Jingle Bell 5K

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I did the Jingle Bell 5k in 34:45. I am definitely getting faster!!! The WC 5K was 3 weeks ago, and I did that one in 37:32. Almost 3 minutes faster! WOO HOO!

FIVE MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so very shocked to report that I actually did it! Me! I actually ran 5 miles today. Unbelievable!!!!!!! Even as I got out of bed, I told Mike that I hoped I could do it. 5 miles is something I have never in my life though t I could do.

On this Thanksgiving 2009 Day, I am very thankful that I have made such great changes in my life. The last several Thanksgivings, I have been way too stressed out to really enjoy the day, and I have lounged and eaten way too much. Today, I got up earlier than normal, ran 5 miles, made the food for Thanksgiving, had a little bit of everything but certainly not a lot, and rested. I enjoyed the time with family and friends, and I have had a fantastic recharging day. What a difference 6 months can make in my life! 57 lbs down and running 5 miles. I never could have done it without the couch to 5K running plan to get me started and without the Wesley Chapel Tri Team to push me to new limits all the time.

I am so thankful!

Rest

Today, I rested in preparation for my 5 mile long run.

Tuesday, Of Course - RAIN

For some reason, in sunny Florida, it always seems to rain on Tuesday nights. We have been meeting now on Tuesday nights for about 4 months, and it has probably rained on at least half of them. Insane! So, practice was cancelled again. Not for Heather, Nicole, and I though! We met and ran 3.1 on the treadmill, and it was about 5 miles with the walking through warm up and cool down. I started off at 4.8, moved to 5.0 at 1/2 mile, then I worked my way up to 5.8 (for a tenth of a mile). I thankful on this Thanksgiving week for friends like Heather and Nicole who help me keep at it!

Travel Day - Rest

I rested today after my 4 miles. Tomorrow, we are doing a 3.1 time trial at the track, so I am taking it easy. This is a weird week as I am doing the 5k tomorrow for practice, then the first 5 miler on Thursday (Thanksgiving), and then a 5k race on Sunday!

4 Mile Run!

Happy birthday to me!
I got up and ran 4 miles on the treadmill!!!! It was a great present to myself. :)

I ran the first 3 miles at 4.8 (12:30 pace) and the last mile I increased it every so often until I ran the last .1 at 6.4!!!!!!! That is now the fastest I have ever gone on the treadmill! WOO HOO!

Saturday - Walking

Today, we walked a lot all over Atlanta, but I didn't do any formal exercise.

Friday - Rest

Today was a rest day, and I flew to Atlanta.

3.5 Miles and Biko

Today, I didn't get up when the alarm went off. I snoozed. i was so tired. I didn't think I could get up. I almost just used it as an excuse, but then I smacked the alarm off and got up. :) I ran 3.5 miles in 41:39. :) I did the first mile in 12:32, second mile in 11:57, third mile in 11:38, and the last half mile in 5:30. The max pace I had was 9:33. WOO HOO!

I also had a session with Biko today. It was his birthday, so Mike, Morgan, and I took him a cake and a balloon. :) We worked on upper body and abs again.

Rest

My leg was pretty sore, so i rested today. I am trying to get back on track by doing every other day. I will run tomorrow.

Simulated Track

Today, I was in a hotel and it was raining. Since it is track day and I was out of town and had to miss it, I did a simulated track event on the treadmill. I did the 1/4 mile at 6.0 for 4 times and then 6.1 and then 6.2!!!!!!!!! I warmed up and cooled down on the elliptical. My leg didn't even hurt! It was a little sore later in the day, but I did it!

On a bad note, I was bad on the eating front today. I had two packs of M&M's (we were up late preparing for a work presentation) and crab cakes for dinner. YUM but bad.

Easy Day

Today, my leg was pretty sore - not in pain, but sore. So, I decided to take it really easy. I did a little light elliptical to loosen it up, but that is it.

FOUR MILES BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still in complete shock as I sit here and type this. I ran 4 miles today. Me! I did it! I was so nervous when I left the door. Mike was laughing at me because I had two water bottles. I put one in the mailbox so that I could grab it at 3 miles when I planned to pass our house. I took the other with me. I really need to get a fuel belt or whatever it is called.

