This morning I started a new training program. It's a program for a half marathon. I don't have one scheduled yet, but I want to see how time consuming the training is and if I could swing it when swim season is in full gear.
Today called for a short 2 mile run. That worked out perfectly since I just did a race yesterday. It got the bugs out and stretched the legs a bit. James and I walked to daycare and it was raining. I really didn't want to run in the rain, but I figured I had better suck it up because I'm NOT doing my 10-12 mile runs on a treadmill. YUCK! Plus it really was a nice temperature for running. And I got to try my new rain running jacket.
The walk to daycare was nice. A bit cold, but nice. James was excited to tell everyone about his broken finger. He was also trying to figure out what to bring to school on Wednesday since he's the Star Student this week. It was raining, but it wasn't a hard rain.
By the time we got to daycare it had stopped. I left my umbrella at daycare with him and took of on my run back home. I know the walk to daycare is 1.5 miles so I had to figure out another half mile without having mapped it out before hand. I just decided to run up a different street and hope it added some mileage. It added a bit, but not enough. I ended up running 1.87 miles, but my pace was pretty good. I also had some rolling hills in there and one short, but steep hill. That was good for me since I am really not a fan of hills, but have to work them.
It was a nice quick run. Tomorrow I do 4 miles after our walk to daycare. I am getting up early in the morning to go to weights first. I have those scheduled 3 days a week. This week, however, I am only doing 2 days. I was supposed to do them today, but decided not to push it this morning. Tomorrow I'll get them in and again on Friday.
I'm excited to see how this goes. Now if it would just stay warm I'd be all set.
After today's run and with yesterdays run my April Challenge total is 27.23! I met my challenge of running the Boston Marathon and then some. Last year I didn't reach it, but this year I did. I'm so glad I did it too!
Well, off to start my day! Have a great Monday!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Chocolate Race
Today was the Chocolate Race. We have all been looking forward to this for awhile. We had friends from Detroit come up to run, Mike and James ran the 5k and I ran the 10k. It was a great time!!!!!! I was happy with my time of 1:10.05. My goal was under 1:15 so mission accomplished!
We spent the night a hotel in Niagara Falls. Mike and James had to follow me up later than expected. James had baseball Saturday morning and broke his finger. Mike had to take him to the ER to get it xrayed and splintted. Once they got up there the fun started! We enjoyed a great dinner with our friends and then Mike and James went for a swim in the pool.
This morning we got up early for the race. James and I made everyone t-shirts. So we all had bright shirts to wear for the race. It was a great day. It was a bit chilly before the race and being on Lake Ontario there was a bit of a breeze. Here are a few pictures taken before the race.
I started my 10k 15 minutes before Vicky, James, and Mike started their 5k. It was a good start for me. I got in a good groove and felt really really relaxed. The first 5k felt great. At about 5.5k I did grab some water and walk for about 1:30 to drink it. I got right back into the run and felt good. I did have to get more water at the 7.5k mark. That was another minute or so walk. I really started feeling strong at that point. My legs were feeling really good and I was able to pick it up just a bit. The last 2k felt amazing! I just let myself go and ran it gradually getting faster.
Here we are at the finish with our medals.
After the race we got lots of chocolate! We had chocolate milk, chocolate croissants, chocolate brownies, chocolate truffles and chocolate martinis. James was so cute. He asked the bartender for a chocolate martini without alcohol. The bartender gave him chocolate milk in a martini glass.
After we got done indulging in the chocolate we went back to Niagara Falls and did a few things that we hadn't done before. We went on an Aero Car out over the Whirlpool. That was pretty cool! Being out above the water like that and seeing the whirlpool. James enjoyed it.
Afterwards we went to the Butterfly Conservatory. We saw a lot of butterflies! Some even landed on us. It was pretty cool!
It was a fun weekend. We are already talking about when we do this race next year!
We spent the night a hotel in Niagara Falls. Mike and James had to follow me up later than expected. James had baseball Saturday morning and broke his finger. Mike had to take him to the ER to get it xrayed and splintted. Once they got up there the fun started! We enjoyed a great dinner with our friends and then Mike and James went for a swim in the pool.
