Confession

I have not been back to the yoga studio since my "incidence." Even though I paid for a 5-class package and realized (a week later) that I also left my yoga mat there.

At first, I was just too embarrassed to go back. And then, I got over it. Then I was too busy to go back. And now, I'm embarrassed because it's been over 2 months and I still haven't been back.

It's time to bite the bullet though. So I'm going to get in my "long" run (it's an easy week, only 4-5 miles) and then go to Pilates.

I'm going to feel pretty lame if I don't make it through this class with flying colors, so wish me luck!

5K Planning Update

Things are really coming together in my 5K planning! Lack of fitness-related events might be a weakness for this town, but getting support is not. The advantages of small town life really shine when you have to gather contacts and help.

My main partner in this race is the local Farmers Market. The race will be held on May 8th, on the market's opening day. They are really excited about this event and it really ties in with their message of healthful living. I've already got a few sponsors and have a few others I'll be contacting this week.

I've been working on the race website (using Weebly.com, by the way, which turns out to be a really easy way to make a professional looking website) and I may or may not be totally obsessed. There's basic information; registrations forms for participants, volunteers, and sponsors; training plans; first time racer tips; and race day information.

(Since the motivation for this event was the announcement of our county's poor health ranking, this race is really geared at beginners and I'm trying very hard to make it as appealing as possible to new runners and walkers. We've left "5K" out of the title, opting for "Fun Run and Walk" instead. It's kind of a cop-out, but I really don't want to scare people away with terminology that might be intimidating. You have to remember, they don't even have cross-country teams here. This is all very new.)

I've also pulled together a committee with a representative from the city, the health department, and a few other organizations. We're meeting on Monday to make final decisions before we really go public and start advertising and promoting. I'll also start hitting up local businesses for prize donations next week.

There's a lot to get done NOW rather than later, since the race is less than 11 weeks away. Depending upon interest, I might try to get together a few training runs for beginners leading up to the race, so I really want to get the word out soon.

In this planning process so far, I have done a lot of web research. There are many good planning resources out there, but the best I have found, by far, is a resource posted by Adin Lykken at www.woofinhoofin.org called "Organizing a 5K Race: an insider's guide." It is a very comprehensive guide to planning, advertising, staffing, timing, and every-thing-else-ing a 5K and has been immensely helpful to me. The guide is available at www.woofinhoofin.org under the tab, "Organizing a 5K Race."



Thanks for y'all's suggestions and advice and please keep them coming!

Another Wednesday Long Run!

I don't know how I've gotten into this schedule, but my long runs keep migrating from Sunday to Wednesday...which turns out to be fine because I had a FANTASTIC run today!

I'm sorry to go all capitalized on you, but it was a really, really good run. The best and longest one I've had since the marathon. I explored a new area (scoping out a course for the 5K...I'll update you on that soon), had a Chocolate Outrage GU and water at mile 5, and finished the last three miles in the rain and the last two in the dark. (I almost ate the sidewalk once about a half mile from home on a particularly unlit block.)

I just felt great, though. I had energy all the way through and my legs didn't get sore at all. Maybe I've actually been building some muscles with all this Jillian Michaels Shredding!

Help me Plan a 5K

Okay, I need y'all's help. (And not just the normal motivation to get my lazy self in my running shoes and out the door.)

This week, my county was ranked the least healthy county in the state. Out of 100 counties. This was not exactly a shocker to me. (Have you ever heard me whine about being desperate for a YMCA, indoor pool, road races, or long distance running partners?) The official ranking, however, is initiative enough though to jolt me into action.

Running is not a big sport here. There is one 5K and 8K in the fall, but there were only about 20 participants. I won the 8K, for crying out loud! Obviously, there are not that many people running here. (We did have a larger, informal running, biking, and swimming event over Labor Day weekend, but the scale of Take the Lake doesn't really appeal to beginner fitness participants. And it wasn't timed.)

So, I am going to organize a 5K. I'd love for it to be an certified, age-group awarded, online registration event, but even more so than that I just want a lot of local participants. And I think that will mean a no registration fee, no t-shirt (although I REALLY want to have a t-shirt), fairly casual run/walk event. (It WILL be timed though and I want to have some awards.)

