Beating a Lame yet Relevant Fear

First off if there was one thing I didn't want to do yesterday, it was run.  As much as I tried to get motivated, I had nothin'.  Typically I would only have to do 2 miles or 30 mins cross training but since I have decided to join a friends softball team, which practices and plays on Thursdays, I have to get the second longer maintanance run in on Wednesdays.  Finally convinced myself to go, as it looked nice out.  Little did I know it was going to start raining half way through.

Once I got into the run all the feelings of not wanting to run melted away and I felt great and then I got close to the hill.  On all my runs up until now, I've avoided this hill.  It starts at about 1.8 miles in and ends at about 2.25 miles.  If I take a left before this I can avoid the steep climb.  My roommate runs it nearly every day but I've always been afraid of it because it is an intimidating climb.  Yesterday I saw it in the distance and decided I was done being afraid of a stupid hill and so I went up it.  The 2.25 mile mark was my turn around point so as soon as I got to the top I turned around to come back.  It sucked but not nearly as bad as I thought and I'm glad I learned that I could beat this hill.  Running these hills (as there is another one that is shorter in length but steeper) has really improved my long runs which I run on a flatter surface.  They give me the extra push I need.  4.5 miles, 42:44.

On an even better note, the scale said 288.2 this morning and seeing as I take all my weigh in's in the morning, it counts.  I finally hit the 280's and its been a while.  Next up the 270's which is where I gave my last workout real hardcore efforts about 6 years only to see little if any results.  That will not happen this time.  Also new goal set: Be down 50 lbs be the completion date of the Hal Higdon Half Marathon training.  The final date for that is June 5th which is a Sunday so the weigh in on that Monday will be what will count.  After today's weigh in that leaves just over 13 lbs to go so maybe I'll be able to get a little extra.  Also my birthday is June 29th and would really like to be in the 260's be then, so I've got some goals to shoot for.  Only 3 more lbs and I'm at a loss of 40!

Side Stitch from Hell

Yesterday was shaping up to be a pretty good day.  No drama at work, bad weather had held off, and I was feeling good about my weight loss.  Got home and out the door I went for my run.  I was planning 4 with the possibly of pushing it to 4.5.  The wind was brutal but otherwise everything was good.  I know I started out too fast with my first 2 miles in 18 mins.  I got a little side stitch about mile 2 but no big deal those happen and it went away.  I had made it to the point where I knew I was over half way and this usually is the point where no matter how long the run, it starts to feel better as I'm working my way to the end.  This time, not so much.  At mile 3 I got a side stitch that very sharp and no matter how I contorted my body while running I couldn't get it to go away.  I just kept thinking to myself "It'll will go away just focus on something else", but it wouldn't go away.  It finally got to the point where it hurt so bad to breath that focusing on other things had no effect.  I slowed down to a walk.  This was the first time I had ever had to walk since February when all my runs were a planned distance or time.  I've never had to stop, I've always been able to push through anything that was bothering me at the time.  This time it was unavoidable, with about 1 mile still to run I had to walk.  I'm glad I did, after about 20 seconds I was good to run again and for the most part the pain had dulled down and when I got to the point where I could either quit at 4 miles which I had seriously considered or run another lap around the block (which I found out is exactly 0.5 miles from a friend), I decided that since I walked I had no choice but to fight it out.  Finished 4.5 miles in 43:43.  Not a bad time but considered at the 3 mile mark I was at 28:10, it was a slow finish.  I'm not sure if it was my faster than usual start, maybe too few calories for the day, or dehydration that caused this, all I'm hoping is it never happens again.

One this that felt great though was right after the run I hit the showers and did a quick scale check and saw 288.8.  Now I know thats cheating because I hadn't rehydrated or eaten dinner but who cares it felt great to see myself in the 280's, a weight below my driver's licence, a weight that shows progress.  I'm not counting anything officially, but it made me smile.

Pre Run Shot:

Fun Picture I just got from Chicago Weekend.

Breaking my mold

Well I've been silent for a little bit here but I'm still around.  It was a busy end to the week work wise but it didn't affect my workout schedule, just my blogging one.  On a side note I was never a fan of blogging at all because, why should I care what other people think or say, but I never looked at how much of a tool it can be to keep yourself accountable.  I don't want to post a gain or a missed workout and so it pushes me just a little extra to get things done.  Well this week was my top week for distance so far.  I ran 4 miles for maintenance runs twice this week, did 40 mins of cycling on the spin bike on Saturday and upped my long distance Sunday to 7 miles in just under 69 mins.  The run on Sunday was tough, at first my legs felt very heavy and keeping a good pace was tough but as usual, one I make it to the halfway mark and turn around, it really isn't bad at all.  I was getting very dry mouth on the way back, not thirsty as much as just needing a shot of water so I will have to start doing something for that on my upcoming long runs.  I'm a little ahead of the HH program because I pushed it last week instead of repeating and just added another mile this week.  I've felt good so I figure I might as well. 

Another positive note, the scale dropped last week which has been frustrating me because its been a little back and forth lately.  I'm really going to concentrate on eating well this week so that I can crack into the 280's somewhere I haven't been in at least 5 years.  If anyone is reading this, any ideas why my weight has fluctuated so much even though I've still been burning calories like crazy with the extra miles?

It's becoming a stronger habit

Ok so yesterday was a day I had thought about for a week or so.  I have a 20 game season ticket package to the Twins and yesterday was going to be my first game where I also had a scheduled run.  I know we get back too late to do it afterwards and let's face it I just am not going to get up early and do it.  I was worried I'd cave to my brain telling me its ok to miss it.  I wasn't too focused on it but yesterday afternoon I looked at the clock, and decided to go home around 4:30.  I got home was able to do a 4 mile run in 40 mins take a shower and go to the game.  I would never have done this in the past but now I know I always have time to get it done and can't make any excuses about it.  BTW I feel its pretty awesome that my daily maintanence run on my training program is now 4 miles.  That just seems crazy to me because I remember back in February when my friend had told me that the 5k we were going to run was a 7k (he was mistaken about which race we were running but I didn't know that at first).  I was freaked because I didn't think there was any way in hell I could run that far and know its practically my maintanence run.  7 miler on Sunday should be interesting.

On another note, I've noticed that my maintanence runs always seem more brutal than my long run.  I always do my maintanence runs in the area around my house which is very hilly and has one big nasty hill that is in the last mile of the run which pretty much makes me want to shoot myself when I'm going up it.  These hills have really been making my long runs easier because I typically go to this nice long trail a little ways from my house to run them.  It is a very flat and somewhat scenic trail but the hills around my house make those extra miles go by much easier.  If you are looking to increase distance I recommend giving it a shot, it seems to work well.

Simple Day

Nothing too exciting yesterday just went for about 2.75 mi that was very hilly but I kept a good pace of under 9:30.  It was incredibly nice out and really felt great being out there running and seeing all the other people out and about.

Fun Weekend = Not the best for my Plan

Ok so today I posted a slight gain for the week which isn't great but being that I missed a few workouts and didn't eat particularly well, it was expected.  I was really hoping to break even, but things could be worse.  As for working out, I said I missed Thursday due to some personal issues and then had a baseball game to go to Friday and stayed out with friends that night so not much opportunity for workout there.  Sunday was a planned long run but since it was suppose to storm, I decided to go on Saturday.  A couple of my friends who are runners wanted to come with me even though its not quite their pace.  I was planning on doing doing 5 miles as that is the scheduled distance and then I thought I should do 5.5 just to push it a little.  Well I ended up doing 6 because the run was going so well and not only that, I did it in 57:43 which is way faster than I've been running when it comes to the longer distances.  At the 5 mile mark I was a full 3 minutes faster than last week.  I was very pumped about that and even my runner friends were saying how impressed they were because one hadn't seen me run yet and thought I was going to be way slower.  I was going to do the cross training on Sunday but with the Masters on and thinking I should take a day of rest as it says to always do in the training plan after a long run, I didn't workout.  Normally Mondays are a rest day but today I'll be working out so in the end I should only miss 1 workout.

I'm very excited about how far my distances are getting and also about gaining some unexpected speed.  I've also gained some new free time due to a relationship ending and so I plan to put that added time towards working out and I'm thinking about starting the 100 pushup plan and seeing where that goes.