The Jogging Jawa is a dead beginner at running looking to reclaim her ability to wear those tiny shorts with the white piping and side splits; and maybe just develop one of those fit, healthy lifestyles she keeps hearing about.
Starting from scratch in an elite fitness-blog-world full of expensive gear, and Personal Records she couldn't beat with a car.
My run today: C25K week 9 day 3 - LAST ONE - BOO YA I MADE IT!!!!
3.43 miles at 11:39 per mile.
Per Nike today was (again) my fastest 5k so far at 36:00 (including about 5 minutes of walk time during warmup) and my fastest 1K so far at 6'40"
I managed to get the Garmin working how I wanted this time and only recorded the time that I was actually running.
My actual run was 2.71 miles in 30:06 minutes with an average pace of 11:06, a best pace of 5:38, and an average HR of 184 bpm
I was going to get myself this Bondi Band in celebration, but my boyfriend is getting it for me instead. We consider our mutual love of Batman to be the catalyst of our relationship, so what more fitting reward?
Na na na na na na na na HEADBAND!
Cheaper than a dinner out and way more helpful in the long run.
I was mildly disappointed in the Couch to 5K app for ending with pretty much no fanfare whatsoever. They can take the time to add in the "Halfway done"s "Almost there"s and "Just keep going!"s but they can't add in a final "You did it!"???
I know finishing the C25K program "should" be reward enough, but I was really hoping for some flying Kremlin type action.
Why yes, I do REALLY like Tetris.
My next run will be an attempt to actually RUN for a full 5K. We'll see how that goes! ****** Signed up for the Great Pumpkin Race Virtual 5k/10k run which benefits the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training via RunningInSanity. That will be on or about October 13th. I appear to have missed out on the option to get the orange and white polka dot Bondi Band along with my medal but hopefully she'll get some more.
Ugh. Even reading this question is depressing. I REALLY do not do well with less then 7 or 8 hours a night, yet I am an extremely nocturnal person with an 8 to 4 job.
It is a continuing problem.
I can be pretty functional on six hours a night, not happy but functional; five hours is my dead minimum. Anything less means I end up so tired I have to slap myself every couple of minutes in the car in order to
get to work alive, and spent the majority of the morning wanting to
vomit all over my desk. If I try to balance things out with coffee you can add a healthy splash generalized anxiety in to that mix.
(Photo: Jupiterimages)
Given that my alarm is set for seven am on weekdays that means functional Jawa bedtime is officially one am. What I find is that I naturally want to hit the sack approximately 1:30 to 2:30 in the morning (later if I'm in the middle of a project); so keeping my own hours is a no-no.
Luckily(?) I'm usually sleep-depped enough that when I go down I go down HARD, so insomnia is NOT an issue.
I do however do my best to make things up on the weekend and will do whatever I can to get a minimum of eight hours of sleep, but as I am still nocturnal that often means my day doesn't even start until well after noon.
Per this page as a 33 year old woman my *max* heart rate should be 177
or 206 minus 29 (which is 88% of 33)
According to my Garmin my *average HR while running today* was 188 (my max was 194). I appear to be knocking it out of the park!!! ...but alas, overclocking is NOT the aim here.
If I am going for 80% of my max HR since the article later posits that "between 70 percent and 90 percent of its maximum is generally accepted
as being optimal for improving and maintaining cardiovascular fitness" I should be aiming for a HR of about 140. I suddenly get why SUAR complains about how slow she has to go to stay in target HR. I assumed that because I'm such a beginner I couldn't possibly be going "too fast" for anything but apparently I was wrong!
Sitting at my computer about 20 min after working out my phone had my HR listed at 97. Apparently I'm still in warm up range EVEN AS I BLOG. How efficient of me!
What was that about target heart rate zones again?
Jason Statham - Crank
Water - hey don't laugh, I've always hated water but I now drink it almost exclusively (my only other regular drink is one daily cup of coffee). I still drink it more like taking medicine then quenching thirst, but whatever, it's working.
Quinoa - I grew up eating a lot of pasta, so having something healthy I can just dump something on top of and call a meal is a REALLY big help for me. Also it's tasty, fun to pick out of my teeth, and reminds me of bug eggs, which is all AOK by me
Homemade Greek yogurt - I've been lazy about this the last few weeks but I try to make regular batches and have a few oz with a bit of jam and/or some trail mix stirred in every day. I'm not a big cook so the fact that I take the time to make and strain this is a testament to how good it is. It is a completely different creature than store bought (soooo much better, but be careful because you wont be able to go back) and it really helps me with the lactose intolerance, which is one of the banes of my existence.
I feel like I'm starting to reach here, but Clif bars have been a helpful recent addition to my diet. They're still a bit sweeter than I'd like but it's a useful enough way to get something reasonable into your system quickly.
Blueberries - My boyfriend (who is, not incidentally, shaven headed, Anglo, muscley, and square jawed... I might have a bit of a type) is SUPER into blueberries and I was never big into them before but they are growing on me (not literally, that'd be awfully Willy Wonka-esque). He does a simple blueberry and soymilk shake every morning and I have to admit it's not a half bad way to start the day
******
My run today: C25K week 9 day 2 (only one more day!!!!)
3.51 miles at 11:24 per mile.
Per Nike today was my fastest 5k so far at 36:20 and my fastest mile so far at 10:47
Pushed myself a bit more today, I was really feeling it in my glutes in a good way and my head was buzzing for a while after I got back. I kept finding myself saying "you don't feel any worse then you did 10 minutes ago, you're fine, keep going" and for whatever reason that worked.
I messed up with the GPS so I only got 1.5 miles recorded but for that
portion my average pace was listed as 11:03. Initially I messed up getting it started and later trees were interfering and making it beep constantly. I have to remember that just because it's showing data doesn't mean it's recording it. The signal loss beeping was pretty annoying so I will be turning off the
auto pause and just manually starting the run on the watch when I actually start to run.
Have some more gratuitous Jason Statham. Sexypants AND a former world class diver!
Celebrated my LAST WEEK OF C25K (holy crap!) by trying out my New(used) Garmin Forerunner 305 for the first time today and it was pretty snazzy! I bought it off of The Cheerleader after she decided to upgrade so I don't have the heart rate strap in hand yet (it's hiding), but I think I have more than enough stuff to look at for the moment anyway.
