Well, it's official. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we will be running our second 5k in as many weeks. Right now, as it is already two hours past when I wanted to be in bed, with a turkey that is still too frozen to dress and get in the oven (we traditionally sear the bird and then turn down for a long, slow roast), I'm wondering why were were so crazy as to sign up for a race on Thanksgiving morning.
Only our eldest son will be running with us tomorrow. The rest will stay at home, the younger ones in the care of the remaining elder ones. The race is early, so they'll spend a good chunk of our absent time eating breakfast and playing. We'll be back before they'll have a chance to get too antsy.
I started Week Two of the One Hundred Pushups Challenge tonight. My sets were 9-11-8-8-(min. 11). I collapsed during my 10th pushup during the final set, but after a few quick breaths, I got up and did three more, so I'll count that as 12. That means I did 48 pushups tonight. That's amazing considering the fact that I only managed six (6) during the pre-program exhaustion test.
We did preliminary weigh-ins today, just in case the clinic is closed on Friday, and it looks like I'm up a pound. I'll really need to watch myself tomorrow.
Good night, all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
My first true solo run
If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that Mrs. F has done some runs on her own, but I've not. Sure, we've had some workouts where we ran separately along the trail, because her pace was (and still is) faster than mine, but we were always doing it together. Even on that one day where I asked her to drive the car so I could get in an extra mile, we started together and we were still out there together. This afternoon, though, the craziness overtook me. I got off work a bit early, put on my running duds, and headed out into the cool afternoon and the light drizzle. Oh, and I left my knee wrap off. My knee has been feeling good since our first 5k on just over a week ago.
We recently drove a route through our neighborhood out to one of the dirt country roads that connects back up to the Luce Line Trail. We noted the one mile point, but also drove it a bit further in the hope of finding a good route for a possible 5k in town (we'd like to organize one as a fundraiser for the local cross country team and for a charity). That's the direction I decided to head today.
Overall, it was a great route. The smell of manure from the farm along the way wasn't pleasant, but it's just part of life this far out. Besides, to me it beats breathing in car exhaust all day. I didn't do any real warmups, so I just started out slow. There was part of me that was a bit nervous about running in the neighborhood, but I told that part of me to shut up. I'm FatManRunning and I'm out taking action to become more fit and healthy. Where's the shame in that?
Pavement gave way to a dirt road about six tenths of a mile into the run. I finally found a surface that I like better than running on the trail. Perhaps it was because of the rain we've had, but the road surface was soft. It wasn't so wet as to be slimy or muddy. It was just soft.
I had already kicked it up a bit after the first three tenths of a mile, and I really let myself play with my pacing once I was on that dirt surface. I tried long, slow strides. I tried short quick ones. My left knee felt great, and so did my right shin. If anything, my right knee felt a little strain, but that eased over time.
When I hit the one mile mark, I thought about turning around. After all, I was planning on just an easy two miles, since I'd only run once (for more than a few minutes) since the race. Yet when I hit that point on the road, I was feeling really good. I knew that if I ran to an intersection less than a mile ahead, my return run would push me up over three miles. I suddenly wanted to go the distance, but I hesitated a bit since I have a 5k coming up on Thursday. I definately did not want to hurt myself before our next formal run.
I decided to go for it. I figured that I could always turn around earlier if I started feeling fatigued or experienced any pain, and I could always walk home if I needed to do so.
So, on I ran. I made it to that intersection and made my u-turn. I was still feeling pretty good. On the next stretch, for nearly the next mile, my body was just doing it for me. When I tried to think about my stride, it was if my body was telling me, "I've got this. You go do something else." That was an amazing feeling. I didn't worry about my knee or shin. Everything felt good.
As that next mile passed, I did start to notice some fatigue in my legs, and I started to notice my right shin getting a little tender, so I did slow myself down to allow myself to adjust. I started preparing myself for the final three tenths of a mile, through the neighborhood again. I figured it would be hard. I decided I would not sprint the final distance, because I did not want to risk injury. My playlist told me that I was passing the 43 minute mark, so my pace seemed slower than it had been at the 5k. I felt good about that, however, since this was supposed to be an easy run.
While that last portion of my run took some effort, I finally may have experienced a bit of that "runner's high" so many have experienced. Yes, it was hard, but I was feeling just fine. In fact, I probably could have run for another twenty minutes (if my body would have accepted the beating). As I got to the house, I slowed myself to a walk for the final few yards. Unlike other times during my training, and after the first race, where the end of the run left me drained and stuggling even to walk, I found my pace long and even, and accompanied by a really good feeling about overing the about 3.3 miles. When I got inside, I was tired, but not the I-need-to-collapse-in-my-chair type of tired that normally hits me after exertion. It was that good tired--tired from exertion, but not exhausted. My right shin was definately a little sore, but not too bad. I ran for 50 minutes without taking a rest, and I felt like I could have run for another 20 minutes or more! I just told Mrs. F that we might need to ditch One-hour Runner and take on the Gateway to 8k challenge instead. For now, I'll just be glad I had a great run, and I'll try not to get the cart before the horse.
It was still fairly early (I had gone in and gotten out early today), so I managed to trim my hair and take a shower before dinner. What a wonderful afternoon! As I write this now, my right shin is still a bit tender, but my left knee shows no sign of discomfort. Apart from dealing withe some teenage drama this evening, it turned out to be a very nice one.
The school load is slightly lighter this week, so I should be able to catch up on some reading, and everyone at my place of employment has the day after Thanksgiving off, so that should let me get some work done before the weekend. Of course, since I will have the day off, Mrs. F and I may try to catch a few bargains on that Friday morning, but we'll just need to make sure we are not out too long.
Today, for the first time, I really enjoyed running, and even imagined it as something I might do regularly for the enjoyment of it. There's a small city 17 miles west of us along the trail. I've got a bit of an itch to try running there someday!
We recently drove a route through our neighborhood out to one of the dirt country roads that connects back up to the Luce Line Trail. We noted the one mile point, but also drove it a bit further in the hope of finding a good route for a possible 5k in town (we'd like to organize one as a fundraiser for the local cross country team and for a charity). That's the direction I decided to head today.
Overall, it was a great route. The smell of manure from the farm along the way wasn't pleasant, but it's just part of life this far out. Besides, to me it beats breathing in car exhaust all day. I didn't do any real warmups, so I just started out slow. There was part of me that was a bit nervous about running in the neighborhood, but I told that part of me to shut up. I'm FatManRunning and I'm out taking action to become more fit and healthy. Where's the shame in that?
Pavement gave way to a dirt road about six tenths of a mile into the run. I finally found a surface that I like better than running on the trail. Perhaps it was because of the rain we've had, but the road surface was soft. It wasn't so wet as to be slimy or muddy. It was just soft.
I had already kicked it up a bit after the first three tenths of a mile, and I really let myself play with my pacing once I was on that dirt surface. I tried long, slow strides. I tried short quick ones. My left knee felt great, and so did my right shin. If anything, my right knee felt a little strain, but that eased over time.
When I hit the one mile mark, I thought about turning around. After all, I was planning on just an easy two miles, since I'd only run once (for more than a few minutes) since the race. Yet when I hit that point on the road, I was feeling really good. I knew that if I ran to an intersection less than a mile ahead, my return run would push me up over three miles. I suddenly wanted to go the distance, but I hesitated a bit since I have a 5k coming up on Thursday. I definately did not want to hurt myself before our next formal run.
I decided to go for it. I figured that I could always turn around earlier if I started feeling fatigued or experienced any pain, and I could always walk home if I needed to do so.
So, on I ran. I made it to that intersection and made my u-turn. I was still feeling pretty good. On the next stretch, for nearly the next mile, my body was just doing it for me. When I tried to think about my stride, it was if my body was telling me, "I've got this. You go do something else." That was an amazing feeling. I didn't worry about my knee or shin. Everything felt good.
As that next mile passed, I did start to notice some fatigue in my legs, and I started to notice my right shin getting a little tender, so I did slow myself down to allow myself to adjust. I started preparing myself for the final three tenths of a mile, through the neighborhood again. I figured it would be hard. I decided I would not sprint the final distance, because I did not want to risk injury. My playlist told me that I was passing the 43 minute mark, so my pace seemed slower than it had been at the 5k. I felt good about that, however, since this was supposed to be an easy run.
While that last portion of my run took some effort, I finally may have experienced a bit of that "runner's high" so many have experienced. Yes, it was hard, but I was feeling just fine. In fact, I probably could have run for another twenty minutes (if my body would have accepted the beating). As I got to the house, I slowed myself to a walk for the final few yards. Unlike other times during my training, and after the first race, where the end of the run left me drained and stuggling even to walk, I found my pace long and even, and accompanied by a really good feeling about overing the about 3.3 miles. When I got inside, I was tired, but not the I-need-to-collapse-in-my-chair type of tired that normally hits me after exertion. It was that good tired--tired from exertion, but not exhausted. My right shin was definately a little sore, but not too bad. I ran for 50 minutes without taking a rest, and I felt like I could have run for another 20 minutes or more! I just told Mrs. F that we might need to ditch One-hour Runner and take on the Gateway to 8k challenge instead. For now, I'll just be glad I had a great run, and I'll try not to get the cart before the horse.
It was still fairly early (I had gone in and gotten out early today), so I managed to trim my hair and take a shower before dinner. What a wonderful afternoon! As I write this now, my right shin is still a bit tender, but my left knee shows no sign of discomfort. Apart from dealing withe some teenage drama this evening, it turned out to be a very nice one.
The school load is slightly lighter this week, so I should be able to catch up on some reading, and everyone at my place of employment has the day after Thanksgiving off, so that should let me get some work done before the weekend. Of course, since I will have the day off, Mrs. F and I may try to catch a few bargains on that Friday morning, but we'll just need to make sure we are not out too long.
Today, for the first time, I really enjoyed running, and even imagined it as something I might do regularly for the enjoyment of it. There's a small city 17 miles west of us along the trail. I've got a bit of an itch to try running there someday!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
One hundred pushups - Week 1 completed
I just finished the final day of my first week of the One Hundred Pushups challenge. I did 42 in total between all my sets, with a maximum of 10 in my final set. I had forgotten just how much I can dislike pushups!
I did not get out running this weekend. Our kitchen sink broke--leaking cracks in both basins--so I lost some hours yesterday dealing with a run to Menards and the other shopping we needed to get done while we were in Hutchinson. Then my grad school work ate the rest of my day, as well as most of today. I just finished my paper for this week about an hour ago, but I decided to take a zero on the preceding week's paper. I had gotten permission to turn it in late, but I just did not have the time to write it while I was simply struggling to get the current assignments done. Technically, I don't even have all of the reading done for this week. My essay was on one specific text, so the other book was only general reading for the week. That puts me at a six chapter deficit going into this week, and, althought in includes the Thanksgiving holiday, we have no break from class. That's one of the things I really despise about this college's online courses. The on-campus classes get breaks for holidays, but the online classes don't.
I had really wanted to run, but just could not set aside any more time. Had the sink not given out, I would have had time for the run.
Mrs. F is going to be doing a little extra work this week. She's going to be emptying our bedroom so we can paint it. One of the stops we made on Saturday was to pick out a new mattress, as ours is the only one in the house that has not been replaced recently. In fact, we've had ours for over 13 years--and it shows! We also opted to get our first ever new bedroom set. You didn't think we'd paint just for a mattress, do you? If we manage to get everything other than the bed out of the room (and the closet) by next weekend, it can be painted. Of course, I'm likely to be tied up with homework, but the prof did promise a lighter courseload this week.
Oh, well. I need to get moving. I need to send an email message out to the other Scout families about a change in our meeting location for this week. That was a set of phone calls I was supposed to make this afternoon--another thing left undone due to my schoolwork. [Sigh.]
I did not get out running this weekend. Our kitchen sink broke--leaking cracks in both basins--so I lost some hours yesterday dealing with a run to Menards and the other shopping we needed to get done while we were in Hutchinson. Then my grad school work ate the rest of my day, as well as most of today. I just finished my paper for this week about an hour ago, but I decided to take a zero on the preceding week's paper. I had gotten permission to turn it in late, but I just did not have the time to write it while I was simply struggling to get the current assignments done. Technically, I don't even have all of the reading done for this week. My essay was on one specific text, so the other book was only general reading for the week. That puts me at a six chapter deficit going into this week, and, althought in includes the Thanksgiving holiday, we have no break from class. That's one of the things I really despise about this college's online courses. The on-campus classes get breaks for holidays, but the online classes don't.
I had really wanted to run, but just could not set aside any more time. Had the sink not given out, I would have had time for the run.
Mrs. F is going to be doing a little extra work this week. She's going to be emptying our bedroom so we can paint it. One of the stops we made on Saturday was to pick out a new mattress, as ours is the only one in the house that has not been replaced recently. In fact, we've had ours for over 13 years--and it shows! We also opted to get our first ever new bedroom set. You didn't think we'd paint just for a mattress, do you? If we manage to get everything other than the bed out of the room (and the closet) by next weekend, it can be painted. Of course, I'm likely to be tied up with homework, but the prof did promise a lighter courseload this week.
Oh, well. I need to get moving. I need to send an email message out to the other Scout families about a change in our meeting location for this week. That was a set of phone calls I was supposed to make this afternoon--another thing left undone due to my schoolwork. [Sigh.]
OHR - Day 3 Mrs. F
I took a different route today. I started walking from home and then running. The nice part about starting from home is you have to keep going until you get back home. You cant cheat if you get tired lol!
The different route gave me some different scenery and was a nice change of pace. The weather wasnt as nice as yesterday but still not bad. Mostly cloudy with a little bit of wind.
Neither of my sons could find their watch, so I really dont have an idea of time. I know though for distance, I did about a 5k. Mr. F and I had mapped out this other route with the car. It was about 1.6 out and 1.6 back. So I know I got a good 3 miles in. The first part of the run just felt slow and heavy. It took a good ten minutes to find my stride. After that, it was still challenging but I picked up my pace a bit.
I even had enough steam to sprint up a hill near my house!!!
I tried on some goal pants that tucked away for a couple of years now. I actually got into a pair of size 12's! I still cant wear that size in all clothing -- I have a ways to go for that yet. Im very excited though to be able to get into the start of that size!!!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
The different route gave me some different scenery and was a nice change of pace. The weather wasnt as nice as yesterday but still not bad. Mostly cloudy with a little bit of wind.
Neither of my sons could find their watch, so I really dont have an idea of time. I know though for distance, I did about a 5k. Mr. F and I had mapped out this other route with the car. It was about 1.6 out and 1.6 back. So I know I got a good 3 miles in. The first part of the run just felt slow and heavy. It took a good ten minutes to find my stride. After that, it was still challenging but I picked up my pace a bit.
I even had enough steam to sprint up a hill near my house!!!
I tried on some goal pants that tucked away for a couple of years now. I actually got into a pair of size 12's! I still cant wear that size in all clothing -- I have a ways to go for that yet. Im very excited though to be able to get into the start of that size!!!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Day 2 Push ups - Mrs. F
I didnt get my pushups in yesterday. I kind of just kept putting it off to do later. Well later just didnt occur. So I ended up doing them tonight. I was supposed to run today too but too many errands took up the bulk and energy of the day. So thats delayed until tommorrow!
Good thing its supposed to be nice tommorrow too. Just for the record, I really really really dislike pushups. Man, Im struggling just to do the minumum. I guess the real point though is Im down there on the ground doing them anyway.
Its neat to see our children follow suit. You know if Momma is going to be doing this crazy thing, so will they. So after I did mine,my 11 yr old, my 8 yr old, my 5 yr old, my 4 yr old and my 2 yr old were all down on the ground trying to do pushups. We truly do lead the way in terms of how to life our life! Its hard somtimes to put the computer down and get out there and exercise.
I really did want to run today. Even got up at 6 am to do it but the cold dissuaded me. When Mr. F asked me if I wanted to delay til later -- I responded with a definite yes. It didnt help that I didnt get enough sleep either.
So I need to work on making a distinct time to do things. Things wont change overnight. On a positive note, Im down 1.5 pounds -- woot! Im very excited to be nearly the next decade down of weight lose.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Good thing its supposed to be nice tommorrow too. Just for the record, I really really really dislike pushups. Man, Im struggling just to do the minumum. I guess the real point though is Im down there on the ground doing them anyway.
