First Half-Marathon in 9 Years... DONE

So I clearly suck at blogging.

Anyways, since my last post, I've completed 3 10ks, 1 10-miler, and a half-marathon.

I will say this.  At times, I wasn't sure I could do it.  Yesterday's half-marathon was horrible.  I honest-to-God wanted to quit at mile 11.  The weather was perfect, but walking is sooooo much harder than running.  And the bridge.  THE BRIDGE.

Oh, yeah - I did the Texas Bridge series - 2 10ks and 1 half-marathon over crazy high bridges.

I'm hoping that my horrible experience was due to the following things.  (1) The damn bridge, (2) the stress from my dog almost dying this week, spending $3k and almost every day at the vet's office - which is 25 miles away, (3) the stress of maintaining a certain pace by mile 8 so that I could cross over the bridge and finish, and (4) it was such a boring route - no one cheering except at water stations.

I know also it was hard because of the excess weight.  Even though I've lost 60lb this year, I still have a long way to go before getting back to what I was when I finished half-marathons relatively easy.

I have one more half-marathon that I'm signed up for - Houston.  After that, I think it's time to stop training for a race and focusing on losing weight, my running form, and my cardio health.  Seriously, walking this one just totally fucked with my mind.

And I think I'll stick to flat courses.

Will I ever do half-marathon again?  Not as a walker.  Maybe if I run again and can get to a 13-minute pace.

I Forgot the Soreness

Ugh.  Building back up sure does suck sometimes.

So I didn't go to last week's long run because, well, I was in a car accident the night before 300 miles away from home.  I'm almost healed, but my car is still 300 miles away.  Hopefully I'll get it back soon.

Anyhoo, last week was a rough one.  As I was away for a work conference, I did not get my three training walks in - but I did use the elliptical almost every day, so I was working on different muscles/muscles that haven't been used in a while.

So I needed to get back into gear this week.  Due to rain, I opted out of Monday's walk, but I did Tuesday and Thursday- I walked for about 60 minutes at a comfortable pace.  I'm glad I did that, otherwise I might be MORE sore today.

Yesterday's long run was GREAT.  We did 4 miles, and I felt awesome on my 4th - like I could have kept going.  I'm continuing with negative splits, which makes me happy, and added more jogging in the 4th mile.  I'm a work in progress, but I'm getting there.

Average: 18:17/mile
Mile 1: 18:50
Mile 2: 18:15
Mile 3: 18:15
Mile 5: 17:51

I'm getting there.  I'm getting stronger.  With a bit more weight loss and cooler weather, I hope I will be down to 16 minutes/mile by the half marathon.

I am quite sore today - and I forgot about that.  I wanted to continue to work out on Sunday, but I think I'll just have to suck it up and use it as a rest day and just not worry about getting 10k steps (which is my daily goal).  I'm not so sore that I can't move, but I know a workout will be a pathetic attempt.    I just realized the gym across the street from me has a pool, so I think I'll get in the habit of going there Saturday afternoons to make up for my lack of a bathtub.  Gotta figure out how to soak somehow, and the swimming might be a good way to work those muscles gently.  My feet right now are what hurt the worst - which is quite understandable due to my weight gain.

BUT I'M NOT ON MY COUCH ANYMORE.  I'm allowing post-run/walk sweaty pictures of my to go on Facebook.  At first, I was too self-conscious because, let's face it, fat sweaty people are far from cute.  But then I got to thinking - who gives a shit?  Might as well be vulnerable and show people that I'm really doing it.  And I'm celebrating it.

Ciao!

Training Week 2

Well, training week 1 went pretty well.  After last Saturday's walk, I managed to keep everything going.  On top of my normal workouts, I did a 45-min walk Monday, 30 minutes on Tuesday, and 40 minutes Thursday.

For long walk #2, things went much smoother.  I again wasn't the last one in, I had negative splits, and I didn't want to pass out or vomit afterwards.  Also, I tried jogging/intervals walking for 4:30 and then light joggings at :30.  With my knees and ankles and feet, the jogging will be super slow.  No worries.  I'm all about safely finishing.

So, total was 55 minutes and 24 seconds.
Splits: Mile 1- 18:50
Mile 2 - 18:25-ish
Mile 3: - 18:05-ish

Average time: 18:27  Considering I'm still 85 pounds away from where I was when I last ran/walked, AND the fact that it was in the upper 80s, early 90s, I'll take it.

