It has come up many and many times... the desire to eat and be well for 30 strait days. I am going to finally take advantage of take advantage of this blog to physically benefit me. Not only for the next 30 days will I be beginning my marathon training for Baltimore (began today), but I will also let the entire world know that I mean business this time when I say 30 days of being well.
At the end of each day I will create a post detailing my calorie intake and how well I did along with my training progress. I use My Fitness Pal to help me with my calorie counting here or there. It is time though to be serious about it all.
Also Judy will be arriving in around 22 days so it will give me a good start for her when she arrives and we can celebrate the 30 days ending together! (Shout out obviously).
Stay tuned tomorrow for post 1/30.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Second Wind/Second Attempt!
It has happened, I have gone crazy. For those who do not know, I tried to run the Cleveland Marathon this past May and after doing something odd to my knee and an intense heat I was not expecting, I had to withdraw at mile 23. Forever more, I will remember lying on the side of the road at the water station waiting for my mom to come pick me up just thoroughly exhausted. I will probably throw a few more race recaps here or there throughout the next few months about what went wrong and what I will fix from the marathon.
In terms of quotes, the first thing I told my mom when I was picked up was 'it is just too damn long'. Throughout the race I lost sight of why I was running and I can say with complete honesty that running that marathon was the single hardest thing I have ever tried to do.
Well... I have gone crazy and decided to try it again.
The Baltimore Marathon, a race I have read many good things about over time has surfaced as a race I will try to work towards running. I have completed my training plan and after the first month (the end of July due to a rate increase), if I am still going well, I will sign up.
See my Baltimore Marathon training schedule here.
I mixed up my plan a little this time and the two main changes which I will comment on are the 3 mi every Monday and all the speed training. The Mondays are so I can run with my dog Cody every Monday no matter what and maybe done the road he can run some of the 5 mile runs with me too. Also, I figure I would like to work on some speed that will also aid me in increasing my 5k and 10k times and the interval training will do just that. I ran a 5k a couple weeks ago finishing in 10th overall and 3rd in my age group at 19:30 (without my normal running shoes on a trail course). Maybe I will break 19:00 in a coming race.
More to come! Especially now that I will have a computer that I can get into Google with and post through.
Beginning my marathon today to the finish line in October.
In terms of quotes, the first thing I told my mom when I was picked up was 'it is just too damn long'. Throughout the race I lost sight of why I was running and I can say with complete honesty that running that marathon was the single hardest thing I have ever tried to do.
Well... I have gone crazy and decided to try it again.
The Baltimore Marathon, a race I have read many good things about over time has surfaced as a race I will try to work towards running. I have completed my training plan and after the first month (the end of July due to a rate increase), if I am still going well, I will sign up.
See my Baltimore Marathon training schedule here.
I mixed up my plan a little this time and the two main changes which I will comment on are the 3 mi every Monday and all the speed training. The Mondays are so I can run with my dog Cody every Monday no matter what and maybe done the road he can run some of the 5 mile runs with me too. Also, I figure I would like to work on some speed that will also aid me in increasing my 5k and 10k times and the interval training will do just that. I ran a 5k a couple weeks ago finishing in 10th overall and 3rd in my age group at 19:30 (without my normal running shoes on a trail course). Maybe I will break 19:00 in a coming race.
More to come! Especially now that I will have a computer that I can get into Google with and post through.
Beginning my marathon today to the finish line in October.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Race Day
Just like that, it is race day.
As Barney Stinson would say, "Let me tell you how to run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. There is no step two."
Race starts at7 am, playlist is all set, clothes are all on, shoes about to be tied.
Today is going to be a good day!
Track me if you want! http://www.clevelandmarathon.com/Live_Runner_Tracking/
As Barney Stinson would say, "Let me tell you how to run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. There is no step two."
Race starts at7 am, playlist is all set, clothes are all on, shoes about to be tied.
Today is going to be a good day!
Track me if you want! http://www.clevelandmarathon.com/Live_Runner_Tracking/
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Marathon is a Go!!
Well well well.... here we are on Wednesday May 9th. It has been an up and down roller coaster ride towards this marathon that is less than 11 days away. As most of you know, I hurt my foot a little over four or five weeks ago and it almost put a damper on my marathon plans. Last year I was taken out of the marathon by hurting my hip and instead of healing it I tried to run through it and ultimately ran into issues for the next six months! Not this time around!
There was a point a few weeks ago when I had to come to terms with not running the Cleveland Marathon again as my foot wasn't healing up as well as it should. I was on an emotional roller coaster and it seemed like I was just jinxed to run. Four weeks into the injury I went to my Dr. and he said not to get my hopes down, 'things happen' as he put it, and I would be back to running soon enough. Well later that week I began running again....
