My first race

This was mapped out by my new running buddy Alyssa.  We were pretty close the whole race; usually she stayed right behind me.  We ran the last mile together and chatted.  Also, she said she started this about 5 minutes into the race.

Me and Alyssa

Today I ran my first 5K!!!!  It was an exhilarating (and exhausting) experience.  The course had many hills, but the weather was perfect- 45 degrees and foggy.  Ben had to go out of town unexpectedly, but I did have the support of many co-workers.  This race was to benefit one of the 4th grade teacher's husband who has cancer.  I'll post a group picture when I have access to it.

It was a really amazing experience.  The course wound through farms, around ponds, near horse pastures, and beside large gorges.  I felt like I was leading a second wave of runners/walkers.  There was a gap between the fastest runners and the joggers.  I was running ahead with a huge pack behind me, and many times I was accompanied by a police motorcycle escort for long periods of time!  It made it feel like I was leading the whole race!  It was pretty fun.  

Things I learned:

• Prepare in advance by laying out your clothes.  Just because you think all of your running gear is together doesn't actually mean it is.  This made me later than I wanted, which resulted in no food/sport drinks before the race.
• Apparently you are suppose to eat a healthy runner's breakfast like a bagel with a little peanut butter or a nutrient bar designed for runners, according to this article in Runner's World.  The moral of the story is to prepare in advance.  I didn't have any good breakfast foods at home, and I was going to stop at the store and get a bar and a sports drink, but I was cutting it too close on time that I skipped it altogether.  Today I held up well, but for longer endurance races I can foresee this becoming an issue.
• Along those same lines, it would be good to start training on Saturday and emulate race day conditions (eating at a certain time before running, race gear, etc.)
• I need some new running gear. My stuff held out for today, but I feel like I'm to the point where I want to begin serious training.  I'd like to get some nice custom fit running shoes, socks, and undergarments.  Also, I'd like to get an iphone arm strap.  I didn't have any music this time, and that could have helped.
•  At the end of the race, my body felt strong.  My legs were doing well, and I feel like I could have kept going.  My asthma made my breathing labored, even with my inhaler.  I might need to check into getting on a daily control medication.
• When coming back to my apartment downtown, I passed a group of runners.  I still had on my race bib, and there was a sense of comradery.  They all spoke to me as they passed, and it was an exciting experience.  I felt welcomed into the club. 
• Overall, I'm very encouraged by today.  I think that is the longest and fastest that I have ever ran!  This makes me want to push through to continue on to even longer races.  It was also encouraging that the most I ran before today was 30 minutes, and on race day I almost doubled that!
• Oh, that reminds me of one last thing- my time.  I need to keep up the pace in training, but also to make sure to be regular with the training process.  These last few weeks have been spotty (granted, I was sick for a while), but I feel I could have performed even better if I would have kept up my regular training schedule.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by, or offer any advice you have!

My social network also offers great support!  Over 50 likes on my race picture with tons of encouraging comments- many from fellow Cadre members. :)

The Science of Working Out

This week was our first face-to-face session of the fall semester.  Many of us stayed at the Doubletree, which has very nice facilities.  I love the gym, as well as the fact that I have a highly motivated Learning Partner who will get up and work out with me!

This week I got to see some data on my run.  It was a revelation because I've been training exclusively with the app Couch to 5K.  The beauty of this app is that it provides an interval trainer.  The downside is that it does NOT provide pace or any data.

Here's a look at my stats:

I was really disappointed at the distance traveled!  In my mind, I was moving!  I've still got to get my speed up to get to a 5k in a reasonable amount of time.

Note: 5 minute warmup and cooldown, 30 minute run.

14 MPH.  Awwww. :'(  Slow!

At tech camp, I couldn't run for 3 minutes.  Now I can do 30!  Slowly but surely making progress to becoming the person I want to be...

Preventing Shin Splints

I found a Wonderopolis today on Shin Splints and a video on stretching exercises.

Stretching Lessons

This weekend my brother-in-law came into town to help us move.  A natural athlete, James is a veteran racer.  It was good to get some stretching lessons and tips in person!
Here are our stretches:

I was already doing this one, but without the hand extension.  

Warrior One!  I know about this one!  

This is the "super-stretch"- very P90X style.

General Advice from James:

Food like preztels and bread provide carbs and salt.  He told me about Salt Pills for his half ironman training.

Taper down right before the race- take time to rest.  Running socks help & keep you comfy.  Use a hat or sweatband.  It's important to have a watch. Really good shoes.  Spandex & loose shorts can cut down on chaffing.  

Starting week 4

The start of a new school year is an exciting time with all new students... and all of their germs. :( Last Sunday I had an incredibly sore throat (not to be blamed on the little darlings... we were also packing up to move, and I think the dust stirred up my allergies/asthma). However, there was also a nasty stomach bug going around my classroom. I was up all Tuesday night with a stomach illness. I'm still having chest congestion! Anyway, all of this sickness completely ruined our proposed training schedule this week!

