Monday, October 18, 2010

Finding a groove

I think it has helped me mentally with running since I officially registered for my big race next June. It has made me refocuse my efforts on improving, even if I'm not logging long distances very often.

Last Friday, I ran a 5k- just to make sure I could still do the distance- and though it was much slower than I would have liked (42ish mins), I did it and felt good after. Today- I ran 1.89 miles in 21:30, a roughly 11:23mm pace. I'm very pleased with that. I would have run farther but I was in a slight time crunch and that's all I had time for. Not to mention the rain that I barely missed. I don't mind running in rain, but this was a COLD rain - we went from about 65 degrees to 46 by the time the rain ended.

I have a 5k race coming up on November 6. I'm looking forward to doing a race again. This will be my 6th this year (I feel like I'm forgetting one, but it's not coming to mind. . .)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The difference a month makes

Just a quick acknowledgement of successes.
You might remember the "Skinny Jeans" I wrote about in this post.
What I didn't include in that post was that while the jeans fit, they weren't exactly what I would call flattering enough to wear outside the confines of my home.

Today? I'm wearing the jeans at work.

Victory!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Finally! An update!

I know I've been dreadful about updates lately- but with 2 kids about to turn 1 and 4, and work and working out- life has just been nuts. The good news is that I'm getting my workouts in still and very consistently. So what's been taking the hit? online time!

Today- I went for a quick run- only about 25 minutes but it felt pretty good. I was holding myself back on speed in order to make sure I ran the majority with few walk breaks - it's hard to hold back some times- but I have to really force myself or else I tire out too quickly. I had forgotten my Nike + so I wasn't able to record it for pace or distance - which stinks for reporting purposes, but was kind of nice for the freedom of it.

The endurance will come- but darn set backs with asthma! I've had my fifth, yes FIFTH, sinus infection of the year last week and that always starts to settle in my chest and make things difficult. But after 5 in a year, you learn a thing or two - I learned the symptoms very early on and halted all strenuous cardio so not to encourage it to settle in- I think it mostly worked!

In total- in almost 11 months, I've lost 63 lbs. In the last 2.5 months I've also lost over 12 inches total on my body- 2 in the waist, 2.5 in the hips and the rest come from combo of arms, chest and thigh measurements.

I've got my first race since June on November 6th. A 5k. I have also signed up to do another Ragnar Relay! Our team (most of the same original members) is doing the Madison, WI to Chicago, IL race in June 2011! I'm so excited to have another big race to train for.