I feel good about this.  I shaved off 1 minute and 24 seconds, and dropped my average time from 18:56 to 18:27, all while feeling fine.  Definitely my strength training, squats, and water consumption went well this week.  In a perfect world, I'd shave another 27 seconds off my average time next week, but the odds might be stacked against me.  Training in another city all week means my workouts and eating will be unsure.  And it's still freakin' hot outside.

AND I hit a big milestone this week: I have officially lost 50 pounds since January.  I only need to lose another 85 to get back to where I was the last time I finished a half-marathon, but I think I'm going to try for another 100.  We'll see.

Ciao!

The Aftermath

So, yesterday I woke up with a surprise - slightly sore hips.  Slightly sore calves.  What is this?  I only walked 3 miles (albeit in the heat and as fast as my short legs and big ass could take me).

So, between that and the heat, I had a good wake-up call.  Sometimes I really like wake-up calls, especially if I know what to do.

Time to make some changes.

Change #1: Make sure I do the three weekly small walks.  Not a big deal.  I'm not going to stop my aerobics now (although I may change my mind later as my walks increase), but I can tack on 3 30-45 minute easy evening walks.

Change #2: More water.  Hydration is super important.  I completely forgot to drink extra water Friday and drink before my walk Saturday.  So I'm going to make it a point to drink my water this week.  Let's see if I feel better then.

Change #3: Focus on stretches.  I'm not good stretching with minor workouts, but in the long-run, I think I'll be better.

So, more walking, more water, more stretching.

Let's see how this week goes.

Tonight, on the schedule is a 45 minute easy group walk followed by core and strength.  This morning, I'm doing an 80 minute aerobics workout and a 20 minute upper body strength routine.   The 45-minute walk will be good to get all loose from today.

I also had to re-order many things I used to own: a hydration belt, body glide, double-layer socks.  Thank you, Amazon.  I went shopping AND I get mail.  Best of both worlds.

Ciao!

First walk: DONE

Today, I had my first training walk with Bay Area Fit, the group I ran with in 2007/2008.  Not going to lie: I was nervous as hell.  I have gained a significant amount of weight, I haven't done any walking of a significant distance in a while, and it was hot outside.

But it went well.  Thankfully I've been doing 1-2 hours of aerobics daily.  I wasn't breathing as heavily as people near me, and I don't hurt at all.  My legs are super-strong (that 30-Day Squat Challenge I'm in the middle of helps, as much as I hate to admit it).

So, 3 miles, 56:50 minutes.
Mile 1: 19:05 minutes.  It was rough.  The temp was already over 80 degrees and HUMID.  It was my warm-up mile.
Mile 2: 18 minutes.  I started feeling strong, but hotter.  I was passing up other walkers, so part of me felt good about that.
Mile 3: 19:47  minutes.  The heat started getting to me.  My head started hurting.  I was sweating like a pig.

So I finished.  I think I was happiest that I was not the last one in - there were maybe 4 or 5 behind me.  Considering I was the heaviest by far, I'm quite please with that.

But did I mention the heat?  Yowzas.

So, goal for this week: Start the weekly training plan.  In addition to my workouts, I'm going to add a 35 minute walk Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Also, hydrate a lot more during the week.

All in all, I'm damn proud of myself.  And I don't hurt.

Ciao!

Selfish Promotion (mine,that is)

So, I just ordered a pair of shoes from M. Gemi.  I LOOOOOOVE Italian leather shoes (I currently have a Tieks addiction).  And then I discovered this company.  The shoes are gorgeous, and I was able to get $40 off, so I figured - what the hell.  I bought a pair of the grey Glassa ballet flats.  I cannot wait for them to come in!

And best of all, when you purchase a pair, they send you a promo code.  If two other people use the promo code and get $40 off their shoes, YOUR shoes are free (well, you get a credit, which means really that your next pair is free).

So, sure - let's try it!

If anyone is interested in having the promo code, here it is!

Click here for $40 off!

Phase 2: NEW SHOES! Beginning review of Skechers Forzas

So, total weight loss since January: 43 pounds.  I'm super excited.

I took the next step into my half-marathon adventure - new shoes.  I haven't bought running shoes since 2009.  I debated about buying walking vs. running shoes, but I hope to actually do the race 5 minutes walking, 2 minutes running, so I figured running shoes would be better.