I spent about half of last night trying to get used to picking through the menus and confusing myself about all sorts of things, until finally I was so out of sorts I just stopped altogether and loaded up this highly soothing picture of a baby spotted skunk to reset the switches on my brainmeats.
Ridiculously soothing image shamelessly yoinked from Cute Overload
Having restored my brain to functionality (yes, for real, beats taking a cigarette break) I was able to sit down, read through the manual, and actually learn things sufficient to finish setup instead of just button clicking myself into a confused tizzy. I literally spent the entire evening poking at it in some way or another last night and I still barely feel like I have the slightest handle on what I can do with it. It was definitely overwhelming at first, but once I calmed down I could see that as a sign that I will be able to grow into this thing for a long time to come.
I was very surprised at how quickly I got used to wearing it, and I didn't pay much attention to it at all as I was running. Though it may help that I very commonly wear large bracelets on my left wrist (wearing them on the right interferes with computer use too much). It may also help that we were amping up to tornado conditions and watching for flying tree limbs and kicked up road debris was a more immediate issue.
I looked at my pace a couple of times and noted the degree of synchronicity between the audible mile markers given by Nike and those given by the watch (not dead on, but close). It did also occur to me that I now had an even BIGGER chunk of change strapped to my left arm and it may be worth obscuring some of that if I can. I might have looked at the watch more toward the end of the run but my phone decided to keep pausing my music and turning on voice control for no apparent reason (I think because I had baggied it in my armband to protect from rain). It's has however been awfully cool poking at the various graphs and metrics now that I'm back home. I feel a little lost in this glut of info, but I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with it in the long run.
The main setting I'm trying to decide on at the moment is whether I want to set it to ignore any time spent moving slower than a certain pace so that my warm up and cool down time isn't affecting my overall pace. One the one hand since my goal as of next week is to start running for the entire 5K and see what kind of time I can do it in that will be handy, but by the same token they don't pause the race when you take a walk break on race days. I will have the phone for backup though.
I will say that I feel Garmin (and MapMyRun now that I'm mentioning it) have made a SERIOUS oversight in how they share info on their social sites. I do not mind at all sharing the nitty-gritty details of Who What When Why and How, but people really do NOT need to know about the Where. Both Nike+ and Active have the ability to turn on or off sharing options for maps and I feel this is an essential safety feature. I plan to contact both sites about this issue.
Do you run with technological assistance?
What are your favorite and least favorite features?
Would you set a minimum speed for readings if you had the option?
I feel that pretty much all advertising is based on manipulation and exploitation in some way or another, advertising exploits people. Full stop. I don't think that this manipulates fat people any more than typical Nike ads exploit fit people (as products or consumers).
They're using an actor with a specific look to sell a product, just like any other advertisement, but it is an unusual take given our culture's obsession with appearance. I do applaud their willingness to take a chance on a different look and a different method, and to use a more broadly uplifting narrative rather than a generally unattainable one, but in the end never forget they're still still hawking a product.
That being said, whether it's exploitative or not (it is) I do feel that the message that it is sending about determination and will is still both positive and more generally accessible and that is worth keeping out there.
******
My run today: C25K week 9 day 1 (holy crap again!)
3.13 miles at 12:47 per mile. (full workout per Garmin 3.48 miles at 13:16 per mile - I planned a longer route and walked the remaining 0.35 miles)
Added bonus info (since I feel I can trust the Garmin more than the phone) -
Top pace 7:03 !!!
Average pace of the splits where I was actually running 12:26
A bit harder to keep pace today but I'm finding my breathing is getting MUCH easier. My phone kept spazzing toward the end of the run and pausing my music to turn on voice control (I think it was due to being in a ziplock baggie IN my armband) so I was pretty distracted. New water bottle worked very well on most counts but I may have to drill an air valve in it as I get VERY little water in each pull.
I didn't have enough to go all out at the end (I lie, I had it but I didn't commit it), but I did commit enough to pick my speed up considerably for the last minute and a half and finish at a strong pace.
The green bottle on left is the one I took with me the last several runs. It has an approximately 22 oz capacity, a flip top lid, and a freezable insert thingy (not shown) for keeping your water cold. It also has a clip which I have attached to a silicone cause bracelet (Go Army, in this case) so that I can drop and recover the bottle easily whenever I need my hand free.
It's lovely as a general water bottle, but for running? Frankly, it sucks.
The size is too large for my hand so I get hand cramps
it's overly heavy when filled but overly sloshy when not
I don't like cold water so the chill pack thingy is a waste(admittedly nice for days at the beach and the like though)
the hole is too small so I feel like I never get enough water out for the amount of time I'm holding my breath to drink
I have to tilt my head back to drink so I lose sight of the road and always get water on/up my nose
the lid is going to take one of my teeth out.
And this is the least awkward of my water bottles!
Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational water bottle
And so I perused the sporting goods during a trip to Target (ostensibly to check out the Halloween stuff) and found the most perfect bottle EVAR... except for one little detail.
It's a reasonable 12 oz capacity so it wont be too heavy
a nice narrow bottleneck so I should be able to hold it comfortably
an old school Lunch Box Thermos style pop up straw so I can drink from it naturally with my head forward
a sturdy loop I can attach a lariat to for quick hands free recovery
a chic, classy, 360° silk screened Disney/Pixar Cars logo (I hated that movie). *sigh*
That's what I get for having wee tiny child hands I suppose.
The good news is that the Go Army cause bracelet fits around it perfectly... so looks like it's time to start collecting cause bracelets for a ghetto hack silicone bottle cozy!
First and most direct; I measure my distance and time via both the C25K and Nike+ apps on my phone and try to keep in mind the relative effort I am putting into each workout. Compared to when I started I am doing pretty much twice the distance at one and a half times the speed with less effort.
Second: I see the way my clothes fit. In five months I have gone from nearly needing a new wardrobe to digging stuff out of the back of my closet that I probably should have gotten rid of years ago.
Third: I do things that would have been exhausting six months ago and they are simply a good effort. Spending days moving house, walking around a museum for a day, dancing to every song until last call.
