In my usual on again / off again relationship with exercise I have finally gotten off my rear and started running again. Only 8 weeks until the 5k I signed up for so time to get moving. Yesterday was a great 4 miles. Today my legs are sore so it will be an easier day but need to get moving.
Just checking in and keeping to the running. Tonight was 3.1 miles. I did NOT want to go out and do it but I pushed on. Overall not a bad run and glad I got it done.
Keeping up with the every other day running. Race in 2 weeks. We’ll see if I improve on my July 4 5k.
Even though I haven’t posted in a few days I am still running. We went away on a family vacation and I fit two runs in during the five days we were away. We were staying on the beach and it was actually a lot of fun running on the beach just before sunset. I didn’t realize running on the beach would be so rough on my legs. It was a lot harder running on the packed sand then on pavement.
I have been consistent in running every other day and getting in my 3 to 4 miles. It is time to start upping the miles slowly but I am getting there.
Only 3 more weeks until my next race – King of the Hill 5k!!
Last night I cleaned out my closet and got rid of all my “big” clothes. All my pants I bought when I gained weight are in a bag waiting to be donated. So I guess that means I better keep up the running and weight loss or I am going to be spending money on “big” clothes again.
The other day I was “bragging” how I got a PR of 10:18 in the mile. That was a 30 second lowering over my previous PR of 10:48. Anyone who has rolled his/her eyes so far that over 10 minutes is a stroll can leave my blog now :-).
It has been raining here constantly the past few days. I’ve had a couple of training runs scheduled in the evenings when I seem to have some energy. I am drained mentally from the day but I have energy in my muscles.
Well, since it has been raining, I had to go out in the morning. I hate morning runs since I feel weak from not eating all night. I just wanted to get through my 3 miles and get my day going.
I went out and started going and felt pretty good. At about 1/4 mile I was feeling strong and pushing a bit at a 9:30/mile pace. I told myself if I could hit the 1/2 mile mark and not feel like I was going to puke I would push for around 10:00 for the mile. At the 1/2 mile mark I looked at my MotoActv and was at 8:50/mile pace and a heart rate of 167bpm. Well I told myself I was going to do it so time to start pushing.
I fell back at about 2/3 of a mile to a 11:00/mile pace. At 3/4 of a mile I was hurting but figured I had a good shot at 10:00 so it was time to push. I hit 0.9 miles at 9:30/mile pace and was at about 177bpm heart rate.
Then the angelic voice of the MotoActv digital voice came on and said “Begin lap 2” which means “You completed the first mile”. Then her voice came back and said “Congratulations you ran your fastest mile of 9:57”.
That’s right… Not only did I beat my goal of 10:00 I beat it by a whopping THREE seconds. Even when I trained for my half marathon I rarely went under 10 minute miles.
So Yay me!! I was stoked after I heard I came in under 10 minutes. Of course we won’t talk about the next two miles where I was dead legged and energy depleted.
Next goal…. 10 minute miles for all 3 miles!!
Because of all the rain lately in the evenings I’ve had to postpone my training runs. I usually run in the evenings when the sun is going down. If you have run in South Florida in the summer you know that a mid-morning or afternoon run where it is 85+ degrees at 70%+ humidity is not fun. This morning though I was determined to get up and go and not take a chance on another afternoon weather system moving in.
I don’t usually like running first thing in the morning because I feel depleted and weak. I didn’t have any expectations when I went out this morning just before 7am for a 3.1 mile run. I just want to finish those runs and not hit the wall too hard.
For some reason I was feeling good when I first went out so I decided to see how hard I could push. About 1/4 mile in I was feeling pretty good and pushing at a pretty decent pace for myself. At the 1/2 mile mark my heart rate was starting to go up but I thought I could push to beat my previous mile PR. About 3/4 in I was starting to doubt myself but I kept pushing. Then the nice British voice on my Motoactv came on and said “Start lap 2”. This really means you completed one mile. I looked down and the time said 10:18. I beat my previous PR for a mile by 30 seconds. I know 10:18 to some probably is a slow jog but to me it was pretty big.
So now I am stoked and walking around with a bit of a pep in my step today.
Well I haven’t been posting regularly. Unless you count this being my second post in 7 months regular?
I have stuck (mostly) to my running. I have been training about 3x per week at about 3 to 4 miles per run. In South Florida in the summer that means sweating profusely the moment the run starts.
I entered my first 5k on July 4. It was a local run with about 1400 of my closest neighbors running. I was came in just under 40 minutes which is where I wanted to be for my first 5k and about 6 weeks of actual training for the event. I realized I do a lot better keeping to my running schedule when I sign up for a race and have a goal. So I am now signed up for the September 1 King of the Hill race. In South Florida a “Hill” is considered an 800m portion of the race at 20% grade up the side of an old trash dump. My goal there is to get a new “PR”.
I’ve also been sticking to losing weight. So far down 30+ pounds and going.
Now to just keep up with this blog more 🙂
Well I finally got back into running and so far so good. I definitely haven’t gotten my distance legs back like when I did my first half marathon in January 2011 but it feels good to be running again. I feel more energetic, my head is clearer at work, and I feel less stressed overall.
It also doesn’t hurt that my beautiful wife got me a Motoactv. I love the gadgets and have gone through a few of them.
So far in four weeks I am down 6 pounds and counting…. I am looking forward to losing about 5x that amount in the coming months.
Random Thoughts and Stuff 