Its neat to see our children follow suit. You know if Momma is going to be doing this crazy thing, so will they. So after I did mine,my 11 yr old, my 8 yr old, my 5 yr old, my 4 yr old and my 2 yr old were all down on the ground trying to do pushups. We truly do lead the way in terms of how to life our life! Its hard somtimes to put the computer down and get out there and exercise.
I really did want to run today. Even got up at 6 am to do it but the cold dissuaded me. When Mr. F asked me if I wanted to delay til later -- I responded with a definite yes. It didnt help that I didnt get enough sleep either.
So I need to work on making a distinct time to do things. Things wont change overnight. On a positive note, Im down 1.5 pounds -- woot! Im very excited to be nearly the next decade down of weight lose.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Friday, November 20, 2009
Weight Check - Friday November 20
Friday weight check (week 12)
FatManRunning
Last Friday: 279.4 lbs.
Today: 279.9 lbs.
Gain/Loss: +.5 lbs.
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 20.5 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 69.5
Comment: I hate stress!
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 173.3 lbs.
Today: 171.8 lbs.
Gain/Loss: -1.5 lbs.
Goal: 150.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 11.0 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 21.8
Comment: I guess last week was more water weight. I was pleased with todays loss(secretly hoped for higher) but 1.5 is not too shabby!!! I am starting to get excited to get below the 170 mark and the less than 20 to lose mark!!!
FatManRunning
Last Friday: 279.4 lbs.
Today: 279.9 lbs.
Gain/Loss: +.5 lbs.
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 20.5 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 69.5
Comment: I hate stress!
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 173.3 lbs.
Today: 171.8 lbs.
Gain/Loss: -1.5 lbs.
Goal: 150.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 11.0 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 21.8
Comment: I guess last week was more water weight. I was pleased with todays loss(secretly hoped for higher) but 1.5 is not too shabby!!! I am starting to get excited to get below the 170 mark and the less than 20 to lose mark!!!
Note to self: read things through (and, a little extra weight)
Well, I was up early enough today to fit in my pushups before getting ready for work. I had been under the impression that the One Hundred Pushups challege would be similar to the Couch-to-5k program, so I expected that I'd need to complete the same number of reps today as I did on Wednesday. I was wrong! I need to remember to read things through before I get into them!
Today's workout was as follows (with a minute of rest between each set): 6, 8, 6, 6, min 7.
I completed the workout, but was only able to finish the minimum required in the final set. Of course, it did not help that our youngest girl was up and she decided to try to sit on my head and shoulders during that final set! That was a little extra weight I wasn't intended to lift. The ironic thing, however, is that her current weight just about matches what I've already lost (she's about 20 lbs., and I've lost 21 lbs.). I don't think I would have been able to start on level two before I started Couch-to-5k and lost the weight.
I could definately feel it in my arms and pectorals last night, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. In reality, my first workout was only about a day and six hours earlier, rather than a dull two days prior, because my first workout was just before midnight on Wednesday. I want to do these regularly in the morning. I'll complete the third day for Week One on Sunday, and then will be on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday for next week. On the following week, I'll switch to M-W-F, so I'll have T-R-Sa free for One Hour Runner with Mrs. F. I'm not quite sure what I'll do for running next week, when the days coincide. I might just do the runs anyway, since we'll likely run in the afternoons.
I hope to pick up running on Saturday morning with Mrs. F. The first three weeks of One Hour Runner are just 30 minute runs, so I know I can handle that. Times don't increase until Week Four, so we know that some Couch-to-5k graduates jump in there. We decided that we'll take the extra weeks to make sure we are giving our joints, connective tissues, and muscles time to adjust to running. Though, as you've probably noticed, I've not run for a week, since our first 5k. It's not that I've even been sore or injured. I've just been way too busy with my schoolwork (I'm now behind).
I've told the other Troop leaders (I'm Scoutmaster in a brand new Scout Troop that includes three of our sons) that I need someone else to take over program planning. I just don't have the time or ability to do that right now. I already stepped down from leading worship at church, but that's due to my internal struggles more than time. Work is a killer lately. Being the only IT guy, it falls on me to keep everything running, and we've had a number of hot issues lately. Thankfully, it's not as crazy as it was a year ago, when I worked the equivalent of extra weeks of work each in November and December.
I want to put a shout out to everyone at Active.com, especially in the 200+ lb. runners threads in the Newbie Cafe. I've not been able to post as much lately, but I am reading. Thanks for all of the words of encouragement. Yes, I know I need to get out and get running. Yes, I know my plate seems over-full, but I cannot comprehend of anything I can cut (ditching the Scout Troop would cause it to fold, because we are at minimum levels already). I have too much invested in my education to give that up, especially when I have only three or four classes (beyond the current one) yet to finish for my M.A. One of the downsides of taking a job close to home is that I now have less than half the vacation time I once had. How I so wish I could just take a few days off, catch up on my homework, and get back into a "normal" groove again!
I'll make it through. I always do. I'm going to try to negotiate the afternoon off for having put in time over the weekend last week and late work this week. That, at least, would help.
Blah, blah, blah...I could go on and on and on. Maybe one day I'll be able to set aside time for writing--not just this blog, but the fiction I love to write. Well, until then, I'll just keep doing what I can.
Today's workout was as follows (with a minute of rest between each set): 6, 8, 6, 6, min 7.
I completed the workout, but was only able to finish the minimum required in the final set. Of course, it did not help that our youngest girl was up and she decided to try to sit on my head and shoulders during that final set! That was a little extra weight I wasn't intended to lift. The ironic thing, however, is that her current weight just about matches what I've already lost (she's about 20 lbs., and I've lost 21 lbs.). I don't think I would have been able to start on level two before I started Couch-to-5k and lost the weight.
I could definately feel it in my arms and pectorals last night, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. In reality, my first workout was only about a day and six hours earlier, rather than a dull two days prior, because my first workout was just before midnight on Wednesday. I want to do these regularly in the morning. I'll complete the third day for Week One on Sunday, and then will be on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday for next week. On the following week, I'll switch to M-W-F, so I'll have T-R-Sa free for One Hour Runner with Mrs. F. I'm not quite sure what I'll do for running next week, when the days coincide. I might just do the runs anyway, since we'll likely run in the afternoons.
I hope to pick up running on Saturday morning with Mrs. F. The first three weeks of One Hour Runner are just 30 minute runs, so I know I can handle that. Times don't increase until Week Four, so we know that some Couch-to-5k graduates jump in there. We decided that we'll take the extra weeks to make sure we are giving our joints, connective tissues, and muscles time to adjust to running. Though, as you've probably noticed, I've not run for a week, since our first 5k. It's not that I've even been sore or injured. I've just been way too busy with my schoolwork (I'm now behind).
I've told the other Troop leaders (I'm Scoutmaster in a brand new Scout Troop that includes three of our sons) that I need someone else to take over program planning. I just don't have the time or ability to do that right now. I already stepped down from leading worship at church, but that's due to my internal struggles more than time. Work is a killer lately. Being the only IT guy, it falls on me to keep everything running, and we've had a number of hot issues lately. Thankfully, it's not as crazy as it was a year ago, when I worked the equivalent of extra weeks of work each in November and December.
I want to put a shout out to everyone at Active.com, especially in the 200+ lb. runners threads in the Newbie Cafe. I've not been able to post as much lately, but I am reading. Thanks for all of the words of encouragement. Yes, I know I need to get out and get running. Yes, I know my plate seems over-full, but I cannot comprehend of anything I can cut (ditching the Scout Troop would cause it to fold, because we are at minimum levels already). I have too much invested in my education to give that up, especially when I have only three or four classes (beyond the current one) yet to finish for my M.A. One of the downsides of taking a job close to home is that I now have less than half the vacation time I once had. How I so wish I could just take a few days off, catch up on my homework, and get back into a "normal" groove again!
I'll make it through. I always do. I'm going to try to negotiate the afternoon off for having put in time over the weekend last week and late work this week. That, at least, would help.
Blah, blah, blah...I could go on and on and on. Maybe one day I'll be able to set aside time for writing--not just this blog, but the fiction I love to write. Well, until then, I'll just keep doing what I can.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
One hour runner - Day 2 - Mrs. F
First of all, it was a good run. I didnt have any lingering pain so I was able to push myself some.
So I worked hard but it was a good run! I ran about 2.7 (estimated) miles in 32 minutes today. The first mile was wicked fast for me -- did that in 10:30!!! Then slowed it down on the next segment, got my breathing back under control. I sped up and slowed down several times during the run. I especially sped up during the 2nd half of each segment. I did the last mile in 12 minutes. Not too shabby.
Im very happy to report that no shin splints occurred during todays run. Whew! I was worried that would be a lingering problem. The lack of pain definitely helped me have a better run over all. My knees were a bit twingey but I think its still adjusting to be running.
Mr. F wasnt able to get out this evening -- hopefully on Saturday -- he will be able to get out for a run.
It really felt good to run off some life stresses. And to combat the food intake I have had lately as well. I think thats part of what I like about running, it allows me to consume more calories on the days I run. I like chocolate! There I admit it :) So I can continue my weight loss journey with a few indulges here or there. And it does feel good after the hard work of a run!
Keep on running
MRs. F
So I worked hard but it was a good run! I ran about 2.7 (estimated) miles in 32 minutes today. The first mile was wicked fast for me -- did that in 10:30!!! Then slowed it down on the next segment, got my breathing back under control. I sped up and slowed down several times during the run. I especially sped up during the 2nd half of each segment. I did the last mile in 12 minutes. Not too shabby.
Im very happy to report that no shin splints occurred during todays run. Whew! I was worried that would be a lingering problem. The lack of pain definitely helped me have a better run over all. My knees were a bit twingey but I think its still adjusting to be running.
Mr. F wasnt able to get out this evening -- hopefully on Saturday -- he will be able to get out for a run.
It really felt good to run off some life stresses. And to combat the food intake I have had lately as well. I think thats part of what I like about running, it allows me to consume more calories on the days I run. I like chocolate! There I admit it :) So I can continue my weight loss journey with a few indulges here or there. And it does feel good after the hard work of a run!
Keep on running
MRs. F
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
100 Pushups - Day 1
I did not get out for a run yesterday, but I did remember to get my pushups in today. I started at Level 2 of the program, since I completed six (6) pushups during my pre-test. That meant today's workout looked like this:
6 pushups
(1 minute rest)
6 pushups
(1 minute rest)
4 pushups
(1 minute rest)
4 pushups
(1 minute rest)
Max pushups: 6
That final "Max pushups" is the final set. Each day, you go through the prescribed set and then push through one last set where you do as many as you can. Each day's final set has a listed minimum, so you have to do at least that many in the final set. For me, today, that minimum was five (5), but I managed six (6).
I'm trying to do regular pushups, but am a little awkward on my flat palms. I had dual carpal tunnel realeases about a year ago, and my body is still cautious about putting pressure on my wrists and palms. It turned out okay, but I think I had my hands a bit too far foarward. Mrs. F was already retired for the night, so I didn't have anyone to watch my form. I'll keep it in mind for Wednesday. If I need to change things a bit, I can likely complete mine on my fists.
6 pushups
(1 minute rest)
6 pushups
(1 minute rest)
4 pushups
(1 minute rest)
4 pushups
(1 minute rest)
Max pushups: 6
That final "Max pushups" is the final set. Each day, you go through the prescribed set and then push through one last set where you do as many as you can. Each day's final set has a listed minimum, so you have to do at least that many in the final set. For me, today, that minimum was five (5), but I managed six (6).
I'm trying to do regular pushups, but am a little awkward on my flat palms. I had dual carpal tunnel realeases about a year ago, and my body is still cautious about putting pressure on my wrists and palms. It turned out okay, but I think I had my hands a bit too far foarward. Mrs. F was already retired for the night, so I didn't have anyone to watch my form. I'll keep it in mind for Wednesday. If I need to change things a bit, I can likely complete mine on my fists.
One hundred Pushups - Week 1,Day 1 - Mrs. F
I have a lot of emotional crap going on right now. I just want to eat my way thru a truffle bag. In fact, Im part way thru that goal... sigh.
Given everything thats going on, I wasnt going to do the pushups. I really hate pushups. I think I hate them more than I hated running! I was going to put it off and just not do it.
Im not sure what changed but as I was sitting here browsing the net,checking our blog for the billionth time, I saw the log. And I got up and just did it. My arms hurt!!!!
Im positive my form sucks but I guess IM trying at least. I only managed 2 on the intial test, so Im in column one. So it wasnt as horrible as it could be, my sets were 2 and 3.
Im looking forward to running tommorrow. It seems easier than pushups at this point. That makes me giggle a little :)
Mr. F is bogged down with graduate work and tech issues at his day job as well. So Im not sure when things will ease up for him, hopefully soon.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Given everything thats going on, I wasnt going to do the pushups. I really hate pushups. I think I hate them more than I hated running! I was going to put it off and just not do it.
Im not sure what changed but as I was sitting here browsing the net,checking our blog for the billionth time, I saw the log. And I got up and just did it. My arms hurt!!!!
Im positive my form sucks but I guess IM trying at least. I only managed 2 on the intial test, so Im in column one. So it wasnt as horrible as it could be, my sets were 2 and 3.
Im looking forward to running tommorrow. It seems easier than pushups at this point. That makes me giggle a little :)
Mr. F is bogged down with graduate work and tech issues at his day job as well. So Im not sure when things will ease up for him, hopefully soon.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
One hour runner - Week 1 - Mrs. F
Mr. F graciously agreed to run the bank errand (Thanks honey) so I was still able to get a workout in tonight.
It was strange but fun asking my eldest son to babysit so I could go for a run. He of course, agreed :) Anything to have his dear mother running! He even let me borrow his watch.
This was the first workout of one hour runner -- all three runs this week are 30 minutes apiece. I got my ducks in a row and set off to our trail. I was in a bit of a hurry, so my warm up walk was fast. That may have contributed to the soreness I developed later.
My first mile was 11:45, not too shabby. I wasnt trying for any speed records today. At one point,my left shin was bugging me, so I slowed it down even farther. That seemed to help some. It took me 33 minutes to do 2.5 miles. I think my last mile back was 13 minutes. I was sore and it was getting dark too.
It really did feel good afterwords. The run itself wasnt easy and I didnt really find my stride. I am glad though I got back out there.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
It was strange but fun asking my eldest son to babysit so I could go for a run. He of course, agreed :) Anything to have his dear mother running! He even let me borrow his watch.
This was the first workout of one hour runner -- all three runs this week are 30 minutes apiece. I got my ducks in a row and set off to our trail. I was in a bit of a hurry, so my warm up walk was fast. That may have contributed to the soreness I developed later.
My first mile was 11:45, not too shabby. I wasnt trying for any speed records today. At one point,my left shin was bugging me, so I slowed it down even farther. That seemed to help some. It took me 33 minutes to do 2.5 miles. I think my last mile back was 13 minutes. I was sore and it was getting dark too.
It really did feel good afterwords. The run itself wasnt easy and I didnt really find my stride. I am glad though I got back out there.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Its getting tougher-- Mrs. F
Its getting tougher to get the workouts in. We have come so far, I dont want to give up the progress, so that propels me on. Eventually we hope to purchase a treadmill, which will give us a little more freedom in when we can exercise. I still think we will try to do whatever runs we can outside but if time pressures mount, as they are today, then we have options.
I need to head into walmart today(30 minutes away) with the littles in tow in order to get some tights for my eldest daughter. We also need to do another errand and get to the bank as well. It just makes everything feel more stressed, knowing that these things must be done today.
Both Mr. F and I did our pushup intial test this morning. I managed a measly 2 and he managed 6. So we will start that tommorrow and get back to our regular pushup schedule(MWF) next week. Today will be the start of one hour runner. Thankfully its only a 30 minute run (who knew 12 weeks ago, that I would be able to say that woot!).
Keep on running
Mrs. F
I need to head into walmart today(30 minutes away) with the littles in tow in order to get some tights for my eldest daughter. We also need to do another errand and get to the bank as well. It just makes everything feel more stressed, knowing that these things must be done today.
Both Mr. F and I did our pushup intial test this morning. I managed a measly 2 and he managed 6. So we will start that tommorrow and get back to our regular pushup schedule(MWF) next week. Today will be the start of one hour runner. Thankfully its only a 30 minute run (who knew 12 weeks ago, that I would be able to say that woot!).