Fourth (and probably most abstract) I look at my forearms and wrists: when I am fit I have delicate (but not scrawny) forearms with fine boned wrists and a pleasant level of musculature. Despite my small size I feel that my arms look willowy and refined. When I am starting to add too many pounds my forearms become soft and featureless, my wrists become a dimple on the way to my hand.
I get it when my body adds weight to my midsection, that's where people naturally gain weight; but when fat starts distributing to spots like my wrists and the backs of my knees I know that I have simply exceeded capacity. As the finer structures in my body re-emerge I feel like I'm literally emerging from some sort of shell or cocoon.
******
My run today: C25K week 8 day 3
3.26 miles at 11:38 per mile (full workout per Nike+ 3.67 miles at 13:00 per mile - I planned a longer route and walked the remaining 0.41 miles)
New route beat the pants off of the old one, beautiful houses, wide roads, fewer crazy intersections, there was even a horse pasture! No horses out, but there was also a LARGE dropping on the road nearby, so either the horse farm is active or someone in the neighborhood has a pet bear.
My pacing is getting WAY better and I dropped into my stride very early. I still feel like a bellows from breathing so deeply but that is starting to feel a little more natural too. I almost started running again to finish out my route when the C25K workout ended but I figure there is plenty of time for that sort of thing later.
What is Poi? -
'Poi' is the Maori word for 'ball' on a cord. Poi is a form of juggling
where the balls are swung around the body. Poi can take many shapes and
forms from LED lighted, Glow, Fabric, Sock and Fire.
I practiced incessantly for a year before I ever lit up and it gave me the sexiest shoulders I have ever had in my life. I also gained a great deal of agility, balance, and grace (not to say I'm the most graceful person ever, but I used to be among the least). Poi forced me to exercise muscles in my left wrist that I had allowed to atrophy significantly due to a long bout of tendonitis (I was stupid and never went to PT) and gave me amazing upper body flexibility.
I performed en fuego as many times as I could and it NEVER got old. It was fun, beautiful, and intensely special to me. While I don't think I've swung a set of poi (or flags or a staff) in three or four years at least and the burn scars are all faded, it still remains one of the activities that I am happiest to be able to say that I have done.
I will however say that I'm also pretty freaking jazzed about...
******
My run today: C25K week 8 day 2
3.12 miles at 12:09 per mile.
and 3.1 miles just happens to equal...
Eff Yeah!
My legs felt great but man were my lungs tired!! Slight side stitch at 1.5 miles but I managed to slow down enough to get rid of it. All of the effort and discomfort I am experiencing at this point is happening above my waistline. Having water is helping immensely but I need to find a better bottle before I knock a tooth out. I still had enough at the end to let out with a full out run for the last 30 seconds of the run portion and I would have run for longer if I had looked at the time earlier.
Currently between warmup and cool down I'm walking about half a mile of my course, so I will be increasing my course so that I am covering a full 5K in addition to the warm up/cool down (about 3.6mi all told probably).
And since I'm only about a week away from finishing... my goal for my first few runs after C25K is to figure out what pace I can reasonably run without walk breaks for an entire 5K.
Today I actually exchanged pleasantries with other people while I was running... without even the intermediary of a scary loose dog!
In New York City the default setting is to benignly ignore the people around you. Many people who visit see that as cold or rude, but when you're stacked in a subway car or on a street corner in actual physical contact like sardines, allowing people a sense of autonomous existence (however illusory) is the only way to maintain any sense of privacy and dignity.
Sometimes the sardine-like feeling extends to multiple senses
This attitude tends to bleed over into the suburbs too since Long Island is rather insanely populous all by itself, and a great number of us commute to the five boroughs daily. I've seen a few runners out at the same time as me and I'm even starting to notice a few regulars; it's summer so people are poking at their lawns, detailing cars, playing basketball, walking with strollers, etc, but what they are generally not doing is acknowledging my existence. I am not insulted by this, but a bit of camaraderie can be nice on occasion.
I will generally look at someone at least obliquely, and I try to maintain a neutral expression (huffing and puffing aside) with a ready nod and/or smile for anyone who actually makes eye contact... but until today no one* has bothered, they don't even look up.
Today however.. smiles and even words from two joggers and a dad playing ball with his kids! Admittedly it's an especially fragile day for New Yorkers and I have to wonder if it had anything to do with that. I think we're all just that much more aware of our connections with each other.
Or perhaps it was a vibe that I was putting off, we'll see if this extends to future runs. Either way it was a startling, if pleasant enough change from the norm.
*With one sweeping exception: dog owners. Though I'm not sure if that's because they are generally happier people, or just watching me really carefully because I'm putting off a heavy "OMG gonna steal the puppy!!!" vibe. Someone in the neighborhood even has a Briard! They're like three steps from the Jim Henson creatures!
Water. Sun and waves, and maybe a rainforest to hike in for a day or two.
I don't know that most people would call it a "fitness vacation" but I want to be so exhausted by playing in the surf for hours on end that I pass out face down for a nap on my hotel bed every evening, only barely waking up in time to go out dancing all night.
I haven't done a run on the beach since high school, but I'm willing to give it a shot!
******
My run today: C25K week 8 day 1
2.85 miles at 13:20 per mile
I felt very stiff and uncoordinated heading out so I took it easy rather than hurting myself. I focused on breathing and pacing again and never felt beat. I was actually surprised to hear the cool down signal, rather than repeatedly eying my clock after incrementally shorter delays for the last eight minutes.
Despite the longer running period (twenty eight minutes!!!) it seemed to go by really fast, but due to an apparent tracking delay at the start at least the Nike+ app shorted my run a bit. It was the same exact route as Saturday but it was listed as shorter than 5K which is faintly annoying.
I'm also wondering if there was perhaps a burp in the other direction on my last run, as that was kind of a strange jump in speed and distance.
While I was doing the cool down walk after my run today a car sped past me with a few teenagers in it. One leaned out of the rear window with an American flag do-rag on his head and yelled "USA! USA! USA!" at me, pumping his fists as the car passed.
I really don't know how to take that one. I'd like to think he was just being over exuberant about the Olympics in a mildly jerky way, but I have to wonder if it had something to do with my appearance.
