I have made the commitment…. Destination Nike Womens Marathon October 2012

As most of my friends are probably still sleeping on a Saturday morning, maybe even recovering from a few too many drinks last night, I am preparing to head out to my very first training with Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.  I have been considering joining for about a year, and with some encouragement from a former participant as well as a Survivor herself I have decided to join.

I am excited and nervous at the same time. It’s the goal of crossing that finish line in San Francisco and helping so many in the process to overcome blood cancers.

Please feel free to follow me on this incredible journey!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/nikesf12/lisa

Together We Can Achieve.

My New Running Partner

So I have found myself a new running buddy. She is the best partner ever. Last weekend I went to the shelter with a couple dogs in mind. When I told the employee that I was looking for a running dog, she explained why the 3 I had in mind wouldn’t work. They were skittish, not trained on a leash, or didn’t like other dogs. I was quite surprised that everyone I had came to look at was not a good fit. She then however told me she had the perfect match for me. A dog that had been turned over by the owner because they couldn’t keep her. She was a real cutie and I fell in love with her. She was everything I was looking for, well mannered, knows commands and she can run.

The first evening I took her out was a 2.5 mile run around the college. She barely even got tired, she kept a good pace and ran right by my side. This is exactly what I have wanted and maybe now that will help me to get outdoors instead of running so much on the treadmill. Hard to believe a dog so good was at the shelter in need of a home.

Personal Bests

Whoever said that running is not a competitve sport has probably never ran themselves.  I am a very competitve person.  I love the challenges on Nike + running, I love competing with myself for a new best time, a new achievement,  a longer distance.  It is such an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

Today was one of those days.  My legs were a bit sore still from the very cold 5K that I ran New Years Eve but I drug myself to the gym.  Middle daughter by my side, and her first time on the treadmill.  I started out feeling a bit sluggish and about 2 miles into it I was hoping to just make it to 3 miles.  My mind was telling me I wanted to run more to make up for that extra 1.3 miles my app didnt track but my body was saying no.  I pushed harder and as I was pushing myself I did a bit of tweaking on my running stride and started taking shorter quicker strides that ended up increasing my pace.  I was pretty impressed when the app told me that I was running the mile in 9:30 so from mile 4 I told myself I had to really see if this was true, I was only going to run for 9 more minutes to see if I could really make it to 5 miles in that time.  Guess what I did, I look down at my phone to see 5 miles!!  The sweat was dripping my face was red but I could hardly believe it my overall average pace today was 10:07 and a new personal best for my 5k time. 

To me it is such a great feeling when you achieve something that you never expect that you can do, and something that many had told me I would never be able to do.

Kicking off the New Year.. 2012

What an amazing way to start the New Year.  My girlfriend and I decided this year that we were going to start the New Year just the way we intend for the upcoming year to go.  We did a 5K at midnight.  We had both been running and training prior and the week before I was able to complete 2 5K runs on the treadmill without stopping.   We were both very excited to kick off the New Year this way.  Considering it rains a lot in Portland, we were very fortunate and despite the cold weather (34 ish) there was no rain in sight.

Our goal for the run was to have a 35 minute pace.  That didn’t quite happen, with me being the treadmill snob and not getting much running time on the pavement I actually had to stop a couple of times. We ended up finishing with a time of 36:42.  I was not too disappointed considering this was only both of our’s 2nd 5K run.  The last one was 39 minutes.  Overall we were 641 and 642 out of 900 runners.  I can take those results.  We were far from last and have lots of room to improve!

The only downside to the run was when my Nike + app came on telling me I had run for 15 minutes and 0 miles.  Yes you read that right 0 miles.  I was so frustrated and once I paused it and restarted it, the app started keeping track again however it kept the 15 minutes of nothing and screwed up the whole pace!

All in all I would not change a thing, I am so happy to have started the New Year out with a run and look forward to so many more great runs this year.  My goal is to run at least 500 miles in 2012!!!  2011 ended with 101 runs and 360 miles which all in all was not bad for a newbie runner.

