Pipestem Test Run

First off, I want to say Hi to anyone visiting from Phedippidations. I have been run/walking for such a short time and at such short distances that I haven't actually caught up with the current pod cast. I am downloading it now to find out what the buzz is about, but a friend emailed me that my blog is mentioned on the current podcast - episode 116 I expect. Thanks Steve at www.steverunner.com . I have something in common with you now - uncomprehending awareness that more than my family is looking at this Blog. Why? I don't know, but I hope you find me interesting.

I did my hardest run for the week today. I left the comfort of the hayfields behind and risked shinsplints by hitting the pavement. My goal for the fall is to run the Pipestem Pumpkin Run 5k in November. I have been aiming my training at that event and this weekend I chose to go out to the park and give it a test run instead of going back down to 'the creek' like I had done last week. It was just me, a couple of deer, a dead squirrel, and the traffic. Minor traffic compared to what most people experience on runs, but I am happy to say I handled it well by not getting hit. I did have to share some disgusted looks with some drivers though - 30 mph is pretty reasonable, slow down and enjoy the park for a minute, please!

My fellow local runners will agree that the Pipestem course is not flat. I really enjoyed the flatness of that run on 'the creek' last week since my typical choices seem to be made up of hills. The course I will be doing for the "drumroll please" Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon and Kick the Couch 5k is in the town of Athens, which is - wait for it - hilly too! So anyway, Pipestem is hilly, Athens is hilly. When I start running in Hinton it will be hilly. I can't avoid it so I just as well train for it, which sort of explains my love of that hayfield. I just hope all of these hills help flatten out some of my personal rolls and lumps. LOL

Oh Steve is talking about happiness. I think I know why he mentioned me now. Still crazy though. Good music - I need to get this band from his pod notes.

SO the Park. I have been reading a lot about different training plans and have decided that the best plan for me to follow is to run with walk breaks. Today I did 2 minute run, 3 minute walk X 3 turns before I just had to walk. My heart rate monitor was not very happy, if it could glow red and give me dirty looks it sure would have. I ended up walking for about 12 minutes before I continued running and then it was run for a minute to the sign, walk up the hill, run for 2 minutes so that I could pass the three seniors out on a nature walk, walk up the hill, run for a minute to get around the curve, walk some more and then finally run past the cemetary so the residents didn't catch me. HA. I made it!

Overall it took me 47 minutes and 14 seconds and I ran 12 minutes of it. Not burning up the road, but as a friendly dofus just said in my headphones "Life is about pushing yourself as a human being both for yourself and for others." One month from now I will be back at Pipestem running the sanctioned race. I will be able to push myself because there will be people to chase and I might even have a new friend with whom to share the race. She is just getting out of the Army so I would expect far beyond my pace, but I will invite her to participate in my new adventure.

Goals are a big part of what I am using to keep me motivated. I know I haven't even really run a 5K yet, but I already have another goal. I have become aware of the Marine Corps Marathon over the last few weeks because a friend in the office has entered and received his bib. I think that is a wonderful goal for him. I on the other hand have another goal. I was an Air Force jet avionics mechanic from '84 to '94 and just can't bring myself to do another Service's race before I do the Air Force race. So, my extended goal is to run/walk the Air Force Half Marathon in September of 2008. I know it is way out there, but I figure if I can add just one mile a month onto my start of 3 miles, I CAN do it. Life will have its way with that plan, but I will do what I can do be there when the race starts. Maybe I will meet some of you there.
There I am! Featured blog! WOW!
Thanks again for the comment Steve and everyone for visiting.

Progress is Fun

Wait, that would mean I am enjoying this?! Training for anything that forces you to move your body is hard work, but I had another inspiring session this afternoon. Rain was in the forecast FINALLY and Billy and Jake were not home so I put on my new shoes, mp3 player, heart rate monitor, and GPS (lol, probably had more computers on me today than the first F-15 fighter jet that I worked on back in the day) and then Poochy and I took off for the hayfields.

We made pretty good time today. With the rain coming I sure wasn't poking along, but my course today was supposed to be in the moderate heart rate range, which would be 134 to 150 beats per minute today. I actually managed to do a pretty good job of keeping it in that range too. There were a couple of spikes - it started sprinkling when we were about a half mile from the house. Poochy and I started running a short cut across a flat piece of ground and then I remembered I had left the gate open at the top of the hill - so after that run and then hiking to the top of the hill I was working.