I'm rocking an especially serious tan right now, and am what you might call "ethnically ambiguous" even at my palest. People have been asking me "what I am" my whole life and I've gotten a spectrum of guesses from Indian, to Polynesian, to Turkish, to Brazilian (for the record, I'm a complete mutt with a heavy dash of Latin flavor). Often in my teens and sometimes even now I get followed at a safe distance by concerned looking clerks in stores.
Ultimately nothing happened beyond some idiotic yelling and a withering look in response, but some people are not so lucky
(I lived within miles of this incident at the time) and it's a good
reminder that there are people out there that look for trouble. As things go NY is a pretty tolerant place to live if you're kinda brown, but it definitely has its scary moments, especially since 9-11.
Have you ever had a run in (ha ha) that spooked you a bit?
My preferred state is actually to be barefoot (though you
wouldn't know that from the size of my high heel collection) so I initially gravitated toward minimalist shoes, but they mess with
my knees something fierce. The orange ones below are Nike Frees but I no
longer remember which version they are. I tried running in them the
first time I tried to pick up running five or six years ago but it never ended well, I mostly
use them for long days at amusement parks and the like as they are
comfortable enough for walking. The toe shoes are Vibram Bikala LSs which
I had a great deal of hope for, but the first
time I tried C25K they left me
practically unable to walk after week two in them. I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to use
them for anything.
Once I recovered from that I went to a real running store and had them look at my gait. Turns out I'm somewhat flatfooted and compensate by being overly flexible, so I over-pronate. I also get ingrown toenails very easily so I have to wear shoes with a big toe box or it becomes very painful. This was actually one of the main reasons I avoided running for a LONG time and is another reason the Vibrams didn't work out well.
I walked out with what was probably the most expensive shoe in the store, the Saucony Hurricane 14. The price-tag was a bit shocking, and I was somewhat suspicious that OF COURSE the first recommendation was the newest, spendiest shoe in the store, but I have to admit they've worked out well and I also LOVE that orchid purple colour. My knees are now pretty much happy and I have never once had pain from my toenails. I'd like to get something more trail/weather friendly for the winter but I only have about 50 miles on these so for now I'm doing well enough with the one pair.
******
My run today: C25K week 7 day 3
3.09 miles at 11:20 per mile
Focused on slower pace and more breathing, and did soooo much better. No struggling to get breaths, no nausea. I have noticed a small ache in my right arch for a week or so but nothing terrible and I don't feel it at any other time so I'm just going to use my Foot Rubz and keep an eye on it for now.
I have no idea how I dropped 0:48 off of my pace from Thursday because I felt like a turtle. I'm totally jazzed to see I almost hit 5k during the timed C25K section.
With three more minutes of running per workout next week I expect to hit 5K before the workout ends and that has me REALLY
psyched. Up until today the 25 minute no break runs were very hard on me
and I was worried about making it on even a slightly longer run but now
I'm pretty confident I can do it without stopping for a walk break.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting a beautiful dog which looked remarkably like the one below, except with no leash, no owner in sight, and chasing after me on a busy street about twelve minutes into my run. Based on size I'm guessing it was a female.
I stopped to address the dog because I was pretty sure she was about to take a chunk out of my calf out of sheer exuberance for the
chase. I also felt a bit like I was going to vomit becuase I couldn't
breathe, so that was some handy timing!
Red Siberian Husky - very pretty when it's not about to hamstring you
While I know you're not "supposed" to approach strange dogs she did have visible tags and I am a total sucker for stray animals (not the first time I've done it this summer, or even sort of technically this *week* now that I think about it). I attempted to read the tag and sadly while she had no problem approaching me in a friendly manner she was having none of me grabbing near her collar and warned me off in no uncertain terms. Shortly after this she took off in the other direction after a SUV.
Once I was sure she was a couple of blocks away I resumed my run,
(though I did take a moment to chat with another jogger that had been
dodging her) and then once I returned home I spent about forty five
minutes trying to find a phone line to report the dog for pickup. To top it all off
the "report a lost or found dog" number I kept getting referred to is out of service so all I can do
is spread the word via social networks, keep an eye out while I'm
driving around, and hope for the best.
Technically one of
the reasons I'm carrying pepper spray is in case I am attacked by a dog,
but I honestly don't know if I could use it (not on a dog anyway, all bets are off for
two legged predators).
Could be worse, could be this guy!
Team Jeep cyclist Evan Van Der Spuy meets an antelope, the hard way
Have you ever had a wildlife encounter? Story of my life. I'm actually considering a wildlife rehabilitation license but couldn't do something like that in my current place. I am that crazy woman on the side of the road about to get hit by traffic over a possum. One of my most cherished early memories of my father was watching him brave traffic to get a pigeon with a broken neck out of the middle of the road. It died in his hands moments later but he said he just couldn't let it die in the road like that.
Compassion like that leaves its mark.
Do you believe in "best left alone" or are you willing to risk the stitches and rabies shots in rescue scenarios? I have clearly come to terms with the fact that I am going to end up with rabies one of these days.
I used to log my eating with the Lose It iPhone app. I would lose the weight and re-balance my portion sizes over time, but I was just paying attention to caloric intake and there was clearly something lacking.
I wasn't doing much in the way of exercise and I found I wasn't getting near enough protein. There are only so many times you can start drooling when someone walks past with a microwave lunch before you realize that there is a problem with the balance of your diet.
I went back and forth with that several times over the last few years and considered starting it back up when I started doing C25K, but I decided instead to tackle one thing at a time and focus on exercise. When you compare the caloric loss from a two mile run to the caloric gain from a bag of Doritos you get really depressed, or at at least I do, so instead I put my focus on gaining health and muscle.
I have lost about five pounds since I started, but more importantly I've lost a LOT of the excess squish I was starting to accumulate and regained a good portion of my wardrobe. My clothes are fitting as if I was ten or fifteen pounds lighter and I no longer need to check to see if a shirt is too tight across my muffin top! My legs are starting to look really nice and I'm almost at the point where I feel I can wear my goal garment (more on that later).
Added bonus: I have found that I'm naturally paying more attention to what I'm eating as a function of fueling my body, and because I'm eating better stuff overall I am not stressing my indulgences. I have a cheese problem, and by that I mean I'm seriously nearly a cheesatarian. So good!
