Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Why I look at last year

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
I am not a very competitive person when it comes to running.  Ok, the truth is that I am not competitive at all when it comes to running. My goal?  Just finish the race in one piece. My bonus?  Not being last.  That being said, some would wonder why I am looking at last year's results for the Laporte Run the Bay 1/2 marathon in November? I mean it is possibly the first 1/2 I will run. ( I say possibly because it is part of the Toughest Bridge series in Southeast Texas.  There are two 10Ks that I am signed up for:  The Kemah Bridge toughest 10K and the Galveston Causeway Toughest 10K.  The last race in the series if the Laporte 1/2 mary that goes over the Fred Hartman Bridge. And I am not sure I want my first 1/2 mary to be considered tougher than normal.)

No, I am not trying to become one of the Youtube sensations that has a great motivating video about how they overcame all odds and not only ran their first half marathon but they actually won it also.  I love those stories and they really inspire me but that is not my calling.  But I do believe I can finish a race of this length.  My fear is that I can't finish it in the amount of time allowed.  This race has a 4 hour time limit.  I have four hours to run 13.1 miles.  To some that is a no brainer, to turtle pace me, that is an issue.

So I looked at the results from last year  to see if I how I compare to the slowest runner. That person finished in 4 hours 15 minutes with an average pace of  19:19.  So what does that mean to a person like me that has never ran a half marathon?  alot.  You see my brother in law sent me this Speed calculator.  You enter your most recent time for either a mile, 5K, 10K 1/2 mary or mary and it will calculate your anticipated pace for all other races.And based on my last race I should finish just under the gun at 3 hours and 53 minutes or an average pace of 17:53.  I don't consider that too shabby.  If I at least remain the same and not improve any by November 17th, the date of the race, I should finish before the deadline.

Don't get me wrong. I plan to continue improving and get faster but at least I feel confident that I can do this.  So if you don't know your pace or whether or not you will finish in the amount of time given, check out the speed calculator. It will also suggest your pace for endurance training, speed training, long distance training, anaerobic training and strength training..

Friday, July 26, 2013

Lunar Rendezvous 5K Recap

This race is special for me.  When I did Couch 2 5K in 2009, this was the first 5K I ran.  You can read my race recap from 2009 right here.  I finished my first 5K and lost to a 3 year old.  I read it again for the first time in a long time a week ago.  I am so glad I wrote it down because there were so many things I forgot and so many things that haven't changed.
  • I still just hope that I am not last.  I have to say I am a bit disappointed in my time of 50:17. It is 1:09 slower that my last race that was about 6 weeks ago with a at time of 49:09. I was really pushing for a 45 to 46.  I set my Nike plus to tell me my pace every minute...but it malfunctioned when I paused the music...for a reason I cannot remember.  Then I stopped to try to fix it, well not a complete stop but I really slowed down.  That is what I LOVE about Nikeplus, the ability to see my run and my pace along the whole route.  I slowed down to 19:57 pace when I was trying to fix my Nike (and that is one of my downfalls about Nike...it has glitches).  There is only one run a month I worry about pace and that is my timed one for the FattyMustRunMarathonChallenge. The rest of the time I just love being out there. Did I mention that I forgot my armband for my phone? yeah...so I had to hold it in my hand the hold time...not comfortable.
  • I still don't know how to drink from a cup and run at the same time.  I have no problem grabbing the water from the volunteer, and by the way, thank you to all the volunteers.  But once it is in my hand I fill like I am all thumbs and water just goes everywhere but my mouth.  I still feel guilty about throwing my cups on the ground and apparently so are other people because there was a tower of upside down cups on the ground. I decided I would add to the tower.
  • I cannot verify it but I think my three year old nemesis was there.  He would be about seven now and there was a seven year old there running along with me...mocking me.  He has a younger brother that is about 5 (Of course he was not there in 2009 because he would have been about 1...not even walking) But this year, this year they both mocked me.  They would run past me just laughing and smiling and giggling.  Then they would wait for their mother and me to get near them again and then they were off again.  One day I am going to beat this child and I better do it soon because once he becomes a preteen...my chance is gone.
  • I still don't like people to come back for me.  Last time my daughter ran with me.  She came back on the route to look for me and cheer me on.  She kept her distance. She could tell that I appreciated it but that I needed to do this on my own. however, this time my husband ran with me. It was his first 5K. Kelly and Diane were there again (and yes they one their age groups).  All three came back to look for me.  While I love the fact they came back, to cheer me on, I lose my concentration.  So as they walked up towards me, I waved them to turn around and go back to finish line.  And they did.  Maybe that is why I don't know team sports...I don't want anyone to depend on me. If I fail, it only affects me.  
  • I wasn't nervous about the race.  Unfortunately, I had a 14 hour event that I was hosting at my house for 15 women from 10 am to midnight...that same day. So I spent the day before cleaning and decorating until 3 AM and then I was up at 5 for the race.  I love hosting these events and I love the 5Ks but I realized I don't love doing them on the same day.  
  • That being said, I was ill prepared.  Last time I worrying about tapering and hydration before the race. This time I just worried about showing up.  
My  hopes is that my next race will have a better time. I am still looking for 45 or sub 45.  I'll get there. I know it.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Just a little inspiraiton

