31 minutes flat

I did my training 5K run in 31 minutes! That's fast for me!

This weekend, I'm running a 5K with my 1/2 marathon partner. Hoping to make a PR at this one, and based n my training runs, I just might make a sub 31!

I also switched 1/2 training programs from the Runners World Smart Coach function on their website which plans a training program based on your current PR for distance, to Hal Higdon's program for novices.

"Lost" is about to start, so I am outta here!

My run was hard this morning!

And I only had to do 2 miles. Meh, I just didn't have the energy for some reason. I slept well, got to bed early... I think I should have eaten a better dinner with more whole grains.

I could use a nap now!

Why I hate teenagers, #2

I must be getting old. Seriously, the lack of respect for anything has my mind boggled.

A few of us are bowling in Glassboro. The place is pretty busy. After all, it is a Saturday night. To the left of us is a lane with about 4 kids. I would peg them at about 18. The boys looked like they belonged in some bad band with a dumb name like “Bowling for Soup” or “OK BOWL!” or something like that where all the band members have dyed black hair fashioned into piecey girl haircuts.

All of them leave and one comes back. He grabs their pitcher of soda, and as he is walking past us, decides to throw all the soda over his shoulder hitting some of our group along the way.

The guys in the group proceed to chase him in an effort to make him and his friends cry. I believe they were successful, but that’s not the point.

Why would you throw a pitcher of soda over your shoulder? Are you retarded? Do you have some sort of behavior problem?

Let me say again. I was no model teen. I smoked and drank. I skipped school and wore Doc Martens and dyed my hair pink. But I didn’t throw stuff at people. I didn’t act like a total jerk in public.

My parents didn’t raise no fool!

But apparently, lots of parents today are raising fools. I hope the tides will change….

I did it!

I ran 6 miles without stopping today. Made sure I was running at a good pace ( 11:11 according to the Nike Plus... which I still need to calibrate...) and I could have gone longer if I had to.

Thank God I didn't have to though.

So I set out with my Nike plus and earbuds. I was listening to LCD Soundsystem's album "45:33" or something like that. It was a great mix. Each song melded into the other with no breaks and it was great running music. Would totally recommend.

So it took me about 1 hour and change to get to 6 miles...

Maybe in 12 weeks I will be able to get that 1/2 marathon in under 2:30!

Okay something is seriously wrong...

...because I am a slow runner and according to my Nike +, I am running 10:07 miles for a 5K. Maybe I need to calibrate it.

Anyway, next week starts 1/2 marathon training! I am enjoying the last moments of my sanity this week!

I love a good, full moon

There’s nothing like running in the pre-dawn of morning while a full moon lights your path.

I love the moon, the stars, and the crisp winter sky just before dawn. While people are still sleeping, I’m on the roads with the paper boys, shift workers and early risers ready to meet the day. The morning is quiet save for the brisk thumping of my Brooks Glycerin 5s and my breaths with each left foot strike.

But the moon is always the most fascinating.

Today, my shadow was backlit by its clean, blue light. It was breathtaking and monstrously big. Still, it never ceases to amaze me that while I am admiring this wonderful, natural existence, someone else is probably looking at the same thing, or not caring about it at all.

Things felt good today. It was about 16 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I bundled in my long sleeve tee, fleece, down vest, balaclava, gloves and tights. By the end of the run, my legs were stinging from the cold air and my hair was saturated with sweat. One day, I will understand the comforts of proper dress, I swear.

It was also the first time I ran with my Nike +. According to my new, fun gadget, I ran 4.1 miles in 43 minutes, and my pace was about 10:20 per minute, which is pretty good for me. My pace was faster than I expected, but I did feel especially strong today, Or, it could use a good calibration!

I am running a 5K with Alanna on Superbowl Sunday, and then it is serious ½ marathon training time. Guess I’ll be getting up pre-pre-dawn then, eh?

Cutest. Dog. Ever.

Lessons learned

Today's run was difficult. It seemed that regardless of how much I slowed down, my HR thought it should be way higher than it normally is. I was tired, my muscles were achy. I hated running.

Food fuels the body. Duh... but I learned this lesson first hand because I had to fast all day yesterday for a metabolism test... and, despite the fact that I did eat dinner last night, today, I paid for it.

Anyway, it took me about 35 minutes to complete a 5k... which is even slow for me...

