Garmin Connect – Details

Untitled by tbug01 at Garmin Connect – Details.

Bike Trail Loop by tbug01 at Garmin Connect – Details

Bike Trail Loop by tbug01 at Garmin Connect – Details.

Week 3 – 5k Intermediate Training

Week 3 was a tough week. I was doing well until Wednesday evening. After my intervals running on the treadmill Wednesday my shins seemed overly sensitive. Thursday was a 3 mile run and that was a struggle big time. Shin pain was persistent. Friday was a rest day and I did just that.. REST!

I joined some of the Fremont Elite Runners Club members for a group run on Saturday and knocked out 4 miles with Julie. Julie could have definitely kept up with the pack if she wanted to but I was very happy she hung back with me otherwise I would have been solo, those folks are FAST! Still had sensitive shins bothering me. Afterwards I went to Second Sole in Perrysburg and got some good advice from Matt Folk. He thinks the treadmill may have been the trigger and suggested I stay on solid ground for the time being.

Sunday’s run was supposed to be 6 miles. Unfortunately home conflicts caused me to cut that mileage down to 3.25. It may have been a good thing considering I was still having shin issues and could use the extra recovery time. So far in the 3 weeks of training that Sunday change to the training plan is the only time I have deviated from the plan and I’m pretty proud of that!

Week 3 mileage – 18.67

Check back for week 4 update!

T.

Week 2 – 5k Intermediate Training

YES! I made it through another week. This week was basically a repeat of the first week except for the Wednesday speed work. Instead of intervals it was a tempo run. Now I have researched what exactly a tempo run is and I’m still not sure I actually achieved it but we’ll call it that anyway! Saturday’s 3 miler was listed as “fast” on the training plan but I didn’t exactly follow that. I ran into Kim at the rec. center and we ran the distance on the track while gabbing. It was substantially lower than my previous times but that’s ok. I was so glad to have someone to talk to because as I was unpacking my bag I realized I left my headphones at home! Running 30 laps on the indoor track with no music was almost enough to make me run back home to get them. Thankfully Kim and I kept each other distracted for the 3 miles. On my rest days I did still go to the rec and work out on the equipment. I still want to get in at least 30 minutes a day of exercise even if it is not running. I did make sure to leave my Nike+ sportband at home so I wouldn’t be tempted to knock out a few laps. I know the cross training will benefit me so I’m making a true effort to do it on these rest days.

I turned in my registration for the Melt the Ice on March 20th. Should be fun and I’m kind of anxious to see how my 5 weeks of training up to that day will reflect on the race. I have no high expectations but I would like to see that my endurance level has improved.

Total mileage for Week 2- 16.66 miles.

Until next week!

T.

Week 1 – 5k Intermediate Training

Yes it’s odd that I’m doing 5k training for a 1/2 marathon but the logic behind this is that I can spread this training out over the next however many weeks and not get bored before the 1/2 marathon in October. My first training plan is 8 weeks and is the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate. I followed it to the letter and felt great about accomplishing the first week. The intervals on the Wednesday really kicked my butt. Julie suggested I do them on the treadmill so I could watch the distance and speed more accurately. I haven’t been on a treadmill in a while and will remember this upcoming week to point the fan in my direction! OMG I had sweat pouring off me! It was awful. I think I might have even grossed out some of the other people at the rec. It was tough but it felt good too. The 2 rest days are proving to be a mental challenge for me because I feel like I need to run on those days too. I know I have to work on core and upper body so I’m forcing myself to do that on those 2 rest days. The 5 mile run with Julie on Sunday was good. We were able to run outdoors and that felt really good.

Come on spring!!!

2010 and beyond

Wow it’s been a while since I have updated my poor lonely blog site. I’ll admit I like to try all the new stuff and I’ve been lured away by Facebook and Twitter. I actually went to the blog tonight to delete it. Returning to it was a painful reminder of my lack of motivation the latter part of 2009. I have a bad habit of being very hard on myself so I won’t say it is painful to return to the blog because I feel like a failure. I think as long as I realize I the need to continue to put in an effort to be healthy and fit and try, I’m not failing. It’s when I quit all together I’m in trouble.

