Week 3, Day 2. Jog/walk felt good today. Temperature outside was 42, but VERY windy. I'm plugging along. Stats were almost exactly like last workout, so I am being consistent:)

Start time: 1:34p.m.
Total time: 30 min
Distance: 2.3 miles
Avg HR 129
Max HR 190
Calories burned: 181

Wasn't able to jog/run yesterday, as Tuesday and Thursday Allie's only in school in the a.m., so when stuff comes up, I can't get it in:( So, my plan at this point is to do it Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun, and if time allows for Tues & Thursday, then I will, but if not, those will be rest days.

Ok, going on vacation didn't help my running at all. But, I am back now and had a great jog/walk today. I started the Week 3, day 1 all over and it felt great. No stitches. Breathing was interesting at times, but I attribute that to the cold weather. Temperature today was 40 degrees .

Start time: 1:18p.m.

Total time: 30 min

Distance: 2.3 miles

Avg HR 129

Max HR 190

Calories burned: 181

K, I don't think the GPS worked at all today, but the Polar HR monitor with pod worked, thankfully. Not sure if it is a battery issue, that the two units don't like each other (LOL) or if the trees on my run/jog got in the way of the GPS:(

But the jog/walk today went very well considering I haven't run/jog in 13 days. To make up for it, I'm going to try doing it again tomorrow. See how the body feels/reacts. Off to take a tubby:)

WEEK 3 DAY 1

Started the 3rd week today. Start with a brisk 5 min warm up, followed by two repeats of the following: Jog 90 secs/walk 90 secs, jog 3 min/walk 3 min. followed by a 5 min cool down.

Todays run went very well. Almost didn't get it in as Allie stayed home from school in the a.m. but she went for the afternoon session so I got my run in. Very cold and it was sleeting during the jog/walk. But soooo glad I got it in.

Temp today was about 34 degrees

Start time: 1:35p.m.
Finish time: 2:05p.m.
Total time: 29:29 min

Distance: 2.09 miles

Avg HR 127
Max HR 162
Calories burned: 168

All and all it felt good. No stitches and the 3 min jog felt awesome.

Now to just keep it up while on vacation, which starts Wednesday. Turks & Caicos WARM weather here I come!!!

WEEK 2 DAY 3

Today's run went very well. I was rushed for time, but I got the run/jog in!!! Just didn't get to complete the full 5 minutes cool down walk. I know, not good, but at least I got the program in. I was able to come home and soak in a warm/hot tub for about 30min, so that should make up for it.

I'm very psyched about todays run/jog because I was able to keep my jogging pace at 8:23 to 9:00 minute pace with no stiches at all and it felt awesome!!

So I was able to finish the program in 27:26 and did the same distance of 2.17, when I did the full 30:00. YEAH baby!!

Start time: 9:03a.m.
Finish time: 9:31a.m.
Total time: 27:26 min

Distance: 2.17 miles

Avg HR 147
Max HR 172
Calories burned: 172

I think the HR monitor worked pretty well today. I didn't see any spikes like I did last run.

So, week 2 is completed. On to week 3 next time!!

Registered for some races today

Exciting day today. I registered for two qualifying races.

Feb 23rd - NYRR snowflake 4 miler

Mar 9th - NY colon Cancer 4 miler

This is exciting!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 2 Day 2

Weather was cold again today, but not too bad. Temp was about 40.

Run felt good, NO STICHES today. YAY!!!

The HR monitor was a little wackey today, but it fixed itself midway, so read out isn't quite accurate for the AVG HR and MAX HR:(

Start time: 10:12a.m.
Finish time: 11:42a.m.
Total time: 30 min

Distance: 2.17 miles
Avg HR 121
Max HR 193

Calories burned: 155

WEEK 2, Day 1

Today was the first day of week 2. Started with a brisk 5 minute warmup, then jogged for 90 seconds followed by 2 minute walk (6x) for a total of 20min, then ended with a brisk 5 minute walk.

Weather continues to be warm. Was about 52 I believe while running. Today felt good, but did get a stick toward the end of the jogging phase the last two times. But was able to work through it and finished. I tried to keep my runs at about a 10min pace.

