First race of the year!

So, I've officially decided on my first race of the year - a 5K on July 12.

I re-connected with a high school friend on facebook a year or so ago and she has also been on weight loss & running journey so we're planing to do this together. It's gonna be epic! So much excited!

Now.....I best be dusting off my runners....

Today's run

I ran 3 miles this morning (and, yes, I really did manage to RUN most of it!) and it was fabulous run except for...

Hot and Humid

Even at 6:30 am it was ridiculously hot and - sweet mercy! - was it ever humid. I was dripping wet (which I have to admit makes me feel like an awesome superhero athlete).

The Slobber Monster

Usually when I encounter a person walking a dog, I politely move aside to let them pass. But the dog I met today ran directly at me in a very "Pet me! I love you! I'm so adorable" sort of way, so I paused to briefly stroke its head. It wiggled excitedly and nuzzled up to me and discovered that I was sweaty....and tasty. The dog WOULD NOT stop licking me and covering me with doggy slobber. The owner finally had to forcibly drag it away from me (with many embarrassed apologies).

Mutant Bunny Rabbits

Later, I came around a corner and discovered two enormous rabbits munching on the grass. I mean, they looked like they should be cast in a Monty Python movie ("If you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.")  I gave them a very wide berth and continued onward.

Color Run 5K

My bff, my sil, and I participated in the Color Run 5K on Saturday. It was EPIC FUNNESS!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Color Run (what planet do you live on?), it's a 5K race where runners are splashed with colored cornstarch at intervals throughout the race so that by the end you look like you've been attacked by Jackson Pollack.

It's not a timed race and it's really more about the fun than the run. Everything slowed down when people got to the color stations and attempted to get as colorized as possible. Some people even got down on the pavement and rolled in the excess color that coated the ground! And people stopped to get their pics taken by the race photographers and there were lines at the port-o-potties along the route. Yeah, no one was really in a hurry to get to the finish line. :)

I totally loved that there were people of all ages, shapes and sizes. This wasn't a race for athletes; it was a race for everyone. That is just awesome. There was such a buzz of happiness and adrenaline, and the race was very well organized (which is quite a feat for a race that had 10,000 participants!).



Before the race (I'm on the right)






































And after the race (I'm in the center)

And can I just confess that I'm thrilled to be able to look at the race pics and realize that I don't look like an enormous hippopotamus?!? In fact, I almost look thin!

T4CR: Speed Work

Training for the Color Run (T4CR) following this program.

Wednesday was rest OR cross train. Since I worked both jobs, I took a rest day.
I switched Thursday/Saturday, so on Thursday I did a 2 mile run.
Friday was another rest day.

And today was SPEED WORK.
1 mile warm-up
hard 1/2 mile
easy 1/2 mile
hard 1/2 mile
1 mile cool down.
I was pretty skeptical about this. I have two speeds - slow and even slower. Or so I thought.

I jammed it the first hard 1/2. It was NOT easy. I thought I was gonna die. I was definitely on the edge of my comfort zone. It was very very very very very hard to keep running when I switched to the easy 1/2. I was so ready to walk. And the final hard 1/2 was......ugly. My pace really wasn't much faster than the easy 1/2 and I got a side stitch for the first time ever.

I basically thought the run sucked. Until I uploaded my run to Nike+, logged into the my account, and saw THIS:

Holy crap, Batman!!!!!  That's like, crazy!!!!  

Pleasantly P!ink

P!nk - Try

1. She looks smokin' in the video. Who doesn't dream about looking like that and being able to move like that?
2. This is a fab song for running
3. I love the lyrics. I know that on the surface it's basically a love song, but to me it's something deeper - fighting for what we desire, moving forward despite obstacles, and believing that's it all so so so worth it.

Ever worry that it might be ruined 
And does it make you wanna cry? 
When you're out there doing what you're doing 
Are you just getting by? 
Tell me are you just getting by, by, by 
Where there is desire 
There is gonna be a flame 
Where there is a flame 
Someone's bound to get burned 
But just because it burns 
Doesn't mean you're gonna die 
You've gotta get up and try, and try, and try

5K Training

My exercise routine has been haphazard and unfocused. I realized today that it's only FOUR WEEKS until the Color Run 5K. O crap.