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Monday, November 16, 2009
Here are my wife, eldest son (J), and our friend Amy before the race. When 
J found out Mrs. F was racing, I acted surprised, too, and he bought it (even though I was dressed to run, too). I had my vest on and it was zipped up over the number, so that's the only thing that kept him from finding me out, too. In fact, he handed me his warm-ups so I could put them away while he headed to the finish line.
Thanks to Amy's dh, Nathan, for taking this pic and passing it on.
Mrs. F and I are agreed upon signing up for the 5k held just a few miles from home on Thanksgiving Day. We're looking forward to it!
Not only was I up with homework last night, but I had to put in three or four hours on an office project. In addition, we had to spend some time with our eldest daughter, who had a gentleman caller the night before who wanted permission to begin courtship. While she still is a little young, the idea behind courtship (vs. dating) is that he spend time with our daughter in the context of our family so that we may all get to know each other. We discussed my overall assessment, and agreed that this may proceed (cautiously). She's aware of the concerns I have, and we trust that the process will help clarify our understanding in those areas over the next few months.
J found out Mrs. F was racing, I acted surprised, too, and he bought it (even though I was dressed to run, too). I had my vest on and it was zipped up over the number, so that's the only thing that kept him from finding me out, too. In fact, he handed me his warm-ups so I could put them away while he headed to the finish line.Thanks to Amy's dh, Nathan, for taking this pic and passing it on.
Mrs. F and I are agreed upon signing up for the 5k held just a few miles from home on Thanksgiving Day. We're looking forward to it!
Not only was I up with homework last night, but I had to put in three or four hours on an office project. In addition, we had to spend some time with our eldest daughter, who had a gentleman caller the night before who wanted permission to begin courtship. While she still is a little young, the idea behind courtship (vs. dating) is that he spend time with our daughter in the context of our family so that we may all get to know each other. We discussed my overall assessment, and agreed that this may proceed (cautiously). She's aware of the concerns I have, and we trust that the process will help clarify our understanding in those areas over the next few months.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Post Race - Mrs. F
Although our real names are revealed now, we've had these monnikers for so long,they are hard to shed!
My legs felt great this morning when I got up but as I walked to church, they were a bit achy. My knees and wrists hurt a bit but I suspect thats related to my lupus rather than post race concerns. My knees did not bother me at all when I ran and I cant pinpoint an acute pain anywhere, its more of a general ache. Thats why I think it may be related to my other joint issues from the lupus.
Im looking forward to running the 5k in the town near us on thanksgiving. I definitely have caught the running bug. Most of our kids either like running or are interested in it, cept for our eldest daughter. Shes not only my carbon copy in looks, she mirrors the same hatred that I had for running pre couch to 5k. I even offered up the dangling carrot - I swallowed my dislike and told her I would agree to read twilight if she would do C25K. She entertained it for a bit and nope, wont bite.
Oh well , I am looking forward to family run/bike/walk times. I figure we can cull together enough different ways of transport and get out there!
I believe the plan is to do one hour runner - t,th,Sat and then do 100 pushups on M,W and F. I know since we did c25k, we could start at week 3. Both Mr. F and I agree, that we want to build up endurance further and plan to start at week 1. So it will be more of 30 minute runs but I feel thats important to get under our belts. Im not concerned so much with speed(although getting faster is good :) but with building endurance and allowing my body time to get used to the impact running puts on it.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
My legs felt great this morning when I got up but as I walked to church, they were a bit achy. My knees and wrists hurt a bit but I suspect thats related to my lupus rather than post race concerns. My knees did not bother me at all when I ran and I cant pinpoint an acute pain anywhere, its more of a general ache. Thats why I think it may be related to my other joint issues from the lupus.
Im looking forward to running the 5k in the town near us on thanksgiving. I definitely have caught the running bug. Most of our kids either like running or are interested in it, cept for our eldest daughter. Shes not only my carbon copy in looks, she mirrors the same hatred that I had for running pre couch to 5k. I even offered up the dangling carrot - I swallowed my dislike and told her I would agree to read twilight if she would do C25K. She entertained it for a bit and nope, wont bite.
Oh well , I am looking forward to family run/bike/walk times. I figure we can cull together enough different ways of transport and get out there!
I believe the plan is to do one hour runner - t,th,Sat and then do 100 pushups on M,W and F. I know since we did c25k, we could start at week 3. Both Mr. F and I agree, that we want to build up endurance further and plan to start at week 1. So it will be more of 30 minute runs but I feel thats important to get under our belts. Im not concerned so much with speed(although getting faster is good :) but with building endurance and allowing my body time to get used to the impact running puts on it.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Post 5k update
Well, I'm glad to report no major aches or pains after running yesterday. Sure, I have a bit of discomfort in my left knee and my right shin was a little sore, but no injuries and no problems moving around. I really can feel it in my glutes and my inner thighs, though.
I've been tied to my books most of the day, and I yet have much to do. Mrs. F and I plan to run on Thanksgiving morning in a new 5k race being organized in the next town. We do plan to start the 100 Pushup challenge, but I need to set aside time for the pre-test. One hour runner is our most likely course of action too. I need to run for now.
I've been tied to my books most of the day, and I yet have much to do. Mrs. F and I plan to run on Thanksgiving morning in a new 5k race being organized in the next town. We do plan to start the 100 Pushup challenge, but I need to set aside time for the pre-test. One hour runner is our most likely course of action too. I need to run for now.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Chaska Turkey Trot - Completed!
Well, it's official. The secret is out and our race is run! After the race and some recovery time on-site, we took a little road trip to the family's favorite Chinese restaurant in Buffalo, Minnesota. We just got home a little bit ago, and the results are already online.
My name is Andrew, but you know me here as FatManRunning; on Active.com, I go by AFatManRunning. My wife's name is Marie (known here as Mrs. F) b. We live in Winsted, Minnesota, about an hour west of Minneapolis. Today was our first 5k, the Chaska Turkey Trot, in Chaska, Minnesota. I finished below 45 minutes, and was not the final one on the course. Mrs. F also better than she hoped, coming in below even the 38 minute figure I guessed she could make. Some of our friends was there, and they took some pictures and video. We hope to be able to post some soon.
Our surprise came off very well, though we were not able to keep it a complete secret in the moments leading up to the race. When we arrived, our eldest son, who was registered to run, got out of the van right away and headed in to the registration table. As soon as the other nine (9) kids were out of the van, we made our way in. [Yes!, we have 10 kids.] Mrs. F three of our youngest four settled in the childcare room (what a nice service!), but we opted to leave our special needs child with our eldest daughter. She was instrumental to our being able to complete the Couch-to-5k program, as she was the one we got up at 5:30 AM on our training days so that we could fit in our workouts. [As it turns out, she's bummed that we have been running during the afternoons, because she had been using the early wake-ups as opportunities to catch a shower in the morning.] Our youngest girl just turned one, so we needed to have someone on the main floor who could respond to her if she started crying, which she did on more than a few mornings. Thanks, K!
I had prepped before we left, and just work overclothes to hide my running gear. Mrs. F opted to change on-site. So, after we were sure our son was checked in, and Mrs. F had the youngest kids in childcare, we sent the remaining kids out to find a place to park for the race. While she was changing, however, two of our middle boys came back in to complain about their sister (who was now in charge). They approached me as I was going through my running packet, and I could tell that one of them saw my race number. I tersely ordered them outside (likely creating a wonderful little pre-race show for some of the others around me), and went on working to get ready: chip zip-tied to my shoe, and number pinned to my shirt.
When Mrs. F came out, I informed her of our likely discovery. There was nothing we could do about it, so we kept on getting ready. Once we finished, we headed out towards the main entrance, but Mrs. F noticed our eldest son coming into the building and headed our way. We quickly turned around and made our way to one of the sponsors' booths so as to stay out of sight. When seemingly enough time had passed, we again headed for the door.
Everything was going well. We stopped not far from the door as we made some final preparations--hat, gloves, etc. I had just zipped my vest up over my number when our eldest son found us, and saw the number on Mrs. F's windbreaker. He was shocked, but pleased that she was running. I expressed dismay that she would sign up for such a race! After all, hadn't she just complained about how horrible her two minute run was (the one she owed our son due to his great race time). She played along, and he bought it. It didn't strike him funny that I had ditched my warmup pants and was standing there in my tech tights, shorts, running socks, and running shoes, or that my legs were clearly wrapped under the tights. He was too enamored of learning that Mrs. F was running to recognize the signs that were in front of him.
The call came out to head toward the starting line. Since J, our eldest son, now knew about Mrs. F's running, they headed off toward the start together, along with our friend, Amy. I commented that I was a bit cold, and headed off to the van to swap my vest for a windbreaker. It was not too cold out--in the 40s °F--but the wind was quite chilly. When I switched into the windbreaker shell, I moved my number to that shell where it was visible to all. As I approached the starting line, I realized that we would be running the opposite direction I expected, so I tried to stay to the outskirts so that J would not see me. I made my way to the back where Amy and Mrs. F were waiting. They had found themselves a position behind a group of ladies who had also completed the Couch-to-5k program. It felt good to know that we were not alone in our newness to running.
When the gun went off, it took us probably 20 seconds or more to get across the official starting line. The fast ones, including our eldest son, had been in the front of the pack, and they were all jockying for position. I just switched on my mp3 player and started running. It was slow going at first, as I made my way through the pack of runners and walkers, passing some and passed by others. Amy, Mrs. F. and I were bunched close together as our path began its way in front of the school. We noticed our eldest daughter, K, watching the race those in her care. The look on her face when she saw us running there was unforgettable. He mouth was literally drop-jawed, and she seemed stunned. We smiled, waved, and kept running. Amy and Mrs. F began pulling ahead of me. I could feel the adrenaline compelling me to run faster and to keep up with them, but I let rational thought prevail and I settled into my pace. Mrs. F was clearly running faster than her regularly pace (most likely to keep up with Amy), since she pulled ahead much faster than usual. Soon, though I was still surrounded by others, it was just my music and me, and what still seemed to be like a Herculean labor ahead of me.
The line of sight was clear as we came downhill from the starting line. We were going further downhill, turning a corner, and then yet further downhill before starting the first climb. It was no short little rise and was certainly no long, gradual grade. It was a full out hill that went up to a corner, turned and went on further. Thinking about the hill seemed daunting. It started about a quarter mile into the race and seemed to go on forever.
As I made my way up that hill, I remembered the advice Haselsmasher provided us: take baby steps. That advice seemed to help. I also remembered advice some of our sons' cross country teammates had provided: lean into the hill and swing your arms loose and low. I found that advice useful later on. At this early point in the run I had plenty of energy, so my baby step burst served me well.
On the way up the hill, I heard honks and shouts, and I saw some familiar faces and waves. Other family friends, the Andersons, were arriving and noticed me as they drove to the school. They turned around somewhere behind me, driving past moments later with more shouts and waves. I caught up with them at what I thought was the top of the hill, at an intersection. As I turned the corner, I told them that Mrs. F was up ahead. With that, they drove off. The trail continued uphill, and that caught me off guard. I had really been hoping for a level stretch, but this was the second corner where the trail continued uphill. I next saw them some distance later, where they had pulled off the road and were standing there to give some support and take some pictures. It felt really good to have friends who took the time to share the day with us! The trail did level off somewhat, but it continued with a set of rolling rises and falls.
About the time I saw our friends again, I saw the first mile marker. I considered taking a few walking steps, but reminded myself where the one mile mark was on our trail back home, and I opted to continue running. I wasn't "in the zone" or anything like that at this point. The long uphill had been pretty tough, but I was still moving. I passed a few and was passed by others. There was a threesome with which I kept leap-frogging through most of the course. I would pass them running, but they would run past me on the downhills, and I would pass them again on the uphills. All in all, it became a bit annoying, but I could deal with it. After about the third exchange, one of their number paid attention to where I was and started moving to one side. At least then I didn't need to run off the trail, which was, in a few spots, a fairly steep decline.
The second mile marker seemed further than I expected. The ups and downs continued. At one point, the return route came within a few dozen feet of the outbound route. I watched for any sign of Mrs. F--I figured our son was long gone--but I did not see her. I did, however, see a set of gloves and a hat discarded near a sign. They looked quite familiar, and I wondered if they were our son's. It wasn't the only discarded clothign I saw along the route. It seemed that a number of runners opted to discard items that left them too warm, rather than carrying them along for the journey. When I reached the marker, I again considered some walking steps, but now I was feeling fatigue, and I feared that slowing to a walk would keep me from resuming a run. Instead, I opted to slow my pace a bit more, so that I could breath easy and regain a bit of strength.
Around that two-mile mark, the trail started spending more time going down than up. It wound behind a building system (perhaps another school?), and began a serpentine path back to the finish. As I got behind the buildings, with so few immediately around me, I felt the desire to give up and walk. I had developed some discomfort in my knee, and a few landings toward the outside of my right foot caused that shin to become tender. I fought off the desire and ran on. As the downhill segment began to bottom out, those walkers passed me again.
[Given my weight, I was holding back on the downhill segments. I did not want to legthen my stride and use gravity to my advantage. I could already feel the impact through my left knee and even in my left hip. I figured that the extra impact force of me going faster would most likely increase my chance of injury, so I did my best to manage my pace accordingly.]
As the return route brought the outbound route into view, it was clear that there were no runners yet coming up that far behind. Whatever was left of the pack was now behind me somewhere, but I did not let myself look back (verifiably anti-Penguin, I guess). I passed that group of walkers on a short uphill segment. Then, to my surprise, I saw our eldest son. He was running toward me. Yes, those items I saw were indeed his, and he was running the course backwards to find them. He had already heard that I was running from his sister, so he gave me a big high five as our paths crossed.
A few minutes later, after I progressed perhaps another qaurter mile, he caught up to me and started encouraging me, telling me that the end was not far ahead. Then, he sped off toward the finish, leaving me and my music to finish the course much as we began it--surrounded, yet alone. Reaching the bottom of another hollow, and starting my way uphill, I found myself in a bit of agongy. It was not a specific physical pain, but more of a combination of extreme fatigue alongside the aches I was having in my knee and shin. I could not imagine going on, but yet I knew I must be getting close to the finish. I kept watching for third mile marker, or at least something to announce the final 1,000 meters. I had been holding back a bit for a reason--I wanted to be able to finish strong.
Unfortunately, there was no third mile marker. As I rounded a corner of the high school building, I could hear and then see that I was near the finish line. From the corner of my eye I saw someone starting to a sprint, so I called up my reserves and gave it everything I had. I did finish at a full sprint, but the other runner was able to pass me. My final time was 42:13, a 13:36mm pace. Given that the course was more like a roller coaster track than the trail on which I practiced, I was tickled with the time. I was neither last (I finished 423rd out of 445 runners) nor the first on an ambulance. Mission accomplished!
Mrs. F had a good run, too. She finished 389th with a 35:28. Our son finished 22nd overall (5th for the sub-16 age group) with a time of 19:01. The kids were definately surprised, and our eldest son was ecstatic! Oh, and yes, one of our boys had seen the number and figured out that we were running too, but he kept it to himself and didn't spoil the surprise for anyone. Way to go, Z-man!
Mrs. F just passed me our daughter's camera, so I have photos to upload. Our friend Amy's husband apparantly edited some video of the finishes, and they called to tell me that it should be sitting in my inbox. Our friends, Todd and Ruth Anderson, also tooks some pictures, but I don't know if they were using a digital camera. I'll be sure to ask them tomorrow at church.
Anyway, I yet have four chapters of reading to do and I need to start writing another essay, so I really must go. Thanks for all of your support! We'll post photos and more when we can. We'll also formalize our plans (still leaning toward 100 Pushups and One Hour Runner) and post the details here, too.
My name is Andrew, but you know me here as FatManRunning; on Active.com, I go by AFatManRunning. My wife's name is Marie (known here as Mrs. F) b. We live in Winsted, Minnesota, about an hour west of Minneapolis. Today was our first 5k, the Chaska Turkey Trot, in Chaska, Minnesota. I finished below 45 minutes, and was not the final one on the course. Mrs. F also better than she hoped, coming in below even the 38 minute figure I guessed she could make. Some of our friends was there, and they took some pictures and video. We hope to be able to post some soon.