I was on Facebook today and saw this amazing video:



Words are a powerful thing.  So powerful that the Bible repeatedly tells us to watch our tongue.  But words start in the mind and in the mind is where we do most of our self talk.

So this got me thinking...what words do we tell ourselves?  "I can't run faster than a 15 minute mile.  I can't spin, it's too hard.  I can't eat better. I don't have time to work out."  Every time we say I can't or I don't or it's too hard. What you are really saying is I WON'T.  "I will not" is a powerful statement.  Because the truth is you can but you choose not to do it.  You choose to not try to run faster, spin for more than a day and get better, not to eat healthier, make the time to work out.  Let's be honest and stop living in denial.

I can run faster than 15 minute mile. I can spin. I do have time to work out.  I am able to eat better.  I may not be the best at it as I can be but with practice, determination and time I will.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Changes : Wonderful Positive Changes

When you start running you expect there will be changes in your life.  I know I did.  Well in 2009 I didn't expect anything but each week I surprised myself.  I learned that you can want to run when you are bored.
I learned that you will have good runs and bad runs.  I learned that the first 8 minutes are always brutal for me.  Notice that all of these are self life changes.  

Well now I am starting to see family life changes. Here are a few you have already seen.
  1. Spend more time with my sister.  As a runner, she and I spend more time together because we run and do other activities together.
  2. Spend more time with my daughter.   I now go to a gym, we experienced spinning together and yoga...and then we run.  She sent me a text last week stating she was happy that we are doing things together.  She loves spending time with me doing active things.
  3. My daughter is getting close to my sister and my brother in law, George.  She said for the first time she feels close to any of her aunts and uncles.  She says she feels like she really has an extended family.  She is more athletic than me and my sister so her goal:  Beat Uncle George.  She better watch out, Uncle George is pretty competitive.
  4. But the most unexpected one happened yesterday.  For weeks I have asked my husband if he would like to go with me to Saturday group run.  He says no.  Last week he said yes but then backed out on Friday night.  But yesterday, yesterday...he got up before I did, prepared our cooler and cool towels and ran with us.  He was in my sister's group and they were impressed.  He hasn't run in 14 years but you couldn't tell that by his gait. He has a beautiful Gazelle like gait.  He would run past my sister and then walk for a couple of minutes and then he would take off again.  He signed up for a 5K, bought some running shorts and shirt and today he said he wanted to go for a run.  


From left to right:  Brother in law and my husband
It has been a ripple effect of changes: wonderful, positive changes.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

50 Shades of Spinning Pineapple! Pineapple!

When my sister asked me if I wanted to go spinning with her, my first reaction was "Heck no!”  It looked hard and anytime I saw someone on TV spinning or heard someone talking about it, all I heard was how brutal the instructor was and how much they sweat.  These remarks usually came from fit people, so I took that information and extrapolated it to the nth degree for a fat person.  No sir, I was no match for this type of exercise.

I tried every excuse. I don't have the proper shoes.  I don't own a bike helmet (turns out you don't need one for a spinning class).  I don't own padded shorts. Again, I was told you don't need them. (Lies!) So after a few days of back and forth with my sister, she won and I was headed to my first spinning class with my daughter, two towels for sweating (yes, the sweat part is true), a 20oz water bottle (not enough), running shoes, baggy Capri’s (bad choice)  and a low impact bra (another bad choice).

