Running With My Club

3 miles in the books ~ 33:47 ~ 11:15 pace.

10:57 ~ this is techinically in the TEN's!!

11:06

11:41

Decided to go out and see if I could pick up the pace. Feeling really good after the weekend and it's only 3 miles. I suprised myself with a pretty good stride (well compared to my usual shuffle) and the first mile split made me really happy. (That reminds me of my two year old who seems to announce all his emotions right now, "I'm happy, Mom!")

I left the iPod home and just let the thoughts flow. It was absolutely amazing to me the negative things that just come to you. I have been working on and reading lots about these negative scripts that run through my head, about running and other things too.

"Marathon? What in the world were we thinking?" "IF I finish, I will surely be LAST." "Wonder if anyone will come cheer for us, I will probably look like death and either fall apart or collapse if I see anyone." "I will never make 10 this weekend." blah, blah, blah.

I actually felt like I had a club and every one that popped up, I beat down. It became almost comical as I imagined myself beating down the uglies.... I countered with: the health benefits, the fact that I haven't missed a run in weeks, the fact that my BP was 98/60, the fact that I ran 8 miles, the fact that I just ran a mile in the TEN's. I had to trail off some, but I didn't care. It felt like a decent clip and more importantly, it was a great run mentally. I was super winded but recovered quickly and had a mile walk home.

Two notes to friends ~ Patty, I tried high-fiving an innocent and unsuspecting old man walker. I startled the crap out of him when I yelled, "high five" in a total tribute to you and positivity and silliness. He understood about a step too late and we both said, "ooooohhh". He did think I was silly and actually felt bad for not obliging. I still thought it was pretty funny. I think I will try an earlier warning and maybe a younger subject next time! :)

Brian ~ Thanks so much for saying the "impressive" part was the steady pacing. No one has ever called my pace or pacing or anything related to my running "impressive". Clearly you still need hydration, man. Just kidding. I REALLY appreciated this!

Good Running and POSITIVE SCRIPTS - or at least go out armed with a club!! :)

Eight Was Enough

Well, folks, I made it! Set the land speed record for SLOWEST TURTLE out on a Sunday morning trying to look the part, but I made it, and I think that is the point of all of this. I actually finished only stopping at a couple street lights and once for a gatorade break. I had two gels, around 3.5 and 6.5.

Here it is ~ 8.2 miles ~ 1:50:40 ~ 13:22 pace
YIKES on many levels:
1. I can't believe I ran 8 miles!! Both Curtis and I have gone from occasional runners who do 2 - 3 to an 8 mile run in just a few weeks!!
2. The pace, I didn't feel all that bad but something happened around the 3.5 mile mark that slowed me up ~ man that was slow
3. Next weekend I am going to hit the 2 hr mark.
4. A few of my joints are screaming a little louder - at least the ibuprofen didn't rip up my stomach like last week.

13:04
12:47
13:08
13:25
13:22
13:48
14:12
13:26

That hill in mile 7 was tough but there is no way to avoid the hills around here. Just gotta do them and remember every step is making me stronger (hope that still holds true at slower than a snail's pace). I will be looking forward to trying double digits (the big 1-0) next weekend. Well, I will be looking forward to it in a few days anyway! :)

My Week in Chicago

I arrived in Chicago on Monday at the Swissotel and was absolutely ecstatic to find out that it was right on (well 90 steps up from) the Chicago River, overlooked Navy Pier and with great access to running paths on the lake! Yeah. I went for my 3 miler immediately before my meetings started.
3.5 miles ~ 43:08 ~ 12:18 pace
With my meeting schedule pretty tight, I decided I needed to get up a little before 5am on Tuesday for my 5 miler. Anyone who knows me or has heard my Health Behavior Change classes knows what a big deal that is. Apparently Anthony Robbins is right. If you want something bad enough...

This second pic shows the river - my hotel is near the fountain on the right. I just climbed down 90 steps to river level and had a beautiful run out to the lake. I could have gone left to Navy Pier (barely visible here) or right to an expanse of boats and the little globes that are all over with their very green messages. What an adventure for me. I ran all the way to the Adler Planetarium and back, just taking in all the beautiful scenery.
5 miles ~ 67 minutes ~ 13:31 pace.



I'm not exactly sure why this was slower than normal. I felt a little tired but not like I was dying or anything. I ate a powerbar before and had some gatorade and a gel out at the planetarium. I guess maybe it is just one of those days. I am trying not too be too worried about it. Still excited from making 7 (and that was even a faster pace than this...) Up the 90 steps was certainly interesting on tired legs!!

