Tag: training

Rest Week Continues…

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I went for a short, fast run yesterday and found that my performance was greatly diminished from previous weeks, with more exertion giving less reward. This indicates to me that I may be risking over-training, especially considering I ran two races at full force a week apart from each other. Luckily, I love walking, and I plan to get some low-impact walking done in place of running for the next week.

Did I mention that the race on Sunday was brutal? It was. Very, very worth it, however.

Another interesting note about the past two weeks is that I seem to have lost a size. I haven’t lost enough weight, in my opinion, to lose an entire size in a month, but sure enough, yesterday I tried on a size 10 petite at Banana Republic and they fit – a little snug, but they fit. I also invested in my first pair of Spanx. With more than 100 lbs lost, I’ve been left with some lose skin, and I’m anti-cosmetic surgery (well, I’m anti-elective surgery, to be clear.) Spanx seem to be the safest, cheapest way to lift the derriere and tone the thighs, so here’s hoping they work as well as I hear they do!

I just checked my weight on my Weight Watchers Scale which also tallies my body fat% – I’ve found that I’ve lost about 1.5% body fat in the past month, which means that, to the best of my knowledge, I’ve actually managed to lose body fat when I’ve lost pounds this past month. I’m also beginning to believe that strenuous exercise turns my body into a calorie burning furnace. Not only am I more hungry the day or two after a race, I seem to be able to eat more than my alotted calories and still lose weight. It’s pretty remarkable.

Anecdotal, obviously.

Anyhow – I look to resuming running sometime early next week. But for now, I rest.

LIVESTRONG Challenge – 29:42 minutes, 5K

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According to my Garmin, this was the most hills I’ve run since I started training. I ran the 5K yesterday morning at a pace close to around 9:30 per mile, and by the time the finish line was in my sites, I was pushing myself to go further, meanwhile feeling an overwhelming urge to cry and hurl at the same time.

My time beat the challenge laid out before me, which was a 5K in under 30 minutes. This means that at the end of it, I raised $375 for LIVESTRONG – where none was required for runners.

The only thing I didn’t like about the race was that the cycling portions were competitive, but the 5K was not. We didn’t get chip-timing, which seemed to have been a possible option. I also didn’t get a tech t-shirt for raising the $250 minimum – I got the standard, oversized, bright yellow LIVESTRONG Challenge t-shirt. The cyclists got tech t-shirts. I know that Mr. Armstrong is a cyclist – and this is a cycling event, however – if you’re going to have triathlons and running events for LIVESTRONG, I’d think it to be just courtesy to have the same options for the runners or triathletes (yes, they cycle, I get that.)

It was overall a pretty great race. It’s hard not to get choked up – everyone has someone they’re running in honor or memory of. I had three people on my “in memory” and two on my “in honor” – and I forgot to add a few people on there. I put the first people who came to mind, one of them being a friend who died last year, who while he was undergoing cancer treatment and a secondary, life-threatening illness caused by the treatment, was still able to buoy me up during my crisis. I get choked up just thinking about it. I wasn’t super-close to Alex K. the way other people were, but last year he was able to cut through the bullshit and make me feel a little less isolated. He also had a bravery in the face of cancer that just kept me, and I think everyone who knew him, in awe. He is missed.

I’m sad that I don’t have another race planned for next month, but I’m sure I can change that easily. I’m resting this week, as that I’m feeling wrecked from yesterday. HILLS. MY GOD. HILLS. I had no idea there were so many hills around Seattle Center. 250ft elevation total! Last week’s race was flat. This was brutal. The GI distress I had lasted for about 2 hours after the race, and I was ravenous the rest of the day.

Yesterday was huge. I made a goal that I set for myself. I am 7 lbs from reaching the upper level of the BMI (which is bullshit, and actually, more generous because my body fat percentage is still too high.)

Today is rest – then I will gently resume training later in the week.

Wow. Go me!

Invincibility Through Endorphins

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I just came in from my most amazing run yet. I’m coasting an endorphin high after doing a short, fast run (only 15 min, but building up!) in my Five Fingers Sprints in a Seattle downpour. I went out, got completely drenched, ran the fastest that I could, and came back feeling triumphant. I threw my Sprints in the washer as that they were caked in mud on the top.

I’ve had Ani DiFranco in my head lately, and the song “Anticipate” from Live in Clip have running through my head. I have songs that go through my head while I run. Usually it has something about running or speed in the lyrics. I’m not sure what gets Anticipate in my head. Maybe it’s just the rhythm.

Here’s the breakdown of this run today:

  • Time: 00:15:02
  • Distance: 1.606 mi
  • Avg Pace: 09:19 min/mi
  • Avg HR: 171 bpm

If I can manage to keep this up for a full 5K, I might actually meet the challenge that was set up for me for my upcoming race (better than 30 min for 5K).

Now, to shower and get to my last ceramics class. 🙂

New Blisters and Minimalist Running

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Yesterday I went diving with my husband, a coworker of his, and that coworker’s significant other. Despite various traumatic events while diving (bull kelp ate one of my Apollo Bio-Fins!) I returned from the trip with a renewed gusto to try running my long run in my Vibram Five Fingers Sprints. Thanks to my husband’s coworker, I learned a new (to me) term: minimalist running. He actually was wearing another crazy model of minimalist shoes – though I can’t remember which ones they were for the life of me! It seems that there are people who barefoot run – really barefoot, and those who just run in the FiveFingers – and then others that run in other minimalist footwear.

It’s a whole, crazy world of running out there, let me tell you.

So that brings me to today’s run. I was achey, with my lungs still tired from all the hard work I did struggling against the bull kelp (IT’S ALIVE!), and I put off my run until the afternoon when I believed there to be a chance of sun. I further enticed myself by saying I would go without my regular cushy, supportive shoes, and go for my FiveFingers for my LONGEST RUN EVER without cushioning. My 40 minute run got me a lot of sweat and it looks like at least a couple of blisters. My legs felt all wobbly at the end of my run, my knees felt warm, and my big toes felt the worst of all of it. My trusty Garmin Forerunner 405CX gives me the following stats (among others):

  • Time: 40:15
  • Distance: 3.50 mi
  • Avg Pace: 11:30 min/mi
  • Avg HR: 141 bpm

Not bad, if I do say so myself. I started feeling the friction on my big toe about 20 minutes in, so the fact that I did that well is impressive (to me.)

I also have to state, for the record, that I have yet to really train on a flat surface. I end up doing small, but notable hills on every run. I can only hope this will make me a stronger runner come the LIVESTRONG Challenge.

The Speed of FiveFingers

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My ridiculous FiveFinger saga continued today as I broke my usual rule of running two days in a row, and broke out my Vibram Five Fingers Sprints for a short, fast run.

I couldn’t help myself. I’m beginning to think there’s secret crack in these shoes. What else could inspire such madness as to convince not just one reasonable person I know, but another to go out and run barefoot. I just couldn’t stand not doing a little run in them today. So, sure enough, I went out and did a 12:20 min run around my neighborhood. What was STELLAR about this run, was that my average heart rate was 140 bpm, and my average pace was 9:11 min/mi. Now, I’m not positive I could keep this up for a full 30 min to get me the 5K that I’m striving for in 2 weeks, however, I have to say that I’m pretty thrilled at the numbers for this morning.

Are these ridiculous shoes making me go faster?

Tomorrow I may give the same route/distance a try in my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10. These shoes are the antithesis of my FiveFingers, in that these are super-supportive for people who pronate.

This is madness, I tell you – madness.