I've talked to a local organization about pairing it with an event in May, but it will about a week before I hear back from them. If it doesn't work out with that organization, I'm just "going rogue" and going to plan it myself. We spoke about a short (half mile or so) kids run too.

I know I'll need (in no particiular order)...

• volunteers
  
• sponsors (because pretty much everything that follows on this list depends on their support, especially without a registration fee)
• advertising (including a web presence, even if it's just a facebook event)
• a permit for a possible lane closure on one road without a sidewalk
• a water station at the halfway point (maybe another...we'll need all the help we can get)
• registrations forms (I need to have a waiver on there, right?)
• race bibs and safety pins
• water and snacks at the finish line
• timers and recorders (I've seen this done many different ways at small races, suggestions on best method, anyone?)
• registration table
• signs and volunteers along the route
• some kind of loud speaker for the race start
• prizes for top 3 male and female finishers in the 5K (just overall, not age-group) and some kind of little award for all the kids participating

That's just off the top of my head and definitely not an all-inclusive list, but what other things can you think of and what advice do you have to offer? I need your expertise! : )

Between Now and March 21st

(I wish they had a logo for the Half-Marathon, because I'm definitely going for 13.2 this time, just to make that clear.)

...I want to:

• Get in my all "long" runs. (I think I might only train up to 10 miles this time so it shouldn't be all that ridiculous to get these in.)
• Run at least 2 other times during school week. (Hey, it's an improvement from nothing.)
• Drink more water!
• Work through all three levels of The Shred. I've done Level 1 at least 5 times now and it doesn't feel much easier. I'm not really sore, however, so I know I'm getting stronger.
  
• Drop a few pounds. I lost about 7 pounds in the marathon training and then gained it all back. I'm down a few now, but not where I need to be.
  

I think that's pretty reasonable. Then it will be time to choose the next race!

7 Miles: Check!

Thanks for the encouragement and accountability! I literally would not have done it without you.

I got a late start, so I was only able to get in 4 miles outside. The last one was definitely in the dark, but I really wanted to get more than half my run finished before I submitted to the dreadmill.

When I came in, I only had 3 miles left, but that was daunting enough on the treadmill. I HATE the treadmill. I haven't used it in months and today was kind of ugly (there was walking involved), but I finished it!

(By the way, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" turns out not to be such a great treadmill movie. It's been on my list of "movies everyone in the world has seen but me because I didn't grow up with a TV and it's causing me to miss pop culture references" for a while now, but it just moved up the Netflix Queue. I had run half a mile before the opening credits were even finished. I'm pretty sure I missed half the jokes because I couldn't hear them over the rickety mess that is our treadmill. I think I'll pick it up another time though.)

Convince me.

So, things have been a little hectic lately, in school, grad school, and outside of school. And until today, my workouts have been zero to nil. I went through periods like this during the marathon training, but I knew I had to get in those long runs.

Even the long runs have been falling by the wayside lately. I could blame it on many factors, but the reality is, I gotta get in these runs. I kinda skipped over the whole training process last February when I ran the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon and I was able to finish, but barely. I was practically limping by the end.

I want to actually finish the Wrightsville Half Marathon with a little pride in tact. And the very next step in that process is the 7 mile run that was supposed to happen Sunday. And didn't.

Even though after school on Wednesday is traditionally not a ideal time for a long run for me, it's gotta happen. Unless emergency or injury strikes, the iPod and I are hitting the road for approximately 70 minutes tomorrow.

Convince me I can do it.

Cheating through The Shred

So I had to take 2 days off of The Shred before my muscles felt recovered enough to run without giving out. I put off this week's "long run," which was only 4 miles until today after school.

(Please don't judge me for using a Beginner's Half Marathon Plan even though this is my fourth 13.1...and for choosing the minimum mileages on each day.)

I had a really good run though and (due to heading out too late and trying to get back before it was completely pitch dark) it felt pretty speedy for me. I even decided to go ahead and forge through with Day 4 of The Shred afterwards.

Confession: I completely cheated and fast-forwarded through the warm-up (I figured I was plenty warm already), cardio (since I just got in about 40 minutes of running, I didn't feel that guilty skipping those 6 minutes), and cool-down (I'm on the floor now in a v-sit stretching out my arms to reach my laptop).

