Motivation Fail

I realize it's been a month since I last updated. Trust me, I feel pretty guilty about it. It's not that I haven't been running, I have (occasionally), I just cant find the time for blogging. The little time I do make for exercise is just for that, exercise.

In the last month I've run 4 times. That's about 10 times too few, if you ask me. I'm beginning to lose my fitness level at the rate I'm going. Today I wheezed through a mile and wanted to quit. Ugh.

Maybe a training plan will help me keep my motivation? I'm not sure, but I do know I don't want to end up on the bad side of "use it or lose it".

My first 5k!

Well, today was my first official race. I was mostly concentrating on finishing (and not being last), but I think I did ok. My gun time was 39:21.something, but chip time was 39:10.05. Considering my previous 3 milers ended up being about 45:00, even without walking, I did alright.

Aside from the race, I haven't run in about a week and a half. I got a job, which is both awesome and a roadblock at the same time. I've been eating crap all week, and I haven't had the energy to exercise. Maybe the crap food is causing the lack of energy? Tomorrow is grocery day so I hope to pick up some tasty/healthy things for office lunches and snacks (so I'm not tempted to visit the too-convenient vending machines).

Here's the 5k. I forgot to stop it at the finish so it's a minute and something off.

Hills and Getting Sick

Ugh. Just ugh.

Sunday's run was interesting, to say the least. I was in Bourne, TX visiting my college roommate's family. Aside from getting a crappy night's sleep and the cold (it felt at least 50*, maybe colder), it was HILLY.

I'd never done hills before. They kicked my ass.

I did a loop that was a little under 3 miles, and ended up walking a mile of it (including warm up/cool down). The really steep hills were walked because I didn't want to accidentally pull a muscle or (more likely) trip and fall. I stopped a couple of times to take some pictures because it was absolutely beautiful. During the entire hour or so I was out there I only had maybe 4 cars pass me, and saw far more deer. The pics are a little dark, but hey, it was early still.

From Untitled Album

From Untitled Album

From Untitled Album

Fast forward to this morning. I've been sick for the last couple of days. Not an awful kind of sick, it's just a mild cold. I got myself up early this morning not knowing if I would be ready to run after 3 days of congestion, but I tried. My hamstrings and shins are still sore from the hills and I'm still stupidly tired. I didn't get very far. I have about 10 days until the 5k and want to get in a 4 miler before that. Hopefully I can knock that out on Friday or Saturday, depending on how I feel.

Postponed long run

*long sigh*

My 4 miles on Tuesday didn't turn out so hot. It was pretty much a non-run. My hip just wasn't letting me run. It was tight or sore or something and caused me to limp along for about a quarter of a mile before I decided to postpone. Maybe I ran on it funny on Saturday? I'm not sure.

I let my hip rest until today when I did a mile and a half. That didn't go so well either and I ended up walking when I shouldn't have. My stomach cramped up pretty wickedly, and I got one hell of a stitch that made me quit altogether. Maybe it was because all I ate before running was a little cheese. I'm not used to the cooler weather, either.

Bleh. It doesn't matter because I'm redoing last week. Today was 2 miles (more or less), Sunday will be 3, and Wednesday or so will be 4.

Yeah, that's the stuff

I did a totally awesome 3 miles today. It was maybe even more fun than Thursday's 2 miler. I used the treadmill again, I don't really dislike it anymore. There's something to be said for watching tv while dragging yourself along for a few miles.

Anyway, today is a personal non-stop-distance record. Every other time I've done more than 2 I've let myself walk some, but not this time, huzzah! It made me feel like the 4 miles on Tuesday could actually happen.

Oh, and I finally signed up for the Monster Mash 5k on November 1st. I'm excited for my first race!

2 Not-So-Easy-But-Still-Fun Miles

I was supposed to do 2 easy miles at about a 14:30 pace, but instead ended up doing 2 miles miles of fartleks (snicker). Meaning, I used today as a speed run. After about a half mile of warming up, I increased my speed by a few seconds every couple hundred meters or so until I wanted to slow down (just to speed back up again). It wasn't difficult since I was on the treadmill, and was really pretty fun. The fastest I got going for any length of time was about 5.2 mph, or about 11:54 per mile. While that pace wont get me to the Monster Mash 5k finish line in 30:00, hopefully I can bring down my current 3 mile finish time of about 45:00.

A redo

Saturday's run was supposed to be my 3 mile long run, but that just didn't happen. I did almost 2.5 miles instead. It just wasn't happening. I know physically I could do it, but I have some kind of mental block. I get intimidated by distances easily and end up convincing myself that I can't do it.




Not only did I cop out on Saturday, I missed yesterday's run. I made excuses and ended up skipping it altogether.

So today I redid the run. I wish I could say it was without walking, but it wasn't. I walked twice for about a minute apiece toward the beginning of the run. After the halfway point I wouldn't let myself walk again. Every time I wanted to stop, I forced myself to go a little faster on the treadmill. I guess it worked, because I made it the last mile and a half without alot of trouble. It's shower time, so here's today's run: