Aaaaand We're Back

I know I've said it before, but looking at my calendar and seeing all the crazy numbers this month:

• March 11th is our 5 year anniversary
• March 12th is my first of two bridal showers
• March 20th we have our details meeting
• March 25th is 100 days till the wedding!!!

It's really time to get this show on the road. I am recommitting to the Couch to 5k Challenge and tonight I went on my first run in oh idk, three months?

Basically I found a great new playlist of mp3 podcast whatever you want to call them for the entire work out. I had been listening to a track my friend Kari had put together and she only ever made a mix for the first two weeks. Basically I'm gonna Go Nicole Myself on this one.

The mixes are great and I really like how she used a slower song and a faster song because it gives me a good beat to run to and a decent beat to walk to. Granted I'm still working on my stride so it's a little pathetic to see me at the end of the intervals because I'm starting to drag my feet a little on the run portion, but it can only get better from here.

Week 1: Day 1
Casey is now my butt kicker. I may or may not have mentioned before but sometimes I dream about running. I think it means I'm supposed to be a runner. Getting there however is a bit harder than it should be, so I have enlisted Casey to kick my butt and make me go running with her at least 3 times a week. The girl runs at least 6 times a week so it's not like I'm really making her go out of her way. Add onto that she is working on schoooling for physiology and exercise science and "training" someone is good experience for her.

Let's not forget that this Saturday marks 120 days to the wedding. Yesh! Time to get my jiggly but into gear!

Casey and I went over to a little park in Valley Stream and she basically ran off within about 30 seconds of my warm up walk. It's okay, she offered to totally kick my butt and murder me by making me run with her until I wanted to keel over and die and then get up and do some more. (Not really like that, but she's working on a program with her brother that had him running full miles in two weeks (not too shabby)!) But this was something I wanted to be able to do on my own if Casey wasn't around or available and while I love her encouragement and ass-kickedness it's really something I need to learn how to do on my own. I promised her when I got up to actually running a mile or so then I'd let her kick my butt once a week and we'd do whatever interval, speed, distance, etc. run she wanted.

Onto the recap:
The park is cute. Not huge. I like it. There's a lot of runners, a bunch of walkers, and some peeps playing b-ball. There's even a Public Safety patrol that must have lapped me about two times driving around. All that makes me feel pretty safe.

I ran/walked a little over a mile in about 23 minutes. That includes a 5 minute warm up and a 3 minute cool down. So not awful. Especially since the last time I ran a full mile and had it timed way back in high school I could only do it in 11 minutes. Yeah, I know, I'm awesome.

What was great about this run was I never really felt like I was torturing myself. Sure, I am horribly out of shape and I felt nauseated on the last leg of the run, but I pushed through and felt fine within about 10 minutes after I completed the work out. Other than the slight nauseated feelings during the running intervals toward the end I felt great. I didn't feel like I was dying, which I usually do when running. I didn't feel dehydrated or sore.

This morning I woke up and had a little soreness to my knee, but I think it was just a bit of a hyperextension if anything. I plan on doing a low impact work out tonight, something upper body probably so I don't stress it out any more.

Next run is planned for Thursday. And then I'm hoping I can squeeze one in on Saturday morning in Julianne's complex before we have breakfast and go dress shopping. I've got this people, this time I'm serious.

March = m'bitch

c25k: Once more with feeling!

So I somehow was quite awake this morning when my alarm went off at 4:51am. And that meant I went to the gym without complaint...to myself...

It's been awhile since I've actually gotten my butt to the gym. Mostly I haven't been feeling up to it, but also every time I think, Oh now's a perfect time to go! Either all of a sudden my stomach feels like it's going to explode or something else comes up.

Also, I was on the hunt for new running sneakers for the better part of a month. It started awhile back while I was in Virginia. I knew the Nike+ sneakers I wanted to try on were on sale at Foot Locker so I went with Jason. Sadly, they didn't have my size, but I could tell that the sneaker fit so well and was prefect.

Then, I doubted myself and ordered a few different pair from New Balance. My last pair of running sneakers that I went to a running store and got fitted for were New Balance 1062s. They don't make them anymore and the 1064s that replaced them have the arch in the wrong place for my foot. All of those sneakers went back.

Then I went over to Zappos and ordered, idk, 5 more pair of sneakers. My Dad thought it was hilarious how I ran from the bathroom in the den all the way to the front door and back in each pair a few times. Apparently when they first moved into the house 25 years ago my brother did the same thing...running laps through the empty house because he'd never had so much ROOM to move around it.

