This Is a Game Changer

Today, I explored jog.fm.  I’ve been putting it off mainly because I don’t want to have to carry anything when I run, especially my new iPhone. It’s my first smartphone (I know, under what rock have I been living?) and I’m so protective! I decided to just get over it. I’ll have to look into getting one of those armbands so I won’t have to carry it.

I made a playlist with a few songs at about a 15 minute pace, a few around 16 minutes, and one “reach” song at a 10 minute pace. I put in my sneakers, popped in my headphones, and set out for my run. Right off the bat, I liked it because I couldn’t hear my awful breathing. I didn’t stress about it so much and it was able to stay more focused. My third song was Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So, which is a freaking amazing song, and is also slightly faster than my comfortable pace. I pushed myself to keep up. It felt amazing. I had, like, a spiritual moment. I FELT SO FREE. I FELT LIKE I COULD CONQUER THE WORLD.

Then at the end of my run, just as I was arriving home, a Ke$ha song came on. I ran past the door and for an extra three minutes, which put me over my anticipated distance for today, but I was so pumped up. I’ll admit it, Ke$ha is kind of my guilty pleasure. I feel no shame. Then I realized I had lost a glove somewhere along the way, so I had to take another loop around the block to find it. It was actually warm enough that I didn’t need to wear a scarf and I took my gloves off mid-run. I saw about twenty robins today, and I am very ready to welcome spring! Seriously, Winter, no one likes you anymore. Just… go away.

Tomorrow I take a day off, and I am looking forward to it immensely.

I’ve run a total of nearly 22 miles this month – woohoo! I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about Janathon and Junathon. I’m not sure I’m in shape enough to participate this year, but it is a challenge I’m looking forward to!

 

In Your Pants

So I had to wear jeans to work today – actually, I wear jeans everyday, but today they are denim and every other day they are black. More business appropriate. I am preparing myself to face all of the people who will wonder why my attire is so casual today and am trying to figure out how to do so with brevity : “I’m having some car trouble and it had to be towed to a garage last night right after work, which left me without any pants.”

I said it in my head and it made me crack up, and I realized it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to say it out loud to anyone. Why wasn’t I wearing my work pants if this happened right after work? I was in my running clothes, and my work clothes were in my gym bag… which was in the car.

Car issues should be fixed soon! and in a not super expensive way! which makes me a happy girl. It also means my routine can go back to (basically) normal.

My run last night, by the way, was tough, but I’m pretty sure it’s just because I was on the treadmill and not outside. I noticed that my upper body muscles were really tense and, although I wasn’t breathing as hard as when I run outside,  I felt like it was taking more out of me than a normal outside run. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the treadmill. I took it easy on myself and did the 2nd day of the C25K, Week 3. I also did some lifting using the machines at the gym. I know how to use most of them, but I’m never sure if I’m using the right ones, or in the right order. Normally I just search for strength training videos on Youtube, but I’d like to get a little more knowledgable about weight lifting and like, the muscle groups, and figure out a good routine. I didn’t feel any knee pain, and that’s awesome!

I feel like I should be writing right now

but I’m not sure I have anything interesting to say.

[January 28] I’ve had to take off three days from my running to let my knee fully recuperate. THREE DAYS! In runner’s time, this is basically forever. PEOPLE RUN MARATHONS IN LESS TIME THAN THAT and I’ve just been sitting on the couch. I feel like I am right back where I started. I’m slightly convinced that all of the progress I’ve made over the past 6 months has totally reversed itself. Like the time I was writing a 10 page paper in college and I accidentally kicked the cord out of my computer and it shut down. AND I HADN’T SAVED. and it was losit forever. All that work
gone, and I have to do it over again. (and you know, it’s just never going to be as good as it was the first time around.) I can’t wait to get back into my routine!

[January 29] I started this post yesterday and planned to finish it up after my run last night, but there was a problem with my car when I was leaving the gym, and it had to be towed. I’m hoping it’s not super expensive! I know that’s what our savings are for, but it still freaks me out a little! My husband and I are carpooling back and forth to work until we find out what’s wrong with it. What was I saying about getting back into my routine?  I spoke too soon!

oh, hey, in other news, my blog is over a month old!

Injured and On the Bench

Two days ago, I had a crappy run and I did some strength training, and at some point, I hurt my knee. I started noticing it towards the end of my strength training, but it’s really in full force today. I postponed yesterday’s run to today and tried to just stay off it, and today, I gave it a little test run indoors and it still hurt too much. I was worried if I ran outside, even if I took it slow, I would make it worse. I hate being sidelined by something I can’t control – it feels like punishment. It’s probably better to stay off it and not injure myself further, but I can’t wait to get back into gear! I’m a bad invalid. I just can’t sit still!

Icky Run

Today was an icky day overall. I determined early on that this day was just not working for me. Traffic in the morning made me late, my grandfather is in the hospital (he’s stable-ish for now, but apparently he’s saying some weird things), annoying crap happened at work. I decided to run it out, like a rage-run. I might run faster just because I’m mad. It’s a speed run today, so I figured I might be able to beat my best mile.