One more lesson I learned. I had a nutrition consultation to discuss weight goals, nutrition goals etc. Found out I have been under eating for too long. So I am shifting my eating plans and planning more balances, more protein..

It is hard, I am so used to this mind set of eating less and less is best, but I am putting my trust in my nutrition counselor and will really dive into it for as long as it takes to get to my goal.

I have no idea where Suri is...

...and I don't know how to do the Charleston. However, I do know that I love my new 'do.

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes…

…is rough estimate of the time it will probably take me to run 13.1 miles.

For some reason, on this day two of my LAST WEEK doing the Couch to 5K program, I had this song from the Broadway show “Rent” in my head. It was like musical torture, really. But, I guess this is what I get for deciding to run without my iPod.

Anyway, today was a PR for me and my running. I ran, get this… 3.6 miles WITHOUT STOPPING. And the odd thing is this time around, it was my legs that began to tire before my heart/breathing.

But I felt good, I felt strong, and then I felt tired. And thirsty, very thirsty.

All in all, to finish my 4.2 mile route, including about 5 minutes each of cool down and warm up, it took me about 43 minutes. Anyway, distance before speed, right? Right…

Oh, one more thing. I feel like I should update about the girl with the bare feet at the theater (post below titled " I saw Britney...") I was sharing the story with my brother in law and he mentioned there was a girl just like this girl at Temple University, where he went to school. She never wore shoes- ever. Disgusting, yes, but perhaps even more disgusting considering she was in Filthadelphia.

Anyway, the more I was describing the theater girl, the sooner we realized it was the same girl. Which is not surprising, I guess, because how many people out there don’t wear shoes in the winter?

Yeck!

A week nine haiku, by Erica

Week Nine, here you are,
Wow, I’ve really come this far,
I am still too slow.

Today was Day One, Week Nine. My final week of the Couch to 5K Training Program!

For a little more than 2 months, I’ve been waking up at hours in which I should still be sleeping to do my weekly Couch to 5K jaunt. It’s been cold, it’s been warm. I’ve cursed out loud at nothing but my iPod, I’ve grown used to the paper boy routes. I’ve watched lights come on, cars get warm, and many people walking their dogs. I’ve gone from running 2 minutes at a time, to 5, 12, 21 and now 30.

And now, when I don’t run, I miss it for the day.

This morning was also the first time I ran without an iPod. I just ran, listened to my breath and was very aware of my surroundings. It was quite nice, actually. I think I will do it again.

I am looking forward to beginning my real ½ marathon training… which starts in about 2 weeks. It also starts the real countdown to the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon.

Also, I google found this, my race results from my first 5K in 1998. I was (gasp)21. I think I just woke up, went with my mom and ran.

(place/total)641/815 Erica 21, (time)33:01 (pace)10:39 (div/total)67/78

Then, 4 years later at 25...
(place)639 Erica, 25 (time) 33:54 (div/total)71/97

Finally, I decided to walk it in 2004...and I actually placed in my division.
(place)7 Erica, 27 KNBT (time)41:36.10

Anyway, my next 5K is Superbowl Sunday. I hope (no, PRAY) to get it done in 30 or less.

God, please stop laughing at me.

82 minutes per mile is slow.

It's my birthday. I am 31.

So, it is only appropriate that I run for 31 minutes straight without stopping. And I did! This is a huge thing for me...
I was THIRTY SIX minutes in my "zone" and average HR was about 160 with a max of 181- perfect!

I also tried to use my Nike+, but alas... the bobo ankle strap I used did not pick up the signal too well. Obviously, I need to get something more appropriate because it recorded my run like this:

Time: 44 minutes; Distance: .56 miles

Okay, I know I am slow, but that is just ridiculous...

And I ran, I ran so far away...

It felt like someone was pushing me back with every step I took during this morning's run. That's because it was windy as hell and man, it is hard to rin into the wind when I am already so slow.

But this morning was awesome. I did Day 2 of Week 8, and didn't need to stop for side stickers, mausea... nothing like that. I just went.

Someone on the Runner's World boards suggested to start very slow and build up to a faster pace to end strong. That is exactly what I did. I kept my HR in the high 150s to start, working up to about 175 by the end. When I felt tired, I checked out my HR monitor and saw it was higher than I wanted, so I would dial it back a little.

It really worked. I spent more time in my "zone."