We have lots of runners at this meeting and in our company. A colleague asked about me joining up with a group for a run but I said I am turtle slow. He said they would go pretty slow but when I told him between 12 and 13 slow (and turns out that was being optimistic), he said, "oh, yeah, that IS slow!" Oh well, I didn't let it bother me (hey progress here!). I mostly just thought it was funny and have told the story a few times. He didn't mean anything negative and actually was supportive and offered advice on running groups, etc. Shared this site with another colleague and friend -- Rick, the Ironman. He understood and is totally supportive of me just being out there.

Looking forward to this meeting being over (although I did pick up a few extra powerbars at breaks!) and heading to another friend's. We are planning on scrapbooking our brains out on Thursday. Will probably do another 3 miler before heading home. This weekend is the big 8...

Seven, I'm in Heaven

Yes, 7.29 miles, in fact!! I started out up a big hill so went slow to conserve. My overall pace was 13:06 for 1:35:26.

13:24

13:07

12:53

13:01

13:02

13:28 (huge hill)

13:00 and the last .29 at a 12:07 pace.

Yeah!! I finished. I think this hurt joints a little more than last week, but overall, Cardio and nutrition were pretty good. I sometimes can't even believe I am able to run this far.

Thanks to all the gals who are posting and sending tons of positive vibes my way. You are really sweet to take the time and to care. I will be checking in on you. Yes, I did try the icy plunge, my land, that was painful. I kept noticing I was holding my breath alot to try to get through it. Hoping it pays off tomorrow! :)

Next week is going to be a big challenge ~ I travel Monday through Friday and need to do 3, 5, 3. It's one of those, we plan every minute of your day things, with extra early breakfast meetings and even evening events.... But at least I know what I need to do. As Anthony Robbins would say, if I want it bad enough, my mind will be working to figure out a way to get it done.

Mid-Week Runs

My mid-week 4 miler was pretty sad. I think I waited too long and let it get too hot out, and probably didn't eat or drink enough. Dang, I should know better. And the bad part is, a bad run brings up all those questions you don't want to be asking, like "how in the world am I going to do 7 this weekend?" Well, I am chalking it up to poor prep...and, it just doesn't matter. I simply need to do 7.

4 miler on Wed ~ 50:24 ~ 12:36 pace (at least no turtles actually passed me)

3 miler on Thurs ~ 36:20 ~ I did this on the tread mill and tried to go out really slow (12:52) to warm up. I was pretty sore from the 4 or maybe from the 6.5 this weekend. Then I did about 1.6 miles in the middle at 11:30 pace which gave me new appreciation for all those faster types out there. Overall pace was something like 12:06. Felt faster :)

I ended it with some ice advice from Kate. http://katesmarathon.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I only did a couple of packs on the sore spots but after the 7 miler, I plan on taking the plunge. I'm sure I'm going to need it.

Can Turtles Be Positive?

Today's run ~ 3.33miles ~ 40:06 ~ 12:08 pace.... some stride lengthening made this interesting and painful in new ways! Still a turtle but at least I am not struggling to make it, in fact 3.3 feels like baby stuff. Just when I start feeling good...some perky size 2 prances by, my husband starts running 10 minute miles (he's not even close to a size 2 or prancing, but he's still faster than a turtle), I read someone elses hilarious posts and feel completely inadequate and boring. Why do I do this to myself??

I am running farther than I ever have, more regularly than I ever have. I am doing it. I will never be a size 2 nor will I prance, and that is okay. And, it may be a while before I can do 10 minute miles but I can be really excited and proud for him. I am going to learn to be positive if it kills me! Just the other day some old guy goes by and I had just read about someone getting elbowed off the path by faster and extremely inconsiderate types. I decided to make a joke and yelled, "Hey, you're making me look bad!" The guy says, "hey, not at all, you're doing great." I think I'm going to go with that...

Some of My Stuff

Seriously, Who Was That??

Well, I did the long run on Sunday ~ 6.5miles ~ 1:25:29 ~ pace 13:08 ~ and it felt.........GREAT!!?? I couldn't believe it. Who was that out there? The whole time, I was thinking "When is this going to get really tough?" It never did!! There were even hills and I seemed really to not have much problem. Yes, I'm still slow, but I am so excited to have had a run that felt good. And, this is the longest I have ever run. I had some stiffness and aches and pains but nothing that I think bears worrying about.