This year will be full of many challenges. This past weekend was one of those challenges fitness wise. I participated in the Fremont Indoor 10k and it was really, really hard. I had been to the gym every day but 1 or 2 in the month of January and working at building endurance for this run. I knew I wouldn’t win anything and I wasn’t competing against anyone but myself. I finished the race in 1:12. #77 out of 80 runners and that’s ok. I can handle that.

My plan this year is to run in most of the local races to support our local running club. I have also signed up for a 1/2 marathon in Columbus on October 17th. It’s a long way off but I started printing out various training plans today to plan for the next 35 weeks. Julie gave me a good idea of starting with a 8 week 5k, move to the 10k – 8 week plan and then onto the 12 week 1/2 marathon plan. It’s a great idea and I think it will be just what I need to keep building strength and endurance. My time in the Glass City 1/2 last year was 3:01 and of course I would like to beat that.

This year will also be a new year for my health. I’ve had some changes occur over the past couple of months and these have played a part in my battle with weight. In early January I went to my doctor after struggling with low energy, weight gain and freezing all the time. I had blood tested and it came back showing an underactive thyroid. Now mind you my doctor has been waiting for my thyroid to fail for more than 8 years and I figured she was full of crap. She has had me tested nearly every year and every time it was fine. It would piss me off because every year I was paying for pathology tests that proved nothing. So this time I felt the same way about it and really was surprised when it came back underactive. She put me on meds right away and within a week I felt so much better. My energy level was high and I felt good. Only thing that wasn’t changing was my weight. I went back in 2 week after starting the meds and the weight was the same. This was extremely frustrating to me because I was exercising daily and watching everything I ate. So she doubled my dosage. Energy level is still great, feel good and now finally some of the weight is coming off. I’ve lost around 4-5 lbs since mid January. I have mixed feelings about being on the meds. This will be something I will have to take for the rest of my life but I guess if it keeps me healthy it will be worth it.

So there you have it. I came to delete the blog all together and ended up blogging about it. LOL! If any of my past readers are still around… I’m baaaaack!

Tammy

Two down and 1 to go.. hopefully..

Hey everyone. I survived the weekend and I can still walk. Ok that may be stretching it.. I can still shuffle. LOL. My legs are definitely sore and stiff today. The “Fab Four” finished 11th out of 12 teams in the relay and I’m afraid I may have been the weak link in the chain. I tried my best to push it harder and honestly I think I did better than I did on my test run but I may have lost the time that Lisa gained in the first leg. I don’t know my time but I think it was close to 55 minutes and the distance was just under 5 miles. No excuses but it was HOT. It was also interesting because we shared the bike trail with the GOBA riders and there were a lot of them. They startled the hell out of me every time they yelled out “on your left” but I’m glad they were courteous enough to warn me they were coming. And some even cheered me on. That was a great pick me up! All in all I’m not sure if I would do this one again next year. I felt a little out of my league.

Tonight is Elmore and this is also related to the GOBA riders. The riders have been staying in Elmore for a layover before continuing on around Ohio. If I had to run it in an hour I wouldn’t be able to do it with the way my legs feel right now but maybe my mind might change later on in the afternoon. I’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading!

T.

Camelback 2009 and more

Today was the 3rd Camelback I have ran in and it was a good run. Not my best but I’ll take it. This year Paxton ran with me. This was her first 4 mile race. She has ran in 5k races before but this was a test of endurance for her. She did great! We crossed the finish line together with the time of 44:24. I told her constantly throughout the run that she could run ahead if I was slowing her down but she refused to run ahead. I think she was wearing out a bit near the end so she was happy to hang back with slow old mom. She was just happy to finish the race I think. No awards for either of us but that wasn’t totally unexpected as there were a ton of people running this year. The morning started off soggy and humid but about half way through the run the clouds moved out and it was just humid and hot. This year Applebee’s catered the event and WOW they served steak, baked potatoes and veggies! Now those brown bananas and warm drinks will be a let down for post race goodies!

Tomorrow I am running in a relay run that goes from Clyde to Elmore. I believe the distance is 22 miles total. We have 4 ladies running on our team “the Fab Four”. Me, Julie, Lisa and Cindy. I am the 2nd runner in our team and that means my leg of the relay goes through town. The other 3 legs are on the bike trail. I “test ran” my portion last week and I wasn’t thrilled but I’ll survive. My leg is right under 5 miles. Then on Monday night I will be running in a 5k in Elmore. Cheryl and Kent will also be participating in this evening run. Should be interesting because we will be sharing the bike trail with GOBA bicycle riders. This is a big bike rider group that travels throughout Ohio every year.