By the time I got home, I wasn’t mad anymore, I was just sad and tired. I decided to run anyway and try to find some inner strength. I needed to be cleansed, redeemed but all I got was a whole lot of BLEH. It was really cold today, and although the run was great for, like, five minutes, after about fifteen minutes all the life was drained out of me and my legs decided they just didn’t have another fifteen minutes in them. So I just turned towards home. It wasn’t a bad run when I compared it to other speedy runs, but it just didn’t give me what I wanted emotionally. It just didn’t break down the walls inside my head. I had no bursts of speed when I needed them, no runner’s high, no second wind.  I love how running can fix everything, but today was just not working for me.

Checking In – Today’s Run

In order to stick to my workout plan, I need to run three more times this week and I really wanted to make today a running day. I packed up my gym bag and toted it off to work. I was going to force myself to run on the treadmill, although I wind up running a shorter distance with greater effort, and I hate it. At the end of the day I decided I really hated the treadmill THAT MUCH and I’d rather just drive home and bundle up to run outside before it got too dark. Maybe running on the treadmill would have been a better idea – it’s pretty cold out there! I think I jinxed us all when I said it was unseasonably warm a few days ago.

I bundled myself up and set out. Even though I know the longer runs are SUPPOSED to be slower, I always cross my fingers that I’ll surprise myself and beat a mile in fifteen minutes, and then there will be much rejoicing – so far, not quite there yet. Hit my mile at about 16:30, but the really awesome part is that I ran the whole time… in the cold… on snowy sidewalks. My legs were a little mad at me, but not too bad – the frustrating part is how my nose runs because it’s winter, so every other breath is a giant sniff. I think it throws off my breathing a little, and I’m learning that breathing the wrong way actually tires me out a lot faster. I’m hoping to see some improvement as the weather warms up.

My run was supposed to be 30 minutes, but I cut it short by ten minutes because it was getting dark and I’m not about to test my night vision looking for icy patches. I’ll stop for dinner and then jump back into weights or yoga or zumba or whatever youtube video I land on tonight.

Hey, another cool thing is that I can compare previous runs with Garmin Connect (Thanks for the GPS watch, Mom!) and I just compared my last three slower recovery runs:

January 9th: average speed: 3.3 mph – avg pace: 18:09 mile/min

January 18: average speed: 3.4 mph – avg pace: 17:29 mile/min

January 23: average speed: 3.5 mph – avg pace: 16:57 mile/min

LOOK AT THE IMPROVEMENT! It is EPIC.

It’s winter in New Jersey – sometimes it snows.

We got slammed with snow yesterday – the commute home was really treacherous. I hadn’t even planned to leave work early and then I took a look outside…

Snow like that kind of puts a kink in your running plans. The roads are great to run on where they were plowed right down to the asphalt, but they don’t really do that in our township, so we’ll have some pretty slipper surfaces for a while, and I’m not about to tempt falling on my face. It’s a nice face. I like it.

I shoveled snow for an hour and a half last night to dig our cars out so we could get to work this morning – and then we both got snow days. We are really lucky that our employers close in inclement weather. I’ve had jobs where they didn’t care what was happening outside, they wanted you there to work, no matter how dangerous it was.

Bombogenesis… really? At least it’s kind of a scientific term though. 

Perspective

I have off today! Yay! My husband and I slept in until a respectable time, around 10 AM. I played videogames for breakfast, and then decided to head out on my run. I joined the Nerd Fitness Rebellion and I am about two weeks into the first challenge. In addition to running four times a week, I set a goal for myself to also add three strength training sessions a week. I earn points for each workout I complete. I think I did three last week? I’m not sure, I wasn’t very good about taking notes this week. I planned to do one more strength training yesterday to finish up week two (just in case I didn’t do three sessions) but my sister came to visit, and we started playing board games, and then I had a margarita, and I decided lifting weights was a bad idea, so I skipped it. and I don’t care.

I screwed up. I won’t earn the points for the missed workout. At the beginning of the challenge, I was completely gung-ho about DOING ALL THE WORKOUTS. Even though I wasn’t comparing myself to anyone else, in the back of my head, I wanted to win. I wanted to be perfect. I struggle with trying to be perfect, trying to succeed at everything – trying too hard has never gotten me anywhere, and of course, it’s a goal I will never attain. I’m realistic about it – I know it’s not possible, but I want it anyway.  I’ve spent many years beating myself up for not being right, or good, or perfect, or the best.

So I’m choosing to view this skipped workout as a blessing. I’m not going to beat myself up for not completely attaining my workout goal when I actually sort of leveled-up on social, family, and fun goals. I’ve been thinking about this being one of my unofficial side-quests during my challenge; not succeeding at something. Well, yay! I have succeeded at… failing! and the world didn’t end! I have unlocked the Doomsday trophy.

