Thursday, September 30, 2010

So much to say, so much to say

There has been so much going on! We’re in the last few warmer weeks of the year and I have been trying to milk it for all it’s worth.

The past few weeks of running have been going really well. I did 16 miles last week and am working on 19 this week. So far, my longest run has been six miles and it felt really good. I’m doing 8 this Sunday and I am hoping it goes just as smoothly.

My pace has slowly but surely been increasing. A few months ago, I was around a 10-minute mile pace. Now, I’ve worked myself down from anywhere between 8:50-9:20 mile. If I finish the big race with a 9-minute mile average, I would be extremely happy with that.

Up until recently, I have been doing all my runs at the gym on the treadmill. I’m really weird with numbers and loved watching my distance, time, and pace on the treadmill. It made time go by fast. However, soon enough I’ll be doing 10-12 mile runs and the thought of running up to 2 hours on a treadmill was not appealing to me. Also, I wanted to get my body used to running outdoors. After all, when I run the half, it won’t be on a treadmill.

So, I bought this toy. And, let me tell you, it is AMAZING! The watch has a GPS in it and is also a heart rate monitor. So, it tells me how far I’ve gone, calories burned, my mile pace, and so much more. It even beeps when I slow down to a certain pace that I set. I love it. The only down side is that it is a little large, but I got used to it very quickly.

I’ve been looking for a couple different cross training activities to do on my rest days from running. I did that elliptical workout and I still want to do it every once in a while, but I’m just not the biggest fan of ellipticals. I always see the spinning classes going on at the gym, but have never done one.

Until last Monday that is. And, I loved it! It was so fun. The instructor was so motivating and the loud music really made it a fun atmosphere to work out in. The hour breezed by. I definitely recommend spinning to anyone looking for a new workout. It was definitely challenging. I’ve never been happier to have a workout towel. I was definitely dripping.

As far as weight loss goes, it has kind of been on the back of my mind because running and training has become so important. I have been eating really well, but I think it’s me really wanting to give my body fuel for my runs. I dropped a pound this past week and I would be happy with this slow rate of loss for the next few weeks.

Along with making sure I get all my protein and potassium, I have also been drinking a ton of water, and I mean a ton! I can definitely feel the difference on a run when I’m hydrated and when I’m not. The only down side is that I pretty much have to pee every 45 minutes, which is really a pain at work. I work in an office environment and leaving my office every 45 minutes to run to the bathroom down the hall gets kind of old. Plus, pretty sure my coworkers in my neighboring offices think I have some sort of ADHD cause I’m moving around so much.

So, that’s pretty much where I’m at.

True confession: I have really started to love running. And, I mean love it. It really helps me de-stress and definitely gives me time to clear my head. At the beginning of this whole weight loss/get in shape journey, I could barely run for 10 minutes on a treadmill and I hated it. I hated doing cardio. Now, after slowly building up my endurance, I couldn’t imagine not having this in my daily routine anymore.

I used to think marathon runners were nuts, but now I really want to run be one. It’s definitely a challenge that I’d like to take on. Hopefully, next summer, instead of training for a half, I’ll be training for a full marathon.

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