Anyway, I walked to the end of my street, and then I started jogging. I went really slowly for the first 3 miles, and then the last mile I went a little faster. I definitely wasn't blazing or anything, but I did 4 miles in 50:24. For my first time over 3 miles, I am so happy! I did laugh though as I usually run at the end and go faster. I don't go quite full out, but I get close by the very end. This is only for the last tenth of a mile or so. I thought I was going so fast, and then I looked at my Garmin. It said 12:02. LOL. I thought I was going so fast, but I guess my legs were tired. Hee Hee...Anyway, I did it. Only 9.1 more miles to go by Feb 28. I think I can do it even though doing 5 miles two weeks from today seems unlikely. We will see. :)

Saturday - Supposed to be Step Day

I decided that I had missed way too many of Anita's step classes on Saturday due to my stupid leg. So, I packed myself up and went. I figured I could at least do it on the floor and be getting back into it. I really like her class. SO, I get there and all of these people have yoga mats. Uh oh. I look at the door and it says Yoga at 10:30. Uh oh. This can't be right. I go look at the schedule and realize that there is no longer Anita's class on Saturday. WAAAHHHHHHHHHH..... I thought I was going to cry. She was my absolute favorite step instructor ever, and I missed her last day and don't even know where she went.

However, it was probably fate telling me to not do step until my leg is better. LOL....

So, I never really got motivated after that depression, so I just walked today. I am trying to be good and not run twice in a row as Chris told me. I didn't feel like biking or swimming even though that is what I should have done probably. Anyway, I walked.

Rest Day

Friday is a rest day. I flew home. I ate from the Hungry Greek for dinner. OMG I love that place. I had an gyro (with less than half of the meat that was on it and no sauce) and a small greek side salad (with very little dressing and none of the potatoes). I thought this was fitting as it is Georgia/Auburn weekend, and I had my first ever gyro when I was in 4th or 5th grade in Auburn, Alabama at Papa Gyro's courtesy of my big brother Mike. :) I was SOOOOOO close to ditching the flight and staying for the game, but I really wanted to exercise and be good.

Thursday - Travel Day

Today, I was traveling to Philly (well really Delaware) and then to Atlanta. I was walking a lot through airports and such. I did pretty well with food as I had a grilled chicken salad at lunch with very minimal dressing and I had boiled shrimp for dinner. The shrimp was in some kind of juice, but I don't think it was that bad. When I got to the hotel in Atlanta, it was 10:25. I felt frustrated due to some other things going on, so I went to the fitness center in the hotel. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes. Good girl Amy, Good girl.

Biko and Elliptical

Today, I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and saw Biko. I completely forgot to weigh in before I warmed up, but by my scale I am down 55 lbs total. Amazing.

Biko focused on the upper body as I am completely paranoid about hurting my stupid leg again. I enjoyed doing the arm work though. I need to get strong again. Then, we did a lot of core. I didn't do anything that would hurt the leg, so I didn't do lower ab work - only upper. We did a lot of upper though. That Biko kept bringing it. :) I have had 35 sessions with Biko now in 5.5 months. It is amazing how much I missed him over the last month as I have only been 2 times in 4 weeks due to my stupid leg injury. I am hopeful that by this Thursday that Chris will let me run a little more and do a little leg/lower ab workout. I am trying so hard to be a good girl.

Track Day

Today was supposed to be track day. However, hurricane Ida decided to cause us rain and wind. Since I will miss the real track workout on Thursday, heather and I went to the gym to do treadmills. I did the 6 times of 1/4 mile at a faster pace than I normally do (roughly 2:35 per quarter mile). That is FAST for me. I know it is slow, but I am so happy that i did it and my leg didn't hurt. Chris at Elite Sports Massage & Bodywork worked on the evil adductor muscle today, and he must have conquered it. When I was warming up, it felt a little sore. I thought I wouldn't be able to do it. But as I got started and got warmed up, it didn't hurt at all. :)

My shoulders have really been bothering me a lot as I carry all of my stress there. Chris also worked on my shoulders, and I feel so much better. He is good at hitting all of the trigger points.

Great day!

Ellipical

Since today is the day before "track" day, I did the elliptical for 20 minutes and that was all. Leg is still getting better. Not really hurting at all unless I tweak it or use it too much.

