Tracking, its all about the numbers

Today I finished my week of runs with the 2 miles that were on my schedule for yesterday. I was beat and stressed yesterday, so it was a good call to push it off. I have 8 scheduled for my long Sunday run. I  slept late, so was so thankful the my husband took the driving duties for TKD and swimming while I threw in some laundry and got downstairs. After my easy miles (when did 2 miles become easy??!) I foam rolled some. It feels good to get my muscles a little looser and I can tell the difference. I got my foam roller for Christmas, so this is a new trick I am adding to my toolbox.

Last time I talked about breaking down my goals into bite sized pieces. I am totally a numbers person. I spent a good part of spring/summer/fall running outside and had forgotten the comfort of having my numbers in front of me on the treadmill. I can always see where I am and can use my current time/distance to push myself just a little further. If I am at 3 miles, but 42 minutes, then I have to get to 45 minutes, then I am in the middle of a circuit on the loop on the display. I have to finish the loop right? I keep alternating until I get to my ultimate goal. I did this quite a bit last winter when I was alternating running and walking.

What is cool is that I didn't realize how much stronger I had gotten until I got back on the treadmill. I am now able to run 4 miles without walking. I slowed down my speed and was able to run further. It is such a good feeling to be able to run my whole workout! This area is pretty hilly, so I haven't replicated this feat outside yet, but I know if I keep at it, I will be able to. 14 races in 2012 and I am finally becoming a runner. Yea!!

So one of my habits is to list my workout and weight everyday. I know, I know, some people say you shouldn't weigh in everyday. I fully expect my weight to fluctuate each day, many days as much as a pound and I am ok with that. It doesn't bother me. In fact, I lose weight VERY slowly. Or at least I did this year. 6 lbs in all. It would have been more, but December was one huge orgy of cookies. I kept up with my workouts so it wasn't as bad as it might have been. Anyways, I digress, I make notes to myself and it is fun to be able to go back and look at the trends. I might have felt like I wasn't losing any weight at all, if I didn't have my little notebook.

Looking back at the year was what made me think I could run 750 miles this year. I have switched apps for tracking and never tracked my treadmill runs at the beginning of the year, so this little book is my stats. I have  about 2.5 years in here, and am getting to the end of the book.

what better way to celebrate a new year, then a new shiny notebook.

So exciting! Its like new school supplies! A fresh beginning. But its not really a beginning, because everything I have done up to this point is that makes this year possible. A foundation of sorts.

Time to relax by the fire and watch some football. Have a great week everyone!

Short Week, Long List

So I was so close to skipping bootcamp this morning. Alarm went off, I got up and turned it off. Laid back down. That easily means end of game. But I knew I had a long day ahead of me and after 3 or 4 minutes, I got up. I was certain that a workout was what I needed to start this long stressful day out right.

I am in the midst of year end reporting at work and it is a lot of number crunching on a short deadline. Spreadsheets are not my best skillset, so this causes my stress level to go up. Additionally, there are others relying on these numbers to get their work done. I started the year knowing these first two weeks were going to be brutal and I just need to work through things one step at a time.

In the end I was right about feeling better having worked out. We didn't even walk into the door of the house until after 7 pm tonight and still had dinner to tackle. With 2 workouts yesterday, I am beat! My goal tonight will be to go to sleep. Easier then it sounds, when my day has been jammed packed I need to take a breather, typically reading. A good book can always get me into trouble. :)

I wasn't so busy to ignore this beautiful sky. And for that I am thankful.

Just Keep Moving

So I rested on the 2nd day of the year, but today I made up for it in spades. I can't keep this pace up, I really need to figure out what days to do bootcamp and what days to run. This morning I went to bootcamp even though it was a run day.

Usually bootcamp is held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This week, we are a little off, due to the holidays, so Edye had class Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I skipped Wednesday for my rest day, so felt the need to get back into it today. Today she made us run. We ran a lot. I wish I could count laps in the church hall as miles for my goal.

Did you catch my preview of one of my 2013 goals the other day?

Yes, I am running 750 miles this year. It averages out to about 62 miles a month. Yikes! The months I am training for a half marathon hopefully it will not be too hard. Then a Mothers Run This Town event popped up on  my FB feed. The challenge is to run 500 or 1000 miles in 2013. They are even looking for rewards we can buy such as a running jacket. How cool would that be? Can't commit to upping my goal at this point but will keep it in mind.

Big day today - my 4 miles got me to 1% of my goal! Its all about one foot in front of the other.

Have you broken down any of your goals into bite sized pieces? Does it help you focus?

Rest on Day 2?

Today is the 2nd day of the year, and I am taking a rest day. It seems somehow wrong since everyone else is busting their butts working on their resolutions. I know my body needs rest though to grow stronger and I have been working hard the past several days. I have been running since bootcamp was closed for Saturday- Tuesday.

Today was the first day back to school and work and it is going to be a busy month! Work has lots of projects starting up that I will be leading and the kids activities are all heating up as well. Which means I am going to have to be creative about getting my runs in. Strength workouts aren't as big of an issue because bootcamp starts at 6 am! I need to keep running at least 3 times a week with my long run on Sunday.

