Fartleks, Part 2

I did interval training today and yet again, it was not fun. Running at top speed for me gets my heart rate extremely high. I usually reach my maximum heart rate suggested for my age when I run at top speed, which apparently isn't good. But my heart beats abnormally high, so I don't worry about it too much (my cousin has this same issue, I think it's from anxiety or something). 

Anyway, I know that interval training is important for increasing overall speed (or is it overall endurance? I can't remember right now), but it's just so damn hard. I'd rather run at a comfortable pace for an hour than 18 minutes of fartleks. Curse you interval training!

Rachel, you need a goal for this week. What is it? You have those great new running shoes (way better than mine and thanks for giving me my running shoes as I was leaving on Sunday. That would have sucked if I didn't have those for the 10K). Put those nice new shoes to use!  Blog about your effort to move this week. I await your post...

So, I'm Just Really Sore

I ran today with my sister. While we ran slow, we finished 5.5 miles in 60 minutes. It was nice having a partner to run with and someone to yell at who actually listened to me. Hah. It was quite an enjoyable run, even though one part of the run involved a road with no shoulder and a hill (so cars couldn't really see us). I won't run on that road again. Kind of a scary experience.

Anyway, I feel very sore. Since yesterday, I've had a soreness in my hip and left buttock and now my calves are also feeling sore. I don't think I have an injury, so much as my body is getting used to the training schedule. This is the end of week two and I've clocked a little over 16 miles. That's more than I've run in a long time, I think, if not ever.

I plan to do yoga tomorrow to help stretch some of my muscles and I think a good night sleep will help with the stiffness I'm feeling. I didn't get much sleep last night, as we were at a party hosted by my parents. Probably not the best idea considering the length of today's run, but whatever, I'll be fine. I'm excited for the 10K coming up in 2 weeks. I think I can finish in under 60 minutes. That's the goal at least. Crossing fingers...

Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill...

I have a girl that works with me named Jill (and just to make it clear I am Jack in the title's analogy). She is 21, 5'2 little like a toothpick, sweet and spunky. So out conversation went like this:

Rachel: Hey Jill, you want to go running with me on Thursday?

Jill: Sure!

Rachel: Ok, we have to run at least 30 minutes.

Jill: Ok.

Rachel (laughing): "OK", you say it so sweet like its no big deal.

Jill(laughing): That's the minimum I run.

This is perfect, because Jill's not a runner, just a fit little person thats happy all the time. Here I am alittle fearful about 30 minutes. Anyway...

We run at white clay creek, and I sound like I'm having an asthma attack, and she is carrying on about the bread she is making for her food science class, and her sisters she is going to see this weekend, and the winery she works at............

It was a great scenario though, because (for aforementioned reasons) I couldn't exactly participate in the conversation but she continued to tell me stories, which helped me get my mind off running. But after we turned around we began running back to our lab. And (she did tell me about this but I wasn't paying attention) out of nowhere there is this hill. Not just any hill, it's more like a mountain. Well I tried, but I didn't make it. And the culmination of failure and frustration overwhelmed me and I yelled (more like quietly whispered because I couldn't breathe) "F*&#!!!, I really did not want to stop running." And Jill said, with a smile on her face still: "That's ok, we'll walk up the hill and start running again." So we did, we walked up the MOUNTAIN (its was not a hill) and then started running again.

But now for the insight to my personality...I am way too serious and involved in things. And I'm not at the point yet where I can run up Mt. Everest, and still maintain respiratory composure. But it's not a great big failure, nor the end of the world, and it is just what it is. So with that I did run for about 35 minutes and am no way shape or form ready to run 6 miles on Sunday, but whatever. It's not a big deal, just going to do it and do the best I can, and I when I start to battle in my mind what a bad idea it was to run this far I will hopefully already be three miles out and have no other choice but to run three miles back.

Another 5:45 a.m. Day

I really do NOT like waking up at 5:45 a.m. That's what I did again today to complete my 40 minute moderate run. As I was in the bathroom peeling my eyes open and attempting to get my heart monitor positioned correctly, a huge part of me wanted to just crawl back in bed with my husband. But I knew it wouldn't be easier when I arrived home tonight, annoyed from work and tired from the day. So, I laced up my sneaks, drank some water, and was out the door. 

It's comforting to see people walking their dogs because it's dark and I feel like the only person on the planet who is awake, but beyond that, even the people who are awake aren't running. But I did it, I ran for 40 straight minutes (including just 2 stops, one for a changing traffic light and one to change the Pandora station, it was getting to be a real downer and too slow for running) and I covered a little over 4 miles, which means I'm keeping at least a 6 mph pace. While I know that's really slow for a real runner, it's a pretty good accomplishment for me.

So, this is the second day this week I woke up extremely early (for me) to go for a run and tomorrow will be my third day. I feel energized after the run, but by 10:00 a.m. I am drained. I don't think coffee is the answer to this problem; I may need to just get to bed earlier. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of this training thing.

Well, that's all for now. Happy birthday shout out to, Rachel. Hope you're ready for our big run on Sunday. It looks like it's going to rain, so that'll be extra fun!