Our surprise came off very well, though we were not able to keep it a complete secret in the moments leading up to the race. When we arrived, our eldest son, who was registered to run, got out of the van right away and headed in to the registration table. As soon as the other nine (9) kids were out of the van, we made our way in. [Yes!, we have 10 kids.] Mrs. F three of our youngest four settled in the childcare room (what a nice service!), but we opted to leave our special needs child with our eldest daughter. She was instrumental to our being able to complete the Couch-to-5k program, as she was the one we got up at 5:30 AM on our training days so that we could fit in our workouts. [As it turns out, she's bummed that we have been running during the afternoons, because she had been using the early wake-ups as opportunities to catch a shower in the morning.] Our youngest girl just turned one, so we needed to have someone on the main floor who could respond to her if she started crying, which she did on more than a few mornings. Thanks, K!
I had prepped before we left, and just work overclothes to hide my running gear. Mrs. F opted to change on-site. So, after we were sure our son was checked in, and Mrs. F had the youngest kids in childcare, we sent the remaining kids out to find a place to park for the race. While she was changing, however, two of our middle boys came back in to complain about their sister (who was now in charge). They approached me as I was going through my running packet, and I could tell that one of them saw my race number. I tersely ordered them outside (likely creating a wonderful little pre-race show for some of the others around me), and went on working to get ready: chip zip-tied to my shoe, and number pinned to my shirt.
When Mrs. F came out, I informed her of our likely discovery. There was nothing we could do about it, so we kept on getting ready. Once we finished, we headed out towards the main entrance, but Mrs. F noticed our eldest son coming into the building and headed our way. We quickly turned around and made our way to one of the sponsors' booths so as to stay out of sight. When seemingly enough time had passed, we again headed for the door.
Everything was going well. We stopped not far from the door as we made some final preparations--hat, gloves, etc. I had just zipped my vest up over my number when our eldest son found us, and saw the number on Mrs. F's windbreaker. He was shocked, but pleased that she was running. I expressed dismay that she would sign up for such a race! After all, hadn't she just complained about how horrible her two minute run was (the one she owed our son due to his great race time). She played along, and he bought it. It didn't strike him funny that I had ditched my warmup pants and was standing there in my tech tights, shorts, running socks, and running shoes, or that my legs were clearly wrapped under the tights. He was too enamored of learning that Mrs. F was running to recognize the signs that were in front of him.
The call came out to head toward the starting line. Since J, our eldest son, now knew about Mrs. F's running, they headed off toward the start together, along with our friend, Amy. I commented that I was a bit cold, and headed off to the van to swap my vest for a windbreaker. It was not too cold out--in the 40s °F--but the wind was quite chilly. When I switched into the windbreaker shell, I moved my number to that shell where it was visible to all. As I approached the starting line, I realized that we would be running the opposite direction I expected, so I tried to stay to the outskirts so that J would not see me. I made my way to the back where Amy and Mrs. F were waiting. They had found themselves a position behind a group of ladies who had also completed the Couch-to-5k program. It felt good to know that we were not alone in our newness to running.
When the gun went off, it took us probably 20 seconds or more to get across the official starting line. The fast ones, including our eldest son, had been in the front of the pack, and they were all jockying for position. I just switched on my mp3 player and started running. It was slow going at first, as I made my way through the pack of runners and walkers, passing some and passed by others. Amy, Mrs. F. and I were bunched close together as our path began its way in front of the school. We noticed our eldest daughter, K, watching the race those in her care. The look on her face when she saw us running there was unforgettable. He mouth was literally drop-jawed, and she seemed stunned. We smiled, waved, and kept running. Amy and Mrs. F began pulling ahead of me. I could feel the adrenaline compelling me to run faster and to keep up with them, but I let rational thought prevail and I settled into my pace. Mrs. F was clearly running faster than her regularly pace (most likely to keep up with Amy), since she pulled ahead much faster than usual. Soon, though I was still surrounded by others, it was just my music and me, and what still seemed to be like a Herculean labor ahead of me.
The line of sight was clear as we came downhill from the starting line. We were going further downhill, turning a corner, and then yet further downhill before starting the first climb. It was no short little rise and was certainly no long, gradual grade. It was a full out hill that went up to a corner, turned and went on further. Thinking about the hill seemed daunting. It started about a quarter mile into the race and seemed to go on forever.
As I made my way up that hill, I remembered the advice Haselsmasher provided us: take baby steps. That advice seemed to help. I also remembered advice some of our sons' cross country teammates had provided: lean into the hill and swing your arms loose and low. I found that advice useful later on. At this early point in the run I had plenty of energy, so my baby step burst served me well.
On the way up the hill, I heard honks and shouts, and I saw some familiar faces and waves. Other family friends, the Andersons, were arriving and noticed me as they drove to the school. They turned around somewhere behind me, driving past moments later with more shouts and waves. I caught up with them at what I thought was the top of the hill, at an intersection. As I turned the corner, I told them that Mrs. F was up ahead. With that, they drove off. The trail continued uphill, and that caught me off guard. I had really been hoping for a level stretch, but this was the second corner where the trail continued uphill. I next saw them some distance later, where they had pulled off the road and were standing there to give some support and take some pictures. It felt really good to have friends who took the time to share the day with us! The trail did level off somewhat, but it continued with a set of rolling rises and falls.
About the time I saw our friends again, I saw the first mile marker. I considered taking a few walking steps, but reminded myself where the one mile mark was on our trail back home, and I opted to continue running. I wasn't "in the zone" or anything like that at this point. The long uphill had been pretty tough, but I was still moving. I passed a few and was passed by others. There was a threesome with which I kept leap-frogging through most of the course. I would pass them running, but they would run past me on the downhills, and I would pass them again on the uphills. All in all, it became a bit annoying, but I could deal with it. After about the third exchange, one of their number paid attention to where I was and started moving to one side. At least then I didn't need to run off the trail, which was, in a few spots, a fairly steep decline.
The second mile marker seemed further than I expected. The ups and downs continued. At one point, the return route came within a few dozen feet of the outbound route. I watched for any sign of Mrs. F--I figured our son was long gone--but I did not see her. I did, however, see a set of gloves and a hat discarded near a sign. They looked quite familiar, and I wondered if they were our son's. It wasn't the only discarded clothign I saw along the route. It seemed that a number of runners opted to discard items that left them too warm, rather than carrying them along for the journey. When I reached the marker, I again considered some walking steps, but now I was feeling fatigue, and I feared that slowing to a walk would keep me from resuming a run. Instead, I opted to slow my pace a bit more, so that I could breath easy and regain a bit of strength.
Around that two-mile mark, the trail started spending more time going down than up. It wound behind a building system (perhaps another school?), and began a serpentine path back to the finish. As I got behind the buildings, with so few immediately around me, I felt the desire to give up and walk. I had developed some discomfort in my knee, and a few landings toward the outside of my right foot caused that shin to become tender. I fought off the desire and ran on. As the downhill segment began to bottom out, those walkers passed me again.
[Given my weight, I was holding back on the downhill segments. I did not want to legthen my stride and use gravity to my advantage. I could already feel the impact through my left knee and even in my left hip. I figured that the extra impact force of me going faster would most likely increase my chance of injury, so I did my best to manage my pace accordingly.]
As the return route brought the outbound route into view, it was clear that there were no runners yet coming up that far behind. Whatever was left of the pack was now behind me somewhere, but I did not let myself look back (verifiably anti-Penguin, I guess). I passed that group of walkers on a short uphill segment. Then, to my surprise, I saw our eldest son. He was running toward me. Yes, those items I saw were indeed his, and he was running the course backwards to find them. He had already heard that I was running from his sister, so he gave me a big high five as our paths crossed.
A few minutes later, after I progressed perhaps another qaurter mile, he caught up to me and started encouraging me, telling me that the end was not far ahead. Then, he sped off toward the finish, leaving me and my music to finish the course much as we began it--surrounded, yet alone. Reaching the bottom of another hollow, and starting my way uphill, I found myself in a bit of agongy. It was not a specific physical pain, but more of a combination of extreme fatigue alongside the aches I was having in my knee and shin. I could not imagine going on, but yet I knew I must be getting close to the finish. I kept watching for third mile marker, or at least something to announce the final 1,000 meters. I had been holding back a bit for a reason--I wanted to be able to finish strong.
Unfortunately, there was no third mile marker. As I rounded a corner of the high school building, I could hear and then see that I was near the finish line. From the corner of my eye I saw someone starting to a sprint, so I called up my reserves and gave it everything I had. I did finish at a full sprint, but the other runner was able to pass me. My final time was 42:13, a 13:36mm pace. Given that the course was more like a roller coaster track than the trail on which I practiced, I was tickled with the time. I was neither last (I finished 423rd out of 445 runners) nor the first on an ambulance. Mission accomplished!
Mrs. F had a good run, too. She finished 389th with a 35:28. Our son finished 22nd overall (5th for the sub-16 age group) with a time of 19:01. The kids were definately surprised, and our eldest son was ecstatic! Oh, and yes, one of our boys had seen the number and figured out that we were running too, but he kept it to himself and didn't spoil the surprise for anyone. Way to go, Z-man!
Mrs. F just passed me our daughter's camera, so I have photos to upload. Our friend Amy's husband apparantly edited some video of the finishes, and they called to tell me that it should be sitting in my inbox. Our friends, Todd and Ruth Anderson, also tooks some pictures, but I don't know if they were using a digital camera. I'll be sure to ask them tomorrow at church.
Anyway, I yet have four chapters of reading to do and I need to start writing another essay, so I really must go. Thanks for all of your support! We'll post photos and more when we can. We'll also formalize our plans (still leaning toward 100 Pushups and One Hour Runner) and post the details here, too.
Race Day - Mrs. F
First of all, I want to get this out of the way -- I DID IT!!!!!!!!!
I ran the turkey trot with wicked hills in 35 minutes and 28 seconds. I not only beat my first goal of running the whole thing, I beat my time goal by almost 10 full minutes. WOOT!
It was challenging getting everything ready. I had all the kids put out their clothes, socks, shoes, and jackets the night before. I had the diaper bag and my bag backed. We woke everyone up at 6 am, so the kids could have time to eat some breakfast before we left. I had wanted to leave by 715, it was about 725 when we finally got gas and on the road.
I ate a half cinnamon raisen bagel with some cream cheese and a half cup of coffee. I also had a few sips of gatorade before the race( I plan on skipping that step next time).
As I arrived, my anxiety went thru the roof. I had no idea where to go, where to take the kids for child care and there were a lot of people who looked like they knew what they were doing. There was a bit of added stress trying to keep this all under wraps too.
Our cross country runner had went ahead and got his registration. Our friend,Amy, quickly distracted him and they went outside to do some warmups. Mr. F went to get our registration packets while I took the kids to the child care area. I got the little ones settled and the big ones sent off for a walk around the school
Our eldest daughter was going to be holding down the fort with some of the kids. Mr. F told her we were going to go shopping for a birthday present so we wouldnt be at the race. Shes like whatever. Afterwords she told me "Next time you tell me you are going shopping, Im not going to believe you".
Mr. F and I then took some time to figure out how to get the chip attached to our shoe, and our race tags pinned on our shirts. At one point, one son came in and saw the number but he wisely kept that info to himself. And at another point, we had to send Amy off to circumvent our cc runner as he was heading straight for us. Mr. F and I were standing next the to door when our CC runner shows up and points to my race tag and says "Mom, you're running?" with this incredulous look on his face. I tired to downplay it but he wasnt fooled lol. I actually said to him that I started running last week and that I was going to go from 2 minutes of running to a 5k. He was too focused on the race ahead to question me He told me he loved me-- aww how sweet. At this point, he has no clue that Mr. F is running, in face, he turns and hands his jacket and warmups to Mr. F to hold!
As the three of us(Mr. F,my friend Amy and me) positioned ourselves in the back -- we jockeyed for position with some other ladies. A conversation ensued after that and we discovered, they too, had done C25k!! That was pretty cool.
It was confusing at the beginning, after hearing the gun sound, but not knowing where the exact starting line was. So we took it slow on the start but the pack began thinning out. It was pretty amazing to see the sea of people ahead of me on one of the downhills!
I kept up with my friend for the first little bit and it quickly became apparent that her pace was faster. So I fell back, not too far, but far enough to find my own pace. I jockeyed positions with a few different people as I went thruout. Some people walked the big hills, but I ran them all! It was a bit discouraging when some young kids running with other adults, passed me. I just tried to remember that I wasnt here to place ahead of anyone, that I was just here for myself! That helped some.
The course was wicked. Big huge sloping uphills and downhills and very few flat stretches. I swear that first mile(they marked 1 mile and the 2 mile points) was the longest one Ive ever ran. It was a bit encouraging, though just as i passed the 1 mile marker, some other friends appeared near the trail cheering. That was just what I needed to keep running on!
I only got a glimpse of Mr. F once, when i was coming back down around and he was on the upper portion of the path. I was very happy to see that he has several people behind him and he was running well!
The emotional moment came though as I neared the finish line and I saw my friends, and my kids all there cheering me on. It brought tears to my eyes to hear their voices cheering their momma on. I was so concentrating on finishing that I didnt even see the clock. It wasnt until afterwards, that I asked my friends about time. They thought somewhere in the 35 minute range. I was estactic with that time. My friend Amy, who rocks, finished in 33 minutes!~ And ill leave Mr. F to share his time!!
Im sore and a bit stiff but no injuries to report! I still cannot believe I ran an entire 5k race!!!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
PS -- Pics and maybe even video to come later!!
I ran the turkey trot with wicked hills in 35 minutes and 28 seconds. I not only beat my first goal of running the whole thing, I beat my time goal by almost 10 full minutes. WOOT!
It was challenging getting everything ready. I had all the kids put out their clothes, socks, shoes, and jackets the night before. I had the diaper bag and my bag backed. We woke everyone up at 6 am, so the kids could have time to eat some breakfast before we left. I had wanted to leave by 715, it was about 725 when we finally got gas and on the road.
I ate a half cinnamon raisen bagel with some cream cheese and a half cup of coffee. I also had a few sips of gatorade before the race( I plan on skipping that step next time).
As I arrived, my anxiety went thru the roof. I had no idea where to go, where to take the kids for child care and there were a lot of people who looked like they knew what they were doing. There was a bit of added stress trying to keep this all under wraps too.
Our cross country runner had went ahead and got his registration. Our friend,Amy, quickly distracted him and they went outside to do some warmups. Mr. F went to get our registration packets while I took the kids to the child care area. I got the little ones settled and the big ones sent off for a walk around the school
Our eldest daughter was going to be holding down the fort with some of the kids. Mr. F told her we were going to go shopping for a birthday present so we wouldnt be at the race. Shes like whatever. Afterwords she told me "Next time you tell me you are going shopping, Im not going to believe you".
Mr. F and I then took some time to figure out how to get the chip attached to our shoe, and our race tags pinned on our shirts. At one point, one son came in and saw the number but he wisely kept that info to himself. And at another point, we had to send Amy off to circumvent our cc runner as he was heading straight for us. Mr. F and I were standing next the to door when our CC runner shows up and points to my race tag and says "Mom, you're running?" with this incredulous look on his face. I tired to downplay it but he wasnt fooled lol. I actually said to him that I started running last week and that I was going to go from 2 minutes of running to a 5k. He was too focused on the race ahead to question me He told me he loved me-- aww how sweet. At this point, he has no clue that Mr. F is running, in face, he turns and hands his jacket and warmups to Mr. F to hold!
As the three of us(Mr. F,my friend Amy and me) positioned ourselves in the back -- we jockeyed for position with some other ladies. A conversation ensued after that and we discovered, they too, had done C25k!! That was pretty cool.
It was confusing at the beginning, after hearing the gun sound, but not knowing where the exact starting line was. So we took it slow on the start but the pack began thinning out. It was pretty amazing to see the sea of people ahead of me on one of the downhills!
I kept up with my friend for the first little bit and it quickly became apparent that her pace was faster. So I fell back, not too far, but far enough to find my own pace. I jockeyed positions with a few different people as I went thruout. Some people walked the big hills, but I ran them all! It was a bit discouraging when some young kids running with other adults, passed me. I just tried to remember that I wasnt here to place ahead of anyone, that I was just here for myself! That helped some.
The course was wicked. Big huge sloping uphills and downhills and very few flat stretches. I swear that first mile(they marked 1 mile and the 2 mile points) was the longest one Ive ever ran. It was a bit encouraging, though just as i passed the 1 mile marker, some other friends appeared near the trail cheering. That was just what I needed to keep running on!