I wasn't sure if I would be able to get back to the distances necessary still to run the marathon. I was struggling and sore with 10-12 miles but all that changed this week. This past Sunday I ran 21 miles! I was so exhausted and out of it the rest of the day but I made it! I needed that little miracle to get me to run the Cleveland Marathon and it is a go!
I ran today again for the first time since Sunday and felt like a ton of bricks still in my legs but ran really hard and averaged 7:25 miles for my 7 miles. I do not believe I will be able to run in 3:30 like I was hoping before as my 21 miles were at 8:45 pace instead of sub 8 but that is totally okay with me. If I cross that finish line I will be ecstatic. Hopefully under 4 hours though :-)
I am glad to be running the Cleveland Marathon in just over a week but I need to get ready!
To do list for the marathon:
1. Get new running socks (Thanks mom for the gift certificate!)
2. Prepare my running play list (look for a new post about this before race day)
3. Find the classiest clothes I can run in to look sharp. Running is style obviously.
4. Pick up my race packet next week!
5. Oh yea and finish finals this week... hopefully more good news on this front shortly too!
6-10. I am probably forgetting some things so these are to be filled in.
There was a point a few weeks ago when I had to come to terms with not running the Cleveland Marathon again as my foot wasn't healing up as well as it should. I was on an emotional roller coaster and it seemed like I was just jinxed to run. Four weeks into the injury I went to my Dr. and he said not to get my hopes down, 'things happen' as he put it, and I would be back to running soon enough. Well later that week I began running again....
I wasn't sure if I would be able to get back to the distances necessary still to run the marathon. I was struggling and sore with 10-12 miles but all that changed this week. This past Sunday I ran 21 miles! I was so exhausted and out of it the rest of the day but I made it! I needed that little miracle to get me to run the Cleveland Marathon and it is a go!
I ran today again for the first time since Sunday and felt like a ton of bricks still in my legs but ran really hard and averaged 7:25 miles for my 7 miles. I do not believe I will be able to run in 3:30 like I was hoping before as my 21 miles were at 8:45 pace instead of sub 8 but that is totally okay with me. If I cross that finish line I will be ecstatic. Hopefully under 4 hours though :-)
I am glad to be running the Cleveland Marathon in just over a week but I need to get ready!
To do list for the marathon:
1. Get new running socks (Thanks mom for the gift certificate!)
2. Prepare my running play list (look for a new post about this before race day)
3. Find the classiest clothes I can run in to look sharp. Running is style obviously.
4. Pick up my race packet next week!
5. Oh yea and finish finals this week... hopefully more good news on this front shortly too!
6-10. I am probably forgetting some things so these are to be filled in.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Good, Well... Getting Better Update
Well, here we are, a new week down the road. I have had this foot injury now for over two full weeks with no running through it all. Last week, the pain subsided enough to walk around but only a couple days ago, the pain completely went away. My orthopedist gave me a boot to walk around in which helped but can be very uncomfortable. However, I had not gone back to running.
With this week, I was hoping to return to running. Having already missed a 20 mile run, this week would give me a 12 mile run on Sunday and then 20 next week. I have been pain free for a day or two completely and was hoping to go running this morning. Woke up and got up to go, shoes on and everything. For starters it was bitterly cold outside and I felt like just staying inside and had multiple ideals of just giving up. I am not a morning runner, this much I have basically already known... especially when it is cold.
Well... I got to the starting point second guessing myself and the foot over and over. After around 30 feet of running I stopped. I wasn't sure if my foot was hurt or not. It felt like I was feeling the injury with the steps and was going to act up if I continued to run. Maybe just some soreness. However, I decided not to risk it and came home sadly.
The entire walk back I was thinking, maybe I am scared to run? It has been over 2 weeks since running and my body may be a little not used to it anymore which could be a factor... especially mentally. At this point, maybe I will try running on it later in the day down the week, but for now, I think it is best to not go on it.
I have injured myself over and over. This foot injury was one of the most painful I have had so far... I am not sure if I am at that point of fear for running now. I get that little sinking feeling in my stomach when I try to get myself psyched to run around. It has just been a bumpy ride and it is one of those, 'what will the next injury be?' Instead of the 'get out and enjoy the run!' I just dont know anymore.
I am getting to that point in the training where if I miss much more, the marathon will be difficult. I feel that if I atleast am able to get a running base back under me I will be okay for the marathon, but that means running by next week at the latest or I may be out.
With this week, I was hoping to return to running. Having already missed a 20 mile run, this week would give me a 12 mile run on Sunday and then 20 next week. I have been pain free for a day or two completely and was hoping to go running this morning. Woke up and got up to go, shoes on and everything. For starters it was bitterly cold outside and I felt like just staying inside and had multiple ideals of just giving up. I am not a morning runner, this much I have basically already known... especially when it is cold.