Next weekend Paxton and I are running in the Pickle Chase. I have done this race 2 years in a row and it is fun. Last year not so fun because I was still battling the plantars wart. I remember limping across the finish line with the pickle helping me along. Yes they do have some dressed up like a pickle!

That’s about it for now. I’ll update on the relay results tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

T.

Getting back on track

I have been working hard this week to get in my exercise and eat well. I have been thinking about going to the rec. center for a while and have procrastinated on it because frankly I didn’t want the people who I used to see there all the time to see me now with the extra pounds back on. So I sucked it up and went to the rec. center on Wed. and ran into Angie and told her how I need someone to hold me accountable. And of course she was happy to be that person. So I have been emailing her daily letting her know what exercises I have done. I think it has been helping because I don’t want a day to go by without emailing her something. As I figured would happen a lot of the regulars at the rec. came up to me and said stuff like “I haven’t seen you in a long time” and “it’s good to see you back”. They are all very nice about it and no one gave me the once over and that put me at ease a bit. I went back on Friday as well. Now that the kids are officially on summer break I will be able to get down there on a daily or every other day basis. I’m glad for that. Hop on the bike and head down there. 

I didn’t do much running this week. I was focusing on more strength training exercises and when I was at the rec. I was using the elliptical machine for cardio. I ran yesterday around 2.5 miles and pushed myself to go faster and damn it was hard! It was really nice to come home and switch into the swim suit and jump right into the pool. Nice way to cool down and get more exercise. Felt good. Tomorrow the H20 Boot Camp class starts and I’m going for that. I hope that the weather cooperates because if it is stormy then the class is indoors and I don’t like doing it on the floor. It’s too hard on my knees. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed but it is spring in Ohio so you never know what to expect weatherwise!

I’ve signed up for several upcoming races. June 20th is the 4 mile Camelback race here in town and the next day I’m part of a 4 person relay team that will run from Clyde to Elmore for a total of 22 miles along the bike trail. I will be running the 2nd leg of the race which is 4.65 miles. Our team is called the Fab 4 and it’s me, Julie D., Lisa H and Cindy. Should be a good time and a good challenge. Hope I don’t let my team down because I know that 2 of the others are very speedy. And on June 22 I will be running in Elmore in a 5k. So 3 runs in 3 days… YIKES!  I hope in the next 2 weeks my “refocus” on exercise will pay off. 

That’s about if for now. Thanks for reading.

Tammy.

Long time, no blogging..

It’s been almost one month since my last blog entry and that was after the Glass City 1/2 Marathon. Since that race I participated in the Bob Semer 10k in Fremont but haven’t done much else. I’m at another one of those crossroads where I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I have a 5k race this weekend in Genoa but short of that I’m kind of aimlessly wandering again.. I’ve got to find some direction soon or this could be a disaster. The kids will be out of school on June 5th and even though the thought of having them here all day sends chills down my spine (yes I love my kids but they drive me nuts as well) it will free up early morning for exercise again. Last year I found that if I got up before them (so pretty much anytime before noon) then I could get out for a run or to the rec. center and then get home, showered and to work early. The school drop off shuffle I got through now makes it nearly impossible to get any exercise in before trying to sit down and work and once I plop in front to the computer it’s game over & exercise out the window. I’m going to try and establish a new routine and stick to it. I know I can do it, I have done it before but now it’s a matter of wanting to do it.

My weight has gone up. I won’t lie. It’s been steadily on the rise. It’s something that I need to reel in and get control of again. I have no excuses, I have been lazy, plain and simple. I have been putting in more than I have been putting out… simply put. I need to find someone who can hold me accountable and keep me in check. It is so much easier (ok maybe not easier but more tolerable) to maintain the exercise and nutrition when you have support and that is something I haven’t had for a while and I miss it. In the WW meetings they always talked about having a friend to take the “journey” with and it really is true that having that support is the key to success. 

That’s about it for now. I’m done whining. I’ve been fighting allergies all day and I’m heavily dosed on allergy meds so I’ll use that as my excuse for the long rambling rant. 

Thanks for reading,

Tammy