I only got a glimpse of Mr. F once, when i was coming back down around and he was on the upper portion of the path. I was very happy to see that he has several people behind him and he was running well!
The emotional moment came though as I neared the finish line and I saw my friends, and my kids all there cheering me on. It brought tears to my eyes to hear their voices cheering their momma on. I was so concentrating on finishing that I didnt even see the clock. It wasnt until afterwards, that I asked my friends about time. They thought somewhere in the 35 minute range. I was estactic with that time. My friend Amy, who rocks, finished in 33 minutes!~ And ill leave Mr. F to share his time!!
Im sore and a bit stiff but no injuries to report! I still cannot believe I ran an entire 5k race!!!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
PS -- Pics and maybe even video to come later!!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Another dose bites the dust (and Tomorrow is our Big Day)
Well, my weight loss has slowed over these past two weeks, but I've continued to make progress on another front: controlling my diabetes. Although my eating habits are still far from perfect, the twenty-one (21) pounds I've lost have had a positive impact on my blood sugar levels. I've been feeling hypoglycemic again during the late mornings, so I called the clinic today and they've reduced my meds again. That's great news. Another dose bites the dust!
Tomorrow is our big day. Not only will be run our first 5k, but we'll also be revealing our secret to our kids. Many of them were unhappy to learn that they'll need to be up early in the morning, but we were glad to be able to tell them, "Tough!"
Our digital camera died a while ago, so we will be relying on our daughter to have her camera with her. If we're lucky, one of our friends might have a camera, too. I might have an option for taping our finish, but I'm just not sure about coordinating that one.
Do I have any goals? I've already joked about two positions with which I'm concerned: I don't want to finish last, and I don't want to be first on an ambulance. Apart from that, I'd be really happy with anything at or under 00:45:00. I know that's the same time Mrs. F is hoping to break. In this case, I think she's selling herself short. Even with hills (unless they are killer hills), I figure she'll finish in 00:38:00 or less.
Dinner for tonight will be pasta and meatsauce. Mrs. F is taking care of that so I can get some additional reading done. In addition to our race and my coursework, I also have to put in some work hours this weekend, but I'm trying not to dwell on everything so that I become too stressed. Tonight's agenda will be a couple of chapters of reading, and then some time watching Aliens in the Attic with the family. That's all I had best think about for the evening. I plan to drink a couple of extra glasses of water tonight, and hope to get to bed by 10 PM, with a 6:30 AM alarm.
Good night, all!
Tomorrow is our big day. Not only will be run our first 5k, but we'll also be revealing our secret to our kids. Many of them were unhappy to learn that they'll need to be up early in the morning, but we were glad to be able to tell them, "Tough!"
Our digital camera died a while ago, so we will be relying on our daughter to have her camera with her. If we're lucky, one of our friends might have a camera, too. I might have an option for taping our finish, but I'm just not sure about coordinating that one.
Do I have any goals? I've already joked about two positions with which I'm concerned: I don't want to finish last, and I don't want to be first on an ambulance. Apart from that, I'd be really happy with anything at or under 00:45:00. I know that's the same time Mrs. F is hoping to break. In this case, I think she's selling herself short. Even with hills (unless they are killer hills), I figure she'll finish in 00:38:00 or less.
Dinner for tonight will be pasta and meatsauce. Mrs. F is taking care of that so I can get some additional reading done. In addition to our race and my coursework, I also have to put in some work hours this weekend, but I'm trying not to dwell on everything so that I become too stressed. Tonight's agenda will be a couple of chapters of reading, and then some time watching Aliens in the Attic with the family. That's all I had best think about for the evening. I plan to drink a couple of extra glasses of water tonight, and hope to get to bed by 10 PM, with a 6:30 AM alarm.
Good night, all!
Friday weight check (week 11)
FatManRunning
Last Friday: 280.0 lbs.
Today: 279.4 lbs.
Gain/Loss: -0.6 lbs.
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 21.0 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 69.0
Comment: I closed my eyes when I stepped on the scale today. I really was not sure what it was going to reveal. I had some good days and some bad days this week. As far as eating goes, today was one of the bad days (free lunch at work never helps, and neither does leftover dessert pizza left in the breakroom!). I would have been at least a full pound down had I not overeaten today. Then again, can I claim that I'm carb-loading before a race? Do I get another weight check tomorrow after the race? Still, I'm glad to be in the 270s. I was about 270 when I married Mrs. F more than 16-1/2 years ago.
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 172.5 lbs.
Today: 173.3 lbs.
Gain/Loss: +0.8 lbs.
Goal: 150.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 9.5 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 23.3
Comment: Eating candy bars, having less workouts, and not tracking my calories did not work out so well this week. I'm trying to remember that this is a long term process and I'm not going to let this set me back.
[FatManRunning says: Don't get down, Mrs. F. Even with this bump, you're still down almost a half a pound from two weeks ago!]
Last Friday: 280.0 lbs.
Today: 279.4 lbs.
Gain/Loss: -0.6 lbs.
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 21.0 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 69.0
Comment: I closed my eyes when I stepped on the scale today. I really was not sure what it was going to reveal. I had some good days and some bad days this week. As far as eating goes, today was one of the bad days (free lunch at work never helps, and neither does leftover dessert pizza left in the breakroom!). I would have been at least a full pound down had I not overeaten today. Then again, can I claim that I'm carb-loading before a race? Do I get another weight check tomorrow after the race? Still, I'm glad to be in the 270s. I was about 270 when I married Mrs. F more than 16-1/2 years ago.
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 172.5 lbs.
Today: 173.3 lbs.
Gain/Loss: +0.8 lbs.
Goal: 150.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 9.5 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 23.3
Comment: Eating candy bars, having less workouts, and not tracking my calories did not work out so well this week. I'm trying to remember that this is a long term process and I'm not going to let this set me back.
[FatManRunning says: Don't get down, Mrs. F. Even with this bump, you're still down almost a half a pound from two weeks ago!]
Friday Fun - Mrs. F
The weight check went as well as expected ... sigh... trying to remember weight loss is a short term goal. I learned the hard way that you cant eat candy bars, skip workouts and not track calories well in one week. It doesnt equate good results.
So Im allowing myself an off day tommorrow as we are eating out for lunch and then back on the wagon for sunday. Im still going to try to eat wisely today and tommorrow, Im just not going to track it all.
The details of the race are still falling into place. My cross country runner told me that he wants to be there at 730 am so he can go over the course. Um dude, that would mean leaving at 645 am. Not sure that one is happening. My goal is to get out of the house by 7, which gives me 15 minutes of leeway time and I would still get there by 8. I wish I was fast enough to catch up to him and just say hi son ... but Ill have to suffice with the look on his face after I cross the finish line!
I have two main goals for the race. The first, is to run the entire thing. I know that sounds simple but this course has hills and Im not familar with it, so that is the first goal. The 2nd is to do it in less than 45 minutes. Yes, I have run 3 miles in 35 minutes but people, there are HILLS!~ So I want to give myself some time to spare as I really dont know how Ill fare with those.
I spoke to a friend who had started doing this , after I told her and was able to encourage her to keep plugging away. She had some delays after dealing with her mom and a surgery. So I encouraged her to get back on the treadmill. She was going to go all the way back to week 3 , after starting week 4 two weeks ago. I encouraged her to just go with week 4! It was kinda neat to be able to do that!
Im praying the weather cooperates, if not we will be ready. After all we have run in rain and snow!
Keep on running folks
Mrs. F
PS - Reveal pics will be posted either tommorrow or Sunday depending on Mr. F's time availability!!!
So Im allowing myself an off day tommorrow as we are eating out for lunch and then back on the wagon for sunday. Im still going to try to eat wisely today and tommorrow, Im just not going to track it all.
The details of the race are still falling into place. My cross country runner told me that he wants to be there at 730 am so he can go over the course. Um dude, that would mean leaving at 645 am. Not sure that one is happening. My goal is to get out of the house by 7, which gives me 15 minutes of leeway time and I would still get there by 8. I wish I was fast enough to catch up to him and just say hi son ... but Ill have to suffice with the look on his face after I cross the finish line!
I have two main goals for the race. The first, is to run the entire thing. I know that sounds simple but this course has hills and Im not familar with it, so that is the first goal. The 2nd is to do it in less than 45 minutes. Yes, I have run 3 miles in 35 minutes but people, there are HILLS!~ So I want to give myself some time to spare as I really dont know how Ill fare with those.
I spoke to a friend who had started doing this , after I told her and was able to encourage her to keep plugging away. She had some delays after dealing with her mom and a surgery. So I encouraged her to get back on the treadmill. She was going to go all the way back to week 3 , after starting week 4 two weeks ago. I encouraged her to just go with week 4! It was kinda neat to be able to do that!
Im praying the weather cooperates, if not we will be ready. After all we have run in rain and snow!
Keep on running folks
Mrs. F
PS - Reveal pics will be posted either tommorrow or Sunday depending on Mr. F's time availability!!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Our next 5k?
I don't mean to county our chickens before they hatch, but I just learned that some people in the next town north of us (about 7 miles) are organizing a 5k that will be held on Thanksgiving morning. The entry fee will be only $7 to cover the cost of a t-shirt. If all goes well this Saturday, I think I may just sign up for that one, too.
Thanks, Mrs. F, for sharing... ;)
Well, I officially have the sinus-cold-funk that had Mrs. F miserable for a number of days. To me, the timing could not be worse. I yet need to finish my coursework for this week, and I have our first race on Saturday.
We did not get out for a run last evening, and that was okay. We ran just one day prior, so it might have been best not to try our first back-to-back runs in the days prior to our big day.
Our sitter backed out on us, but the race lists that they have childcare available. Our eldest daughter will be there with us (she's been an unsung hero of our secret plan, but we'll touch on that more on Saturday), but the little ones just can't be expected to sit still for her for an hour on a cool morning. We're also not sure what to do with one of our litlte ones--our fellow with special needs who has a hard time regulating his temperature (he can get very cold, very fast). I would not want to foist him on the childcare folks at the race, since they'd have no preparedness for dealing with a child like him. Our friend, Amy, who follows this blog (one of two Amys listed as followers), will be running, too. Her husband will be there with their kids, so he might be able to lend a little support, if his kids cooperate.
Our eldest daughter is actually a little miffed with us, because we are forcing her to attend another one of her brother's races. I guess she'll be surprised as well! We've already told her that we need her there to watch the kids because we need to run an errand during the race. She looked confused when we told her that, but since one of the boys has a birthday coming up in a few weeks, we told her that we would be near a Kohl's store, and that we were going to sneak away to find a birthday present while our eldest son was running. She thinks we still hate running as much as she does, so I think she was just jealous that we were getting out of watching the race!
Oh, we will have so much fun!
I'm still not sure if we will let our eldest son in on the secret at the registration table, or after he finishes the race. Perhaps we'll tell him to stay near the finish, to cheer on neighbor Amy, and then Amy can ask him to stay with her to cheer on a couple of friends who will be finishing after her.
I already have a cover story for wearing our running shoes: we're going to wear them as a sign of solidarity, in support of his running. Of course, underneath my jeans and my chamois shirt, I'll have on my running gear, all ready to go.
We're even thinking about having ourselves a bit of a celebration lunch after the race. We're not quite sure about that, though.
Anyway, that's the end of my break, so I need to get back to work.
We did not get out for a run last evening, and that was okay. We ran just one day prior, so it might have been best not to try our first back-to-back runs in the days prior to our big day.
Our sitter backed out on us, but the race lists that they have childcare available. Our eldest daughter will be there with us (she's been an unsung hero of our secret plan, but we'll touch on that more on Saturday), but the little ones just can't be expected to sit still for her for an hour on a cool morning. We're also not sure what to do with one of our litlte ones--our fellow with special needs who has a hard time regulating his temperature (he can get very cold, very fast). I would not want to foist him on the childcare folks at the race, since they'd have no preparedness for dealing with a child like him. Our friend, Amy, who follows this blog (one of two Amys listed as followers), will be running, too. Her husband will be there with their kids, so he might be able to lend a little support, if his kids cooperate.
Our eldest daughter is actually a little miffed with us, because we are forcing her to attend another one of her brother's races. I guess she'll be surprised as well! We've already told her that we need her there to watch the kids because we need to run an errand during the race. She looked confused when we told her that, but since one of the boys has a birthday coming up in a few weeks, we told her that we would be near a Kohl's store, and that we were going to sneak away to find a birthday present while our eldest son was running. She thinks we still hate running as much as she does, so I think she was just jealous that we were getting out of watching the race!
Oh, we will have so much fun!
I'm still not sure if we will let our eldest son in on the secret at the registration table, or after he finishes the race. Perhaps we'll tell him to stay near the finish, to cheer on neighbor Amy, and then Amy can ask him to stay with her to cheer on a couple of friends who will be finishing after her.
I already have a cover story for wearing our running shoes: we're going to wear them as a sign of solidarity, in support of his running. Of course, underneath my jeans and my chamois shirt, I'll have on my running gear, all ready to go.
We're even thinking about having ourselves a bit of a celebration lunch after the race. We're not quite sure about that, though.
Anyway, that's the end of my break, so I need to get back to work.
Thursday -- prerace -- Mrs. F
Im starting to get a bit nervous. Not about the race itself really, but the details. Will child care at the race work out fine for our youngest? Will everyone be ready and up early enough to get out the door? The race is 45 minutes away. Stuff like that.
Its been an eating week too, so Im not sure how I will fare at the scale tommorrow. Less workouts, more junk does not equal a good combination. So time will tell on that front.
At this point, our goal is to get as much rest as possible between now and Saturday morning. So no more workouts this week.
We are still leaning toward doing one hour running and switching up our days we do it, so we have the long run on a weekend day. As well as the 100 pushup challenge. I can say with an emphasis, I am not looking forward to that one! I am looking forward to one hour runner -- I like the longer stretches of runs myself.
Well folks -- only 2 more days until the big race! I cannot wait to see the look on my sons face when he realizes his momma can run a 5k!
Keep on running
MRs. F
Its been an eating week too, so Im not sure how I will fare at the scale tommorrow. Less workouts, more junk does not equal a good combination. So time will tell on that front.
At this point, our goal is to get as much rest as possible between now and Saturday morning. So no more workouts this week.
We are still leaning toward doing one hour running and switching up our days we do it, so we have the long run on a weekend day. As well as the 100 pushup challenge. I can say with an emphasis, I am not looking forward to that one! I am looking forward to one hour runner -- I like the longer stretches of runs myself.
Well folks -- only 2 more days until the big race! I cannot wait to see the look on my sons face when he realizes his momma can run a 5k!
Keep on running
MRs. F
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The cold rebound?
Right as we've started to get some warmer temperatures, I seem to be getting a cold rebound. Either that, or the bug that his Mrs. F is a different variety and it has found its way to me. My sinuses have me wishing I had a pressure cooker safety valve on my face, I'm sneezing, and my throat is scratchy. This is absolutely not what I wanted.
Even with the bug, we might go out for another run tonight. We just ran yesterday, but were really hoping to have two in this week before our race on Saturday.
I'm not sure right now, however. My head is starting to scream "Go home and lie down you idiot!" I also have need to make progress on my coursework tonight.
Blech!
Even with the bug, we might go out for another run tonight. We just ran yesterday, but were really hoping to have two in this week before our race on Saturday.
I'm not sure right now, however. My head is starting to scream "Go home and lie down you idiot!" I also have need to make progress on my coursework tonight.
Blech!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Day 71 - Mrs F
It was another beautiful fall day -- perfect for running.
I managed to get the potluck contributions cooked up this afternoon,so I was free to sneak in a workout this evening. Its a good thing too, its really hard to portion potluck meals!!
I started out thinking that I would do an easy two miles but time was short, so started out with a shorter run on the 2nd segment of trail. I started out slow as we skipped our warm up walk. Then my body remembered how to run and my pace quickened. I turned around at the end of the segment, ran back to Mr. F and turned around again. I did that in two places, so all in all, I think I managed 1.5 miles today. I could have continued on runnign as well.
I was very pleased that my cold/cough didnt cause problems and I was able to run without any breathing or congestion issues. Whew -- seriously was concerned bout that!!!
As we neared the car, Mr. F asked if I would be willing to drive the car to the other end, so he could keep running. Since I had planned on taking it easy today due to being sick and the race coming up -- I said sure.