I am so happy to be able to eat it again like I want to.
I track my running simultaneously with the Active Trainer Couch to 5k app and the Nike+ app. I lost some data when I restarted C25K, so I now also back up the basic info (time, distance, notes etc) for both programs in an excel sheet.
Best moment of the run; a gaggle of pre-teens on bikes passed me when I
was about 2 miles in and one boy yelled out "Woman! What are you, crazy???" and kept going.
I had social plans for later in the evening so I decided before I went out not to do the full 5K tonight and just stick to the C25K workout. This was a really good idea as trying to report the dog took up the majority of my post run free time and I was late to my evening plans. I also had a VERY hard time keeping going today. My legs were fine but my lungs were having none of it and I had a small side stitch for part of the run (this went away during the dog encounter).
I took one of those really flimsy 16oz bottled waters and drank half of it before I left. I squeezed the air out of the other half and shoved it in my belt. It stayed quite well and I was very glad to have the water during cool-down, though I would like to find one with a squeeze top so I could have some while running too. Eventually I'll get one of those belt thingys with the water bottles, but I am making do for the moment as I have some serious expenses to address in the near future and need to put a cork in the running-related cash hemorrhaging.
I am rapidly learning that I am not very good at keeping to a
reasonable pace, even when I am feeling overextended. I may have to put
together a specifically down-tempo running mix to keep me to a pace my
body can handle.
My name is The Jogging Jawa and I am a perfectionist.
I know that probably sounds kind of flip, but it's actually a huge problem for me. When what you require is best case scenario and you know that's unreasonable, all you can imagine is worst case scenario and so you freeze up. And by "you" I of course mean "I".
Perfectionism goes hand in hand with anxiety. The projections of doom I place on my ability to actually do a task to my satisfaction are only trumped by the ridicule (or at the very least disappointment of others) I expect based on my lack of complete mastery. And so I stand, frozen in the headlights, so afraid of what is to come that I guarantee my own failure.
This is really pretty stupid on my part as I do tend to be pretty good at things once I actually get around to doing them, but that knowledge almost seems to make it worse, because what if this is The Time That I Fail(tm). Leaving aside all of the times I HAVE failed and somehow clearly survived the apocalypse-like conditions that ensued, of course.
But those were different! Somehow... I guess?
I have a friend (henceforth to be referred to as The Cheerleader, I expect her to come up a lot) who I've mentioned before as my main source of running inspiration. We were talking today about how psyched we are to be doing the Freaky 5k together in October and it occurred to me how unusual it is for me to commit to do something before I'm even really sure I can do it.
Of course I can "do" it, this is a local charity 5k run. It's not a qualifying race, or some side scrolling video game where I'm stuck rolling along at a preset pace until the screen with the giant seahorse Boss Monster with the fire bubbles (not a half bad team costume idea though!). I already know that at the very worst I can walk what I can't run (see today's c25k stats below) but it's my first one and I want to make a good showing of it.
So very many batteries sacrificed to the Gameboy gods. I miss that thing.
Typically this would be crippling anxiety-ville but maybe there is something to that "mental health benefits of exercise" thing after all. Yeah, I have stepped things up a bit with the additional walk, but that's a reasonable response to a challenge. Unlike freezing, which is only a reasonable response when you're dealing with cinematic Tyrannosaurus Rex and their ilk.
I've got a plan and so far it seems to be doing pretty right by me. Every time I'm out there lately sweaty and huffing I feel like I blew it for the day, but then I get back and look at my logs and I'm almost always just that smidge farther or faster than the last run. It gives me faith that I'm progressing and that bit of fuel needed to get through my next run.
So maybe I'm not perfect at mastering my perfectionism yet, but I guess don't really have to be, do I?
Currently the active.com Couch to 5K plan (done by time, not mileage) is my only nod to any kind of training schedule. I keep telling myself that I'll start doing yoga or belly dance drills again on the off days but so far that hasn't happened.
I would looooove to join another dance class, but a move and a vacation in July coupled with some current cat and car health concerns have me holding onto the cash a bit more than usual.
******
My run today: C25K week 7 day 1
2.79 miles at 12.33 per mile (or 3.1 miles at 14:06 if you want to count the whole time I was out)
No specific problem today, just felt kinda squished, little to no oomph. It took approximately forever for me to find any kind of groove and I just felt sort of goofy for the first three quarters of a mile.
I love summer for the most part, but having central air at home this summer has messed with my normally herculean heat tolerance. This running in 90% + humidity every time is seriously getting old. It was actually raining today too, though not enough to cool me off or get the sweat off of my face before it gets in my eyes or anything useful like that. A visor is moving up pretty high on the list of the next bit of gear to buy.
I brought water and it was really nice to have, especially once I started cooling down, but I'm ditching the handheld bottle as soon as possible. I HATED it. I felt so stiff and uncomfortable carrying it, but by the time I thought to switch hands I was kind of used to it, so it threw my pace off completely to think about how to move with it in the other hand.
I actually traversed a full 5k, but walked the 0.34 mile remaining after the c25k app was done. I keep feeling like I'm doing worse during the run but when I look back at my time and distance are getting incrementally better with every run, even if those increments are kinda wee.
First and foremost a wonderful person has left our world as of this morning and I mourn her loss.
When you have a couple of miles all to yourself with little but the rhythm of your body and thoughts to keep you company it's natural to reflect on things I think. After a day marked by a number of purposeful distractions it was no surprise that my mind turned back to her.
I felt like I had an awful lot of unrelenting me time to think about things. Today marked the transition to the "say goodbye to walk breaks" portion of the C25K program with a longer run by five minutes than I've done previously in the program *coughs* Or since about high school, and any running then was away from getting in trouble rather than toward health. I was SO good at hopping fences though and I find this really comforting when I get uncomfortable with how slow a car is passing. But I digress.
Humidity was high with an Air Quality Index of 110 (aka "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups"), and keeping down to a reasonable pace was hard. I think I was
just itching to get done with it and move on to something else, so I kept speeding up subtly and then catching myself. Consequently I spent a lot of time even more winded than I needed to be. My legs felt pretty good after the first mile, but I couldn't really catch a good rhythm and every breath felt about as nourishing as breathing warm jello.