I doubt Jillian would approve. : )

Ouch.

The Shred is already working. You know I can tell? I hurt. As in, barely being able to pick up the groceries sore. As in, walking sideways down the porch steps sore. As in, feeling pain when I laugh sore.

I was a little surprised to realize all of the sudden that the last time I was this sore was after the marathon. (Okay, two days after the marathon. That first day after the race, I could barely get out of bed. I was sore in my bones.)

So, kudos, Jillian. In 2 twenty minute workouts, you've produced almost the same pain results as almost 5 hours of running.

I decided to take today off because I want to actually be able to run tomorrow. Next week, the two plans (half marathon and The Shred) will merge!

I thought I loved you then...

No, this isn't an early Valentine's Day post. It's something much more pathetic.

For years (really, wow...it has been 4 years), I have been watching the Biggest Loser and knew Jillian Michaels was my kind of trainer. I bought one of her books and I have been poking around with some of her workouts for months. I already thought she was pretty much tops.

Tonight though, I finally got around to my first day of "The Shred." My first video workout led by Jillian. And it was fantastic. I've got a whole new respect for her.

I know it's really weird to wax poetic about a DVD workout, but I'd dabbled in many over the years and this one is the first that I'm really wild over. Most of the leaders in these videos encourage you "not to push it," "take a break anytime you need it," and "follow Jessica if you're not quite ready for the full workout." (Jessica being the girl in the back of the video who is just kinda scooting around with 1 pound weights.)

With most of these DVDs, I either get bored about 5 minutes in or just kinda wimp out on the hard parts (read: lunges, push-ups, etc) and bounce through the cardio. Jillian kept me going through the whole workout though. Every time my arms started feeling wimpy and I thought about putting down the weights, Jillian would start going on about "change hurts" or "don't wimp out now...the pain means it's working."

So, I'm really excited about keeping it up through the 3 levels! Oh, and I guess it's about time to run again...

The Shred!

I just put Jillian Michael's "The Shred" on my Netflix queue and I'm very excited about its impending arrival! I've had the "Making the Cut" book for months, but if you've been reading for a while, you know I don't have an exactly stellar track record with strength training. I'm pretty sure my record is making it to Day 6 of the 30 day book.

So, how about another approach? I've heard about many others having success with "The Shred" so I'm thinking the video might be a little more structured than flipping back and forth through a book to look up exercises.

So we'll see!

Timed Tuesday

So, now that I'm running again, I'm actually having blogging ideas again. (Who knew that running could inspire ideas for a running blog?!) In fact, I have even been struck by alliteration!
In high school, I had a love/hate relationship with track workouts. I have a little bit of a competitive streak, so it's kind of fun to sprint around for some kind of goal, but...y'all, running fast is hard work.

So, I have never really been good about incorporating speedwork into my training. Even when I'm following a plan, I just kind of skim over the speed days and get in the mileage at a just-whatever pace. This approach is fine for building endurance and getting through races, but it doesn't make you any faster.

Now, I don't plan on becoming obsessed with any certain time or pace (Boston qualifier, I am not.), but it would nice to drop my PRs a little. With Tuesday already being the speed day on my plan (and I think on many others as well), I've decided to start, "Timed Tuesdays," in which I commit to reporting my speed progress.

This week, I'm just easing in to it and I got my speed workout in a very accidental way. My husband ran with me to visit with his grandma, but warned me he wanted to get back in time for the six o'clock news. (If you know him, you already know how big a deal The News is him.) Well, the grandma visit took a little longer than anticipated and when we left, we were pushing news time. I have never seen my husband run like that. I was really, really pushing to keep up with him. (In my defense, his legs are about a foot longer than mine.)

So, my speed work for today was an accelerated 1 and half miles keeping up with my husband's long legs racing to get home to watch the news!

What was your speed work or best time for this Timed Tuesday? You can claim a time from any day this week...Tuesday's just got that whole alliteration thing going on. : )

Virtual Motivation via Virtual 10K

I was wandering around in blogland this afternoon, putting off my first "long run" of this training plan and I came across Casey's Virtual 10K, scheduled for today. It was obvious that this was the kick that I needed to get out the door and moving.