Im unsure if we will do a back to back workout tommorrow or try to sneak one in Thursday. Definitely want to do an easy one regardless -- no getting injured before the race!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
I managed to get the potluck contributions cooked up this afternoon,so I was free to sneak in a workout this evening. Its a good thing too, its really hard to portion potluck meals!!
I started out thinking that I would do an easy two miles but time was short, so started out with a shorter run on the 2nd segment of trail. I started out slow as we skipped our warm up walk. Then my body remembered how to run and my pace quickened. I turned around at the end of the segment, ran back to Mr. F and turned around again. I did that in two places, so all in all, I think I managed 1.5 miles today. I could have continued on runnign as well.
I was very pleased that my cold/cough didnt cause problems and I was able to run without any breathing or congestion issues. Whew -- seriously was concerned bout that!!!
As we neared the car, Mr. F asked if I would be willing to drive the car to the other end, so he could keep running. Since I had planned on taking it easy today due to being sick and the race coming up -- I said sure.
Im unsure if we will do a back to back workout tommorrow or try to sneak one in Thursday. Definitely want to do an easy one regardless -- no getting injured before the race!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
We made it (four days before the Turkey Trot)
Well, we managed to get a bit of hustle on while we were getting ready, and we got some help from the older kids so we could get out of the door (they were charged with having everyone ready when we returned). We set out with plans for an easy run, two miles at best, and neither of us took a watch or mp3 player. Because we both felt short on time, we decided to skip our warm-up walk and instead opted to start our run slow and easy. We parked by the dam today, and took off to the east since we had daylight yet remaining and since we knew that stretch was only 2/3 of a mile each way (out and back). We'd get in 1-1/3 miles today, and then would head home to get ready for the cross country banquet.
My knee was wrapped as usual, and I've started wrapping my right shin (in lieu of having a compression sleeve for the leg, something someone elese recommended). My knee gave me a bit of grief through the whole run--more of an ache than a pain--and my shin held out to the final few hundren meters. Those final meters, however, were not where we parked the car.
It took some time for me to settle in and find my pace. When I did, Mrs. F was pulling ahead of me again, but that was okay. We made it to the end--she played turnabout, as usual--and then we started back. As we neared our point of origination, I asked how she was doing. She indicated that she was doing well. We talked about going on, and she was willing, but I indicated that I didn't think I'd be able to get to the far end and back again--that would have been more than a 5k. She agreed to hop in the car while I continued on. She was planning an easy day, anyway, so it worked out okay. I moved on, across the road and onto the one mile segment of trail. I felt a bit of a thrill, because I was willingly running all alone. I knew she was neither behind me nor ahead of me. It was just me, all 280 lbs. of me, and the trail.
To me, there could be no better running weather. It was temperate, but on the cool side, but once I was running the air felt wonderful. There was a mild breeze, and the waning sun was tinting the western sky orange. By the time we made it to the road, I had found my stride. I did not want to stop, because I needed to make sure I could still handle more than two miles in a session, especially with the race coming up on the weekend.
On and on I ran. I paid close attention to my legs (my left knee and right shin), and made sure I was landing well. It seemed that the uphill segments made my shin a little tender. My guess is that it's because my foot angles higher on the incline, allowing those shin muscles to tighten even more. Still, it was not bad. I felt good when I got within a quarter mile of the end. Today, perhaps, I could have kept going. Mrs. F was waiting for me, however, parked along the curb alongside the park. I ran through the end of the trail and right up to the car. Yes, I'll be able to run a 5k this Saturday. Had I pushed on, I might have been able to do it tonight.
We made it back home in time to change and get to the event. There were many fun pictures and accolades for the various runners. Our younger boy, the one who joined after the season was underway, was lauded for doing well especially when he ran one meet in his casual shoes (he left one of his running shoes at home). Our eldest son was lauded for breaking the school's freshman time record for 5k, with an 18:46 at his last meet. He actually beat the old record, 18:57, twice this year. So, he broke the record early in the season, and then broke his own record at the end of the season. He's exicted about running again for track in the spring, and for cross country again in the fall. Our other son is not entirely sure. He's had a rough time academically this fall, so he told the couch that he might not do it next year. The coach told him that he should work on getting his academic house in order now, so that he'd be ready for the fall. Man, I could have kissed that guy for telling him that!
Anyway, I need to hit the books, hit the ice, and hit the sack. Have a good night, and keep running!
My knee was wrapped as usual, and I've started wrapping my right shin (in lieu of having a compression sleeve for the leg, something someone elese recommended). My knee gave me a bit of grief through the whole run--more of an ache than a pain--and my shin held out to the final few hundren meters. Those final meters, however, were not where we parked the car.
It took some time for me to settle in and find my pace. When I did, Mrs. F was pulling ahead of me again, but that was okay. We made it to the end--she played turnabout, as usual--and then we started back. As we neared our point of origination, I asked how she was doing. She indicated that she was doing well. We talked about going on, and she was willing, but I indicated that I didn't think I'd be able to get to the far end and back again--that would have been more than a 5k. She agreed to hop in the car while I continued on. She was planning an easy day, anyway, so it worked out okay. I moved on, across the road and onto the one mile segment of trail. I felt a bit of a thrill, because I was willingly running all alone. I knew she was neither behind me nor ahead of me. It was just me, all 280 lbs. of me, and the trail.
To me, there could be no better running weather. It was temperate, but on the cool side, but once I was running the air felt wonderful. There was a mild breeze, and the waning sun was tinting the western sky orange. By the time we made it to the road, I had found my stride. I did not want to stop, because I needed to make sure I could still handle more than two miles in a session, especially with the race coming up on the weekend.
On and on I ran. I paid close attention to my legs (my left knee and right shin), and made sure I was landing well. It seemed that the uphill segments made my shin a little tender. My guess is that it's because my foot angles higher on the incline, allowing those shin muscles to tighten even more. Still, it was not bad. I felt good when I got within a quarter mile of the end. Today, perhaps, I could have kept going. Mrs. F was waiting for me, however, parked along the curb alongside the park. I ran through the end of the trail and right up to the car. Yes, I'll be able to run a 5k this Saturday. Had I pushed on, I might have been able to do it tonight.
We made it back home in time to change and get to the event. There were many fun pictures and accolades for the various runners. Our younger boy, the one who joined after the season was underway, was lauded for doing well especially when he ran one meet in his casual shoes (he left one of his running shoes at home). Our eldest son was lauded for breaking the school's freshman time record for 5k, with an 18:46 at his last meet. He actually beat the old record, 18:57, twice this year. So, he broke the record early in the season, and then broke his own record at the end of the season. He's exicted about running again for track in the spring, and for cross country again in the fall. Our other son is not entirely sure. He's had a rough time academically this fall, so he told the couch that he might not do it next year. The coach told him that he should work on getting his academic house in order now, so that he'd be ready for the fall. Man, I could have kissed that guy for telling him that!
Anyway, I need to hit the books, hit the ice, and hit the sack. Have a good night, and keep running!
Will we make it today?
Well, I got off work at 4 PM. I need to wrap my leg, get dressed, and get out on the trail before we lose too much time. Although I have less coursework this week, between last night's meeting and tonight's cross country dinner for the boys I'm already feeling pressed to get my work done. Then my mind just realized that I'll be at our 5k on Saturday morning, so I'm really feeling stressed.
I need to pu that out of mind right now, and focus on getting out the door.
I need to pu that out of mind right now, and focus on getting out the door.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sometimes it just doesn't work out the way you hope
I was looking forward to my run today. Morning was nice, and the noontime sun was welcoming and warm. By the end of the work day, however, I was feeling the stress of the evening. I got home around 4:30 PM. It takes me almost 30 minutes to get ready, including the time it takes to wrap my knee, so that would have put me to 5 PM. Dinner wasn't started yet (Mrs. F was working in the garage and the yard all day and she was feeling sick), and I had a meeting coming up at 7 PM. Doing the mental math, I knew we'd be pressed for time. Our run would take nearly an hour (short drive, warm-up walk, run, cool-down walk, short drive), and that would have put us back at home at or after 6 PM. The odds of getting dinner made and served in time to leave for my meeting by 6:45 PM were slim.
I made a call, and decided not to run today. Mrs. F and I will try again tommorrow, if she is feeling well. If not, I guess I'll have to go on my own. We'll push back our Wednesday run to Thursday, but then that will be all until the Chaska, Minnesota Turkey Trot on Saturday.
I made a call, and decided not to run today. Mrs. F and I will try again tommorrow, if she is feeling well. If not, I guess I'll have to go on my own. We'll push back our Wednesday run to Thursday, but then that will be all until the Chaska, Minnesota Turkey Trot on Saturday.
Day 70 - Mrs. F - Feeling sick
Im not feeling well today. I have a cold/cough but no fever. The bad part is that it feels as if its settling into my chest. Not good ... I will be beyond upset if I cant run the race on Saturday.
Im hoping that by pushing fluids and trying to get a little extra rest, that I can fight off the nasties.
Mr. F and I are still planning to work out this afternoon but it will be a slow easy run for me. Thats for sure.
Hopefully this doesnt take me out of the count.
On a side note, I ran my 2 minutes with my son. I ran painfully slow and played up how much it affected me. It was great fun! I told him I almost died!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Im hoping that by pushing fluids and trying to get a little extra rest, that I can fight off the nasties.
Mr. F and I are still planning to work out this afternoon but it will be a slow easy run for me. Thats for sure.
Hopefully this doesnt take me out of the count.
On a side note, I ran my 2 minutes with my son. I ran painfully slow and played up how much it affected me. It was great fun! I told him I almost died!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Finally, a relatively quiet and non-busy weekend
Well, neither Mrs. F nor I made a post yesterday. I think that's a first since we started. Usually, at least one of us manages to get one out here.
That's okay, though. Thankfully, our absence wasn't due to swine flu, an emergency room trip, or long hours at the office. I got my schoolwork for the week, including all of the reading, done by midday yesterday. I got to watch a movie at home with the family, and episode of one of my favorite shows, and got to vegitate a bit by playing the original SimCity (we found a CD for it at a rummage sale over the summer). Today, other than fighting with one of our boys over getting his chores done properly, it has been relatively quiet. Mrs. F led most of the crew to a park after lunch, so I got a little quiet time to start this week's reading, and I got to catch up on my online Scrabble games. Overall, it has been a nice weekend.
My left knee still hints at a bit of strain, but my right shin is doing fine. It was tender on Friday and into Saturday, but has felt fine today. In fact, I just ran my fingers down my shin as I wrote that last line, just to make sure. Mrs. F and I will be out for a run again tomorrow, but I'm not sure if we will do morning or evening. Since our runs are longer now, it's harder to fit them in during the morning without getting out even earlier. When we started, we were only gone for about 35 minutes. Lately, we've been gone 50 minutes (our short drive, our run, and our warm-up and cool-down walks). In fact, running after work on Friday seems to have become the norm for us now. I certainly don't mind that it is a bit warmer at that time of the day.
I'm going to end for now. We're still more than an hour from dinner, and then we have some family time planned for the evening (our Sunday evening ritual). The older kids are either outside or out of site (other than one who is grounded), so only the two youngest ones are nearby at the moment. For some reason, the noise they make is much easier on the ears than the sounds of older children bickering about anything.
That's okay, though. Thankfully, our absence wasn't due to swine flu, an emergency room trip, or long hours at the office. I got my schoolwork for the week, including all of the reading, done by midday yesterday. I got to watch a movie at home with the family, and episode of one of my favorite shows, and got to vegitate a bit by playing the original SimCity (we found a CD for it at a rummage sale over the summer). Today, other than fighting with one of our boys over getting his chores done properly, it has been relatively quiet. Mrs. F led most of the crew to a park after lunch, so I got a little quiet time to start this week's reading, and I got to catch up on my online Scrabble games. Overall, it has been a nice weekend.
My left knee still hints at a bit of strain, but my right shin is doing fine. It was tender on Friday and into Saturday, but has felt fine today. In fact, I just ran my fingers down my shin as I wrote that last line, just to make sure. Mrs. F and I will be out for a run again tomorrow, but I'm not sure if we will do morning or evening. Since our runs are longer now, it's harder to fit them in during the morning without getting out even earlier. When we started, we were only gone for about 35 minutes. Lately, we've been gone 50 minutes (our short drive, our run, and our warm-up and cool-down walks). In fact, running after work on Friday seems to have become the norm for us now. I certainly don't mind that it is a bit warmer at that time of the day.
I'm going to end for now. We're still more than an hour from dinner, and then we have some family time planned for the evening (our Sunday evening ritual). The older kids are either outside or out of site (other than one who is grounded), so only the two youngest ones are nearby at the moment. For some reason, the noise they make is much easier on the ears than the sounds of older children bickering about anything.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Day 67 - my run -- Mrs, F
It was a beautiful day for a run. The sun was shining, the temps in the lower 60s and a very slight breeze. I was really excited to get out and run today.
Im not sure what was different today or what even brought the thought into my mind. I realized today as I was running -- that I am indeed a runner. Im not sure if it was where I was, or how I was runnig or what. The thought just was there and it was a good feeling to realize I can do this!I am a runner. Im one of those crazy running people that prior to C25k, I thought were crazy too!
I pushed hard on the first mile, partly because I knew that I was only going 2 miles today. It wasnt my fastest mile time but 11:30 isnt too shabby. I deliberately took it slow on the return stretch. I wanted to try and run with Mr.F for awhile and keep it slow. Its really hard though for me to run slower than my normal pace. Trust me, my normal pace really isnt that fast. Its just hard to force my body to go slower -- when I slow down -- my mind screams you might as well walk then. So that was challenging.
By deliberatly slowing my pace on the 2nd mile, I had plenty of reserves for our final sprint. I could feel my stride lengthening, my legs speeding up and I went faster and faster. On all the other runs, where Mr. F and I were sprinting at the end, I had pushed hard all the way through. And I just didnt have anything left at the end. So this was a nice victory!
My legs and knees were a bit sore on the return jaunt. And I could feel the strain on the area above my ankle but on the side of my leg. All in all, not anything that overly concerns me. Just reminders that I need to be kind to my body and take it slow somedays!
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Ps - One week until our big race and our reveal!!!
Im not sure what was different today or what even brought the thought into my mind. I realized today as I was running -- that I am indeed a runner. Im not sure if it was where I was, or how I was runnig or what. The thought just was there and it was a good feeling to realize I can do this!I am a runner. Im one of those crazy running people that prior to C25k, I thought were crazy too!
I pushed hard on the first mile, partly because I knew that I was only going 2 miles today. It wasnt my fastest mile time but 11:30 isnt too shabby. I deliberately took it slow on the return stretch. I wanted to try and run with Mr.F for awhile and keep it slow. Its really hard though for me to run slower than my normal pace. Trust me, my normal pace really isnt that fast. Its just hard to force my body to go slower -- when I slow down -- my mind screams you might as well walk then. So that was challenging.
By deliberatly slowing my pace on the 2nd mile, I had plenty of reserves for our final sprint. I could feel my stride lengthening, my legs speeding up and I went faster and faster. On all the other runs, where Mr. F and I were sprinting at the end, I had pushed hard all the way through. And I just didnt have anything left at the end. So this was a nice victory!
My legs and knees were a bit sore on the return jaunt. And I could feel the strain on the area above my ankle but on the side of my leg. All in all, not anything that overly concerns me. Just reminders that I need to be kind to my body and take it slow somedays!
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Ps - One week until our big race and our reveal!!!
Friday weight check
FatManRunning
Last Friday: 280.2
Today: 280.0
Gain/Loss: -0.2
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative loss: 20.4 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 70.0
Comment: Seeing that I didn't track (or well manage) my eating this week, I didn't run on Monday, and had only a short run on Wednesday, I have no complaints. I honestly expected to gain a couple this week, so I'll take what I can get. I'm still on track with my planned loss of eight pounds per month, so I'll just get back on track from here and look forward to a better week ahead.
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 173.7
Today: 172.5
Gain/Loss: -1.2
Goal: 150.00
Cumulative loss: 10.3 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 22.5
Comment: I was really happy that the Halloween candy didn't win. Ten pounds are gone, and I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to the next ten.
Last Friday: 280.2
Today: 280.0
Gain/Loss: -0.2
Goal: 210.0 lbs.
Cumulative loss: 20.4 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 70.0
Comment: Seeing that I didn't track (or well manage) my eating this week, I didn't run on Monday, and had only a short run on Wednesday, I have no complaints. I honestly expected to gain a couple this week, so I'll take what I can get. I'm still on track with my planned loss of eight pounds per month, so I'll just get back on track from here and look forward to a better week ahead.
