Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Vacation in Florida

I bailed on my 10-mile goal last week. I was faced with the choice between running 5 miles or getting myself together before leaving for a wedding in Chattanooga followed by 8 days in Florida. I chose the latter.

That also means I haven't worked out since my last post 6 days ago. I do plan to be active with the kiddo - running around and swimming - so hopefully that will count for something. But, I don't belong to a national gym anymore, and it's just me and the kiddo here, so working out this week will be a challenge. We'll see.

I do plan to watch what I'm eating, but I'm on vacation, so I'm not going to make myself miserable trying to limit carbs. Let's hope I don't gain while I'm down here.

Today, we're going to go to the park and his favorite amusement center here. Then, tomorrow we're going to Disney! Woo hoo! Neither of us have ever been, so this will be fun. The sun is calling me. More later...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

...And more exhaustion

After working 14-hours last night, I got off this morning, dropped the kiddo off at school, and convinced myself to go to the gym.

I ran 3 miles before my weightlifting class (I probably had time for 4 miles but I thought the class started 10 minutes earlier than it actually did). I did an hour of Group Power (I went heavier than usual on back today). Then, I finished up with another mile.

This week's running goal is to run 10 miles. Today's running made 5 miles total for the week so far.

I wish I was as productive the rest of the day. I fell asleep sitting upright doing the taxes this afternoon and lost about 6 hours of life in the process. Looks like it's gonna be a late night to make up for it.

Workout: ran 4 miles (weekly total: 5 of 10); Strength (2nd of 2).
65 net grams of carbs

Monday, April 12, 2010

The Busy-ness Continues...

Exhaustion. Why??

My last 8 days...
Monday: 10-hour workday
Tuesday: Training and meetings before 10-hour workday
Wednesday: 5 hours of lecture, then 9-hour workday
Thursday: Ran, worked on projects, kiddo's 5th bday @ Chuck E. Cheese
Friday: ~3 hours in the gym, 9-hour workday
Saturday: Drove to NJ, ran 5K, drove back to CT, then 10-hour workday
Sunday: 9-hour workday, drove back to NJ to get the kiddo
Monday: Drove back to CT, worked on research project, picked up kiddo, gym

Exhaustion led to me falling asleep on my research project today, waking up late to pick up the kiddo which means I missed the chance to run 3-4 miles before my Group Power (barbell) class.

I almost convinced myself to just skip it altogether, that I needed the sleep more, but I brought my gym bag anyway, and once the sun hit me I was much more motivated. I also reminded myself that there's no way I can meet my goal this week of running 10 miles and weight lifting twice if I skipped today. I'm going out of town on Friday, so I only have 4 days to squeeze it all in.

I went heavier than usual today, and it felt good. I'm getting stronger. I also ran 1 mile at 10:00/mile pace (6mph). Trying to run after doing 15+ minutes of lunges and squats with 37+ lbs on my shoulders was a bad idea. So, I stopped before I hurt myself. I have 3 more days to run 9 miles. I'll be OK.

41 Days 'Til Next 5k
111 grams Net Carbs (yea I overdid it... although only 1620 calories... I've been ravenous since the race, probably the sleep deprivation.)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Week 14 Tally: 4/5-4/11


I met my exercise goals for this week! I also beat my last 5K time by 2:20. I still haven't hit my weight loss mark yet. My original goal was by the end of March 2010. Hopefully, I'll get there by April 2010.

6.95 miles of running (including a 5K)
90 minutes of strength work
45 minutes of Zumba
2 pounds lost (making 19 lost total, goal: 22-27)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Race Report: Essential 2 Life 5K

This photo says it all. 

This was me with the finish line in sight... lungs burning from the 45-degree wind coming up off of the Hudson River... legs feeling heavy... and me chanting in my head (left... right... left... right...) to keep my legs going.

I ran my second 5K this past Saturday with my girlfriend Rashonda and my Uncle Haasim. My mom and girlfriend Nina both did the 3K walk. The kiddo did the kid's sprints. And my dad and girlfriend/blogger StyleScrybe of ShoesNBooze fame came out to support and snap photos. It was a family affair!

Mile 1
Uncle and I started out strong, darting between runners who were running way too slowly in the middle of the pack. The wind blew his hat off, but thankfully it got caught on the railing and another runner caught it and handed it to him. It was so close to flying into the River. We passed the first mile clock still talking to each other: 09:39, but it took about 10 seconds to pass the start line, so it was probably more like 09:29. I was shocked. That was faster than my first mile in Phoenix

Mile 2
Uncle and I stopped talking. 'Nuff said. He then told me that if I wanted to go on ahead to do so. So, I pushed it to the point of just being uncomfortable and tried to hold that pace for the whole second mile. I never really warmed up. The freezing wind was blowing against me for most of mile 2 then at my back for the last part. My fingers froze into fist position. Ugh. Second mile clock: 18:40.