I've also decided I need to eat more. At least 1700 calories on the days I don't work out and on the days that I do my running and teach spinning, I need to eat at least 2,000 calories. I think my bod was in some sort of starvation mode.

Okay, not exciting post, just had to get it in...

I saw Britney, she was barefoot

If there is one thing I hate more than teens with a sense of entitlement, it's adults with a sense of entitlement.

Oh wait, was I supposed to be talking about running? Yes, great... Day one of Week 8 of the Couch to 5K program. Had to stop in the middle of my 28 minute run because I was nauseus, finished strong and fast... felt great.

Okay, back to where I was...

As a kid, if I so much as thought about putting my feet on the back of a chair in a movie theater, I was given an evil eye by my mother that spoke volumes. The volume was about a "12" and it was scary. To this day, my feet stay on the sticky floor of the movie theatre... the entire movie.

So, you can imagine my shock when, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, four young "women" had their feet graciously resting on the back of the theater chairs.

Act one
One of them was barefoot. Yes, barefoot.

My Mother-in-Law treated me to see "Rent," (which was AMAZING... as always), and the Academy is a pretty swanky place. It is very old, and the seats are crushed velvet. I mean, we didn't just plop down eight bucks to see the latest slasher movie. Men were wearing sportcoats and ties, women were dressed in their holiday fashions and children were squirming in their woolen sweaters.

This chick was barefoot, in a dress with her stinky feet hanging over the chair.

People occupied the seats, and Miss Barefoot was kind enough to put her feet down.

Intermission

Bathroom line.

You don't have to be a germ phobe to have common sense when you use a public bathroom. Leave the snacks out. Close the cell phone. Wash the hands. Wear shoes--- wha????

Not Miss Barefoot. Miss Barefoot, who was standing in line in front of me, had no shoes.

Did she not wear shoes at all? Do people just not wear shoes when they pay $80 to see a show at the theater? Does she own shoes?? Even hippies wear those ugly Birkenstocks. But it is the dead of winter, and she has no shoes. Obviously, she can afford it ( she bought a ticket ), but dear, oh dear.

Does her lack of shoes say "I'm cute and whimsical!" or perhaps "My feet deserve some air!" or maybe "Germs, step aside for me!"

Maybe she will put them on before she goes in the stall... maybe... monkeys might fly out of my arse, because there were no shoes, and there was definitely a stall.

I threw up a little in my mouth.

Act Two
There is no Act Two. It was gross, she was gross, and what the hell is wrong with people anyway??

Week Seven, don't let the door hit you on your way out...

Because I am on to Week 8 of the Couch to 5K program, and I am tossing you out like a cheap pair of undies.

Okay, I am not really sure what that means, but Week Seven was kind of a b&tch to me, and really, I want her gone. I think Week 8, with it's sleek curves, will be much better for me.

Okay, truth? Truth.

I am a little bummed about moving on because I was just beginning to get comfortable with running 25 minutes without stopping... and now, well, I have to run 28 minutes without stopping. I much prefer the 5 minute increments... why not 30 minutes? 28 minutes of non stop running is like saying " Remember when you thought you were going to die at 25 minutes? Well, here is another 3 to really piss you off."

I have some new goals in place though. Like, maintaining a HR of 170-175 BPM rather than the 160-165 I was so accustomed to. And, I want to start slow, and increase my *speed as the run goes on so as not to tire out by the end and merely shuffle my way home.

Carry On, designers and welcome to week EIGHT!!


*this word, in no way, implies that I am fast, or, in fact, have "speed"

Okay, kneecap, get in the groove

I visited Ortho Doc #2 who assured me my knee was in tip top condition, it was the back of my kneecap that is making all the racket down there...Chondromalacia, to be exact, is the culprit of the grinding, crunching and clicking of my knee. Behind the kneecap is a small piece of cartilage that has grooves and ridges and bumps... and it appears to be bumping on my kneecap itself.

So come, on, knee! Get all "Madonna" on me and get into the groove already!

Fortunately, nothing is wrong, I can proceed with the training!

The best part of the whole visit went like this:

Doc: So, what race are you doing in the spring?
Me: The Lehigh Valley Half Marathon.
Doc: Oh...hilly.

Which implied (to me, anyway)
Doc: Oh, so you meant to choose a really difficult 1/2 marathon for your very first time? Yeah, good luck with that.

Hope that pre-race pasta dinner includes complimentary steriods!