Low and behold, I found my sneakers! Nike+ Voomero4. They are incredible. I wore them to the gym once or twice but at the time I hadn't gotten on the treadmill, just did some time on the elliptical instead. These are in fact the sneakers I originally tried on at the Foot Locker and they didn't have my size. I should have gone with my gut but I wanted to try on all my options first.

Today I ran in them for the first time and they are incredible! Usually I get very tired very fast. I know I'm not a conditioned athlete, but I'll get there someday. Typically I get exhausted after the first two intervals on the c25k routine, today I felt pretty amazing throughout the entire run!

I didn't get shinsplints either! Which is a big deal in my world. I am horribly afflicted with shinsplints sometimes and it causes me to lose a lot of momentum and I have to change my stride to compensate for the pain.

Behold! My Holy Grail of running sneakers!

I might just buy a second pair to have on hand. Eventually I'll also invest in a Nike+ to put into the little pouch in the shoe's foot-bed.

Now for the c25k rundown:

• I did a little over a 5minute warm up at 3.0 (20 minute mile speed).
• I walked my intervals at 3.0 as well.
• I jogged my intervals at 5.0 (12 minute mile speed) however I think next time I'll bump it up to at least 5.3. I felt like I was running in slow motion and if I raise it just slightly I'll probably be able to extend my legs into a more comfortable fuller stride.
• I did 1.75 miles (just shy of half a 5k) in 29 minutes. (Including the warm up and cool down).
• Still using Kari's c25k mix. Somehow it never gets old.

Felt fantastic during the run, as I mentioned before: no shinsplints, a little tightness in my calf and groin but that worked itself right out when I stretched afterward.

I feel fantastic. Incredible. Probably the best I've ever felt after a running workout. I think I'll hit the gym again tomorrow and do the same workout with a slightly altered jogging pace and see how I feel.

Laura's wedding is in exactly 7 days. Obviously I don't expect to suddenly drop 10lbs but maybe 2lbs would be acceptable :)

c25k: Week 1, Day 2

I had no intentions of running last night. But I wound up at the boardwalk with Casey and I did day two of week one.

What I find amazing is I actually WANT to run. Like legit I just have the urge to run.

Am I sore? Yes.

Am I achey? Yes.

Does it feel amazing? Yes.

The downside to running on the boardwalk is I have no control over my pace. When I run on the treadmill I set myself at a certain pace and stay there for the entire interval. On the boardwalk as I start to get tired I tend to slow down even if I'm aware of it and try to keep time with the beat of my music.

After our run we tried to get a delicious smoothie at this place on West Park Ave but they were closed so we drove over to Smootie Roo and got some protein in us. It was pretty good although I'll have to get used to the taste of whey protein again. Just one of those things I suppose.

One thing I both love and hate about running is I can really feel it in my inner thighs. Hurts like hell but I'm glad those muscles are getting some sort of use. I wouldn't mind that area trimming down since I've inherited my mother's thunder thighs.

I'm thinking I'll run at the gym tonight. I won't get a chance to work out again until Sunday night when I get home from Virginia and depending on how tired I am I might wait until Monday night to run again.

I'm debating whether or not to do Week 1 over again just so I can make sure I can sustain the 5.0 pace during the jogging intervals. I don't want to go any slower than that.

Cooooool Runnings!

Feel the rhythm. Feel the rhyme. Let's get on up. It's running time?

Coooool Runnings!

One of my goals on my 101 in 1001 is to run a 5k. I have never run that long a distance in my life. Typically my family goes by the adage, "Why run unless something's chasing you?"

But then in college I used to have dreams - literally - where I was running. And nothing was chasing me. I just ran!

And I was happy in these dreams. Happy to be running in my little sneakers with my pony tail wagging behind me with each step.

I am not a runner however. So this dream seemed out of my reach. I mean I used to be "in shape" in high school. And I even did a little running for fitness in college when my roommate got into a marathon challenge with her boy du jour.

Perhaps my dream was obtainable and I was just going about it wrong? It was soon after that, that I read about the Couch to 5k Challenge (c25k) and it seemed like I was in fact, doing it wrong. I always just went up to the track and walked a lap and then just started running for as long as I could - which usually turned into a slightly pathetic half lap - before I was panting and had to stop and walk again.

With the c25k program though, it's more of a scheduled 13 week course of interval training, ending with you being capable of running a 5k!

Last summer I tried the c25k but I was overzealous and hurt my foot even after buying new neutral cushioned running shoes (apparently I underpronate/suponate). But now I'm ready to try again! And I'm taking special care to not go too hard too fast. And I'm going to keep a log of how I feel after each work out starting today.