Sunday - Bike Ride

Today, Mike and I rode bikes. We did almost 11 miles in 43 minutes. It was WINDY due to hurricane Ida. At one point, i was going 27 miles an hour. I have definitely never been that fast on a bike before. :) It was a little scary I was so fast. However, on the way back, I was going into that wind. Then, it was hard to go faster than 14mph and at one point we were going 12mph.

It felt good to ride again. I had been avoiding the whole bike thing for some reason, but I really enjoyed it.

My leg seems to be healing nicely. I felt it a little while riding into the wind, but it wasn't bad.

Wesley Chapel 5K

Today, Mike and I did the Wesley Chapel 5k! My time was 37:32 which is 2:36 faster than I did it a few weeks ago in the triathlon. I am so proud of myself.

According to my Garmin,

Mile 1 - 12:42

HR 168

Mile 2 - 12:18

HR 176

Mile 3 - 11:29 - WOW - under 12 min!

HR - 183

Last .1 - 1:02

9:56 pace - WOW!

HR 189 WHOOPS

This was the first Wesley Chapel 5K race, and it was fun for us because there were only 130 people in it. It was in the beautiful saddlebrook resort area which is near us, but I had never been inside there. We ran by golf courses, tennis courts, pools, and beautiful homes. It was really nice.

Nicole from my Wesley Chapel Tri Team was also there. She is super duper fast though so I never saw her during the race. She finished in 29 minutes. Oh, how I can dream to be that fast some day. :)

Mike did awesome and finished in 43 minutes. He hadn't really trained much for it, so it is awesome that he did it that fast. He will be faster than me in no time. I hate that men can do that so easily, but it is what it is. :)

I looked back at the Jingle Bell Run that we did in 2007. I had been doing the couch to 5K for 7 weeks before that, so I walked and ran. That one took us 46 minutes and I felt like I was going to die by the end. So, I have come a LONG way. SO proud of us!!!!!!!

Elliptical

I decided to do 30 minutes on elliptical instead of trying to run today. I could have biked, but my knee is all stiff from me being a clutz and falling. So, I just ellipticalled it (is that a word?).

I now offically hate Halloween. I actually really like the holiday and enjoy it. I do not enjoy the leftover candy. It is evil. It calls to me all day. Come get some candyyyyyyyyyy. I have been pretty good, but I want it to be GONE. :)

By the way, check out the Wesley Chapel Tri Team's website! Come join us in our quest for a half marathon!

Track Day

Today was our first track day of the half marathon training. I was excited. We started by warming up for 2 laps around the track at a slow jog. Then, we did skips (high knees) and kicking your butt kicks. I don't like those butt kicks. Then, we started off doing 1/4 mile (1 track lap) at a pace that we couldn't talk during. Then, we rested for a minute or two. The workout was to do that 6 times, but I didn't make it as my leg was hurting. I had to walk and then I stopped and just stretched. We finished with a slow job that still hurt my leg so I stopped.

I cannot explain why it is so frustrating to be injured when I have not even wanted to do this stuff for years or maybe even my whole life. I have never run, and I have never been sad when I couldn't. It is so maddening to want to do it and to enjoy it and to not be able to do it. GRRRRRR......... I think the most maddening part is that I thougth I was almost better. :( Oh well, on to the next day.

3 miles

Today, I ran 3 miles! I did the last mile in 11:40 which is my fastest pace yet for a mile! WOO HOO! My leg felt somewhat sore in the first mile, so I went slowly. By the second and third miles, it was all good. I think it might finally be healing!

Time to Start the New Goal

Today officially marks the beginning of my training for a half marathon. We have 18 weeks to prepare for the Gasparilla Half Marathon. I am scared that I won't be able to do it, but I am going to try anyway. :)

According to the plan, I am to run 3 miles today. I did run 3 miles in 38 minutes. Better than the 40 I did last time. I felt pretty good, but I did fall about 2/3 of a mile from my house. I went to throw my water bottle away and when I turned to go back to the street I fell. Gashed up my knee but I kept going! I ran all the way home even though it hurt and was bleeding. By the time I ran a while, it didn't hurt any more. I had kind of forgotten about it when Mike saw me. He got this shocked look and said what happened? It was funny because I said, oh yeah, I fell. Hee hee. I think i am officially a runner. I fell, bled, and kept going. Day 1 complete.