This morning we got up early for the race. James and I made everyone t-shirts. So we all had bright shirts to wear for the race. It was a great day. It was a bit chilly before the race and being on Lake Ontario there was a bit of a breeze. Here are a few pictures taken before the race.
I started my 10k 15 minutes before Vicky, James, and Mike started their 5k. It was a good start for me. I got in a good groove and felt really really relaxed. The first 5k felt great. At about 5.5k I did grab some water and walk for about 1:30 to drink it. I got right back into the run and felt good. I did have to get more water at the 7.5k mark. That was another minute or so walk. I really started feeling strong at that point. My legs were feeling really good and I was able to pick it up just a bit. The last 2k felt amazing! I just let myself go and ran it gradually getting faster.
Here we are at the finish with our medals.
After the race we got lots of chocolate! We had chocolate milk, chocolate croissants, chocolate brownies, chocolate truffles and chocolate martinis. James was so cute. He asked the bartender for a chocolate martini without alcohol. The bartender gave him chocolate milk in a martini glass.
After we got done indulging in the chocolate we went back to Niagara Falls and did a few things that we hadn't done before. We went on an Aero Car out over the Whirlpool. That was pretty cool! Being out above the water like that and seeing the whirlpool. James enjoyed it.
Afterwards we went to the Butterfly Conservatory. We saw a lot of butterflies! Some even landed on us. It was pretty cool!
It was a fun weekend. We are already talking about when we do this race next year!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Getting Excited!
I'm getting really excited for my 10k on Sunday! I feel really good about it. I've been running really well and feeling really good.
Today I got up and did some interval training. I did it on the treadmill. That is the one thing I like the treadmill for, interval training. I started out with a 1 mile warm up at about a 11:30 pace. It was a nice easy mile. I was relaxed and felt loose. Then I did 6 rounds of :45 at 9:30 pace with a 2:00 recovery at a 12:00 pace. Then I continued at the 12:00 pace for another half mile and did a 5 minute cool down.
Today's run brings me up to 19.15 miles for the month. I'm getting closer to my goal! This is a good challenge for me right now because I made the decision to start a training program for a half marathon. I'm starting Monday and have it all planned out. I'm not currently planning on running a half, but it's in the back of my mind. I want to see how much time this will involve and how I can work it in with swimming. Right now is a perfect time to do this as I have more free time. I still have the weights worked into the training as well as cross training and rest days. I have to make sure that I keep myself motivated as well. I think I can do this!
I have to go to the dentist this morning and I'm really not thrilled about it. I don't like going so my run this morning was to help take the edge off. I should be fairly relaxed now and ready to sit for a bit. At least that's the thought. I'll see if it works.
Mike also gets home tonight. He's been in Pennsylvania all week. I know he'll be glad to get home. The weekend at Niagara Falls will be relaxing as well.
I guess I had better get ready for my dentist appointment. Have a great day!
Today I got up and did some interval training. I did it on the treadmill. That is the one thing I like the treadmill for, interval training. I started out with a 1 mile warm up at about a 11:30 pace. It was a nice easy mile. I was relaxed and felt loose. Then I did 6 rounds of :45 at 9:30 pace with a 2:00 recovery at a 12:00 pace. Then I continued at the 12:00 pace for another half mile and did a 5 minute cool down.
Today's run brings me up to 19.15 miles for the month. I'm getting closer to my goal! This is a good challenge for me right now because I made the decision to start a training program for a half marathon. I'm starting Monday and have it all planned out. I'm not currently planning on running a half, but it's in the back of my mind. I want to see how much time this will involve and how I can work it in with swimming. Right now is a perfect time to do this as I have more free time. I still have the weights worked into the training as well as cross training and rest days. I have to make sure that I keep myself motivated as well. I think I can do this!
I have to go to the dentist this morning and I'm really not thrilled about it. I don't like going so my run this morning was to help take the edge off. I should be fairly relaxed now and ready to sit for a bit. At least that's the thought. I'll see if it works.
Mike also gets home tonight. He's been in Pennsylvania all week. I know he'll be glad to get home. The weekend at Niagara Falls will be relaxing as well.
I guess I had better get ready for my dentist appointment. Have a great day!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Inspiration Tuesday...Inspiration For a Snowy April Day
I know I've been lazy and haven't written for awhile. We had Team Champs and swimming took over my life for a week. It was crazy! But the kids swam well and I had another swimmer from my group qualify for Provincials and another swimmer get two more events for Provincials. Plus they all dropped a lot of time. So it was a great meet!