Well... I got to the starting point second guessing myself and the foot over and over. After around 30 feet of running I stopped. I wasn't sure if my foot was hurt or not. It felt like I was feeling the injury with the steps and was going to act up if I continued to run. Maybe just some soreness. However, I decided not to risk it and came home sadly.
The entire walk back I was thinking, maybe I am scared to run? It has been over 2 weeks since running and my body may be a little not used to it anymore which could be a factor... especially mentally. At this point, maybe I will try running on it later in the day down the week, but for now, I think it is best to not go on it.
I have injured myself over and over. This foot injury was one of the most painful I have had so far... I am not sure if I am at that point of fear for running now. I get that little sinking feeling in my stomach when I try to get myself psyched to run around. It has just been a bumpy ride and it is one of those, 'what will the next injury be?' Instead of the 'get out and enjoy the run!' I just dont know anymore.
I am getting to that point in the training where if I miss much more, the marathon will be difficult. I feel that if I atleast am able to get a running base back under me I will be okay for the marathon, but that means running by next week at the latest or I may be out.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Its a Rollercoaster Ride
Okay, it has been a few weeks since my last post and I want to apologize for that. The past few weeks has been really up and down. I will start with a little recap of the situation to get to where I currently am.
For spring break this year I went to California for the first time and saw Judy! It was a great trip and I had brought my shoes with me to run. That week however, was a rough week in terms of motivating me to run. I ended up barely running Tuesday, and Wednesday flew out and arrived that evening in California. Thursday I went to Disneyland for the first time and did not run. Friday I ran in Granada Hills and almost face planted into the pavement. Probably would have been a 'take me to the hospital now' type of fall, but somehow, and I mean somehow I barely stayed up. I ran 16 miles on Sunday and was really happy about that. (I am missing a run in here or something I believe).
After returning it was real hard to start running again and I only ran twice that week. My long run on Sunday was only 3 miles before I gave in. I wasn't going to let that happen again. It was a huge snag in the road for me and was an eye opener in terms of what I need to do for the marathon. After that, I put my butt in gear (somewhat) and went for a good week after that. I hit all my runs and ended up running 43 miles last week! The most I have done in a week. I even woke up at 5 15 am to run along the river in Tulsa, OK (where I was for a wedding) and ran 17 miles.
With all this good turn of fortune came a real bad turn. I ran eight miles on Saturday on the treadmill because I hate the cold and did it real fast too. However, I also became aware later that day that my foot was 'cracking' and hurt a little on the outside. I still ran all 17 miles on Sunday but ended up going to the ER to get my foot checked out when I couldn't walk without each step having horrible pains. Turns out I was running on a badly sprained foot. Luckily no stress fracture. However, I could barely walk until yesterday when it still hurts but at least I am not limping. I hope to not be out of running for longer than two weeks or I will then need to put some serious thought to running the marathon.
I missed last years marathon with an injury and I hope to not miss this years again. I am pretty sick and tired of having all of these snags and just wish that I could not be so injury prone. I know I don't have the body of a runner but I hope to have one some day... that isn't going to happen if I keep getting hurt.
I guess what would marathon training for me be without getting an injury?
For spring break this year I went to California for the first time and saw Judy! It was a great trip and I had brought my shoes with me to run. That week however, was a rough week in terms of motivating me to run. I ended up barely running Tuesday, and Wednesday flew out and arrived that evening in California. Thursday I went to Disneyland for the first time and did not run. Friday I ran in Granada Hills and almost face planted into the pavement. Probably would have been a 'take me to the hospital now' type of fall, but somehow, and I mean somehow I barely stayed up. I ran 16 miles on Sunday and was really happy about that. (I am missing a run in here or something I believe).
After returning it was real hard to start running again and I only ran twice that week. My long run on Sunday was only 3 miles before I gave in. I wasn't going to let that happen again. It was a huge snag in the road for me and was an eye opener in terms of what I need to do for the marathon. After that, I put my butt in gear (somewhat) and went for a good week after that. I hit all my runs and ended up running 43 miles last week! The most I have done in a week. I even woke up at 5 15 am to run along the river in Tulsa, OK (where I was for a wedding) and ran 17 miles.
With all this good turn of fortune came a real bad turn. I ran eight miles on Saturday on the treadmill because I hate the cold and did it real fast too. However, I also became aware later that day that my foot was 'cracking' and hurt a little on the outside. I still ran all 17 miles on Sunday but ended up going to the ER to get my foot checked out when I couldn't walk without each step having horrible pains. Turns out I was running on a badly sprained foot. Luckily no stress fracture. However, I could barely walk until yesterday when it still hurts but at least I am not limping. I hope to not be out of running for longer than two weeks or I will then need to put some serious thought to running the marathon.