After a nice, relaxing morning, I laced up my sneakers for my Monday run. I was fully expecting it to be brisk and biting and ugly cold, so I bundled up especially warm… and halfway through my run I wanted desperately to strip down to my t-shirt. It is unseasonably warm for New Jersey in January.

I started the third week of the Couch to 5K today! I was hoping to run at least a mile and a half, and I ran more like a mile and three quarters, so that’s awesome! Both my feet started falling asleep today, which is SO WEIRD because it hasn’t happened in a few weeks. I didn’t really stretch well before I ran today, maybe I tied my shoes too tight… I’ll try stretching more often this week (before and after runs) and see if that makes a difference.

Maybe I should have called this “The Hungry Runner’s Blog”

Is that taken? Is it too late to switch?

I was warned by numerous running articles that running might make me hungry, and I’m here to tell you – it’s true. For instance, on Monday I went out for a run after work and didn’t feel hungry at the beginning. Halfway through my run, my stomach starts growling in a “FEED ME, SEYMOUR” kind of way. While that hunger pang might not have actually been related to the run, I’ve noticed that I am definitely hungrier in general. I’ll eat dinner and then immediately go look for something else to munch on, and I’ll admit it, it’s not always a healthy snack. I bought those cheddar flavor blasted Goldfish on a whim the other day and then proceeded to eat half the bag. At least I’m drinking more water, and my lunches were pretty healthy this week… maybe that will make up for it. *crosses fingers* I’ve got to get that more under control.

I ran another sub 15 minute mile this week during my interval runs. I haven’t been able to beat that during my Couch to 5K runs or my slow recovery runs. I know, the slow recovery runs are supposed to be slower, so I shouldn’t expect to break any land speed records. AND I think adding interval runs and strength training has been paying off – on my recovery run today, I ran the first mile in 15:56 and the second one in 18:36, according to my Garmin. My average pace for the first mile used to be in the sixteen minute range, and then the second would be closer to twenty minutes, so this is definitely an improvement! and on a day where I did not attempt to exert myself too much.

I ran on the treadmill last night. Stupid piece of machinery. I was doing the third day of week two of the Couch to 5K. It was pretty awful. My legs got tired really fast – it sort of reminded me of how my legs tire out when I run in the snow or with ice on the sidewalk. Like I’m overcompensating, trying to keep my balance, which kind of makes sense. Maybe it’s just an old, crappy, treadmill?

I painted my awesome green picture. I hung it on the wall. It makes me feel good. I’m not going to be winning any awards soon and I have a lot about technique to learn, but I am really pleased with it.

I feel bad because my husband and I were supposed to go on a hike today, but so many things piled up and I needed to do my run today, so we cancelled. I cancelled something else I wanted to do so I could go running…. I think I’ve gone to the dark side.

and it shall be awesome and green.

I’m having a little bit of a rough day.  Did you ever have a day where you felt like you weren’t good at anything, and you’d never be everything you ever wanted to be, and you just don’t have the time and energy to focus on all the things you love and IT’S KILLING YOU?

Maybe we should focus on some of the good things that have happened lately. One of the goals of starting this blog was to avoid talking about things I wanted to do with my life and JUST DO THEM and then come here and tell you about it, so let’s focus on how awesome it is that I am actually doing that.

I have finished the second day of the third week of the Couch to 5K, which is farther than I’ve ever gotten. Is it just me, or is it kind of really hard to run the running intervals of the Couch to 5K? It was a little easier than Day 1, but I was mainly huffing and puffing while I ran in circles in our apartment complex- I spent a lot of the run wondering about the best way to breath. Should I be sucking in air like a hungry, hungry, hippo? If I don’t, I feel like my throat is too closed. Also in running news, I have been using my Garmin Forerunner 10 awesome GPS watch (that’s the official name)  on every outdoor run, and I love it. It’s really great to see my progress in almost real time. Also, it shows me that I’m probably doing better than I thought I was.

I read Caleb’s Crossing for my book club last night. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but it really made me want to visit Boston / Massachusetts in general. I love historically significant places and maybe one day, I’d like to live in or near a town with some kind of colonial heritage. Mmmmm, old buildings…. and possibly ghosts….

My husband and I went out with a friend to Chipotle. This was our first time eating there and the line was seriously to the door. I think that says good things about an eatery. Also, the fact that we didn’t wait too long in that line was another good sign. Also, my burrito was FANTASTIC. and huge. It was my lunch and dinner on Sunday. It’s nice to have cool people to hang out with.

I got an iPhone. Yes, I am finally caught up to the current century. I haven’t figured out all the features, but now I’m going to sign up for all sorts of social media things that I was avoiding because I thought I was holding out, or I was cooler for not getting caught up in it, or something. (Instagram, I’m looking at you – I shall conquer you next.) I like being able to look something up when I’m not near a computer and desperately need to know something. This will change my geocaching world in so many ways.

and now, for myself, a small reminder: I will stop wishing I was a photographer, or a writer, or a world traveler, or an archaeologist, or just cool, because, in some way, I am already all of these things.  I will stop relying on others to validate all of the cool things I know that I am.

Tonight, I paint.