If you don't recognize this scene get up and watch The Abyss. Yes, right now.
Wasn't that awesome? Moving onward...
I also think I may need to start bringing water along with me. Despite a concerted effort to drink a metric butt-tonne of it during the day (I try to make sure I'm peeing completely clear by the time I head out, aren't you glad you know that?) I always feel completely parched by halfway through and I've noticed a growing issue with burping and nausea by the end of my run. I am NOT a puker and yet I have felt pretty close a few times now. I thought it was an issue of eating too late but really an hour and a half wait should be sufficient and if this is to be believed it may very well be due to mild dehydration. I really don't know how I want to deal with that as I already feel like I'm strapping a million things on with more to come, but at least I know that I can deal with a belt.
In all today's run felt pretty grueling, but every time I started getting really frantic about it that little voice popped into my head saying things like "At least you can run" or "You're not in pain, this is not even in the same universe as pain. You're not in danger, this is simple discomfort, suck it up and stop whining". I know these were coming from a pretty morbid place and in the long run I would prefer to find other sources of motivation, but for today that's what my brain gave me to work with, so that's what I used.
The woman I mourn was a do-er and a helper, so I hope to move forward in that spirit and keep alive her years of encouragement rather than the fragility of her existence, but for today I'm going to stick with the fact that this totally sucks, cancer can go screw, and I really wish she was still here with us outside of our hearts too.
What's the weirdest thing you've ever used as motivation?
******
My run today: C25K week 6 day 3
2.72 miles at 13:01 per mile
As previously mentioned I need more air and more water, but I think I would prefer to have them more separated out then what the atmosphere is giving me to work with right now. I could deal without the nausea too but my legs are doing really good, a bit grumpy for the first mile but once I get past that I'm pretty set.
Notice the distinct lack of any send in order form part on the bottom there? That's because it's in an envelope with a check and and all that.
I know, whoop-de-do, a 5K, but it's my first 5K... so that's pretty cool!
Extra bonuses:
it's a Halloween themed race (make anything Halloween themed and there's approximately five billion percent higher chance that I'm in)
I have at least one friend who plans to be there. She is the consummate cheerleader and the main reason I'm even running at all now, much less training for a 5K
it's in the 'hood where I grew up so good chance my Mom will be there
the John Theissen Children's Foundation is a great charity with a big local presence in my hometown (seriously, go read how the charity started, it is the warm fuzzies)
On the other side I have some friends going through some devastating times right now and my heart was just not with me running today. I'm glad I ran for some reasons, but I really could have used that time
better in light of the circumstances so I'm somewhat mad at myself for
running too and I unquestionably carried that with me.
I had no focus to begin with, and to top it all off I had to take an extremely important call about 20 minutes into my run so any rhythm or flow I managed to build up went pretty much kaput at that point.
I did manage to pause my apps (eventually) and continued walking while on the phone, but obviously not an ideal day for either running or the measurement thereof.
Ever feel like you had to justify your run on a particular day (even if it's just to yourself)?
How do you deal with that?
******
My run today: C25K week 6 day2
2.65 miles at 12:25 per mile
(Nike+ says 2.3m at 13:59)
I did actually go at least two and a half miles but I'm not sure which time to believe more. In addition there was a good four minute walk in the middle of the second mile that totally wasn't supposed to be there. I'm going to continue on to day three on Friday and see how that goes.
As I mentioned last week I'll be champing at the bit for a good nine months for my Bia watch, but in the meantime I have to figure out how to make the best use out of the tech I already own. As much as I would love to pick up random new expensive stuff all the time, I'm living on a modest single income in one of the most expensive places to live in the country. I also have to balance any new expenditures against feeding my shoe "problem".
Admittedly I don't see it as much of a problem, and my boyfriend definitely doesn't. Wait a minute, whose problem is this anyway? I demand a recount!
*ahem* Moving onward.
There is one bit of tech I feel it worth investing in now though because I really like not hurting myself; namely a heart rate monitor.
No, not this heart monitor.
(5 bazillion bonus points if you get the reference!)
The amount of focus that the running community puts on avoiding over-training has been a huge help for me as I have a rather bad habit of hurting myself right when I get in the stride of a new type of exercise. This is the main reason why I decided to start with the couch to 5K program (*coughs* this time). I have some oooold recurring injuries - mostly caused by mild scoliosis, but in addition I am at times overly flexible, and can get a bit overzealous with new things. The bulk of my research up to this point has been focused on ultra basic training info (stretching and nutrition mostly) and figuring out how to protect my joints. Getting the right shoes was huge!
I have built up a bit of muscle and my joints seem to be getting strong enough to hold themselves together, so I am reasonably sure I'm not going to hurt myself too badly just going out for the C25K runs. Now that I feel like I have a strong(ish) base I have begun branching out in my research and developing an interest in heart rate training. I love doing random research*, I'm fussy, I like objective measures, I like not running harder than I have to, and I like new toys. So yeah, pretty much ideal!
The main issue I've had is learning enough about the receiver technology to decide on what tech to pick up. I need something that will work with my current setup (an iPhone) without becoming obsolete once I got my Bia watch. The watch relies on ANT+ technology which appears to be pretty much par for the course. However to use the same heart rate monitor with my iPhone I would also need to have an ANT+ "key" (basically a small receiver thinger which plugs into the bottom of the phone) which will cost a bit extra.
The main companies that come up when you search for bundled monitor/strap/key kits are Wahoo which will set me back about $100, and Garmin which will set me back about $80 (these prices seem pretty consistent across the board, except on the Garmin site where it is unbundled and way more expensive???). The Wahoo key is the main source of the price difference and from what I can tell the main thing that differentiates them is app accessibility: Wahoo will update to a large number of established running apps (and thus sites) while Garmin will only work with the Garmin app.
I'm a bit annoyed at Garmin today because I've been pricing out the map updates for their car GPS units (sheer ridiculousness, by the way), and furthermore I detest having that kind of limitation to a product when there are so many great fitness sites out there, so I think that decided things for me quite nicely!
The Wahoo site also generously points out that I will need a new armband that will accommodate the key. I *was* already thinking about replacing my armband for something more reliably waterproof but man oh man does this stuff add up!