Mike was in Chicago last week and he's in Pennsylvania this week. He has a lot of traveling coming up the next few months, so it's just me and the animals.
I got up and ran just over 3 miles today on the treadmill. I ran inside because we have snow on the ground. It's the end of April and we have snow. It's not a lot, but it's wet and cold and heavy and slick so I just hit the treadmill. I'm not doing weights this week because I have my 10K on Sunday. It's my first and I don't want to hurt so no weights until next week. With this 3 miles I'm up to 15.8 for my April Challenge. A little more than 10 to go!
Today felt really good. I felt like I could run forever. It was one of those days where I had to remind myself to stick to the plan so I wouldn't hurt myself especially since I didn't run last week. I felt like a super hero though. Really relaxed and in the zone. This week my inpiration is this:
I felt unstoppable today. I want that feeling to carry over into all my workouts and races.
After this weekend I'm starting a new training program. It has more distance and some of those runs I'm making into interval runs so get a bit of speed training in as well. I figured this is a good time to start upping my mileage since swimming is winding down. I think it should go well.
Well, off to enjoy the rest of my day! Happy Tuesday everyone!
Mike was in Chicago last week and he's in Pennsylvania this week. He has a lot of traveling coming up the next few months, so it's just me and the animals.
I got up and ran just over 3 miles today on the treadmill. I ran inside because we have snow on the ground. It's the end of April and we have snow. It's not a lot, but it's wet and cold and heavy and slick so I just hit the treadmill. I'm not doing weights this week because I have my 10K on Sunday. It's my first and I don't want to hurt so no weights until next week. With this 3 miles I'm up to 15.8 for my April Challenge. A little more than 10 to go!
Today felt really good. I felt like I could run forever. It was one of those days where I had to remind myself to stick to the plan so I wouldn't hurt myself especially since I didn't run last week. I felt like a super hero though. Really relaxed and in the zone. This week my inpiration is this:
I felt unstoppable today. I want that feeling to carry over into all my workouts and races.
After this weekend I'm starting a new training program. It has more distance and some of those runs I'm making into interval runs so get a bit of speed training in as well. I figured this is a good time to start upping my mileage since swimming is winding down. I think it should go well.
Well, off to enjoy the rest of my day! Happy Tuesday everyone!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Glad I Did My Workout Today
It was a rough morning. Yesterday I had a pretty icky day overall. I didn't sleep much last night either. When my alarm went off at 4:45 this morning, I really didn't want to get up. I sat on the couch for a few minutes and argued with myself. Then I remembered what my inspiration for the week is:
I got myself up and ready to go. I really didn't want to, but I had to make myself do it so that I can reach my goals. I'm so glad that I went to the gym.
Today was an interval day so I decided to get to the gym early and just do it on the treadmill. I ran for 23 minutes at a nice easy pace to loosen up then I did the following:
I got myself up and ready to go. I really didn't want to, but I had to make myself do it so that I can reach my goals. I'm so glad that I went to the gym.
Today was an interval day so I decided to get to the gym early and just do it on the treadmill. I ran for 23 minutes at a nice easy pace to loosen up then I did the following:
3 sets of 1 minute @ 10:15 pace with 2 minutes recovery between each hard
2 sets of 1 minute @ 9:45 pace with 2 minutes recover between each hard
1 set of 1 minute @ 9:30 pace with 2 minutes recovery.
I then did a 9 minute cool down at a nice easy pace. My total mileage was 4.08 miles. That brings my total for the April Challenge to 12.68 miles so far. Almost half of the Boston Marathon!
After I ran I did upper body weights. I increased weight on half the exercises today. I won't increase anymore until after my 10k now. That took about 30 minutes.
After dropping James off at daycare, I came home and did my Buffy core workout. Once again I had to add my own core workout as there wasn't much in the way of the list. I did get a pretty good workout in though. I stretched in between sets.
When it was all said and done, today was a great workout. Once again I am so glad that I made myself do this. It was worth it and I feel better.
Tomorrow James and I are going to walk to daycare and then I'm going for a 3-4 mile run on the way home. It should be a nice morning and it's always a great walk with him.