Re-committment Time

August and September took a bit of a toll on my schedule.  Even though I had a few good runs here  and there I definitely did not stick to a plan or training schedule.  Last week  I found it in me to get back to the gym and start keeping track of my food journal again.  A few lbs have crept back on and even though it was only 3 I realized that I did not have the same energy and was not feeling as good about myself.

Last Sunday was 2.05 miles  Monday 3.4 miles Wednesday 3.4 miles and Saturday 4.33 miles.  Overall I was a bit slower but still felt pretty good about getting back.

I read the Eat Stop Eat plan over the weekend and started a 24 hour intermittent fast last night.  I have never fasted before, so this is a first for me. I am hoping that not only will it help with the weight loss but also the mindless snacking that I tend to do.  I want to think of food as nutrition again rather then a pastime.

 

Competitive – “Having or displaying a strong desire to be more successful than others”

I haven’t really run much distance in the past few weeks, mostly been short runs here and there with no real schedule.  I hadn’t had the same motivation as when I was trying to train for the trail run. Last night I decided to get back to a program.  I didn’t start the Couch 2  10k over at the beginning but decided half way through would be a place I could see myself comfortable.

I was pretty excited for a long run, I had been pretty stressed about some things and was a bit down and knew that the treadmill as well as some time to clear my head would be just what I needed.  I started getting on my running clothes and one last check of the iPhone Facebook app and I saw just what I needed.  My friend logged her run. I had recently set up a challenge on the Nike + running app with a few other runners. So then I had to log in to see where I stand in the challenge.  I saw that logged a 3.5 mile run with a 13:45 mile pace.   I was planning on doing a 60min session so I set out to try and run 5 miles.

About 25 minutes into my run as the update comes on I realize that even with the 4 min run 2 min walk intervals I was averaging very close to a 13 min pace.  Not only could I push on and run farther, I was up for the challenge of running faster as well.  There were a few times I was feeling tired and could feel the sweat dripping down my face.  I pushed through.  As I was approaching the 60 min mark and it was time to cool down I was at 4.7 miles and I knew I could go the extra distance for a full 5 miles.  I ended up picking up the pace for the last minute and a half to finish strong.   Not only did I get in the 5 miles but at a pace of 12:59 by no means a marathon runners pace but a pace that I was happy with.

It was really rewarding to know that with just a little encouragement and a competitiveness that I can push myself to do things I once never thought I could.  It always amazes me that when you find the slightest motivation it makes the task so much easier.  Was a great run!  14 months to the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon!!!!

My Latest Motivation

A couple of weeks ago I went out for a weekend run with a friend of mine and on my way home stopped in the Starbucks.  Just ahead of me there was a group of girls that also had the identifiable running gear on. One of them noticed me behind them and introduced herself asking how my run was.  She then proceeded to tell me that they are with Team in Training.  I had never heard of the organization and she gave me a brief description how they train together for a marathon or half marathon and that they are all going to run in October for the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco and they train together twice a week.

I was interested in learning more and after finding out that one of them worked for the county as well we exchanged numbers to talk at a later date.

Last Friday I met with her to learn more about it.  Team in Training is quite a well recognized organization and I was very interested.  I originally thought about training for a half marathon close to January or February but after hearing that they train from October thru the winter that was not so appealing not only because the long runs on the weekend here in Oregon would be extremely cold and wet but also with my daughters involved with school and sports the Saturday runs would never work.

I know for me it is always good to have your eye on the prize and a goal in mind and this would definitely give me something to train for and help keep me motivated.  The idea that I would not only be helping to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma but also to cross the finish line in San Francisco and have a fireman  hand me my Tiffany’s box with my Tiffany’s commemorative necklace is truly a motivator for me.  I never imagined running anything more than a 10k but I believe that I CAN DO THIS!!!

At this point I plan to continue with the Couch 2 10K program and build up my miles and then go on to longer runs.