Each Week I'm supposed to do the work out 3 times. It takes 20-30 minutes including the warm up and cool down. I go to my gym and use the treadmill but I've also gone down to the boardwalk and done these exercises. The treadmill gives me more control over my speed which I like.

If I don't think I'm ready to move onto the next week then I can spend an additional week at the same interval. For example, Week 1 is intervals of 90 seconds of walking and 60 seconds of jogging. Then Week 2 is 90 seconds of walking and 2 minutes of jogging. Each week the intervals increase in either time or frequency and at the end of the 13 weeks, you're actually running for 20 minutes straight.

My goal is to run a 5k, but really what I want to be able to do is run the entire length of the Long Beach boardwalk (2.2 miles) and back (4.4 miles total) without stopping. I figure if I can run a 5k (3.1 miles) then I can certainly work myself up to 4.4 miles!

Week 1, Day 1

I had to retie my shoes about 12 times before they were both the right tightness and I definitely had a lot of shin splints going on. Halfway through I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make all of the jogging intervals but I did. Also I was completely distracted by some of the other people in the gym. I went to high school with one of them. His name is Chris, he was the drummer in our class band and for the life of me I couldn't remember his last name. This was almost as frustrating as the workout. Plus a beefy tattooed guy who was working out with Chris kept on looking over at me, for the love of God I was wearing 2 sports bras! It's not my fault if I still jiggle too much!

I warmed up at 3.5, walked at 3.3 and jogged at 5.0 on a 0.0 incline. I cooled down at 3.5 as well and spent an extra few minutes in my cool down so I could finish off the second mile completely.

It felt okay. I'm not dancing in the streets but at least I got through the entire work out. I did a little stretching when I got home and logged my activity for the day into calorie-count and had some dinner.

I think tomorrow I won't do the workout again, instead I'll do something low impact like the bike or the elliptical. I don't want to injure myself.

Also, I'm thinking that since the dress I wanted for my birthday is no longer available, that I'll just buy myself a new pair of running shoes as a present. I'm pretty sure the shoes I have can last another month or so. Does anyone know if the New Balance 1064s replaced the 1062s? It's been a few years since I've worn out a pair of running shoes...

101 and counting

So today actually marks 101 days on my quest to do 101 things in 1001 days. Plus we're closing in on the end of the year and I guess that just makes me think even more of what I've actually accomplished this year....even outside of that list.

Somehow, despite the fact that for three months this summer I was furloughed down to 4 day work-weeks, I managed to double the amount in one of my savings accounts. (We won't dwell on the fact my other savings account isn't as happy.) I've also managed to pay off 1/6 of my car loan, woohoo!

I've been trying desperately this year to curb my spending. There are a lot of big important things I'll have to pay for in the not-so-distant future...weddings...homes...not to mention I still have student loans and the rest of my car loan to pay off. So saving has become almost like a game to me. Every time I look at something I want to buy I really ask myself if I need it, or if I simply want it. In fact I did need a new winter coat so I bought one. I do want new black boots but I'll have to find a really good deal on a pair to feel as though I should actually spend to buy them, even though I've been with out black boots for the past three winters *sadness*.

I've made lemonade when life handed me lemons, and I think I've grown in that department. I can easily step back now and look at a situation with a level head and not get overly angry, upset, or disappointed when it's unnecessary.

Pretty much my greatest accomplishment this year was maintaining. I've struggled for a few years now to get control of my weight. Right now I'm a good 20lbs heavier than I was the summer of my junior/senior year of college. That means the past three years I've gained a whole lot and I'm not happy about that.

Since January I've been attempting to eat healthier and move more but I kept hitting walls. Over the summer I tried the Couch to 5k and wound up hurting my foot and having to do things that were lower impact. For the past five years or so I've had a pain in my back that no MRIs or x-rays could attribute to anything and that hindered my exercising as well.

But now (although my foot is still a bit bothersome) my back finally got the kink worked out of it and I'm feeling leaner and meaner already. I quite literally started last year at the weight I am currently at so at the very least that means I maintained my weight this year. Now to build some more muscle and loose a little jiggle. If I continue on the path I've set myself on (weight training, really watching my caloric intake, tracking weight fluctuations, hydrating correctly, doing low impact cardio) I'm fairly certain I will begin to see the results within the next few months.

The holidays will be tough, but I managed to get through Thanksgiving without any extra fluff and I'm determined to see changes in the scale slowly but surely throughout the month and into the new year.

Basically although I've made a few leaps and a few bounds in certain areas of my life, and maintained in others, I'm ready to make a few more changes and tweak my life in small ways that I think will add up throughout the next year.

Hooray determination! Hooray for an uneventful year!