Mrs. F
Last Friday: 173.7
Today: 172.5
Gain/Loss: -1.2
Goal: 150.00
Cumulative loss: 10.3 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 22.5
Comment: I was really happy that the Halloween candy didn't win. Ten pounds are gone, and I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to the next ten.
A nice evening for letting go
Well, if I ignore the fact that I got out of work an hour later than I expected, it was a nice evening.
The scale was not as cruel as I feared (I'll post our weekly weight check after this), so that was nice. Then, there was the run. Mrs. F just got an mp3 player today (a bargain we found on one of our favorite sites, woot.com), so she ran with it. I opted for a music free day, to see what it would be like.
My legs were feeling pretty good this morning, so I was a bit optimistic. The warm-up walk seemed okay. I stretched after the walk, and everything felt pretty good. I don't know how warm it was this afternoon, but it was mild enough that I only needed my lighter under-layer, my shorts, and my top. No need for my vest today; neither for my gloves.
As I began, I had a nagging concern I was going to hurt myself, but I simply decided to keep it slow. As Mrs. F started pulling ahead, I felt the urge to keep up, but I let it go. I let her pull ahead, and I kept a steady pace. My left knee was a little sore, but nothing beyond a nuissance. My right shin didn't bother me at all during the early stages.
Mrs. F was absorbed in her run, perhaps helped by the music she was using as background noise. She didn't see the grey heron that was perched on an old dock, and she didn't hear me call her attention to it, either.
That was the first thing I noticed about running without my music--I spent much more time looking around at the scenery. It was nice being able to do that. It was so much different than the first few weeks of the Couch-to-5k program, when it seemed like every run was a struggle that ended with me desperate for breath. I could hear every footfall and the crunch of the leaves and the aggregate.
When reach approximately 3/4 into our first mile, Mrs. F was about a tenth of a mile ahead of me. Again I had that urge to speed up, but I let her go. My knee had settled in. It was still a bit sore, but not bad. So far, my shin felt fine.
As I approached my pre-determined turnaound point (the one-mile mark), Mrs. F had already turned around and was running back toward me. When we met, she turned again and went with me to the end of the trail. Together we turned around and started back. Mrs. F glanced at the watch she was carrying: 14 minutes (she had made the first mile in 11:30 before turning around for me).
The return trip was a bit harder. Although I ran longer distances last week, I hadn't run on Monday and Wednesday was a disaster. Since the Turkey Trot is a week from tomorrow, I just didn't want to overdo it. My left knee was holding out, though a bit sore. Now, though, I could feel occasional twinges in my shin. As they came on, I felt myself tightening up. I resisted as much as was possible for me, deliberately trying to keep my leg relaxed. It seemed to work. As I felt that bit of pain and my leg wanting to tense up, I deliberately relaxed my leg and kept on moving.
Mrs. F had pulled ahead of me shortly after we turned around, but I did not let her get a full tenth of a mile ahead of me. I wanted to sprint and catch up, but I knew I would not be able to finish if I did that; it likely would have caused me harm, too. Instead, I picked out a landmark ahead of me on the trail, and I increased my pace until I reached that landmark. Although I wanted to keep up the pace, because I could see myself gaining on her, I let go of the urge and I slowed down. Soon, I picked another landmark and did the same again.
As we got to the final quarter mile, I was only about 20 feet behind her. I picked up my pace and brought myself even with her. By then, however, it seemed that she was starting to speed up, too. The end, after all, was in sight. I pushed harder. She sped up. I increased my pace. She increased hers. Pretty soon, we were both running at a sprint. Normally, I can pull ahead of her in a sprint, but she clearly had some energy in reserve. Though I pushed myself as much as I could, she pulled ahead of me and won our little race.
During that last segment, I definately felt more of a pounding on my left leg, and the shin splints on my right flared up. It was a short push, though, so it didn't seem too bad. In fact, my right shin hurt more at the end of our cool-down walk than it did due to the splint. It was good to be back at it today, and it felt good to let go of my baggage from earlier in the week.
The scale was not as cruel as I feared (I'll post our weekly weight check after this), so that was nice. Then, there was the run. Mrs. F just got an mp3 player today (a bargain we found on one of our favorite sites, woot.com), so she ran with it. I opted for a music free day, to see what it would be like.
My legs were feeling pretty good this morning, so I was a bit optimistic. The warm-up walk seemed okay. I stretched after the walk, and everything felt pretty good. I don't know how warm it was this afternoon, but it was mild enough that I only needed my lighter under-layer, my shorts, and my top. No need for my vest today; neither for my gloves.
As I began, I had a nagging concern I was going to hurt myself, but I simply decided to keep it slow. As Mrs. F started pulling ahead, I felt the urge to keep up, but I let it go. I let her pull ahead, and I kept a steady pace. My left knee was a little sore, but nothing beyond a nuissance. My right shin didn't bother me at all during the early stages.
Mrs. F was absorbed in her run, perhaps helped by the music she was using as background noise. She didn't see the grey heron that was perched on an old dock, and she didn't hear me call her attention to it, either.
That was the first thing I noticed about running without my music--I spent much more time looking around at the scenery. It was nice being able to do that. It was so much different than the first few weeks of the Couch-to-5k program, when it seemed like every run was a struggle that ended with me desperate for breath. I could hear every footfall and the crunch of the leaves and the aggregate.
When reach approximately 3/4 into our first mile, Mrs. F was about a tenth of a mile ahead of me. Again I had that urge to speed up, but I let her go. My knee had settled in. It was still a bit sore, but not bad. So far, my shin felt fine.
As I approached my pre-determined turnaound point (the one-mile mark), Mrs. F had already turned around and was running back toward me. When we met, she turned again and went with me to the end of the trail. Together we turned around and started back. Mrs. F glanced at the watch she was carrying: 14 minutes (she had made the first mile in 11:30 before turning around for me).
The return trip was a bit harder. Although I ran longer distances last week, I hadn't run on Monday and Wednesday was a disaster. Since the Turkey Trot is a week from tomorrow, I just didn't want to overdo it. My left knee was holding out, though a bit sore. Now, though, I could feel occasional twinges in my shin. As they came on, I felt myself tightening up. I resisted as much as was possible for me, deliberately trying to keep my leg relaxed. It seemed to work. As I felt that bit of pain and my leg wanting to tense up, I deliberately relaxed my leg and kept on moving.
Mrs. F had pulled ahead of me shortly after we turned around, but I did not let her get a full tenth of a mile ahead of me. I wanted to sprint and catch up, but I knew I would not be able to finish if I did that; it likely would have caused me harm, too. Instead, I picked out a landmark ahead of me on the trail, and I increased my pace until I reached that landmark. Although I wanted to keep up the pace, because I could see myself gaining on her, I let go of the urge and I slowed down. Soon, I picked another landmark and did the same again.
As we got to the final quarter mile, I was only about 20 feet behind her. I picked up my pace and brought myself even with her. By then, however, it seemed that she was starting to speed up, too. The end, after all, was in sight. I pushed harder. She sped up. I increased my pace. She increased hers. Pretty soon, we were both running at a sprint. Normally, I can pull ahead of her in a sprint, but she clearly had some energy in reserve. Though I pushed myself as much as I could, she pulled ahead of me and won our little race.
During that last segment, I definately felt more of a pounding on my left leg, and the shin splints on my right flared up. It was a short push, though, so it didn't seem too bad. In fact, my right shin hurt more at the end of our cool-down walk than it did due to the splint. It was good to be back at it today, and it felt good to let go of my baggage from earlier in the week.
What a difference a night makes
Having knocked off my main assignment for the week a few days ago, I've been left with reading. As last night rolled in I hit the home stretch. I nearly finished the weekly reading in the denser text, and that leaves me with just a few pages there before diving into the easier read that I should be able to wrap up in an evening. That being the case, I allowed myself to watch an hour of TV (Stargate Universe via Hulu), and even got to bed before 11 PM. I iced my left knee for about an hour before I went to bed, and I popped a few Ibuprofen tablets.
I felt much better when I got up this morning. The daylight savings time change has shifted dawn an hour earlier, and that does make it a bit easier to get up. When I stepped outside to go to work, and felt how relatively warm it was (compared to what it had been recently), I lamented that we didn't decide to run in the morning. Oh, what a difference a night makes!
We'll run this afternoon. I should get off work about 3:30 PM, so we should be able to run before 5 PM. I'm not sure how far I'll go today. If we keep to our pattern, this will be one of the last three runs before our 5k. Mrs. F read that one should not run two days prior to a major race, and, for us at least, our first 5k run is a major race.
Thanks for all the comments from everyone while I was feeling down. It's good to be reminded that there are good runs and bad runs. I also want to acknowledge that you shouldn't run with pain when you're as green as am I. I should have been more open with Mrs. F about not wanting to run the other day, and should have given myself the time to recover. Whatever I opt to do this afternoon, I'm going to take it at an easy pace--something maintainable. If I get hurt between now and Wednesday, my chance to run that Turkey Trot will gone.
I'm not expecting the scale to be kind today. I've not been tracking my intake this week. I'm bracing for a two pound gain. If it's higher than that, I'll need to swallow the bitter pill of responsibility for my own actions.
Well, good day to all. I have much to do.
I felt much better when I got up this morning. The daylight savings time change has shifted dawn an hour earlier, and that does make it a bit easier to get up. When I stepped outside to go to work, and felt how relatively warm it was (compared to what it had been recently), I lamented that we didn't decide to run in the morning. Oh, what a difference a night makes!
We'll run this afternoon. I should get off work about 3:30 PM, so we should be able to run before 5 PM. I'm not sure how far I'll go today. If we keep to our pattern, this will be one of the last three runs before our 5k. Mrs. F read that one should not run two days prior to a major race, and, for us at least, our first 5k run is a major race.
Thanks for all the comments from everyone while I was feeling down. It's good to be reminded that there are good runs and bad runs. I also want to acknowledge that you shouldn't run with pain when you're as green as am I. I should have been more open with Mrs. F about not wanting to run the other day, and should have given myself the time to recover. Whatever I opt to do this afternoon, I'm going to take it at an easy pace--something maintainable. If I get hurt between now and Wednesday, my chance to run that Turkey Trot will gone.
I'm not expecting the scale to be kind today. I've not been tracking my intake this week. I'm bracing for a two pound gain. If it's higher than that, I'll need to swallow the bitter pill of responsibility for my own actions.
Well, good day to all. I have much to do.
Day 67 - Mrs. F -
I plan to run this afternoon. The temps are supposed to be in the 60s and it should be nice out for a change! Mr. F may bike but Im not sure yet.
Today is one of the more challenging times. I am sick, just seems to be a standard cold, but the first day is always the worst. So its very tempting, to skip today. Either put it off til tommorrow or skip entirely. I really dont want to get into the habit of doing that, so Im planning on going but taking a slow run and probably no more than 2 miles. Thats part of the reason, I elected for afternoon, I figured I really needed the rest last night!
Im not sure bout the weight check today. Im so hoping to hit the 10 lbs lost point but on the same hand, it was halloween candy week. So im just not sure what the scale will read. Ill weigh in at lunchtime today.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Today is one of the more challenging times. I am sick, just seems to be a standard cold, but the first day is always the worst. So its very tempting, to skip today. Either put it off til tommorrow or skip entirely. I really dont want to get into the habit of doing that, so Im planning on going but taking a slow run and probably no more than 2 miles. Thats part of the reason, I elected for afternoon, I figured I really needed the rest last night!
Im not sure bout the weight check today. Im so hoping to hit the 10 lbs lost point but on the same hand, it was halloween candy week. So im just not sure what the scale will read. Ill weigh in at lunchtime today.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Still here
Despite having a lousy run last night, I'm still here. Perhaps Mrs. F was right in pushing me to get out. I felt pretty good this morning, though it doesn't seem as if that feeling will last through the day.
I was pretty terrible last evening. My attitude sucked, even before I went out, and that probably had a bearing on having a sucky run.
My knee pain (on the left) is different than what I saw the doctor for before. This is definately below the joint line toward the inside--it seems to be just to the inside of and extending slightly below the patellar tendon. My right shin is a bit tender this morning, but it is not bothering me while I walk. That's a good thing.
I have another headache starting. I think it's stress.
Sorry, Mrs. F. You were right. I needed to get out and get moving. I guess taking our runs late in the afternoon is okay, but taking yesterday's late in the evening just made it that much harder.
I was pretty terrible last evening. My attitude sucked, even before I went out, and that probably had a bearing on having a sucky run.
My knee pain (on the left) is different than what I saw the doctor for before. This is definately below the joint line toward the inside--it seems to be just to the inside of and extending slightly below the patellar tendon. My right shin is a bit tender this morning, but it is not bothering me while I walk. That's a good thing.
I have another headache starting. I think it's stress.
Sorry, Mrs. F. You were right. I needed to get out and get moving. I guess taking our runs late in the afternoon is okay, but taking yesterday's late in the evening just made it that much harder.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A miserable run (double-whammy)
I was not looking forward to running today at all. I had a headache most of the day, and by the time I got home from work, about two hours later than I had planned, I was just ready for bed. My headache was building again, and my left knee was still sore from last Friday's run. I even tried wearing the too-tight patellar stabilizer during the day today, but I had to take it off at noon because it was just too tight and too uncomfortable.
I should have known better than to let Mrs. F push me to run when my mind and body were telling me it wasn't a good idea. I know she meant well, but I just should have listened to my body. My leg wrap/tape combo didn't seem to help much today. As it turns out, both of my long-sleeve polyester shirts were in the laundry, so I didn't have my two base cold-weather layers. I had my loose-fitting long-sleeve orange shirt and a windbreaker shell--let's just say I was too bloody cold before the run and immediately thereafter.
As I stated earlier, I did not want to be out running today. I was grumbling and cursing under my breath because I was tired, uncomfortable, and sore, and because I knew I still had a load of reading to finish for my current class. I was slow on the warmup walk, and my knee was already aching. When I started the run, I gave it everything I had though, but I'm guessing it wasn't much. Mrs. F was still stretching when I got started, but that was fine because I knew she would catch up. However, as we progressed and I could either hear her coming or see her long shadow coming up behind me from either a car's headlamps or a street light, I pushed myself to go faster. Honestly, I was not really happy about being out there running and I figured I would at least make it a bit rough on her today. Not nice, I know, but c'est la vie. She almost caught up to me a couple of times, and each time I pushed ahead. I kept the lead through most of the first mile, even though my knee was painful and I could feel the shin splints in my right leg starting to flare up. She got to pull ahead as we neared the one mile mark. I was fine with that, because I knew I was done.
Today I felt like I did during one of the early weeks of the Couch-to-5k program--I didn't want to be out there, and I wasn't going to kid myself that I'm a runner. I'm a hugely fat guy who had been out there forcing himself to run for nine weeks, partly motivated by a fear of death and partly motivated by knowing that some people would think that I wouldn't be able to do it. Yeah, I got through the nine weeks, but who am I trying to kid now? Or, at least, that's how my thinking was going.
When we got to the end, I turned around and told Mrs. F I needed to walk. Maybe I could have run more if I had not pushed so hard on the way out, but by the way my knee was hurting before I got started, I don't think it's likely that I would have made the two miles anyway. Upon hearing I was going to walk, Mrs. F decided to run further on before turning around. Oh, how I envy her! She's really enjoying this, the running. I've had some good runs, but I can't say I really enjoy it right now, at least not consistantly.
So I started hobbling back. I yelled and cussed at myself in my mind (and probably out loud, at points). I knew I had run nearly three times as much before. Heck, I ran about seven and a half miles last week! There was no way I was going to keep walking.
That settled it. I decided to push myself back to a run. It didn't last very long, though. My face and neck were cold and my headache was getting worse. My left knee was sore with every footfall, but if I tried to adjust my stride so as to spare the knee, it aggravated the shin splints on my right leg. I tried to put the pain out of mind, and pushed on, but when a burst of burning pain erupted in that right shin, I gave up all hope of running. That was the double-whammy: my sore knee and the shin splints.
I slowed to a walk, but now the walk was painful for both legs. Having slowed down, I started to become more chilled (it was in the 30s °F). Including the distance of our warm-up walk, I was still a mile from the car. Had it not been so cold, I would have sat down on the trail and waited for Mrs. F to come by, and I would have asked her to get the car.