The part that was inspiring and put me in a good mood is that I covered 3.1 miles of hayfield trail in 53 minutes and had an average heart rate of 143 bpm or 80% of my max. Yes that means I could have worked harder, but this was Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning I am going to be working a lot harder.

Now some people might think that time was really nothing to be inspired by, but you can just come on out to my hayfields and we will compare your road times and average heart rate to what you can do out here. Unless you run hills all the time I expect that you will notice a difference.

My new Asics trail shoes are just as comfortable as my other Asics road shoes. The purpose of buying the trail shoes (top in the picture) was mostly for that dark part you see by the toe - that section is what keeps my foot from sliding sideways on the edges of the hills. They are also water resistant and have deeper treds to manage the rocks and sticks on the trail. The cushioning is pretty nice too. The shoes that I had been wearing have little to no cushion.

The only problem I have is that I need more dri-wicking socks.

Progress Update

I figure maybe I ought to talk about my actual progress since looking at my past posts there doesn’t appear to be any. The truth is the opposite though, I think I just don’t dare write about it since it might break my stride, no pun intended just can’t think of another word. So far my progress is being measured in heart rate and clothing.
In the heart rate area I have been very impressed with my improvement. When I started this I would get my heart rate set in the monitor somewhere between 60% and 90% of my max heart rate. My course was a fairly level path in the hayfield about the length of a track – 5 laps was a mile. I would start jogging and within 50 feet be maxed out. I would walk about a lap before the rate was down into the middle of that day’s range and then jog again for another 25 feet until I was maxed out again.
I have been walk/jogging about 5 days a week for the last 3 weeks since then and moved from that field to a very hilly course that is just over 2 miles long. The progress I have seen is that my heart rate doesn’t get crazy high anymore. I can jog quite a distance before I max out and then I recover down into the mid-range pretty quickly.
This weekend I went down to “the creek” with Bill. While he was helping put windows in the house his brother is building I went for a run. The road down there is paved, not very hilly, and has almost no traffic. I took off walking for 90 seconds, jogged for 90, walked for 2 minutes, jogged for 2 minutes, walked for 3 minutes, jogged for almost 3 minutes. The almost happened because I saw that my heart rate was at 104%. I could have finished, but it worried me for a second. This had taken me to within a few feet of the first mile. I finished that mile and then walked calmly 7 more minutes out. Turned around walked 7 minutes back and then thought I would rotate again. I sped up the walk and went 90 seconds which happened to be up a slope, then jogged for 90 seconds without going over 95%, then walked until it was down and jogged a bit more a couple of times, then finally I came around the last curve and I jogged the last minute up to the yard. Overall I jogged 10 minutes out of a 43 minute 3 mile course. I feel pretty good about that. Next weekend they are putting the front door in – I will go do it again.
I found out two things during that test – my max heart rate is actually 188 beats per minute and my new running shoes (Asics GT-2120) are great on pavement. I haven’t been able to wear them in the hayfield because they have no lateral support and the hills make it hard to walk when you feet are sliding off the top of your shoes. To solve that I decided I needed some good trail shoes. Sunday evening I found a really good sale on line and ordered a pair, Asics Trail Sensor WR – they are water resistant, which is going to be helpful someday if it rains. I hope they fit as well as the other pair; there are no stores in my local mall that sell decent trail shoes so I couldn’t try them on first.

What I have been able to identify in the clothing area is that there are four different groups of clothes in my closet.
1. Things that I was wearing this summer, but are now actually too big.
2. Things that I was wearing this summer, but now fit better than ever.
3. Things that I couldn’t wear this summer and now I can.
4. Things that I expect to be able to wear in the next couple of months.
I will be weeding the number one items out of the closet when more of the number fours are available. I know it looks a little sloppy, but since I refuse to shop in the Women’s department anymore – and I am not quite out of there yet – people will just have to realize this is a transition period.

That is my current progress. Heart rate is doing better, legs are doing better, and my closet is confused. Things are headed in an awesome direction. Pipestem watch out!

