill workout #3 which has a bunch of 6mph stints and in between, it has hills. Yes, and this is my favorite, which I am sure says something. It went pretty well. I still have a sore spot in my upper back from when I fell and landed on my caboose and felt the shock-wave travel right up my spine. I have seen the chiropractor once since this, but apparently once was not enough to correct this trauma. It didn't really impact my run too much, but the crunches afterwards did not actually happen because of it.

I talked to Austin about the little bit of running I did over the weekend and he told me about how the heat and humidity ruin everyone's speed and endurance, so I don't feel SO bad about not being able to comfortably run from the pool to the tent those times. Last night's run was really good in that the 6mph minutes actually felt pretty good - not a struggle to keep up at all, and the hills to walk weren't bad either. I actually bumped the speed up to 6.6 mph during one of the intervals and was able to do that for the rest of the interval as well, which was really cool.

I weighed myself yesterday, too. I was down another 1.4lbs in spite of all that cub scout food last weekend. When we got home on Sunday after the 45 hours we had spent at scout camp, my feet felt like they do after about 3 days at Disney. That is how much walking there was and how busy we were while we were there. I kind of wished I had worn my Garmin, but I don't think it would have had enough charge to track the whole weekend.

So with the new 1.4 lbs, that is a total loss of 23.8! Next week, should bring a daily points reduction, if I lose again, but I can hardly wait to get to that arbitrary 25 pound mark! My passport picture, taken in March, is becoming an increasingnly bad photo ID for me, I must say.

 

[C_leen]

Hi Corinna!

Way to go on your steady weight loss & forcing the run into your day! Sometimes you just have to make it happen!

I saw you are heading to MI. Hope you have a great time! Get a few runs in and hopefully a nice walk in some singing sand.

Colleen

 

[corinnak]

Thanks Colleen!

Forcing a run into the day is just about what it takes sometiems, isn't it? It feels good to make it happen even when it is not the easiest thing.

I plan to get a bunch of running in while I am in Michigan and have a 5K race or two I hope to do there as well. Hopefully the weather will co-operate. My kids are SO looking forward to the beach. I'm afraid I don't know about the singing sand, though - what is that about?

 

[kimwim8]

GREAT job on the loss......AND for getting that run in!!!

You are just such an inspiration to me, girl.

 

[C_leen]

Some of the beaches have sand that 'squeaks' when you walk on it. It is a pretty rare thing for sand to 'sing'. Don't forget walking & running in sand is a great work out!

Have fun!

 

[corinnak]

Colleen,
That is so interesting about the sand - what part of the state is that in? We are up north near Petoskey and I have never heard the singing sand thing before.

I don't think I can actually run on the beach, but I will do my best to get some running done one way or another.

Generally, my run today was pretty good. I ran 3 miles, starting out at 4.5 treadmill MPH and eventually getting as slow as 4.0 treadmill MPH. I don't know how long it took because I was trying out the heart rate program on the treadmill and it didn't start counting off the minutes....ever. And the monitor seemed to be having trouble. It seemed right for a while, but then it said my heart rate was 56, which was just wrong. Eh - whatever. My slow speed now is what my fastest running speed used to be, so that is pretty nice.

 

[C_leen]

HI Corinna-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_sand

Have fun!

 

[corinnak]

Hi Colleen!

Now that is interesting about the singing sand - I had no idea! Really, we are going to be well north of the two places named on that website in Michigan, but I would love to see that someday! Sounds like very specific conditions are required.

I'll do my best to have fun - I really will! Oh, and I am bringing the computer, so I will still be around.

 

[corinnak]

Ah, Michigan. We arrived on Saturday and I just got the modem set up today - the cable variety. What a hassle. I will not get into it, but there were two calls to tech support before it was all working properly.

I didn't run on Saturday - the hubub of departure day was too much for me to have crammed in a little jog even, so it was a sad thing, but that is the way it goes sometimes. I did not run on Sunday either because between doing the grocery shopping and getting all unpacked and set up, and the kids, it just wasn't going to happen.