Today I found this 5K training program that sounds totally doable and should get me ready for race day. I'll have to jump in at Week 3 but randomness has looked a bit like Weeks 1 and 2 so I think I'll be okay.

One mile....oh yeah!

I RAN A MILE WITHOUT STOPPING! 

(you can see on the graph where I almost started to walk at the half mile point but I pushed through)

My total run for the day was one mile run, half mile walk, one mile run. Completely fabulous!

Today: The bad & the good

The bad: I'm trying to kick my diet soda habit so I don't keep it in the house. Occasionally, like once a week, I'll allow myself to buy one at the drive-thru or a convenience store. Considering the cost is about the same for a 22 ounce fountain drink as it is for a 12-pack, I'm really not tempted to indulge terribly often. Today, while out running errands, I stopped at Burger King for a Diet Coke. Just a Diet Coke. But then...I saw it. A new menu item. Loaded Tator Tots. OMG. I just couldn't NOT order them. So, epic fail on the impulse eating. 380 calories and 36 grams of carbs. And do not ask me about the sodium. Also *oh joy* they have a wheat allergen warning. My tummy doesn't seem to be reacting to the wheat but one impulsive choice just blew 3 months of wheat free eating. Drat.
The good: It was sunshiney! It was 50+ degrees! I went for a run! It was grand!

The bad: My sil made me a gluten free Cadbury cupcake. (It's like a Cadbury egg but in cake form.) I ate it.
The good: My sil took some progress photos of me. Wearing the fab Aéropostale jeans I just bought recently. The pics look great in the little view thingy on the camera. Hopefully she'll be able to figure out how to load them onto her computer so I can share them.

The bad: I look fat and frumpy in the only outfit I could pull together to wear for Easter Sunday.
The good: My manager at Job #2 commented on my weight loss today when I went in for my schedule.

The bad: I watched 3 episodes of FlashForward instead of working on my to-do list. (Read: the health department is about to condemn my apartment if I don't get off my ass.)
The good: I packed up 3 boxes of too-big clothing to donate to the thrift store!

Previous races

Today I came across the info from the 5K races I ran in 2010.

July 17
Time 46:30 (14.9 min mile)
Weight 224

August 21
Time 43:36 (13.9 min mile)
Weight 224

October 24
Time 42:12 (13.5 min mile)
Weight 210

When I do the Color Run in June, I'm hoping to weigh in the high 180s, which means I will be about 20 pounds lighter than I was in my final 2010 race. With only a 14 pound weight loss over the time span of those three races, I increased my minute time by 1.4 so I'm thinking that 20 pounds is going to make the Color Run an entirely different experience. Also, that July race is right here in my hometown so I think I'm going to enter that as well. I'm even debating about doing the 10K! *eek*

Of course, how much training I'm able to do is going to factor into this as well. Right now Mother Nature is being a beeyatch; I  don't think it's ever going to warm up here in Ohio!

Color Run 5K

I'm signed up for the Color Run 5K on June 8! I'm so excited!

Dusting off the sneakers

In 2010 I did Couch to 5K and then ran three 5K races. I quit running after that for a multitude of (lame) reasons but I always promised myself I'd get back to it because I enjoyed it so much. Today I went for a run with my sister-in-law and my best friend.

I was only able to run a quarter mile stretch before I had to stop and walk. We did 2 miles, and I think I ran half of it, with walk breaks between each quarter mile. My first day running Couch to 5K back in 2010, I wasn't even able to run for 60 seconds! I'm excited to see how quickly I can get back up to being able to run a full 3 miles. (Hey, I might even be able to do a 10K by autumn! Woa.)

My friend struggled a lot, but she's determined to do a 5K this year so I'm pretty sure she's gonna stick with it. (In fact, she wants to go out again tomorrow. I told her to call me in the morning when she realizes she can't move...haha.) My SIL, though, was once a skinny girl who ran 6 miles a day in college, so I think she was frustrated and disappointed today. I don't know if she's gonna stick with it.

*I also learned a very unfortunate lesson. Do not drink about 10 bottles of water before heading out in the afternoon for a run. Before, I was always a morning runner so I never had to deal with the consequences of being overhydrated. I either had to wet myself or pee in the bushes. I'm not gonna tell which one I chose.