Running/Walking Plans

On October 13th I will be participating in the Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon - actually the Couch to 5K portion but it is a start. This is the link for more information. www.worldwidehalf.com Basically, it is a Think Global - Run Local event where people all over the world will be competing together, but seperately. Maybe I can get some team mates - How about it Germany, Iowa, Georgia? Anyone else? Any interest? Doesn't cost anything, just sweat equity! 3.1 miles of walking the dogs, no time limit just a good reason to get out of the house for a while.

I got caught up in this one because MP told me about a podcast called Phedippidations that you can find at this website. www.steverunner.com
Steve is interesting to listen to, has lots of tidbits about running, plenty of humor, and distracting commentary. I put him on my mp3 player and the dogs and I take off down the driveway.

As I have said before I am actually training for the Pipestem Pumpkin Run on November 3rd, but this Couch to 5k has motivated me to train with another reason in mind. Every year in May there is a 5k run in Athens. In October I am going to run that 5K course in Athens and use it to give myself a base for a comparison to the actual event in May. I should be able to see some pretty decent progress. I will be able to do the same thing about the Pumpkin Run but in reverse. I will run the actual event November and then when I am training for the Athens 5K in the spring I can go back out to the course at Pipestem and run that to see a difference.

All for now. Keep Moving.

Wedding Cake

So this weekend got beat up by a wedding. Good news is I drank more water than wine, bad news is I drank a LOT of water! LOL

We had a good time. I did try to eat a bit sensibly, except for at the wedding. HEY I skipped dessert at the buffet - and it even looked good. I didn't skip the Amish homemade pumpkin pie. That would have been a bad idea, it was really good.

When we got back I sent some pictures back up there and then headed outside.

I have a new route through the hay fields - it is just over 2 miles long and is rolling hills, some steep some slight, but all up or down. I will move to pavement in a couple of weeks, but until then the hayfields are giving me a good work out.

I have a new toy to help monitor my heart rate during excercise. I shopped around and decided that a Polar F11 would be the best option for me. It doesn't do distance and speed, but I have Billy's handheld GPS to give me distance and speed if I want it. The F11 does tell me what I need to know to keep me working out at the most effective levels. Right now I am finding out that I need a lot of work, but not as much as I was doing. I did some research and found out that a person can workout too hard if they want to lose weight.

So I work out lighter and longer. I will be running.

Shoes to Run In

Some of this is a duplicate from my other blog, but it seemed to fit both places.

I went shopping for running shoes today. MP told me about the chain store called Fleet Feet in Roanoke, VA where they do a real good job of helping you get a good fit. We made the trip down there to see what they had.

As you can see they had lots of stuff to buy. Those are Asics GT-2120s, with Superfeet liners, and Balega socks. They have lots of other products too, wicking material clothing of all sorts. Cold weather running clothes too.

The staff there is great. I spent an hour with one clerk, she had me walk to evaluate my step, I tried on a few pairs of shoes, and ran a little in them to make sure they felt good. I had on some Saucony shoes while I did some other shopping and after a while realized they were rubbing my toes wrong. So we backed up and tried again with the Asics. The clerk asked more questions about my activity and plans than the doctor did last week. She even cut the liners to fit and taught me how to tie my shoes so my heels don't slip anymore.

I am pretty pleased with the purchase. We will see how I feel after a few runs.