I've never participated in a virtual race before, but the general gist is just that you run the distance and then send in your time to the organizer. Casey has taken this even one step further and is offering knitted prizes! I don't think I'll be getting one of the fastest time prizes, but maybe I'll get one of the "random" finisher's knitted wrist warmers. I would be pretty jazzed about that.

Anyway, I had an amazing run! I have only run about 5 times since October and was a little concerned that it might be a stretch to run 6 miles.

Since this was a race, I had to locate my sports watch, which I haven't used in years. (You can tell I have a real dedication to speedwork, right? When I studied abroad in Spain, I forgot to pack my watch and was too cheap to buy a new one. So I ran for 3 months without one and learned to really love just listening to my body and gauging my own speed. I usually glance at a clock before and after a run to get a general time, but I get distracted looking at my time if I wear a watch and my run seems to take FOREVER. Same thing with the treadmill clock.) Even though I've moved approximately 7 times since I last wore this watch, because I remembered seeing it in a bag mentally labeled "Things I don't really know where to put" when I was looking for something else a few months ago of my extreme organization skills, I knew right where it was. Unfortunately, it was dead and even after several resuscitation attempts (I ended up taking apart the watch trying to change the battery...), I just gave up.

Luckily, I remembered the stopwatch feature on my Blackberry and just hit it on the way out, leaving it by the door. I just had a nice steady run around town and am just overjoyed that I can still pound out 6 miles without event. I really credit the Virtual 10K with my pace though...if I didn't have that motivation, I probably would have gotten lazy and walked some.As, it was, I was very pleased with my time and am starting to feel like a runner again!

Ready to Run

For the first time in a long time, I got a real urge to run today! We had a teacher workday today and I was still piddling around in my classroom at 4:30 when I just got the feeling that I just had to get out there and run! I even left a pile of unsorted mess on the floor beside my desk and just flew out the door to get home and change before dark.

The weather is GORGEOUS right now and perfect for running. We had a streak for about a month where it was uncharacteristically cold for coastal North Carolina and I dreaded going outside for weeks. Against fashion advice, I had taken to wearing my ski jacket (rather than my lovely, long wool coat) everywhere I went.

So, it seemed ridiculous and wonderful to go for a jog in shorts and t-shirt today! I went on a route that I thought was 3 miles, but upon gmap-ing it...I fell short. Which is kinda pathetic. There are more runs to be completed this week though!

My Next Half Marathon

So, after months of piddling around without a plan...looking at races, but not registering...thinking about training, but not running, but yesterday, I finally decided to make a commitment!

I registered for the inaugural Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon on March 21st and I'm very excited about a busy 9 weeks of training ahead!

It wasn't until after I already paid my non-refundable fee that I actually calculated and realized there are only 9 weeks until race day. That fact startled me for just a minute, but I immediately knew it was possible.

Before my first cross-country season in high school, 3 miles seemed like an impossible distance. Then I did it. I still got a little nervous about those 5Ks, until my first triathlon. Suddenly, 3 miles was not that big a deal. Those triathlons kinda stressed me out though, until my first 1/2 marathon. Then they were old hat.

Until last October though, 13.1 was my biggest feat. Training for each 1/2 marathon felt like a test of my limits and I went into each race fearful that I would not finish.

Now, even though I've only ran twice this month, even though I haven't done more than 5 miles in months, I can look that upcoming 1/2 marathon in the eye with no fear. I am a marathoner, gosh darnit, and I can handle anything less than 26.2 with confidence.*

(*Pending, of course, unforeseen illness or injury. I don't want to forget to knock on wood.)

So, if you're intimidated by that first mile, or race, or distance...just run it. If I can work my way up, so can you. Who knows? Maybe a few years and marathons down the road, maybe I can approach even 26.2 with a steady hand. We'll see. : )

A Little Bit

Thanks for your facts on my 100th post! (I counted 52, which is over half of 100, which is good enough for me.) I have really enjoyed running around the internet "meeting" new people and getting my little daily dose of all of your lives.

So, as far as my new year goes, obviously, I've not been very good at keeping up with blogging, but that's a direct reflection of my (lack of) fitness plan right now. I know that should be really concerning to me, but I've been embarrassingly okay with being a total couch potato lately. Until the past few days, it has just been too cold for me to fathom running outside. (Which is kind of silly because I used to live in Boone and would run in the snow...it just seems REALLY cold out.)