It's almost the weekend so enjoy your day!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Inspiration Tuesday
I know I didn't get this done last week so here it is for this week.
This is so true! This morning I almost let myself sleep in and not go for my run, but I got up and did it. I felt so much better afterwards. I was excited about it and happy with my time. I even decided to turn it into a photo run. I took my camera and stopped at a wetlands on my route and took some pictures. It was amazing! I had 3 geese come right up to me and just check me out. If I wouldn't have had the discipline to get up and head out, I would have missed all that beauty and those geese.
Today I ran five and half miles. That means I'm up to 8.6 miles for my April Challenge. Only 17.6 miles to go and I've completed the Boston Marathon once. Knowing that I'm chipping away at it makes me feel good. I don't know if I'll ever run a full marathon all at once, but doing this Challenge is fun.
After my run I did my Buffy Core workout. Not a whole lot of work with this episode so I filled in after I was done stretching. I did exercises on intervals otherwise I wouldn't have gotten much in at all. Instead I turned it around and just did my own thing.
I have another day full of fun and excitement ahead of me today. I have to hit the grocery store and get another section cleaned. I'm working on my spring cleaning and I'm doing it bit by bit. It's slow going, but I'm getting there.
Tomorrow is my rest day. I'll be at the University all day working on swim stuff. Thursday it's interval training and weights. Friday is an easy run. Saturday is a short run and I think I'll try to add some speed work in there. Sunday is another cross training day and weights again. Since I'm doing most of my running outside again, I've adjusted my weight schedule. When I have meets I'll have to adjust it again, but for now it's fine.
Well, I'm off to work on the rest of my day! Enjoy your Tuesday!
This is so true! This morning I almost let myself sleep in and not go for my run, but I got up and did it. I felt so much better afterwards. I was excited about it and happy with my time. I even decided to turn it into a photo run. I took my camera and stopped at a wetlands on my route and took some pictures. It was amazing! I had 3 geese come right up to me and just check me out. If I wouldn't have had the discipline to get up and head out, I would have missed all that beauty and those geese.
Today I ran five and half miles. That means I'm up to 8.6 miles for my April Challenge. Only 17.6 miles to go and I've completed the Boston Marathon once. Knowing that I'm chipping away at it makes me feel good. I don't know if I'll ever run a full marathon all at once, but doing this Challenge is fun.
After my run I did my Buffy Core workout. Not a whole lot of work with this episode so I filled in after I was done stretching. I did exercises on intervals otherwise I wouldn't have gotten much in at all. Instead I turned it around and just did my own thing.
I have another day full of fun and excitement ahead of me today. I have to hit the grocery store and get another section cleaned. I'm working on my spring cleaning and I'm doing it bit by bit. It's slow going, but I'm getting there.
Tomorrow is my rest day. I'll be at the University all day working on swim stuff. Thursday it's interval training and weights. Friday is an easy run. Saturday is a short run and I think I'll try to add some speed work in there. Sunday is another cross training day and weights again. Since I'm doing most of my running outside again, I've adjusted my weight schedule. When I have meets I'll have to adjust it again, but for now it's fine.
Well, I'm off to work on the rest of my day! Enjoy your Tuesday!
Monday, April 9, 2012
My April Challenge
It's Monday and I got to start it off in the gym. Today was my cross training day and I did the recumbent bike. Held a pretty good pace at a moderate resistance level. Then I did weights working on my legs. I'm ready to increase the weight on several exercises so I'll be doing that on Thursday. I got home and did my Buffy core workout. This episode had a lot of invisability so I had to do 300 Russian Twists total. Not so much research though. In addition to the Russian twists I did 20 V-ups, 1 burpee, and 5 squats. I did the Russian twists with a 5 pound medicine ball to add a small challenge.
Speaking of challenges, I'm issuing one to myself. I did this last year and didn't make it so this year I'm going to destroy it! April is the Boston Marathon. I'm going to see how many times I can run it this month. I'm totaling up my running mileage throughout April to see if I can run it at least 1 1/2 times. So far I have 3.1 miles towards my first 26.2. I'm only counting those miles that I run so no biking or walking miles. I'm really wanting to get this this year so I'm focused and ready.
