Tuesday, May 31, 2011

First official Training Run ...

Tuesday, 5/31 - 30 Minutes of Running
  • 3.23 miles, 45' 04" minutes, 13' 58" min/mile average pace, 150 BPM average heart rate
According to Jeff Galloway's training program, each running workout should start with a 5 minute walking warm up, followed by a slow build up to your running stride over the next 5 minutes, and finished with a 10 minute walking cool down. Today, I did my workout on the treadmill using a 1.0% incline. I started my workout with a 5 minute walk at 3.0 mph, then increased my pace to a jog (3.5 mph) for the next 5 minutes. After I completed my warm up, I felt pretty good and decided to push myself a little bit so I increased my pace to 4.0 mph, which I maintained for 20 minutes! After that, I slowed my pace back to down to 3.5 mph to start cooling down for the next 5 minutes. I finished my workout with a 10 minute walking cool down. I ran for a total of 30 minutes today, which is what I planned to do. I felt really good after my run and I ended up going further than I had expected. I also felt strong during my run. Don't get me wrong ... I totally broke a sweat, but I felt like I could keep going. I decided against it because I don't want to get injured and I really want to try and follow my training schedule closely.  I am still working on my pacing so hopefully as a I progress I will get faster and stronger.

*On a side note, the paces that I gave were based off of the belt speed. I actually run faster than the belt mostly because I am afraid that the treadmill will chew me up and spit me out the other side if I don't.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Let the Training Begin ...

Monday, 5/30 - Strength Training
  • Kettlenetics - 47 minutes (Cardio Balanced Video)
A little over a month ago, I decided to add strength training to my training schedule as a way to improve my overall fitness level. I wanted to try and find a program that relied mostly on body weight because I want a lean, toned body and I simply don't have any fitness equipment besides a treadmill. When I was a swimmer in high school, I was diagnosed with swimmer's shoulder, which means I have tendinitis in my rotator cuffs causing severe pain when my shoulders are over used. For this reason, I have to be very careful about my choice of strength training. In my search for a program that would give me the results I was looking for, I found a kit called Kettlenetics Slim & Tone, which includes several workouts and a 4lb. Kettlebell. This program is not a traditional Russian Kettlebell workout and it doesn't claim to be. It is a cardio/dance inspired workout that uses the 4lb. Kettlebell for some added resistance. After doing more research about this program and the effectiveness of kettelbells in general, I decided to give it a try. I really, really like this program. The workouts are exactly what I was looking for and it challenges me every time I put the DVD in my player. I have been doing a workout 3 times a week for the last month and after every single workout I am drenched with sweat and can feel it in my glutes, abs and arms. My plan is to continue rotating between some of the longer workouts for the first six weeks of my training and then if I feel like my shoulders are up for the challenge I will increase the weight from 4 lbs. to 8 lbs.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Why do I run?

I read an article yesterday that made me stop and ask myself why. Why do I run? Why am I training for a half marathon? What is my reason? At first, my immediate response was that I run because I want to prove to myself that I can. But I already know that I can. I have been running consistantly for almost four months and have already run in two 5Ks. I know that I can run a half marathon especially if I train properly. Then I realized that I am doing this because I truly want to. I want to be a runner and I really want to be a distance runner. I am also doing this because I want to live a healthy lifestyle in honor of two wonderful women, my Aunt Debbie and my Aunt Sue. They will never see me run in person but I know that they are with me in spirit. If I can live a healthier lifestyle, that proves to be inspirational to others in my family and myself, then maybe no one will else will have to go through what they went through. Both of these women were diagnosed with cancer and passed away before they celebrated their 52nd birthday. My Aunt Debbie passed away from colon cancer in May 2002 and six years later her younger sister, my Aunt Sue, passed away from stomach cancer in April 2008. These women lived less than six months after being diagnosed and never had a fighting chance. Running has so many benefits and I hope that I will continue to reap them for the rest of my life.

Monday, May 23, 2011

How to train for a half-marathon ... or any race?

This question has been a persistent quandary of mine since I decided to try racing. There are tons of free programs out there as well as plenty of ones that you have to pay for. But how do you figure out which plan will work the best for you?

Last year, my New Year's Resolution was to start exercising and to make it a part of daily routine. As with many of my previous resolutions, my life ultimately got in the way. I became so busy with work that I barely had time to sleep and eat. I started eating out for every meal, which is never a good thing. When work finally slowed down, I promised myself that I would never let my work affect my personal health again. This year my resolution was a little more vague. I decided to live a healthier lifestyle and so far it is working. Since January, I have lost more than 30 pounds and have successfully started and maintained an exercise routine.