In all other areas of my life, however, I'm doing really well with my "little bit" resolution. Everyday I'm doing the little things that are consistently keeping my home, classroom, and life clean and organized. I've always LOVED cleaning and organizing (Instead of playing, I used to sort the toys into bins at day care.) but I'm really bad about letting things pile up and then tackling them and then letting them pile up and then tackling over and over again.

Which kind of reminds me of my athletic life...training really hard for a race and then just letting those pounds pile back on and my endurance dissolve. Eventually, I'm going to learn how to take the "little bit" approach with running too, but, until then... I've got a new race in mind!

Tomorrow, (I can't just not blog for 2 weeks and then use up all my news in one post!) I'll let you know my next race and training plan. I'm excited!

100th Post! And I don't have a 100 list...

I wanted to do something really cute and obvious for my 100th post like list 100 things I want to do or 100 random facts, or just 100 of something, but really, 100 is a lot. And I have papers-to-grade/laundry-to-fold/Biggest-Loser-to-watch/etc.

So, I'm going to pass the buck. To you. I want to learn 100 things about the web wanderers who have ended up here. So, if you would please, leave a comment with a few things about yourself. List as many as you like because I'd like to learn 100 new pieces of information and I don't anticipate 100 comments. Or even 10, so mathematically, you should consider posting at least 10 facts. But I would be tickled with even just one. : )

In other news...

I have been planning to finalize and post my 2010 resolutions. It's only January 5th, right?

I like big scale resolutions/goals. (365 runs? cough, cough) I think impracticalness is part of the charm for me. Impracticalness, however, does not charm my husband and he kind of has to live with me. And, (listen up, because I'll probably only say this once), maybe he's right. For right now, at least. Teaching two grade levels, taking grad school classes, and just acknowledging that there is life outside of school does not provide a great platform for additional crazy goals.

I don't see myself starting over my 365 this year. So, what are the goals for 2010? I've been thinking about this for a while now and I had a lot of big scale plans that I wanted to start January 1st.

Which I didn't.

At least, not all the way. Which has led me to my main resolution/theme of 2010: Small Steps. There are so many areas in which I want to make improvements, but what I really need to concentrate on is the daily small steps that will lead me where I want to go. I'm not going to morph overnight into the person I want to be: physically, emotionally, professionally, or domestically. But, every day, I can get do a little bit better.

Which reminds me of one of my past students. (Bear with me if you know me in real life, because you've definitely heard this story.) I moved down here last year and learned that one of the charming quirks of this region is an affinity for nicknames. So, on the first day of school, I asked one of my little fourth graders if he had a nickname. He was very excited to tell me, "Well, I gots two nicknames. My first one is "Hammer." That's what my friends call me. But, my real nickname, my special name, what my family calls me is "Little Bit." 'Cause when I was baby, every day I grew, a little bit."

It's really just nothing with the natural accent, timing, and gesturing of this child, but you have to trust me that it was one of the most precious and ridiculous things I've heard as a teacher. And I guess it was inspiring too because that's what'll I'll be working on this year: every day, I'll improve, a little bit.

I'll keep you updated!

9 Events in my 99th Post on the Last Day of 2009

Even though I haven't been blogging much lately (and not because I've been passed out in yoga since then...luckily, that was a one time occurrence and I appreciate y'all's concern), I still have been keeping up with some of my blog reading and I'm really enjoying everyone's end-of-the-year-reflection-looking-forward posts. Everyone is more creative than me. Look at how lovely these are:

I don't know how Chic Runner did this, but I think it's adorable. There is even a little pop up caption for each one.
Natalie compiled a list of her stats this year which include, but are not limited to, having a baby, running the Boston Marathon, and logging 1,645.5 miles. All of the sudden, I feel like I've been incredibly lazy. : )
L. has her resolutions ready, including the goal of Michelle Obama arms. A worthy goal, indeed!
Mrs. Everlasting recorded her year at a glance, which I definitely should do because I like to remember what happened (I think L. has a good idea directly above.) but I'm way too lazy to do right now.
I thought Meredith had a really cute idea for her last post of 2009, so I totally just copied hers. I'm pretty sure I've completely copied other ideas from Meredith's blog before, too. : )
I like the idea of narrowing it down to 9 events and it just happened to be my 99th post. 2008 was a really busy year (moving 3 times, getting married, getting a new job, buying a house, etc.) so comparatively I thought I hadn't done that much in 2009, but looking back, I think it's been pretty okay for 365 days.