I missed last years marathon with an injury and I hope to not miss this years again. I am pretty sick and tired of having all of these snags and just wish that I could not be so injury prone. I know I don't have the body of a runner but I hope to have one some day... that isn't going to happen if I keep getting hurt.
I guess what would marathon training for me be without getting an injury?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Wind and Winning!
Living in Cleveland at times can be extremely rough... weather wise. Since coming back to Cleveland from Israel, it has been a cold, snowy, wintry mess. I know what most people are thinking, 'It has been a nice mild winter this year! It was even in the 60's in Jan/Feb.' Well that just isn't good enough! I miss running on the beach but today was a good booster. I was able to run outside in the 68F that it was today.
It was a good run overall running a total of 7 miles. The first three were ran in 20:10 which was a great time! However, with Cleveland comes wind! I remember reading one of INSPIRUNNING's blog posts about the least windy places in the USA. Well, I totally agree! Running up the hills of the Cleveland HEIGHTS/Shaker HEIGHTS was difficult, but not as bad as the Jerusalem hills I endured.
The final four miles were ran in 32:20 which was a good finish, however I could have done much better. As my only second non-treadmill run in the past 5-6 weeks, it was a good sign of what is to come. If I keep pushing, I don't think that anything can stand in my way!
Onto the 'Winning' portion of my post! It has always been difficult for me for the past year + to lose the final little bit of weight I wanted to. Since returning home, I may have let myself go on the eating front. Even though I had been working out hard and daily, my base weight for some reason creeped back up to 203. After seeing that on the scale for a few days strait and always saying I was going to take control, I finally did something about it.
At the end of last week, I signed up for MyFitnessPal.com Here is where I have been keeping track of my eating. I have done real real real real real well at reeling in my diet and keeping track of every morsel of food that I ingest. The good news is that after starting off strong, I am back below 200 to where I came back from Israel (and spent the better portion of last year at) to 198. According to the website, I can be at my goal of 185 by the second week of April.
I miss the feeling of hoping on the scale and seeing the new weight that I achieved. I remember seeing on my Facebook all my posts about each new weight I got. Well it is time for that again! I am on target to get there and get there strong!
I am not sure how possible it is, but between the running, yoga, weight lifting, swimming, daily abs, and dieting, I have been saying I want to have a six pack by the marathon. I don't think that is possible with the amount of toning/skin loss to achieve from the weight loss,but it is something I am going to strive for. Even if it means I get it during the summer and swim suit season :)
On a side note, I am wondering where is a good place in Cleveland to run distance outdoors? For my Sunday long runs, I'd rather run through parks than through city blocks.
Never give up! Never surrender!
It was a good run overall running a total of 7 miles. The first three were ran in 20:10 which was a great time! However, with Cleveland comes wind! I remember reading one of INSPIRUNNING's blog posts about the least windy places in the USA. Well, I totally agree! Running up the hills of the Cleveland HEIGHTS/Shaker HEIGHTS was difficult, but not as bad as the Jerusalem hills I endured.
The final four miles were ran in 32:20 which was a good finish, however I could have done much better. As my only second non-treadmill run in the past 5-6 weeks, it was a good sign of what is to come. If I keep pushing, I don't think that anything can stand in my way!
Onto the 'Winning' portion of my post! It has always been difficult for me for the past year + to lose the final little bit of weight I wanted to. Since returning home, I may have let myself go on the eating front. Even though I had been working out hard and daily, my base weight for some reason creeped back up to 203. After seeing that on the scale for a few days strait and always saying I was going to take control, I finally did something about it.
At the end of last week, I signed up for MyFitnessPal.com Here is where I have been keeping track of my eating. I have done real real real real real well at reeling in my diet and keeping track of every morsel of food that I ingest. The good news is that after starting off strong, I am back below 200 to where I came back from Israel (and spent the better portion of last year at) to 198. According to the website, I can be at my goal of 185 by the second week of April.
I miss the feeling of hoping on the scale and seeing the new weight that I achieved. I remember seeing on my Facebook all my posts about each new weight I got. Well it is time for that again! I am on target to get there and get there strong!
I am not sure how possible it is, but between the running, yoga, weight lifting, swimming, daily abs, and dieting, I have been saying I want to have a six pack by the marathon. I don't think that is possible with the amount of toning/skin loss to achieve from the weight loss,but it is something I am going to strive for. Even if it means I get it during the summer and swim suit season :)
On a side note, I am wondering where is a good place in Cleveland to run distance outdoors? For my Sunday long runs, I'd rather run through parks than through city blocks.
Never give up! Never surrender!
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