Do you use a heart rate monitor?
What do you like/dislike about it?
What made you decide on your particular model?
I'm pretty sure someone was trying to steam clean my entire neighborhood today. My legs felt fine but I just couldn't seem to catch my breath. Can't imagine why that might have been... in the 93% humidity.
I felt like I was going slower than usual and I couldn't kick up the speed as much as I would have liked at the end, but I guess I wasn't doing too bad since I actually covered more ground than ever before at a slightly faster pace.
Today's run was all sorts of fraught with new stuff!
New stuff the first:
My RoadID arrived Thursday so I got my account all set up online, this was a bit long but in all fairly easy. I also got a new pair of socks by DeFeet, but I haven't tried them yet so no comment on those for now. I'm not really used to wearing things around my wrist so I decided to wear it to bed to get it all broken in and comfortable before I took it out running. That seemed to do the trick pretty well and I quickly forgot I even had it on. I have extremely small wrists and there was not a lot of extra room in mine, so if you have any question about fit do not go for the small size.
The second:
I had to get a flat tire fixed so I spent a bit of time wandering the mall while I waited. I had a coupon for Sears and needed some new run shorts (I'm tired of hand washing the one pair every time) so I beelined to the sports gear *cough* after a quick jaunt through the shoe section *cough* and picked up a couple of pairs of Everlast Mesh shorts at 50% off (the piping on mine are hot pink and aqua, respectively). They have a nice reasonable rise and a comfortable loose fit, though I was a bit more aware of what my underwear was doing than I am used to.
These do not have the lower back pocket that my previously singular pair of shorts has, so I had to figure out a new way to carry my house-key and in doing so remembered this "travel belt" thing my parents had given me several years back. At the time I declared it irretrievably dorky and promptly threw in the bottom of a drawer, but it seemed like just the thing for the job and I actually remembered where it was, so I dug it out. Neoprene straps, nylon and mesh construction... no brand name on it but I do believe this thing is made for sports in the first place! I had always assumed the middle part was a cell phone pouch but it appears to be made to hold tubular objects, so I finally gave in to my Boyfriend's wishes for me to carry some sort of offensive safety measure and strapped some pepper spray into it.
Much like the wrist band I promptly forgot all about it the minute I started running. I thought it would bounce or make my shorts feel bunchy but it was really quite unobtrusive. I am looking forward to the point in my running where I will have to start putting some sort of fuel thing in that other pocket!
I did also do some changes to my audio setup but more of that with one of my coming posts, wherein I discuss music!
How do you handle your sundries?
What do you consider your baseline running kit?
******
My run today: C25K week 5 day 3
2.24 miles at 13:24 per mile
20 minutes of running with no walking pauses!! Holycrap!!
Not only did I do it, but I did it without wanting to stop or die or anything! I even felt good enough to break out into a full on run for the last minute and a half (ok, I wanted to die or really mostly just hurl a little bit once I stopped running and started cooling down... but I was already walking by then so I knew it was only going to get better).
The app would have me believe that week six is the scary week, but I think this was the big hurdle for me. There doesn't seem to be anything in week six I feel like can't handle after that 20 min run.
Today marks the official halfway point in my Couch To 5K journey (well, workout-wise, hopefully not time-wise*) and I've started thinking just a little bit about where to go after it is done and what tools will be best for me at that point.
I've been using the Active.com mobile iPhone app in combination with the Nike+ iPhone app and they are both lovely, but I can't help but wince every time I take my darling, expensive, still fairly new phone out of my sweaty sweaty arm band at the end of a run. With the end of the C25K training I no longer have to use that app, but I'm still tethered to my expensive phone if I want the GPS information and the safety of having a cell phone at hand. I have also started looking a bit at heart rate monitoring because it looks cool, makes sense to me, and also toys.
That's where this lovely Bia watch comes in. I dig out my old iPod and I'm set! It has an emergency contact mode, GPS capabilities with syncing to a number of popular fitness sites, and heart rate monitoring, I've already paid for the watch part (hooray Kickstarter!) and...
And of course it doesn't hit the market until next spring.
Waley, waley, waley!
So in the meantime if I wanted to leave my spendy phone at home I could get a cheap heart rate monitor watch, dig out my old iPod, buy a cheap prepaid cell phone and still be short the GPS info.
Okay, so I get a GPS watch that does heart rate, dig out my iPod, get a prepaid phone, also I may need a rucksack for all of this stuff. Wait, so how am I protecting my financial investment again? By spending money? How's that work?
Though it just occurred to me that there's no reason my phone shouldn't be able to handle the signal for a wireless heart rate monitor *pauses to hit google* and a quick google search tells me that there are a number of options in this direction!
I think I have a research project for tomorrow!
Are you into the toys and gadgets? If so (or if not!) how do you prefer to keep track of your fitness?
******
My run today: C25K week 5 day 2
2.25 miles at 13:46 per mile
I have been trying to start out easy and accelerate toward the end, so far I've had negative splits in all but one of my runs so this seems to be working out well, but in the end felt like I could have pushed myself much earlier. I was a bit worried about my knee this morning and my hamstring has been tight the last couple of days, but any particular discomforts during the run were fleeting.
*My first attempt at Week1 Day1 was May 4, 2012. More on why I'm not already done in another post, wherein you learn about how my body totally hates me.
That's how it should work anyway, right? Homeostasis I say!
Anyone who hangs out with me for any period of time figures out pretty quickly that I don't like to pee. It's not a OCD thing, or medical, or anything like that; I just don't like to interrupt what I'm doing for any kind of *ahm* administrative intake or output. I don't like taking time out for meals either. *shrugs*
For the most part this is not a problem since I am a big fan of finger foods and am not a beverage chugger. I eat at my desk, I make one cup of coffee last an insanely long time (seriously, all day) and I hit the WC when utterly necessary... it's all good. Occasionally a coworker pokes fun at me for still not getting up when I've just said I had to go for the third time, but that's the price one pays for uninterrupted work.
Well, until I started running in record high year for NY heat and humidity, that is.