One of the pieces of my 2013 goals is a word for the year. Amanda at Run to the Finish had a great post on choosing a word for the year. It gives you flexibility and a more universal approach to your goals. My word for this year is "Stronger". This is meant to represent not just my fitness goals, but also my goals for my family.

Have a great day!

Here's to 2013

We rang in the new year with good friends and happy hearts. Now the work begins. I spent a good part of the morning doing nothing but sitting on the couch watching the Rose Parade. When I was going up in CA, my parents used to take us to the parade every year. Many years I had to be picked up from sleepovers  VERY early in order to get Pasadena and to get a good spot. I am still impressed by the imagination and execution of the floats. Some day I will take my family and maybe we will even go to the warehouses before hand to volunteer to apply the flowers to the floats.

I took my daughter to a playdate and then came home to loads of good veggies from the trays last night. Based on my twitter and FB feeds, I was behind the 8 ball and needed to get my resolution run in. I finally got off the stick around 2 pm and ran a 5k. My legs are tired as I have run almost every day since Thursday. It felt good to get some exercise.

I also joined a game on Dietbet organized by Run with Jess. I have never done one of these online bets, but I have gained quite a bit over the last 3 weeks and I figured I could use the motivation. Basically you put in $10 and work to lose 4% of your current weight. I weighed in on Sunday in the afternoon, ( in my clothes) and it was ouch, 154.5. I went back down on Monday, but last night brought my weight back up. I believe once I lay off the wine and snacks, I will be able to get back to my preholiday weight of 148 or so. Then we can go from there! 

Tomorrow is back to reality with work after over a week off. Luckily for me, its a rest day! Here we go!

New Year's Eve

I had a fantastic New Year's Eve! The day was just spent futzing around the house. I got some email chores done and worked on my goals some more. I think I am pretty happy with where they are right now, and I will share them soon.

So for the bonus race, my friends and I race the Fairfax 4 miler. It is a race located in downtown Fairfax city at 6 pm. I wasn't sure who would be out on the course, but it seemed to be a mix of folks who run all the time, and those looking to kick off 2013. I guess I was somewhere in the middle. It was weird racing in the dark and it was a chilly start. (Not nearly what it could be, but my muscles were rebelling a little bit. I had run  several days in a row previously, so I wasn't necessarily rested like I have been for other races.

I met Edye and Irma downtown and we were off. The route was essentially the same as what we run for bootcamp, only backwards and with a few other jogs added in. I was doing well and about mile 2 thought I would be able to run the whole race without walking. About mile 2.5 there was a water stop and an out and back over a hill. That was just wrong, IMO. In the end I walked some, but knew I had a chance to PR based upon the little Runkeeper voice that was checking in on me every once in awhile. I was able to finish strong and came in at 47:27. This was almost a 2.5 minute PR for me!

Soon after we headed home to get our eat on.

Waiting for Irma and her family to come over, I was hanging out on FB and generally relaxing, when who comes to my door then Lorna! My running buddy from DE. She was in town and had seen our postings on FB. It was so good to catch up with her and celebrate with everyone!

Fun was had by all, including an awesome demonstration of Gangum style by the kids. All in all, I am so lucky and happy. Hope you all had a good one too. Here's to 2013!

2012 - The Bonus Round

So I have set out to tell you about my year according to the races I ran. And I will be totally honest, I meant to be blogging about them all along so I could really bring you all with me. The time recorded at the end of a run doesn't tell you about the sights or feelings experienced during the time out on the course. Perhaps I will be able to do a better job of that in 2013. My resolution/goal list is already long, but I am going into the year with such confidence because I did it. I set out to run 12 races in 2012, one a month and I did it. I felt very blessed that Mother Nature was kind to me. I certainly know that many racers this year were not as lucky. The closure of the course at the Green Bay Marathon, the heat in Boston and the cancellation of NYC were all things I was very aware of. Which, I guess is progress in itself. In 2011, I wouldn't have been so aware of  news in the running world, unless maybe it hit the headlines on Yahoo.

So what is the bonus? Well for one, my racing in 2012 isn't done yet! I am racing the Fairfax Four Miler on NYE with 2 ladies from my bootcamp. I haven't been outside yet, but I can tell you it is cold inside! I have to figure out what to wear so I can stay warm, but not too warm. The swag was a great warm looking sweatshirt. I haven't tried it on yet, as I believe you shouldn't wear the swag until you run the race. Anyone else do that?

The other thing  I am very proud of, but wasn't really a stated goal was I gave up soda! I have had times in the past few years when I have gotten to the point of having a can of soda every other day at lunch. I had heard over and over again about how soda impacts your weight loss and how those who were successful, had given up soda as a part of their journey. I definitely keep an eye on my intake, but had pretty much given up on ever being a soda convert. I figured making sure I had plenty of water was more important. And let me say here and now, I am not saying I will never have another soda again!

October of this year I got sick and had to spend a few days at home. That typically means telecommuting and lying on the couch. Since I was sick, and totally focused on having my water, watching bad TV and sleeping, I didn't have soda for about 3 days. Then I decided to see where that might take me. Folks, I haven't had soda since October 10th, 2012!! Some days I really need something else other then water, but I can usually find something or just have a flavored tea or propel water. So far, so good and we will just see where it take me.

Enough about 2012, its almost time to talk about 2013! (of course, I will be writing "2012" for the next 3 months.)

Have a great day!