Today we just started Week 4, which is a five minute run. I was able to get farther along in my readings and I had a good week at work. I know this might not seem directly related to running, but all of those aspects create stress and take a toll on your body. I have really enjoyed running, and I'm actually looking forward to it. This morning was a really tough run- even though it says it was only 77 degrees outside, the sun was glaring down on us. Also, the humidity of 69% wasn't helping.  We stuck with it and completed our first 5 minute solid run.  I struggled with the second long run mentally.  We were three minutes into what I believed was the long run, and the app chimed for us to stop.  This totally threw off my game- I thought I was halfway there on that stretch, I liked that part of the course, and mentally I had already gauged my stopping point.  When we actually began our real second 5 minute run, I struggled the entire time.  I don't think this really had anything to do with my ability- it was more of a mental game.  Part of the time I even walked for a few seconds, with much chastisement blended with encouragement from my husband.  Which song is playing also seems to have an impact on my running- my personal connection/sentiment to it, the speed and beat of the song also contribute to my running.  I believe this proved to be true on my two longer runs today: the first one I was enjoying with a  coming-of-age song for me by Our Lady Peace.  It had a good beat and felt like a song that pushed me to run even faster.  On the other hand, when I was mentally struggling on the second run, the music wasn't helping.  It wasn't memorable, and the beat was sluggish.  We even shuffled through a few to find something a little more upbeat, but again there was no real connection.

Still Diet Coke free!

Week 3

Written on 8/18/13 Still Diet Coke free!  I went cold turkey on that one.  It's been really freeing, though!
This week I discovered some new drinks to replace DC.  We had already been doing Chocolate Soymilk, water with lemon, chamomile tea, orange juice and skim milk.  My husband was drinking pineapple juice instead of orange juice.  This week,

2 weeks complete!

It's been raining nonstop!  Earlier this week we did a day of training in the rain, but today we opted to head to the gym and check out the treadmills.  A very worthy decision indeed!  I thoroughly enjoyed the low impact workout, and being (mostly) dry was an added bonus.

2 weeks completed!

I haven't had a Diet Coke in 2 weeks either.  Our food habits have been altered; another factor that contributes to this is the genesis of another school year.

I have increased my intake of bananas.  I had one before my run today and I did not get a cramp, which was a drastic change from the norm.  I currently have a glass of Soymilk for breakfast, a lean cuisine for lunch, blueberries for a snack, and a regular dinner.  I am looking for an alternative for lean cuisine for lunch... I refuse to eat salad.  Last year I had a slice of Sarah Lee deli meat, slice of cheese, and a side of veggies.  I don't like the amount of sodium in the deli meat, or that it is processed.  Still looking for a viable lunch alternative that I can stick with!





I still need to research more about:

• Stretches
• What food to eat before/after a workout
• Which 5K to run... and I need to register! 
• Running shoes.  We need to go to a running store and have them do a gait analysis, etc. 

As far as learning goes, it helps that we have many friends who are runners.  Social media makes it easy to get input from experienced runners.  Facebook helped us get started!

My Facebook post & responses:

Another encouraging factor was the response from friends/family/total strangers!  My first blog post had nearly one hundred views, including some from Germany and Alaska.  I think having this supportive community also makes this journey more exciting.  

We had a scare this week with my medical issues... I have a nodule on my thyroid.  The doctor is recommending that I have it removed; I should have a surgical consult soon.  Hopefully this won't impact our workout schedule too much.

Also, we will be moving to downtown Nashville soon. (Woohoo!)  While this is an exciting change, it also means we will have to find a new location to run.  I'm looking forward to checking out places to run in the city.

On to week three!

An Ode To Diet Coke

I have some depressing news.  Apparently, in order to be more successful in my half-marathon training program, I must give up my beloved Diet Coke.







Written on 7/31/13

Training: Day 1

Walking down the stairs... pre run

6:00 am July 30, 2013

Consider this the "before" shot!

After run/walking our first 30 minutes

We used the app Couch to 5K as our interval trainer to start with

My husband helped me out with a post run weight training exercises

What I learned today:  I don't know how to properly stretch.  I need to seek the advice of more seasoned runners.  Today I am going to talk to my teacher-neighbor who is a workoutaholic.  Hopefully she can point me in the right direction with stretches.  My husband and I also talked about utilizing our WiiFit for workout stretches or maybe an additional cooldown (like wii tennis).  I like that the Wiifit monitors what your body is doing and provides you with feedback.  I want to also do more research online.

Other things that we need to know more about: nutrition, workout gear, stretches, a good 5K (sign up).

Our next workout will be cardio- back to the elliptical tomorrow and our next run will be on Thursday.

Stay tuned!

Planning

As a doctoral student of Pepperdine University, one of our first assignments was "learn something new".  This is a daunting task assigned to both us and our spouse/significant other of some sort.  After much deliberation, we settled on a goal of learning to run a half marathon.
This was an exciting but nerve wracking undertaking!  My dad ran a marathon when I was in high school, and I volunteered as a "water girl".  It was an exciting opportunity to cheer him on.  The atmosphere at the marathon was high energy and a lot of fun!  I was intrigued, but not quite motivated enough to try it on my own.  I also suffered from exercised-induced asthma (I'm not making this up!), so running was not high on my priority list.

Fast forward to 2013, and here we are!  My first step was to do research and find out more about the topic.  I started to pursue the internet for a few half marathon training calendars, and I looked into races.  I was extremely disappointed that all of the Disney events were either: a.) sold out, or, b.) during a time when I have class.  Aw.
However, we live in Music City, USA!  We have a current goal of running the half marathon at the Country Music Marathon in April, 2014.  We also need to find a 5K to do before then.

One other thing that I did to prepare is talk to people who have completed half marathons.  Yesterday I met with a local professor, and she said she has (power)walked many half marathons.  It was also encouraging to talk to my learning partner, who has completed many half marathons, including the coveted Princess half marathon (I'm so jealous!)  She gave me lots of advice, including:

• Go to a running store and get fitted for a good pair of shoes.  Possibly buy them online.
• Stretch!
• Start off slow
• Walk a full 13 miles at the start of your training to get a feel for what you are doing