On the way to the class my daughter mentioned an episode of Girl Code on MTV where a girl mentions taking spin class because it was an hour of sitting down.  Twenty minutes into the class she bailed.  It was hard and she only had water and not orange juice like everyone else had.  When I entered the class, I saw the orange juice.  It's not like Minute Maid orange juice you buy for breakfast, no this some other kind of pale orange juice.  I am not sure what it is but I plan to find out.

I don't know if you have ever seen a spin bike up close.  I have only seen one, the one I rode, up close but this is what I learned.  There are three levers to set, the height of the seat, the distance of the bike seat from the handles and height of the bike handles.  Oh, and you can adjust the straps that wrap around your shoes.  Pay attention to the levers, they can make the difference between experiencing your first bike class and losing your virginity to spinning.

I received little help when adjusting my seat and since I had never sat on a spin bike before, I didn't know what it should feel like.  Well now I do, so let me spare you pain of not knowing.  If while sitting on your seat, you feel like you are imitating a chicken doing a squat while being raped by rooster, you haven't adjusted your spin bike correctly.

The first 30 minutes, yes I endured feeling like a squatting raped chicken for that amount of time, I was in pain.  We started out in the seated position at level 4 and that is when it began. There was no compliment or asking me out for dinner. We did not even set up a safe word.  This grey spinning bike was no Christian Grey.   If it was, I would have yelled, “Pineapple!” in the middle of the class.  Pineapple would have been my safe word. 

NO, it was just “sit and take it”.  I looked around the room to see if anyone else was feeling what I was feeling. They also seemed content. They all seem gung ho about the whole ordeal.  I, on the other hand, felt as if my seat should have been wearing a condom.  I don't know if it was my lack of experience on skinny bike seats or my loose capris that were no match for the seat but it was painful. Each turn of the pedal was met with a painful jar of the seat into my bum and other unmentionables.  I only felt a small bit of relief when we would level up to 6 and stand while we biked.  But even then I was being violated.  Bang bang bang shove, is all I felt.  Each time the trainer said "Okay, lets sit and go down to 4.". I would go down to 4 but I refused to sit. I am sure I looked like I was trying to be hard core to some in the group, the truth is I was running from my violator.

After 30 minutes, I just couldn't take it anymore and I jumped off the bike. I started to push and pull levers and adjusted the seat, the bars and the distance. It felt better but the damage was done.  It took me days to recover from that experience.  I need to get some kind of padding before I take the class again.  I am thinking something along the lines of a thick egg carton mattress pad.


Friday, July 5, 2013

Monthly Motivating Movie

Here we are again.  This month I have chosen a comedy as my movie pick.  Not only is it a movie about running but it is funny. But wait there is more!  It is British comedy!  You know how I love my Brits. This month is Run Fatboy Run.  It stars Simon Pegg as a man that tries to win the heart back of his ex-fiance by running in a marathon. I love this movie!


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

July Challenge

Every last week of the month I feel like James Bond aka 007. I eagerly await the arrival of my new Fatty Must Run mission.  I have to say, I was kind of relieved that no clean eating was involved in the making of this mission.  But I will try to eat clean anyway.  So what are the missions?

  1. Plank a Day Do a plank each day and see how long you can hold it.  Yesterday I did my first plank. Mental note to self, put the dogs up before attempting this feat.  They were trying to get under me and walk over me.  So my plank only lasted 43 seconds.  I am not saying I can hold it much longer but I felt I could do a second or two more.  My sister said that Kim, our running coach, says we can do anything for a minute.  We shall see.
  2. Sign up for a race in July or August Believe it or not, this is going to be the tricky one.  The season is coming to a close due to the hot weather.  The Lunar Rendezvous is coming up July 20th but I am hosting a 14 hour crop at my house that day.  I want to do it because the first 5K I ever ran was the Lunar Rendezvous.  You can read about it here:  My first 5K and how I lost to a 3 Year old. So I am off to Active.com to look for more races and to my running groups calendar. I am sure there are more out there.
  3. Run a timed 5K I am really excited about these timed 5Ks. Each time they feel like a surprise and I feel like I am making progress.  I started Heart Rate training this month. I will tell you more about it this month.
Well those are the challenges, if you so choose the mission.  I hope you join us and remember if you want to see how all of us are doing, I have links to the other girls' blogs on the right.  Each of us have own  story to tell.  You may find you see yourself in one or more of them.