I made it back to our starting point, and back to the car, but I was not a happy camper. I was now even more tired and sore. Whatever good I did resting my right leg since Friday was undone--my shin splints are now as sore as they were then. If I can't get these issues squared away within the next 10 days, I've just flushed my 5k registration fee down the toilet.
I finished the evening icing my legs and reading my coursework. Because I got off work late and we took our run right away, I didn't eat until late and that has really thrown me off my pattern. It's now 10:32 PM and I'm not tired, yet I know I need sleep.
I'm not looking forward to facing the scale this week. I already figure it will be a few steps back. I'm just tired of it all. I've never been a thin guy. I'm just so tired!
I should have known better than to let Mrs. F push me to run when my mind and body were telling me it wasn't a good idea. I know she meant well, but I just should have listened to my body. My leg wrap/tape combo didn't seem to help much today. As it turns out, both of my long-sleeve polyester shirts were in the laundry, so I didn't have my two base cold-weather layers. I had my loose-fitting long-sleeve orange shirt and a windbreaker shell--let's just say I was too bloody cold before the run and immediately thereafter.
As I stated earlier, I did not want to be out running today. I was grumbling and cursing under my breath because I was tired, uncomfortable, and sore, and because I knew I still had a load of reading to finish for my current class. I was slow on the warmup walk, and my knee was already aching. When I started the run, I gave it everything I had though, but I'm guessing it wasn't much. Mrs. F was still stretching when I got started, but that was fine because I knew she would catch up. However, as we progressed and I could either hear her coming or see her long shadow coming up behind me from either a car's headlamps or a street light, I pushed myself to go faster. Honestly, I was not really happy about being out there running and I figured I would at least make it a bit rough on her today. Not nice, I know, but c'est la vie. She almost caught up to me a couple of times, and each time I pushed ahead. I kept the lead through most of the first mile, even though my knee was painful and I could feel the shin splints in my right leg starting to flare up. She got to pull ahead as we neared the one mile mark. I was fine with that, because I knew I was done.
Today I felt like I did during one of the early weeks of the Couch-to-5k program--I didn't want to be out there, and I wasn't going to kid myself that I'm a runner. I'm a hugely fat guy who had been out there forcing himself to run for nine weeks, partly motivated by a fear of death and partly motivated by knowing that some people would think that I wouldn't be able to do it. Yeah, I got through the nine weeks, but who am I trying to kid now? Or, at least, that's how my thinking was going.
When we got to the end, I turned around and told Mrs. F I needed to walk. Maybe I could have run more if I had not pushed so hard on the way out, but by the way my knee was hurting before I got started, I don't think it's likely that I would have made the two miles anyway. Upon hearing I was going to walk, Mrs. F decided to run further on before turning around. Oh, how I envy her! She's really enjoying this, the running. I've had some good runs, but I can't say I really enjoy it right now, at least not consistantly.
So I started hobbling back. I yelled and cussed at myself in my mind (and probably out loud, at points). I knew I had run nearly three times as much before. Heck, I ran about seven and a half miles last week! There was no way I was going to keep walking.
That settled it. I decided to push myself back to a run. It didn't last very long, though. My face and neck were cold and my headache was getting worse. My left knee was sore with every footfall, but if I tried to adjust my stride so as to spare the knee, it aggravated the shin splints on my right leg. I tried to put the pain out of mind, and pushed on, but when a burst of burning pain erupted in that right shin, I gave up all hope of running. That was the double-whammy: my sore knee and the shin splints.
I slowed to a walk, but now the walk was painful for both legs. Having slowed down, I started to become more chilled (it was in the 30s °F). Including the distance of our warm-up walk, I was still a mile from the car. Had it not been so cold, I would have sat down on the trail and waited for Mrs. F to come by, and I would have asked her to get the car.
I made it back to our starting point, and back to the car, but I was not a happy camper. I was now even more tired and sore. Whatever good I did resting my right leg since Friday was undone--my shin splints are now as sore as they were then. If I can't get these issues squared away within the next 10 days, I've just flushed my 5k registration fee down the toilet.
I finished the evening icing my legs and reading my coursework. Because I got off work late and we took our run right away, I didn't eat until late and that has really thrown me off my pattern. It's now 10:32 PM and I'm not tired, yet I know I need sleep.
I'm not looking forward to facing the scale this week. I already figure it will be a few steps back. I'm just tired of it all. I've never been a thin guy. I'm just so tired!
Day 66 -- Mrs. F
I ended up with a late evening run since Mr. F had to work late. We didnt get out til 630! It was weird running in the evening dark. Somehow it seems darker than the dawn light. It was a colder night, so that added to making it a little harder running.
I took an easier run today and didnt go as far. Mr. F elected not to stretch and took off right away. I stretched a little and began running. It took me at least 6/10th of a mile to catch up with him. It seemed just as I would start gaining on him, he would speed up!!
I couid feel the effects of too much halloween candy as well. It took me 5 minutes or more of the run to find my stride. And counting calories has gotten harder. I just want to eat and eat and eat. Ugh ... the honeymoon is over with weight loss.
The run itself was good. I went about 2.5 miles(estimated) and Im not sure on time. It was too dark for a watch and Mr. F didnt end up using the playlist for the whole run this time. It did feel good to get out there and run though! I needed that after too many snack size butterfingers. Those things may just be evil -- they are 100 calories apiece!
Hopefully I can redeem the week but Im afraid for Friday weigh in!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
I took an easier run today and didnt go as far. Mr. F elected not to stretch and took off right away. I stretched a little and began running. It took me at least 6/10th of a mile to catch up with him. It seemed just as I would start gaining on him, he would speed up!!
I couid feel the effects of too much halloween candy as well. It took me 5 minutes or more of the run to find my stride. And counting calories has gotten harder. I just want to eat and eat and eat. Ugh ... the honeymoon is over with weight loss.
The run itself was good. I went about 2.5 miles(estimated) and Im not sure on time. It was too dark for a watch and Mr. F didnt end up using the playlist for the whole run this time. It did feel good to get out there and run though! I needed that after too many snack size butterfingers. Those things may just be evil -- they are 100 calories apiece!
Hopefully I can redeem the week but Im afraid for Friday weigh in!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Post C25K Blues (and drowning in my studies)
The end of the Couch-to-5k program has been very anticlimactic for me. I'm a bit down, in part from that anticlimax, but also because my right shin is still sore and my left knee has gotten irksome again since Friday. I don't want to run tomorrow at all, but I know I need to do it. I've been swamped in my studies for the past two weeks--sitting in a chair and reading academic texts for six to eight hours on a Saturday sure seems to be a way to suck the vitality out of anyone. I've lost just enough weight from my butt over the past nine weeks that even sitting in my chair--my big, blue oversized chair--left me sore. Although I can't see it, I'm pretty sure I lost some padding back there.
The burden of my studies is one of the reasons I've not been writing as much here or at Active.com (that and being down). This is the first week I don't have an 1,800+ word essay due, so I'm hoping it won't feel so overwhelming this week. I was required to make a substantial post to our online discussion forum on this week's topic, but thankfully I was able to get that done tonight. I was the first one to post this week, and I'm usually one of the last because of how long it takes me to get through the reading. It helped that a significant chunk of the material this week was in the form of PowerPoint presentations with audio (basically, a recorded lecture put into a set of slideshows). Since I'm primarily an auditory learner, that gave me a leg up this week. Now I just need to finish the last two chapters of reading from last week and read the five I need to finish for this week (it sure beats the 18 I had to read for last week).
Enough of my coursework griping. I need to get my head back into running. Blech! I'd rather get my head into a bucket of Breyer's right now. I guess I'll just take it a day at a time.
The burden of my studies is one of the reasons I've not been writing as much here or at Active.com (that and being down). This is the first week I don't have an 1,800+ word essay due, so I'm hoping it won't feel so overwhelming this week. I was required to make a substantial post to our online discussion forum on this week's topic, but thankfully I was able to get that done tonight. I was the first one to post this week, and I'm usually one of the last because of how long it takes me to get through the reading. It helped that a significant chunk of the material this week was in the form of PowerPoint presentations with audio (basically, a recorded lecture put into a set of slideshows). Since I'm primarily an auditory learner, that gave me a leg up this week. Now I just need to finish the last two chapters of reading from last week and read the five I need to finish for this week (it sure beats the 18 I had to read for last week).
Enough of my coursework griping. I need to get my head back into running. Blech! I'd rather get my head into a bucket of Breyer's right now. I guess I'll just take it a day at a time.
Day 65 - Mrs. F
I discovered something today. Perhaps I knew this all along but Im an emotional eater. I got into an argument today and my response was to reach for the bag of truffles. I reached for the package of lefse and had a big plate of spaghetti.
Its much harder on days when things are stressful and Im tired. I just finished supper and i have 249 calories left. So if I can avoid the midnight munchies, I might just be okay.
Im looking forward to our run tommorrow. Depending on how early we manage to make it to bed, will determine if we have a morning or evening run.
A little sore today but not bad. I didnt even need to take ibuprofen.
Hopefully Mr. F's leg will be ready to go after several days of rest!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Its much harder on days when things are stressful and Im tired. I just finished supper and i have 249 calories left. So if I can avoid the midnight munchies, I might just be okay.
Im looking forward to our run tommorrow. Depending on how early we manage to make it to bed, will determine if we have a morning or evening run.
A little sore today but not bad. I didnt even need to take ibuprofen.
Hopefully Mr. F's leg will be ready to go after several days of rest!
Keep on running
Mrs. F
Monday, November 2, 2009
Day 64 - My turn for a run with U2 - Mrs. F
Mr. F was feeling ill tonight, so he didnt get to run with me. I missed him! Ive gotten used to having the time to chat after our workout and digest the runs. So I missed doing that this evening.
I had a great run! I ran 3.1 miles(estimated) in 35 minutes and 10 seconds!!! I set out intending to just run 2 easy miles and well the run was so good, that I just kept going.
I borrowed Mr. F's MP3 player this evening, so it was my first run with music. I wasnt sure how I would like it. I have to say, I dont like dealing with making sure the headphones are right and the wires and all that but overall it was nice. Im not as in tune to music as Mr. F is, so it really just became background music for me. During the day, I often have the radio on in just the same manner -- background music. So it really worked well.
I took my sons watch with me again. I did the first mile in 10:50! I was flying. And I wasnt even breathing heavy, thats the amazing part. Then I made it almost to the end of my measured trail segment(within a block) before my 17 minutes(half of the 35 I intended to run) was up. I wasnt sure if I could do the return trip as fast. I was estastic when I realized I did!!!! It really was a very awesome run.
I really felt like I had a good pace. I encountered a dog walker, along the last segment, and I was able to talk just fine as I passed him. By the end, my breathing was a bit more labored but not bad at all. And something else, i realized last run, I havent had a sideache in forever! So I must be learning to find the right pace.
It was a little different running in the dusk due to the time change. I loved seeing the full moon reflecting on the lake as I ran by. By the end of the run, it was as dark as if I had run in the early morning hours.
The only pain I had at the end was along my leg, just above my ankle. But not bad, just a bit sore.
I guess it was just my turn for an unbelievable run with U2!
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
I had a great run! I ran 3.1 miles(estimated) in 35 minutes and 10 seconds!!! I set out intending to just run 2 easy miles and well the run was so good, that I just kept going.
I borrowed Mr. F's MP3 player this evening, so it was my first run with music. I wasnt sure how I would like it. I have to say, I dont like dealing with making sure the headphones are right and the wires and all that but overall it was nice. Im not as in tune to music as Mr. F is, so it really just became background music for me. During the day, I often have the radio on in just the same manner -- background music. So it really worked well.
I took my sons watch with me again. I did the first mile in 10:50! I was flying. And I wasnt even breathing heavy, thats the amazing part. Then I made it almost to the end of my measured trail segment(within a block) before my 17 minutes(half of the 35 I intended to run) was up. I wasnt sure if I could do the return trip as fast. I was estastic when I realized I did!!!! It really was a very awesome run.
I really felt like I had a good pace. I encountered a dog walker, along the last segment, and I was able to talk just fine as I passed him. By the end, my breathing was a bit more labored but not bad at all. And something else, i realized last run, I havent had a sideache in forever! So I must be learning to find the right pace.
It was a little different running in the dusk due to the time change. I loved seeing the full moon reflecting on the lake as I ran by. By the end of the run, it was as dark as if I had run in the early morning hours.
The only pain I had at the end was along my leg, just above my ankle. But not bad, just a bit sore.
I guess it was just my turn for an unbelievable run with U2!
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Day 64 - Week 11 C25K and beyond - Mrs. F
I will be running this afternoon. Im planning on taking an easy run of 2 miles today, rather than push it up today.
Mr F is still dealing with his shin splint, so IM not sure if he will still take today off or not. Im hoping he will come and run an easy slow run today as well!
Survived halloween weekend but the candy danger is still near. Im pleased though, I was able to have a few pieces and not go back time after time, as I used to. Pizza last night was a little harder. I tried to cut the pieces smaller, to give me the illusion I was getting more , even though eating the same amount of pieces as i used to. I ate 3 and was full. I should have stopped there but did go back for the 4th. I really wanted the taste more than I was hungry. But baby steps , folks, baby steps.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Mr F is still dealing with his shin splint, so IM not sure if he will still take today off or not. Im hoping he will come and run an easy slow run today as well!
Survived halloween weekend but the candy danger is still near. Im pleased though, I was able to have a few pieces and not go back time after time, as I used to. Pizza last night was a little harder. I tried to cut the pieces smaller, to give me the illusion I was getting more , even though eating the same amount of pieces as i used to. I ate 3 and was full. I should have stopped there but did go back for the 4th. I really wanted the taste more than I was hungry. But baby steps , folks, baby steps.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Busy weekend
Between Halloween, getting to the store for our bi-weekly shopping and getting my grad school assignments done, I feel like the walking dead. I just finished this week's assignments, only about 10 minutes early than I did last week. We have one little one sick and on Tamiflu, and others around the house are starting to cough, including me. If it really is H1N1, I'm in one of the primary high-risk groups (obese with other chronic health conditions). The only thing I have going for me is the fact that I've been running. I'm healthier now than I was nine weeks ago, including my pulmonary health. If I do catch the nasty bug, at least I'll be ready for a fight!
I must run off to bed now. I'm exhausted.
I must run off to bed now. I'm exhausted.
Day 63 - Mrs. F
We have had one of our little ones sick here, so that means a lot less sleep happening! Im pretty beat and was really thankful that it wasnt a running day!!
My diet seems to be far more challenging when Im tired. Yesterday I just wanted to eat an entire bag of halloween candy. I did resist but did indulge in a little halloween candy action but not the whole darn bag!!! I found myself looking up the caloric amount that it would take to maintain my weight. Thankfully I didnt go up to it but I had it in the back of my mind just in case.
Weekends in general just seem harder. Theres far more sitting and relaxing and hanging out with the kids, than there is exercise. I cant wait for the day when we can all go on a family run/bike ride/walk.
Our son finished up his cross country this season by gaining a personal best. He beat his previous time by a full five seconds! He ran an 18:50 at sections.(See why im confident we will never catch up to him in the race!!!) Im incredibly proud of him. And with that, comes my promise of running two minutes with him. I laugh now, I still remember, when 2 minutes felt like an eternity to run. Now its barely a start.
We are still debating about taking an extra day off to rest Mr. F's shin splints. I may run still but Im not sure.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
My diet seems to be far more challenging when Im tired. Yesterday I just wanted to eat an entire bag of halloween candy. I did resist but did indulge in a little halloween candy action but not the whole darn bag!!! I found myself looking up the caloric amount that it would take to maintain my weight. Thankfully I didnt go up to it but I had it in the back of my mind just in case.
Weekends in general just seem harder. Theres far more sitting and relaxing and hanging out with the kids, than there is exercise. I cant wait for the day when we can all go on a family run/bike ride/walk.
Our son finished up his cross country this season by gaining a personal best. He beat his previous time by a full five seconds! He ran an 18:50 at sections.(See why im confident we will never catch up to him in the race!!!) Im incredibly proud of him. And with that, comes my promise of running two minutes with him. I laugh now, I still remember, when 2 minutes felt like an eternity to run. Now its barely a start.
We are still debating about taking an extra day off to rest Mr. F's shin splints. I may run still but Im not sure.
Keep on running
Mrs. F
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