Because I am so slow, I had to go out packing hydration. I'm guessing most people don't need to do this yet at 6 miles but I was glad to have it and it was kind of fun. Between the fanny pack of Gatorade and tube to drink, the head phones, the watch, and the hat....I was feeling pretty wired up but then again, I almost started feeling like a real runner. YEAH! This should keep me coming back for awhile.

Hills Kill

Well, I have been doing a little work on the side bar, thanks to tips in htmlgoodies!! Thanks for the tip, Red!! Exciting, although I don't want to get consumed. I do like this little spot and like making it mine. I love seeing the ticker too, although few leave a message. Thanks to jogblog for the great countdown timer.

I finished my mid-week 4 miler (4.36 in 55:50) and then 3.1m yesterday (39:52 - 12:51 pace, oh my). I felt better on the 4 than the 3 because I did a really hilly route. It seems like the hills just kill me. I never know what to think about that. I am always looking for less hills so that I can make the run. But is that the right tactic? Surely there will be hills to contend with, so I probably shouldn't be looking to lessen them in training? I keep thinking that every time I do them and have a yucky run like that 3.1, that it's still got to be progress....

And now, I'm worried about the next big step. My first 6-miler tomorrow. I hope I can keep going.

WEEK FOUR

I made it through the first 5 miler over the weekend, although it was pretty hot and fairly grueling. I am thinking that they are all just going to be hard. I am painfully slow.

Today I did 3.36m in about 42min, still in the mid 12's. I did much better on preparing (banana, 1/2 powerbar, 4oz milk and 20oz water). I want to get this down now before the longer runs. I think it was much better although it is a little hard to tell this early, but I don't think I had been doing enough water. Also, need to get my weight down before they get much longer. About 7 pounds would be good.

I was looking back through some records, I actually ran a 5k in the 10's once (pre-Baby Jay), so maybe there is hope for some improvement. I would like to figure out how to post some race results in the side bar, but not there yet.

Curtis and Nancy back in December. I was running quite a bit in the Fall, but trailed off through the holidays. Did well in Jan and Feb, but, several vacations (and potato chips) later....

Still I wanted a nice pic to look at for motivation.

I WANT TO BE A RUNNER

Non Runner's Marathon Trainer Book

After several weeks of sporadic training and wanting to get back into the swing (I was only running about 2.6m at a time), Curtis suggested we try the book. This would be a way of guaranteeing that we get our runs in 4 times per week. It would just be a given, we would have to get it in on our prescribed days. We made up schedules and decided on weekend long run days, mine are Sundays. Whether or not a marathon is actually possible and lurks at the end, who knows, but we would be on our way to being regular runners.

I started into the 3 mile runs early weeks and had some troubles with heat, energy levels, hydration levels. I have only gotten serious about running a couple of times (between kids and last fall) and it only lasted a few months - not very knowledgeable on the nutrition and hydration. Lots to learn and lots of progress made already.

Every 3 mile run I was thinking that I am going to give this book and the authors a run for their money. They say they have a great success rate -- only 1 student over the years did not finish the marathon. You just have to have faith and take 1 run at a time....

HOW QUICKLY THIS CHANGED from a great way to get those runs in, to hey, maybe I COULD do a MARATHON!!??

MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM

A 16 week schedule is used to train NON-RUNNERS for a marathon. The goal is SIMPLY to FINISH!!

You must be able to jog continuously for 30 minutes to start the schedule, otherwise you can work into it with a preliminary schedule. We both could do this but elected to add a couple weeks on the front end anyway to get used to consistently running 4 days per week. The first two weeks are what we added, the following 16 are from the book. You run only 4 days per week with a day of rest before and after your long run.

Week 1 - 3, 3, 3, 3
Week 2 - 3, 3, 3, 4
Week 3 - 3, 4, 3, 5
Week 4 - 3, 4, 3, 6
Week 5 - 3, 4, 3, 7
Week 6 - 3, 5, 3, 8
Week 7 - 3, 5, 3, 10
Week 8 - 4, 5, 4, 11
Week 9 - 4, 6, 4, 12
Week 10 - 4, 6, 4, 14
Week 11 - 4, 7, 4, 16
Week 12 - 5, 8, 5, 16
Week 13 - 5, 8, 5, 16
Week 14 - 5, 8, 5, 18
Week 15 - 5, 8, 5, 18
Week 16 - 5, 8, 5, 9
Week 17 - 3, 5, 3, 8
Week 18 - 3, 3, walk 3, marathon

My First Post

Nancy's Non-Runner Blog is up and running!