9 in 2009

1. I ran a marathon. Sorry, I'm still just really happy about that.
2. I started work on my masters in Instructional Technology and am becoming a huge tech geek.
3. We got our first pet, a lovely little cat named Gayle.
4. I have run 360+ miles this year. (Ironically when I added up my monthly totals plus an estimate of the few measly miles I've run in December it was 364 miles...which is pretty darn close to 365, which be ironic because it's not really 365 runs, but still. I'm still keeping that goal in the back of my mind.)
5. With a group from my church, I read the entire Bible, cover to cover, in 90 days.
6. I starting blogging, obviously.
7. My husband and I have settled in here, setting up our house, meeting new people, having a mostly failed attempt at a garden, etc.
8. I was awarded my first grant and my students have been working on their reading fluency with iPods.
9. I've gotten a little bit better at this whole balancing act of life, work, family, etc. I'm still busy and I'm still working on doing even better in 2010, but 2009 was this first year that I've really loved being a teacher and not let it take over my whole life.

So, anyway, that was 2009. Tomorrow's a new decade!

It's a Simple Equation.

Giving blood + developing a cold later that day + reduced sleep due to cold + cold medicine = Passing out and throwing up in yoga class the next day.

Yes, at my very first yoga class at the one and only studio in the county.

They were really nice about it though. I think the repeated phrase was, "Listen to your body next time."

Lesson learned.

Milestones that Shouldn't be Milestones

Today, on my first weekday of Christmas break, I decided it was time to check a few things off my list. I decided to get in a workout, any workout, even if I didn't go outside. I popped in a Dancing with the Stars DVD and it had the desired effect: Four minutes in, I got bored and felt like I was getting a "real workout" so I dug out my running shoes and then realized my iPod was dead and spent 15 minutes recharging it and buying new songs for my running playlist and hit the road.

It's amazing, but not surprising, how quickly I've gone from 26.2 miles to phhhhhmmmpt. ("phhhhmmmpt" meaning that I'm not even continuously running a mile right now.) You would think I would feel guilty for letting my endurance go without a fight, but I really just needed a break after the marathon. This was my first run since Thanksgiving and really represents how much I need to sign up for a race and get motivated!

(Does anybody else have problems with sore teeth when they run in the cold? That bothered me even when I was little and ran around playing in the yard in the winter. And, come on, this is North Carolina we're talking about...it's not even that cold.)

In other milestone news, I finally went and signed up for a library card after living here for 1.5 years. I already was a little embarrassed about this and while I was filling out the new card application, who should walk up but my husband's primary school librarian who goes to our church! A librarian found out that I hadn't even entered the public library in over 14 months! (In my defense, I did spend most of the summer finishing the Bible in 90 days with my church, so I hope she remembers I was reading something.)

This got me thinking about all the things that I loved doing as a child...reading, playing the piano, tennis, exploring outside, swimming...and how much we encourage children to do these things, but then when you grow up you're supposed to be too busy to worry with such frivolous things. One of my 2010 resolutions will be to prioritize these types of "enrichment" activities. (Except swimming, because there is not an indoor pool within a 45 minute radius of here...)

And lastly, I decided, on a whim, to stop a blood drive today and give blood for the first time in 5 years. I usually make up all these halfway valid excuses like, "I'm running 8 miles tomorrow," or "All I've eaten today is a pile of brownies and Diet Coke," but since I jogged a grand total of 2 miles this morning and think yoga class is the most strenuous exercise I'll get tomorrow, I really didn't have an excuse.

I was kind of worked up and nervous, but I thought of how I tell my 3rd and 4th grade babies that it's not that bad to be stung by a bee (since there is an infestation between our mobile unit and the bathroom, I'm sending at least one bee stung child to the office a month) so it shouldn't be that bad to be stung by a needle. It really was fine, but I asked the nurse to cover my arm with a paper towel because I really don't like to see the blood exit my body.

So, all in all, it was a pretty productive day. Let's see if this can be the new pattern.