Mile 3
I initially felt somewhat rested after cruising at a steady pace for the second mile, so I tried to kick it up a bit and started passing runners again. But, at every sprint, I felt myself getting winded more than the first mile. So I alternated between passing and cruising. The course was an out-and-back, but I seemed to miscount the turns. After going around one turn, I thought I saw the finish line tape (no contact lenses!), so I started sprinting. I'm sure you can see where this is going. No, it was NOT the finish line. Exhausted, I slowed down around the last turn then tried to hold steady toward the real finish line, about the time that picture was snapped. Lord. I still can't believe I made that mistake.


My official chip time was 28:36.6, 2 minutes and 20 seconds faster than Phoenix!! I placed 10th in my age/gender group.

25-29 F group: 10 out of 53
All females: 62 out of 222
Overall: 250 out of 516

Friday, April 9, 2010

It's Nice To See Improvement

Today was my ~3 hour gym day.

The Zumba class was first (I'm still humming the tunes from that class while I'm here at work). I hadn't been to the class in months, and it was surprisingly not as as fun as it used to be. This may just be a reflection of the weird mood I've been in lately rather than a criticism of the class. But, the great thing about today was that Zumba used to make me winded and sweaty 15 minutes in. I held my own today. I guess it's a testament to my fitness level as compared to February and March.

Another teacher taught both the core strength and muscle challenge class. As you guys know, I like my weight lifting plain. No jumping or cardio mixed in. I barely like to break a sweat. And the last time I took her muscle class I heard other classmates referring to her as either "homicidal" or "maniac." But, because of my schedule I couldn't make either of the barbell classes this week. So, I convinced myself to go, and I held my own in her class too.

Overall, it was a good workout day. I could have done without the rain and gloom though.

I'm just leaving work now (10:40pm), then it's back home for some ZZZ's, and an early start tomorrow (6am) in order to drive to Jersey City for the race. I'm excited, even though I have to be back at work in CT by 4pm tomorrow, because my family and close friends are all coming out to either run the 5K, walk in the 3K or run in the kid's sprints.

Look for tomorrow's race report!

40 grams Net Carbs
Workout: Zumba, Core, Strength

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Running Along The Sound

Thank God for great weather. If I had to run on a treadmill today, I think I would have bailed on my run.

I am still exhausted from running on empty, so it was much easier to convince myself to get out of the car and run alongside the Long Island Sound than to be cooped up inside a stuffy gym with no windows.

Despite the threat of rain, the weather was a perfect 65 degrees with a cooling breeze from the Sound. The trail is only about 0.55 miles (based on my runnersworld.com training log), but I ran back and forth on it 7 times. If my calculation is right, I ran 3.85 miles in 43 minutes -- which is super-duper SLOW.

I'm not that surprised by my pace though, because I never really ran out of breath. My legs just started feeling heavy during the last half-mile, and my brain was tired of entertaining itself (no ipod today). My lack of ability to know how fast I'm running outside is a great argument for buying a Garmin watch though (ahem!).

Today is my day off from work... also my kiddo's 5th birthday... So, after I finish plowing through my to-do list, my research project and a nice hot soak, it's off to Chuck E. Cheese's for some gaming and fun. Tomorrow is my monster 3-hour gym day... Wish me luck!

2 Days 'Til Next 5K
55 grams Net Carbs (so far today)
4-9 Pounds 'Til Goal Weight

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

2-week plan (Weeks 14 & 15)

I have been so incredibly busy lately. I spent April 1st through 4th in Chicago exhibiting at the Student National Medical Association Conference. I didn't end up running in the 5K this past weekend because my cousin's knee was giving him trouble and I wasn't prepared to take the hike out to Palatine on my own. So, I spent Easter weekend relaxing with old friends and making new ones instead.

This week (4/5-4/11), the plan is to:
* Run 6 miles with at least one strength day

I'm probably going to run 3.1 miles and lift weights on Thursday, with back-to-back Zumba/Core/Muscle Challenge classes at the gym on Friday. Then, Saturday is my next race, which puts me at 6.2 miles total.

Next week (4/12-4/18), the plan is to:
* Run 10 miles
* Lift weights twice

I've also decided to get back onto a training plan. Starting May, I'm beginning the Hal Higdon novice 10K training program followed by the 10K intermediate program. That will put me right at the 10K in August.

My Revised/Tentative Race Schedule


I realize the only thing that will keep me running through my exhaustion is to keep competing. That means there was no way I was gonna get away with a 4-month gap between races. So, here goes my updated list of upcoming races, with the goal to get up to a half-marathon this fall.

4/10 - Essential 2 Life 5K, Jersey City
6/27 - Fairfield 5K, Jennings Beach
7/21 - Citizens Bank Evening 5K
9/6 - New Haven Road Race, 5K (or 20K if I have the guts!)