Start time: 11:05a.m.
Finish time: 11:35a.m.

Total time: 30 min
Distance: 2.13 miles

Avg HR 127
Max HR 213

Calories burned: 158

WEEK 1 DAY 3

Warmer today, but overcast. Temp about 47 degrees.

Start time: 1:26pm
Finish time: 1:56pm

Total time: 30min
Total Distance: 2.08 miles

Avg HR: 131
Max HR: 229
Calories burned: 170

Tried to keep my pace at about a 9:30 mile when doing the jogging. Felt good. I got warm today, but I think it's because I wore my winter jacket. There was no need as the temperature outside was warm. Oh well, live and learn. Never got winded and run/jog felt good. But wonder if that had anything to do with the High HR compared to the first two days, but I did increase the pace on the jogs, so that was a factor too.

Another thing I did differently today, was I didn't start from the house. I started from the corner of Van Burren & Truman (Kate's house). The first two workouts, though it really didn't hurt, but felt uncomfortable, were my shins while walking up Taylor Street. A fairly big hill. Felt MUCH BETTER. Will do this for awhile until I feel stronger.

Just realized I didn't write down the specifics of the C25K program.

The program is designed to be run 3 days per week. I am altering it a tad because we are going on vacation and I want to be able to be running 3 miles by March 1st. Hopefully I won't regret this because I want to stay injury free, but if I feel any discomfort I will make changes at that point. But so far so good. So, what I am doing is running every other day, instead of just picking 3 particular days in a week, each week. It's basically the same thing, but a few less rest days.

The program is as follows:
Week 1: consists of running the same work out each day.

Start with a brisk 5 minute warm up walk.
Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Followed by a 5 minute brisk cool down walk, for a total of 30 minutes.

WEEK 1 DAY 2

Woke up this morning after not getting much sleep. Bec kept waking in the middle of the nite:( But I got enough. Got kids off to school and did my C25K earlier today, than the last one, which I had to do later in the day (not my preferred time to do it)! Weather was cold, but not as frigid as yesterday! Run/walk felt great today. No ill effects from the first day:) So far, so GOOOD!!!

Left my house at 10:43 and returned at 11:20.

C25K Program actually was only from 10:43 to 11:13. If I want to start at home and stop at home, at least for the time being, my program times will be a little off. So, for now I will keep track of both.

I want to keep track of when I leave the house and return. Obviously this will include a lot more walking until my endurance/speed picks up. Which should happen as I approach week 2, 3, 4, 5, etc... as it will require more jogging and less walking.

I pulled out my garmin forerunner 101 that Gregg gave me for Xmas LAST year. Still sealed in the box. Never used it. Didn't understand what it was really, but decided to strap it on and see. I'd always used my Polar HR monitor which had a pod for pace/distance.

But I am determined to train for the marathon and I read alot of blogs that said the Forerunner was a great training tool, and decided to open the box and use it. It took about 2 minutes to find a signal and once it locked on, it kept a signal the whole time:) A concern I had since we live in the hills. (Plus one for the forerunner!!!!!!!! )

Only problem was that it was difficult to judge how long the run/jog would take from starting at my house to finishing at my house. I already knew the week 1 C25K didn't make it back to my house. Stopped right about Mrs. Mogelesky's house. So I guessed and programmed the forerunner for 2 miles in 30 minutes. Next time I think I should just hit start and not enter a program??

Well, I made it all the way up to parking lot at Dr. Shineman's office, turned around and made it back to right in front of Jimmy's Pizza. When the Forerruner beeped and told me I reached my 2 mile goal, in 26.:04 minutes. So my guestimate was way off today. Will try to do better Sunday.

My polar HR monitor said almost exactly the same thing. So, pretty accurate. Unfortuneately, I chose to do the vertual trainer on the Forerunner, and was faster, so the unit stopped when I got to Jimmy's. So I don't know the whole distance back to my house. I'm learning how to use this thing:)

I don't quite know the distance i did today in all, from my house back to my house, but I should know by next run/jog. But the program portion was about 2.2 miles in 30 minutes. My average heartrate was 133 and my Max heartrate was 158. So from my first run/jog, that has improved. NICE!!