The Houston marathon people gave registrants a discount code for Skechers, who is one of the new (or relatively new) sponsors.  At first I laughed.  Skechers - really?  I love Skechers, but they always seemed kinda fun and fluffy shoes rather than serious sneakers.  I've been out of the loop, so I had no idea they came out with a performance line, got Meb to be a speaker for them, and they've actually been getting pretty decent reviews.

As I'm still a bit too intimidated to go back into a running store (because clearly, I do NOT look like a runner.... yet), I went ahead and bought some online.  I have serious overpronation issues - hence my ankle issues from 2009 and my arches have fallen.  FALLEN.  On a side note, the doc won't do surgery to life them because my feet were pretty flat anyway, so I just have to be careful about what shoes I wear.  Anywhoo, Skechers Forzas are the stability, motion-control shoes, so I decided to go for it.  I usually wear running shoes a size up (in case of swelling - most runners do this), but that makes my shoes an 11.  In size 11, the colors were extremely limited, so I settled on a navy and pink. I usually prefer light-colored shoes (because I feel weird about wearing white socks with dark shoes), but I knew this wouldn't be my last pair before the half-marathon if all goes well.

They came in today, and I am super excited to try them on.  Right out of the box, the smell of chemicals and rubber is strong, but I know that will go away.  The color is much darker than it shows on the website, but it's not bad.  I like the hot pink near accents and the blue color wheel that is seems to go through.  I put them on my feet and DAMN.  I can feel the arch support/motion control/overpronation support that I need.  And they are extremely light weight.  I'm embarrassed that I can't remember which Asics or Brooks I used to wear (whatever the highest motion control ones were), but these feel so much better so far.  They're not clunky feeling at ALL.    I'm really intrigued by the inside feeling the most -  I feel like I'm wearing orthotics.

Ok.  Time for a walk to break them in.

Ciao!

Day 1.

When I started this blog, I was a runner.  Well, a jogger, but I finished several marathons and half marathons.

Then, in 2009, I was told I had to stop running marathons, and to stop any impact exercise altogether for at least 6 months.

The downward spiral started.  Over the course of 6 years, I parted ways forever with someone I considered one of my best friends (and God, it was a heart-wrenching experience that, I'm able to see now, needed to happen), then fell into a not-so-fulfiling relationship and stayed there for two years, then got into another relationship, had two miscarriages, my mom died, and grad school (which the PTSD from my thesis experience is just now really gone - seriously, I had HIVES and crazy bad panic attacks whenever I thought of my thesis advisor).  What does that mean?  It means I gained a shit-ton of weight.  Stopped blogging for the most part, suffered from grief so badly I spent way too much time on my couch.

Then, this past January, things clicked.  What I was doing to myself was bullshit.  It's like the logical part of my brain said, "That's enough."

In the past 5 months, I've eaten MUCH healthier foods, started exercising again, and have lost 42 pounds.

And today, I signed up for my first half marathon since 2008.  I fully plan on walking the Disneyworld Star Wars half-marathon next April, thinking I could be back down to my 2008 weight.  However, I need something sooner to set my sites on.  So today, the Houston half-marathon registration opened and I got a spot.

This is totally history repeating itself.  In early 2005, I decided I was going to run the Marine Corps Marathon out of spite - to piss off someone who kept registering for it and bailed at the last minute.  I, who started running, decided that I would finish it before he did.  I did.  But before that, I signed up for the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon just to make sure I could finish one before doing the Marine Corps Marathon.  I did.  I did both.  I did both and he was actually incredibly supportive.

Fast forward to now.  Another full, 5 halves, and tons of smaller races later, and then 7 years of not running.  I am doing it again.  I'm not doing it to spite anyone.  I'm doing the Disney one because I want to prove to those who have only known me recently that I'm not just some fat person.  I'm a fucking determined woman who has done it before and will do it again (albeit walking since the cartilage damage in my ankle is still there).  And I'm doing the Houston to make sure I can before I do Disney.

So, I hope to blog more with this experience.  I'm 80 pounds heavier than I was when I stopped running, but I know I'll continue to lose weight - especially with the training - and by the time I'm doing Disney, I'll have finished walking a half marathon AND be at my goal weight.

So, day 1.  I signed up.

Ciao!