I Have a Co-Author

Introducing my very own little sister, Rachel (I call her Ray). She'll be writing this blog with me (editing my spelling and grammar, I hope, as I will be hers) and chronicling our craziness as we get our bodies in shape to run the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) in 2013. This is if we get registered...

So, I was totally obsessing about the marathon again last night at like 10:30, when I was trying to fall asleep from waking up at the crack of dawn to run. Well, instead of reading or doing something that would calm me down and make me sleepy, I decided to read about the MCM and I got totally pumped about every little detail regarding the race. One of which includes the fact that registration fills up almost immediately after it is available to the public (2 hours and some odd minutes for this year's race). This fact made me nervous and got the wheels turning.

Apparently, if a person finishes the 17.75K in March, they are guaranteed a slot in MCM 2013. This might be a good way for Rachel and I to get into shape for the marathon and test our running skills on a big race. I kind of wish it was a half-marathon because that's what I planned to run in the spring. But if this will guarantee a spot in the race in October, I'm going to do this race instead.

Anyway, I didn't go to bed last night until almost midnight because I was getting Rachel set up with her user name on the blog and talking non-stop about the details of the marathon (I'm also reading a book about how to run a 4 hour marathon). I guess tonight will be my early night to go to bed because I have another run tomorrow.

And PS: I might change the name of this blog to be more sister-themed.

Eating Healthy is as Fun as It Sounds

I think that learning how to blog, post and survive on Google+ will be more challenging than running a marathon. I don't know for sure but I will let you know next October 27th!!

This morning I bought a 1.5L bottle of deer park (hooray for water drinking, becuase I don't do this as often as I should, but booooo for buying a disposable water bottle...sorry planet earth) Then I bought a turkey sandwhich with lettuce for lunch (and honey mustard, but shhhh we aren't going to dwell on that part). For breakfast  I ate a protein  pack consisting of a little bagel with a small container of peanut butter, apples, grapes (which I don't even like but I guess I need to start liking them) and a hard boiled egg and a bag of almonds. After I ate that I felt really good until I looked at the nutrition facts, and it said it had 43g of fat!!! What? Are you kidding me? Ok whatever, but it had only 7 g of sat fat? WTF, this protein pack took like 10 seconds to eat, and it was ok, not great, but ok. If I am going to eat something with 43 g of fat it should be drowning in chocholate syrup.

Fartleks Are Not My Friends

Today was extremely hard. I heard my alarm at 5:45 and immediately hit snooze. Fortunately, I had set another alarm at 5:50 in order to get my run out of the way this morning. What got me out of bed was the thought of my coworker who is attending boot camp classes at 5:30 a.m. I said to myself: "Karen has already been working out for 20 minutes, I have to get moving." This is my super competitive nature coming out and so I forced contacts into my eyeballs and drove over to my aunt's house.

I would've have run outside today, but the 10K training schedule called for fartleks, which is some fancy Swedish name for interval training. It was a sum total of 50 minutes with a 10 minute warm-up and cool-down period. I read that the warm-up and cool-down was very important to prevent injury. The in between is what kicked my ass. I had to run my hardest for 2 minutes, then run easy for 2.5 minutes, which meant running at a speed where I'm not gasping for air. Then run for three minutes, 2.5 minute easy. So essentially, the workout is: 2,3,4,4,3,2; with 2.5 minute easy runs in between.

Running at top speed, which for me is between 6-7 mph, (Remember, I'm a really slow runner) is extremely tiring at 6 a.m. I don't know that it would have been any easier later in the day or with more food, water, etc. In fact, my long run on Sunday for 45 straight minutes was easier than this today. Supposedly, this interval training helps increase speed, which for my legs' sake, I hope is true.

Ray, I hope you've done something today, even if that something is thinking about running. I'm about to fall asleep at my desk and it's only 9:00 a.m. I feel like I've been up for days. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day.

My New Obsession

I ran my first race this month. It was a 5K. I know, I know. Nothing serious, but it was exciting and sparked something in me. If I can run a little over three miles without stopping, maybe I can more...So, I've signed up for the Veterans' Day 10K and started training last week. It's been going well and I've been very committed. Yesterday, I ran 4.5 miles in 45 minutes and stopped twice for a water swig for about 10 seconds each time. It's a slow pace, but I'm still working at getting faster.

This weekend, I was talking to my sister, Ray, a former Marine, and was telling her about how I really want to run a marathon, most specifically the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. I'm going to be 30 next year and I want to have this accomplishment completed as a check on my life list of things to do (Am I too young to have a bucket list?). Anyway, she said that she's wanted to run a marathon too and it'd be really fun to do something BIG together again. So, I gave her homework: run this week to find out how fast she can run a mile.

So, now that I've conned someone into running with me, I'm completely obsessed. I've been reading about running on my commute to work, thinking about training schedules, and just getting really excited about the thought of running a full marathon. I'm even thinking of doing the Nike Half Marathon in the spring with a friend of mine who has a group started. It'd be a good indication of my fitness level for the fall 2013 marathon.

This week's goal for me: Continue on the 10K training schedule.
Ray's Goal: Figure out her running pace and possibly do a big run with me on Sunday.

I'll keep you posted on the results.