Why I don't go to the Doctor

I decided to do the "right" thing and make an appointment for a check up. My insurance didn't include the doctor that most of my family goes to, but since there weren't any other options available in my area I chose to go to him anyway. The last time I went to this Dr. was in August 2001. I know this because I saw it on my chart today. There were other things on my chart that I had never seen because after that visit, they never scheduled a follow up appointment and I figured no news is good news. Turns out I should have gone back.
So he starts to ask me questions based on that six year old information. Kind of annoyed me. I wanted to talk about my new fitness plan, a couple of new problems I have, and get the paperwork so I can get new bloodwork done and start over with the diagnoses. That is where my biggest concern lies. Not in stuff that I think will solve itself if I can lose some weight.
He didn't ask about what type of excercise program I was starting so I told him that I had started a run/walk program and I want to run the 5K in November. He said - you don't need to run, walking is just as good. Then he said how he had been walking with some people that I know as if that was a good example. No offense to anybody, but they haven't done more than maintain. I have been maintaining for the last six years, I want to lose some weight and walking isn't good enough for me. It might work for some people, but what I have discovered is that my metabolism needs hours of walking each week to burn off the weight I want to lose. I don't want to spend hours walking. I don't want a quick fix either, but I know what works and he didn't care to ask any questions.
So anyway I am sort of annoyed with the appointment, but I managed to get confirmation on what is wrong with my foot - plantar fascitis - he didn't ask what I was doing, but agreed when I told him I suspected that it was caused during my Steps phase. I will keep stretching it and hoping it isn't really a spur developing. I also got some drops for my itchy ear. AND I got the paperwork for the lab test, I managed to get that taken care of today too. This time I do have a follow up appointment scheduled.
I guess what I am saying is that it doesn't really matter to me what he wanted to find wrong, I wanted to talk about my fitness plan and current problems. So that is why I don't go to the doctor. My problems were cheap his ideas were expensive.

Week 2 of 5k Training

After surviving last weekend's food craziness my week has been okay so far, well other than finding out "SHOCK" that I am obese! MP brought in his fat/water scale. Thanks man! Really needed that. Bring it back next month and we will try again!
Turns out my body composition is 38.5% fat and should be below 32% by the charts. I am also dehydrated since my body water is also 38.5% and should be 51%. That might explain some things about why I get tired. SO I drink more water and continue my 5K training program hoping that next months measurements are better, I sure hope so anyway!
I tried to mess up my training Monday, waited too long to go run my course, it got dark early. By the way I GPS measured that course, twice, and found out that it is in fact exactly 2/10 of a mile long. So it is not a bad measurement, just a woman on her way to a body change doing the measuring and looking for excuses. (notice how I avoided that negative impression of myself back there? BFFM reading is having an influence.)
I got back on track Tuesday when I did manage to get up early and work out in my gym - and then that night I ran the 15 minute plan, but changed it to 2 minute run for 3 minute walk. That went ok, only managed to go do 5 laps in that time frame though. I can WALK a 15 minute mile so I don't know what the problem is. I looked for another excuse, maybe I can't count my laps, surely it was more like 7 or so!
One thing I have noticed while I have been doing all my crazy things, eating less while stair climbing and running, is that I rarely get hungry. I eat breakfast at 0600, fruit at about 0930, lunch at 1130, fruit at about 1pm, and drink water all day. Wednesday was different, I forgot to eat my afternoon apple and by the time I got home I was hungry! Dinner was reasonable so all is good.
Since it was Wednesday I had a 20 minute walk/run scheduled and though I bumped Monday to Tuesday maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I did... and bumped it to 2 run/ 3 walk. The last set was pretty slow and I tried to count better, found out I don't have a counting problem either. I only managed 7 laps.
Things I learned this week:
1. There is nothing wrong with the GPS
2. I do know how to count laps
3. I need to learn how to do those laps a little faster instead of look for excuses
4. Dark comes sooner than it used to
4. Food keeps me from getting hungry
5. Water keeps me from getting dehydrated

Holiday Weekend

Friday I was good, I got the Pipestem registration form in the mail from the DNR, good timing on their part! I ran the 1/5 30 minute plan. That was sort of tough. Need to keep it up.
Saturday we went to the Hillsville Flea Market and walked and walked and walked. Hips were sore and tired, but we enjoyed it. Food was bad though - split 100 cal packs of oreos and gold fish for lunch, split a funnel cake to keep it from wasting (yeah that's it). Then stopped at the "german" place for dinner. Beer, schnitzel and spaetzel are not on the plan, but there were steamed vegetables and it was blandly delicious. Small Moolata for dessert - lol Oh well!
Sunday was pancakes and eggs for breakfast and medium plate of Chinese for late lunch/dinner.
Monday was hotdogs and salads for lunch, pork chops, veggies and baked fries for dinner, and pineapple upside down cake for snack. Messed up and didn't run the 1/5 15 minute plan - just didn't.
Not quite sure why, but somehow after all that the scale shows 2 pounds lost from last week. Maybe something is working to burn it off. Whatever, now back to normal levels. Did the circuit workout this morning and will do yesterday's run tonight.