Monday, September 20, 2010

Still 215, but 5 miles instead of 4.

So I'm really stuck at this 215 weight. I've seen it dip down, but 215 is just where my body wants to sit for a while. Hopefully I'll break through the barrier at some point. I've added weight lifting to my routine two days a week so maybe that will help.

The more exciting thing is that Sunday I hit the 5 mile mark running. 5.07 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes of continuous running. I was running and felt pretty good, so decided to go for 4.5. Then at 4.5, decided to go for the big FIVE-O.

I feel pretty good, took the next day for total rest just so I wouldn't push it (did 12 miles total this weekend (Fri, Sat and Sun).

A 5K in Merrimack on Saturday. Hopefully I can improve my times a little bit. Excited to try.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Wild Rover 1/2 Way to St Patricks Day 5K

I didn't stop. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I wanted to stop. At one point I couldn't even take a deep breath because I tweaked a muscle in my back/shoulders that was cramping or something. I remember running down Chestnut St not being able to take a breath, an issue that would have been debilitating even if I was walking. I kept pushing one step at a time (cliche, I know). The weird thing is I don't remember when it stopped, but as my legs kept going, my issue simply went away.

So as I mentioned my goal was not to stop, and didn't really care about time as long as I kept moving. The race took us up Elm St, which is a pretty big hill. I was mildly proud of myself as I ran up the hill, and people all around me had to stop and walk. This is what I've been doing in my runs around the house, hills (not a fan). It was nice to see work I've been doing paying off.

Once I crossed Webster St., which I guess was about a mile away from the finsh, I was very confident I was going to go the distance. I was looking for a 'rabbit', someone I could follow to pace myself. The problem was everyone I started following, either slowed their pace or ended up walking. I wasn't used to the situation of passing people. I was always the pass-ee. So that was another plus.

I finished up the race with a 33:52. More than 4 minutes better than my last race roughly two weeks prior, so that was another positive of the race. Then, after I was huffing and puffing from just coming across the finish line, a lady came up to me and thanked me for pacing her the entire race. ME! I paced someone!

Anyways, a very fun race. Its fun to see that I'm improving as a runner.

The pictures are pretty random, just me taking them of the crowd (finish line and the starting line). I didn't know anyone and no one knew me.








Tuesday, September 7, 2010

215 and 4 Miles

I have another 5K coming up on Sunday. I'm not sure I'll do any better at the 5K, but my running has got a little stronger. Over the long weekend I managed 3.88 (fri) 4.08 (sun) and 4.01 (mon) mile runs. First runs ever over 4 miles. On Monday my run was extra enjoyable because I went to the dam / state park by our house and did my first trail run (3 miles of it was trail). It was cold, peaceful and relaxing. I want to make a habit of doing that run when I don't have a race on a particular weekend. I turned around at the 2 mile mark because I didn't want to push past the 4 mile mark round trip, so I still have a little more trail to explore.

Here is the exercise activity summary for the run (with pics embedded, pretty neat):

Also the weight is slowly going down again. I weighed this morning (not after a hard sweaty workout like I like to do, hey it makes me feel good) and I was exactly 215. 40lbs down. 15 to go before the New Year. Not sure why I'm picking 200lbs by Jan 1st, but it seems like a good round number (no pun intended), and I have 3 months to lose 15 lbs. Very doable.

4 more races for the rest of the year. Would have more but Oct is a busy month for us. Hopefully I can find some in November.