But I was impressed with the Garmin Forerunner 101. It worked and I really liked it. Will definitely use it again and try to figure out how to use it. LOL Won't use the vertual trainer next time, that's for sure. Will wait till I'm running 3 miles at a clip for that. Wonder if I can just turn it on and hit start if it will give me time, pace & distance. Cause that's really all that I need.

Oh, and the music for the podrunner podcast from itunes is awesome. I really like running to it. And the guy that put it together is great. Tells me exactly when to run and when to jog. It's AWESOME!!!!!!

So, I'm doing it. And with my training buddies: the forerunner, my HR monitor and my itunes podcast. I KNOW I'LL be running in no time doing races come April!!!!!!

LOL, so much for wanting to do a little something on my 'rest' light day. No worries, I'm not suffering from yesterdays run, but I do have that 'just worked out for the first time in ages' feeling. LOL The normal stuff. 'No pain No gain'. But I am going to listen to my body and actually take today as a REST day.

Don't worry, I'll be back with my results of how things go tomorrow for Day 2 of C25K!!

STARTED C25K PROGRAM: WEEK 1 DAY 1

Well, I woke up this morning all excited to start the C25K program. Kids actually slept a little late. We had a rushed morning before I got them off to school in a very unexpected snow storm. While driving them to school I was wondering why today? I want to run. Well, within a half hour the snow stopped. I had some things that had to get done, so didn't get to the run until 2:15, but I did it. First day, check, COMPLETED!!!!

It was cold but not unbearable. Fired up the itunes podrunner, week one and off I went. It was incredible. Total time was 30 minutes. My average HR was 136, and my max was 166. Never felt like I had to stop, but definitely felt like I got a good workout. I don't really care about distance at this point, but I do know where I ran, so I'll try to take the car out tomorrow and measure the distance just to get an idea.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Maybe just walk outside or do the eliptical at the gym.

January 1,2008

Well, back on Christmas day I joined NYRR's to be eligible for the NYC marathon in 2009. Today, January 1, 2008 I created this blog to make myself accountable. I need all the help I can get and writing a journal can only help. I know it's going to be hard with two kids, but I WILL do this.

I haven't run since I did the Cow Harbor 10K race back in September 2005. I wanted to break a 10 minute mile, and I did it in 9:54. YEAH!!!!!!!! I've done various exercises for brief stints, but nothing compared to the training I did for that race! You're probably wondering why I decided to pick up running, as I was never a runner. I chose to run this race because 2005 was the year I turned 40, and it was also the 25th anniversary from when I ran the Cow Harbor race my first and only time when I was in the 10th grade. LOL I think I ran it then in 38 minutes, so I was just hoping at 40 I could break an hour. So, I accomplished my goal!!

Now my ultimate goal is the NYC Marathon in 2009. To accomplish this I have to run 9 qualifying races this year. Where to begin? I've looked on the NYRR calendar, but nothing of interest yet. Hopefully they will post more races soon!! I don't think I'll be ready for a race until may anyway.

Also, wouldn't mind running the Summer Series this summer, but need to do research on that.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Need to focus on ONE DAY AT A TIME!!! First things first. Start C25K tomorrow!!!! So, tomorrow I start the C25K. I found the itunes podcast to go along with it, so it should go well. I plan to get myself up to running 3 miles, 3 times a week and then stay at that for about 4 weeks to build a solid base. Then start training from there for the 9 qualifying races.

THIS IS MY PROFILE, THAT DIDN'T FIT.....

I'm a SAHM with a wonderful husband and two beautiful girls 5 & 7. I'm turning 43 in March and wanted to get back into running. I was never a runner, but I played soccer and softball my whole life. Back in 2005, when I turned 40, I set a goal to run the Cow Harbor 10K race in under a 10min mile. I trained for 3 months and was thrilled when I crossed the finish line at 1:01:30, a 9:54 mile!!!!!!! This year I WILL do it in under 55 minutes!!!!!!! I've now set another goal, and that is to run the 2009 NYC Marathon when I'm 44. To accomplish this I WILL complete the 9 qualifying races to make this dream a reality. Best part is, my brother will be running (not sure if I'll be up to his pace), but running it with me!!!!! I created this blog to make myself accountable!!