Tomorrow I'm out for a long run and I was thinking of taking my camera along and turning it into a photo run. I've been wanting to do this and just haven't yet. My time will be slower, but it should be fun. I'm trying a new route tomorrow and it will involve more hills on the back end of the run, but I need to do more hill work. Then I'll go to the gym for arm work. I'm really excited to head out tomorrow morning for this run. It should be fun!
Right now I'm getting a shower and making cupcakes. I have a ton of recipes to try and I'm making my first one today. Key Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. They should be good. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
Enjoy your Monday!!!!!!
Speaking of challenges, I'm issuing one to myself. I did this last year and didn't make it so this year I'm going to destroy it! April is the Boston Marathon. I'm going to see how many times I can run it this month. I'm totaling up my running mileage throughout April to see if I can run it at least 1 1/2 times. So far I have 3.1 miles towards my first 26.2. I'm only counting those miles that I run so no biking or walking miles. I'm really wanting to get this this year so I'm focused and ready.
Tomorrow I'm out for a long run and I was thinking of taking my camera along and turning it into a photo run. I've been wanting to do this and just haven't yet. My time will be slower, but it should be fun. I'm trying a new route tomorrow and it will involve more hills on the back end of the run, but I need to do more hill work. Then I'll go to the gym for arm work. I'm really excited to head out tomorrow morning for this run. It should be fun!
Right now I'm getting a shower and making cupcakes. I have a ton of recipes to try and I'm making my first one today. Key Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. They should be good. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
Enjoy your Monday!!!!!!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Good Friday 5K
It's been a crazy week this past week. I was at the Victor Davis Meet all weekend for swimming and Olympic Trials were going on in Montreal. Andrew Ford made the Olympic Team in the 200 IM!!!!!! It was so exciting!
Mike ended up getting sick and was in bed until Tuesday. He caught something while traveling. I wasn't home on Sunday so James took care of him. That consisted of James letting him rest while he watched TV and played Wii. It worked.
It ended up being a short week because of Easter. Yesterday we ran in the Good Friday Races. James ran the 1K Bunny Hop and I ran the 5K. Here we are before the race.
It was a colder morning, but it was clear and sunny. James ran the 1k all by himself. He was so proud and so were we! When they started there was a mob of kids and Mike leaned over and asked if I was sure he was in there. I said, "Yep. I put him on the starting line and told me that I could go now." We didn't see him until he crossed the finish line 7 minutes later.
He was so happy that he did it all by himself! We were very proud of him too!
Here he is posing with his medal.
Next it was my turn. I ran the 5K. It was a nice course, a bit hilly at the start, but a nice downhill finish. I dropped two and half minutes though! I was so excited!!!!!!! It was a great run! It really got me excited about my training too! Here I am crossing the finish line.
And posing together after the race.
We hiked along the Bruce Trail and climbed on rocks near the water.
After hiking we had a picnic. It was a lot of fun and James loved it!
It was a great day! We all had a lot of fun.
Mike ended up getting sick and was in bed until Tuesday. He caught something while traveling. I wasn't home on Sunday so James took care of him. That consisted of James letting him rest while he watched TV and played Wii. It worked.
It ended up being a short week because of Easter. Yesterday we ran in the Good Friday Races. James ran the 1K Bunny Hop and I ran the 5K. Here we are before the race.
It was a colder morning, but it was clear and sunny. James ran the 1k all by himself. He was so proud and so were we! When they started there was a mob of kids and Mike leaned over and asked if I was sure he was in there. I said, "Yep. I put him on the starting line and told me that I could go now." We didn't see him until he crossed the finish line 7 minutes later.
He was so happy that he did it all by himself! We were very proud of him too!
Here he is posing with his medal.
Next it was my turn. I ran the 5K. It was a nice course, a bit hilly at the start, but a nice downhill finish. I dropped two and half minutes though! I was so excited!!!!!!! It was a great run! It really got me excited about my training too! Here I am crossing the finish line.
And posing together after the race.
After the race we went to Waterdown Falls and hiked a bit. It was a nice day and we didn't have the time to go to Niagara Falls. This was just up the road from where the race was.
We hiked along the Bruce Trail and climbed on rocks near the water.
After hiking we had a picnic. It was a lot of fun and James loved it!
It was a great day! We all had a lot of fun.
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