I know, I know... it could be a sunny 115 in Texas, or India or somewhere similarly tarantula strewn, but it is often like living in a bowl of invisible pea soup here (or clam chowder if it's low tide!) and that's still no fun, and more importantly it messes with my whole homeostasis thing because I am forced to sweat. *shakes fist*
I'm trying to be better about water (yuck) so I set up my own version of these bottles I found on Pinterest because...
well okay, maybe I am a little OCD-ish sometimes.
I figured if I have a bottle staring at me with time goals on it that I may be missing RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME I am more likely to drink it. Except I only have one bottle, and it's smaller, so I have three sets of times, and they are all smeary because I tried to protect the marker with nail polish and it smeared and...
*ahm* Nope, no untoward obsessiveness here... moving onward...
So much to absolutely no one's surprise the mind game worked and I am now drinking (almost) all the water I am supposed to on any given day. Interesting side effect: I am now drinking WAY less coffee and I have pretty much zero interest in sugary beverages. I do however still drink water like it's medicine though, chugged 8 oz at a time.
I know it's better for me in the long run (and my skin is way happier) but the peeing, she still vexes me.
Did you have to change any odd habits when you started running/exercising?
******
My run today: C25K week 5 day 1
2.30 miles at 13:06 per mile
Finally moving into new territory again, this week should be a doozy since there's a different set of walk/run intervals each day (and NO walking for 20 minutes other than warmup/cooldown on day three!! ack!)
Hamstring and calves were a bit tight but my left hamstring seems to be relaxing a bit.
It was hard to keep pace down to a reasonable enough level to know I would have something left to speed up at the end but I had enough to *run* my last minute and a half and I'm still doing negative splits so I guess I succeeded.
My knees seem to still be good with no braces! This is such an incredible relief!
I have never felt like I was in any specific danger while out on a run, but the conditions Wednesday and today (it was so humid I went out at dusk again) really highlighted my need for a better visibility and emergency ID setup.
I've been carrying an expired driver's license with me which has my old address blacked out and my mother's contact info taped to the back. Unfortunately the only place that really makes sense to carry it is shoved in my armband in the pouch behind my phone, not exactly the most obvious or accessible place on earth. I try to wear bright colours (in Wednesday's case a *fluorescent* yellow extra large tee shirt) but the only reflective item on me is my shoes. I have my mother set up in the ICE slot in my phone, but my phone auto locks, so the info on it is useless to me in an emergency. Either way, as poster c o o k i e monster points out in this thread, EMS providers don't have time to futz around with phones looking for your info.
I've been digging around the internet for a while it seems the consensus is that the Road ID products are solid and dependable, and given the relative lack of price difference in the various brands out there I figured I might as well go with those. Road ID lays out a pretty straightforward case for getting one of their IDs and if that isn't enough convincing you can also check out the hundreds of testimonials on their site. It also did not hurt that I found a coupon code for a touch more than the base shipping cost in the Runner's World post above ($2 off with ARR8627 until 1/31/13).
Even leaving accidental situations aside, I have approximately ZERO illusions about the goodness of a portion my fellow Earthlings when presented with an opportunity for wrongdoing. This attitude came from my own academic background and upbringing, but for those of you less naturally wary please consider the cases of Sarah Hart and Sherry Arnold before trusting your life to random strangers. I am an extremely petite, fit(ish) woman, running around in spandexy clothing with a very expensive phone strapped to my arm (attached to those tell-tale white headphones no less). While I'm running in a pretty good neighborhood, I really might as well have a target taped on me.
I went for the Wrist ID Sport in the screaming yellow, with update-able online database option.
Funny, my cats' microchips also have update-able online database options!
I was originally considering the ankle version as I thought the wrist band might get annoying, but in the end I went with this one for a few reasons;
it has reflective stitching and a pleasantly eye-searing colour. There is saddening lack of neon on their site for a safety product company, besides, neon is so in this year!
it could be worn over sleeves when it gets colder (whereas I feel the ankle one would be too well hidden by pants)
The silicone options would probably feel yucky (technical term!) once the band got sweated up
shoes get knocked off too often in car vs pedestrian incidents to go with the shoe tag
The interactive ID provides the opportunity to attach a whole giant load of info to your ID
I move every couple of years and I like that I can update my address info without having to get a new band
I'm expecting my Road ID sometime next week, at which point I'll weigh in on how awesome/annoying it is. For now I'll have to make do with a hidden, half blacked out, expired driver's license with a picture so out of date I actually get hard stares from bar bouncers when I get ID'd.
My run today: C25K week 4 day 3
2.24 miles at 14:02 per mile (vs 2.25 miles at 14:00 per mile on June 26th)
I should have eaten more and earlier, I also should have stretched more as my calves, feet, and left hamstring were very tight and complainy for the first mile. On the plus side I ran for the first time in a WHILE without any sort of knee braces and I felt totally fine in that regard.
It's good to see I'm about exactly on par with where I left off nearly two months ago, I think I'm actually looking forward to trying out week five!
Running in the rain last night I felt a little like I was crazy, but a lot like I was myself. There was a time, so very long ago it seems, when I did things because I
had decided that they were going to get done, and that was that.
Couch To 5K week 4 day 2, the second time around after a month and a half long moving (and post move death plague) hiatus. It was dusk, it was drizzling heavily, and it was sticky enough that pausing outside for any time under shelter meant certain mosquito bites. I took it easy enough that while I could feel my muscles I never worried about being winded, and it felt like the last running interval was over in a flash.
Plodding along at a snail's pace through the puddles and around weighted
branches, praying a ziplock would keep my phone dry enough, and tasting
the hair product from the afternoon's haircut running into my mouth.. this all had
such a wonderful long lost certainty to it.
Sure I was wet, and it was annoying, and I was more than a little worried about vehicular manslaughter and/or iPhone failure (hey, priorities, right?) but from the moment I got up yesterday knew what I was going to do with my evening, and I had no question about whether I would or could do it. This is what my brain was like once, and I lost it all in the sad brain years of my mid to late 20s.
Have I finally found my drive again?
And just to keep things honest:
Couch to 5k week 4 day 2
2.09 miles at 15:06 per mile (vs 2.33 miles at 13:30 per mile on June 23rd)
Can I blame it on the rain? Is anyone else now doing a little early 90s dance?