Today was another story, though. Today, the kids had their camp program in the morning, even the 4 year old, so once I finally got him all squared away and involved - it took a while, and I'm not the mom to just leave a distressed kid or sneak away, so I sat in the circle for a little while and left just as they were starting the ABC's and everything was fine. I got going on my run at about 10am, and it was the first outdoor run since the 5K. The sidewalks around here are all concrete, though, and so I ended up running on the road mostly. It worked out OK. There wasn't a ton of traffic and there are good little grassy/packed dirt shoulders on the road I mostly ran on. So the upshot is: 3.1miles in 38:15, which is about as good as I ran in the 5K last month. It was a warm morning and there was no race-boost, so I am really happy with that time. Then I walked a little longer to "cool down" but then to get back to my house, I climed 90 steps. We are on a bluff, and it was either that or up a hill on the road. The steps are hard, but the nice thing is that last year that walk up the hill did leave me huffing and puffing a little. This year, walking up the hill, I am not even breathing hard at all. Oh, I love the bonuses.

SO I am officially off my schedule. Things are so different here, though there will have to be a new schedule. It will work out, I'm sure.

Oh, and like an idiot, I put sunblock on my face, but seem to have neglected my arms. So I am working on my farmer tan, I guess. Not that I tan. Burn and freckle. I will do better next time in that department.

 

[corinnak]

Yesterday, I ran my fastest 5K time ever - 36:15 is pretty darned improved in my mind. It wasn't even a race - just a regular old run. I walked about .4 miles and then ran the rest of the distance to 4 miles. The weather was pretty good, though today is better - 60 degrees out and I'm not out there running - crazy! Hopefully tomorrow will be the same, though I have a car appointment in the middle of the morning. I'll have to make it a quick run, I guess.

In other news, I now have a scale here and it is just like the one at home, or at least mostly, so I figure they probably agree, right? Anyhow, according to this new scale, I lost a pound last week. Nothing to complain about, especially with the stress of travel and a few meals out and dessert last night. I ordered a sandwich (and it is a grilled one, but has veggies) without the chips and so he brings it out and there are FRIES. Ugh! Well, I didn't make him take away the fries, I just toughed it out and didn't eat them. I had been planning on a rare dessert and it would be stupid to have both and almost as stupid to have the fries and then not have the dessert. All in all, I think I did OK

I guess there are some who would say you shouldn't have the dessert, but I say this. I very rarely have the dessert when we go out - sometimes a little dish of ice cream -and I weigh the stuff so as not to overserve the 1/2 cup serving, which is a lot smaller than you'd think - but here's the thing. If you don't have the dessert SOMETIMES, that is deprivation and deprivation in the long term leads to demoralization which leads to giving up and/or quitting.

Even so, I need to be careful. I need to be careful not to lose my focus on becoming more athletic, being a better runner and staying healthy long term. One small ice cream sundae isn't going to ruin that, but if I let everything slide while I am traveling, I am going to lose track of my goals quickly. Which is why I have a scale here now. And a food scale. And a pantry full of the foods I need. I get a little boost every time I climb to the top of the bluff and don't have to pause or even slow down to catch my breath. Similarly with the 91 stairs to the top of the bluff on the other side - They seem to be harder than walking up the steep road, but I walked right up them this morning without even getting winded. That never happened last year, and I am impressed with myself for getting to this place where I can do these things without taxing my body at all. My body is not surprised to be asked to do hard stuff!

Someone asked me yesterday how far I had run and I said "It was just three miles." Not meaning that I usually run 10, but I am aware that 3 miles is not that far in terms of distance running. I also realized I am no longer daunted by that distance, neither physically or mentally. I mean, I am pleased to be able to do that distance, but it doesn't beat me up to do it anymore. It's not a remarkable thing for me to run 3 miles!