When I decided to run in my first race, I chose the Nike+ 5K training program. This program only requires 3 to 4 days of running, which really fit well into my schedule. I also chose that program because I already use the Nike+ system to keep track of my running data. My one problem with that program is that it really just told me how many miles to run each day and never mentioned anything about pacing or how to increase your running pace. I had never heard of speed work nor did I know how to incorporate it into my training. After that first race, I really started doing research into training for races and what the best way is to go about it. So far, my research has shown that no matter what training program you choose, there are three types of workouts that should be included each week: (1) speed workout, (2) tempo run, and (3) long run. Each type of workout plays a pivotal role in building up your endurance, strength and speed. The speed workout is usually a fartlek set or the Yasso 800s. The tempo run should be done at a pace that is close to the pace you want to run in your race. The long run, also known as an easy run, should be run at a pace much slower than the tempo run in order to avoid injury. The long run is used to increase your body's endurance threshold. Since signing up for my first half marathon, I have been loosely following another Nike+ program. I really like this one because it doesn't just say "run x number of miles" but it incorporates the 3 main elements of a good training program. Starting next week, I will be much stricter about my training effort. Next week will be 18 weeks before my first half marathon so it is time to really start training!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I think I must be crazy ....

When I crossed the finish line of my first race, I realized something ... I am a runner. When I first started running at the beginning of the year, I was using it as the exercise portion of my weight loss plan (also known as my lifestyle change). I never thought that it would be a defining characteristic of myself. In high school, I was a swimmer and I absolutely loved the long distance events. I carefree nature of just swimming endless laps is definitely something that I miss and hope to find again through running. So what that, I have taken the plunge into distance running. I don't think that I will be as good as an Olympic Marathoner but I do enjoy the endurance required to cover the longer distances. Within a week of crossing my first finish line, I signed up for my very first half marathon, Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon! Because this race isn't until the beginning of October, I figured that I would have plenty of time to train for the distance (about 24 weeks). My training focus for the first 12 weeks is to extend the length of time that I can for as well as the distance of my long runs. Right now, I can run for about 55 minutes on the treadmill and I can run/walk about 6.5 miles on the road. My goal for this race is to run the entire half marathon so far I feel that I am well on my way to achieving that goal.

Friday, May 13, 2011

My first official race recap .... Tampa May Classic 5K

For every race that I participate in I am going to try and write a race recap. I want to be able to relive every moment of the race and I think it will help me understand what I could have been better or what worked for me.

Crossing the Finish Line

On Saturday morning, I ran in the Tampa May Classic 5K. It was my second race ever! I was definitely worried about this race because I have been sick the last couple of weeks and therefore haven't been able to get in as many runs as I would have liked. Oddly enough though, I ended doing better than I wanted to. I read somewhere that it is a good idea to have at least one goal for a race to help you do your best. For this particular race, I had two goals: (1) beat my previos time of 40:37 and (2) run the entire race. My ideal race would have been to achieve both of my goals but I only achieved one. I started the race a little fast for my normal pace, mostly because I was trying to keep up with my friends who were running the race with me. Eventually, the fast pace caught up with me. I had to stop running to catch my breath and cough (stupid head cold got the best of me too). Unfortunately, once I stopped running it became easier for me to justify walk breaks as the race went along. I know that taking walk breaks is not the end of the world and many distance runners endorse taking walk breaks as you need them. One of my personal goals for this race was to run the entire distance without taking walk breaks though. Oh well, there is always the next race!

Monday, May 9, 2011

My first post ....

I never thought of myself as a blogger. I am usually very private abut my life but I decided that I wanted to share my stories of how I became a runner. I know that my life as a whole is not very exciting but hopefully I will be able to relate my triumphs and failures so that they aren't terribly boring.

So now for a little bit more about me ....

Recently, I became a runner. Now you might ask yourself, at what point does someone become a runner. For me, it was April 10th of this year. That was the date of my very first 5K and the day that I realized that I truly love to run. I actually started running on a rather regular basis on February 1st but it was more or less intended to help me lose some much needed weight. By the end of that first week, I had signed up for my very first race, the Athleta Iron Girl Clearwater 5K. Signing up for the race was only supposed to be a motivator for me to stay with it and continue to run 3 days a week. Little did I know that it would lead me down a path that has literally changed my life for the better.
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