Post-Surgery Blues

I'm miserable and sore...and sunburned. My leg hurts, My "supposed to be" tiny operation on my leg ended up being a nightmare. It did not go well...and they did not get to do what they wanted to do. So my leg is all sore....and for nothing. It feels a lot like I imagine having a chopstick stuck in your leg would feel like. The real BONUS here is I have to go back in 3 weeks and have them look at it AGAIN! Oh JOY! (*oozing sarcasm*) But they wanna do another ultra sound and then based on what they see...likely set me up with a more formal surgery. which I'm hoping to put off til like October when running in Michigan is less friendly.

But on a better note... despite feeling crappy I did manage to get on the treadmill and chuck out 1.13 miles at the highest incline my treadmill could muster...lol... took me 27 minutes to go that far...but we'll keep that a secret *Shhh*

~Toodles

Concerned

We have 30 days til the Run thru Hell. I want to be training hard, but tomorrow morning I have a surgery scheduled. I know, I know, yet another surgery. Good grief I feel like a pin cushion sometimes. I'm survival impared, what can i say...lol. I have a tendancy to fall apart... and my poor hubby has to keep putting me back together.
This time, I have an incompetent vein that they want to close down. It has been giving me some discomfort especially after I run (like I have a big bruise that's all tender) and they think it's best to use radio frequency to close that vein. The doctor said I would likely resume my training in 2 weeks, possibly sooner. I hope it's sooner...I need my training. I'm pretty worried. I hope this goes real smoothly, I need all the training time I can get. He said short walks will be encouraged after the surgery. I'll be taking my short walks all up hill to try to prepare. My hubby is afraid I'll push myself too hard and wind up hurting myself...but I'm usually a pretty good judge of my body and how much it can take. So, I'm not too worried about that.
If you're the prayin' type say a little prayer for me and we'll see how tomorrow goes.

~Toodles~

Title change..

For anyone who was reading my blog, if there is anyone out there. I changed the title. "Go Blue Banana" while cute, and a nickname given to me by my hubby, just didn't seem to convey everything my blog is about. My blog is more about discovery and the growing pains I incur as I find the runner who is buried deep within me.

Run thru Purgatory

Purgatory was a challenge! I was prepared to run the 5k (no problem) what I wasn't ready for were all the hills!!! OMG, I ran my little legs off...lol.

I think the look I have here says it all...lol...


I'm so happy I finished! and I wasn't last either!! They post the times online... I ran 3.2 miles in 36 minutes 42 seconds. Not too shabby that's about an 11 minute mile. So I'm feeling pretty proud over that. Purgatory gave me a really good idea of where I'm at physically and how I need to prepare between now and when I got to Hell...lol... The Run thru Hell that is. So I've got about a month of training yet and I'm feeling the squeeze now. Time to knuckle down and really log some miles!!

Doin' my own thing...

So today I decided to mix it up again this time I just thought I'd do a 5 minute warmup then run for 1 minute at 6.4 MPH and jog for 1 minute at 4.0 MPH switching back and forth. I did that for 20 minutes, nice little workout. I didn't want to do too much since I have a race on Saturday...just wanted to keep my legs limber. I'll probably run tomorrow too, a nice easy run, and then that'll be it before my big race.

A Midsummer Morning's Run...

Today I met up with my sis-in-law Melinda to go for a rigorous morning run. There is a great major trail that runs near where we live so we picked a spot between my house and hers and met there. We started off with a few pictures to commemorate our little training session as we prepare for our upcoming races. After a few cute/silly photos, we were off. We ran and ran.

A bird chirped angrily as we passed it.

We got passed by trail patrol...Trail Patrol? I've never seen them before...what an awesome job, I would love a job like that! ...Ahhh sorry I digress.... anywho, we kept running and conversing about this-n-that.

We were passed by a few bikers and by a few hunky runners coming from the other direction (suck in your guts girls...lol...). Nothing makes you run with better form then running past someone...especially hunky guys....lol.

We got overtaken by an older runner who came upon us and then zipped on by.... good for him!!

I saw a few snails on the trail... no they weren't passing us...lol.

Along the way we even saw a snake. He looked something like this guy:




I almost stepped on him as I was running. Good thing at that moment I happened to be looking at the ground and could avoid him... and squeal...and jump 2 feet in the air...lol...

Nothing like a good scream to spice up a run. We finally did complete our run after an hour and fifteen minutes. Not too shabby a time really. That's my longest run so far... 5.5 miles.

As i sit here scratching my deerfly bites I can now say that I've proudly broken another P.R. this time for distance!

So Totally Psyched....

I just had my best run ever!!! Wow that makes me soooo happy. I did a little run I have mapped out near my house. It's 1.78 miles, just a little loopy. It only crosses the main road twice and the rest is nice residential. It's 80 degrees and cloudy. Hardly a breeze and on the humid side 48% to be exact. (I'm a weather freak) But it was awesome. I started out running and it was good. My mind was buzzing with all kinds of random thoughts. Flowers were in full bloom everywhere and everynow and then a puff of breeze would lightly endulge me with the sweet scent of lilacs. I LOVE lilacs. The run itself was going great, I sprinted across the main road with the ease of a gazelle and when I got home again and stopped to stretch I then realized...I was DRENCHED with sweat. I figured wow...it must be really hot out. Never thinking my run had any special time or speed to it... till I looked at the timer. I did 1.78 miles in 18 minutes!! that's the fastest I've EVER gone...in my adult life anyway. I'm so proud. So my sweat was well deserved and VERY satisfying. Now I'm in like the best mood ever....

I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
and don't it feel good!!

Running..... it's my Prozac!!

Intervals & X-training

I thought I might mix it up again.... So this time I did some intervals instead of my straight 3 miles. I decided I'd do a faster pace (for me)and pop it up to 6.2 MPH. I thought the easiest thing to do would be just week one of the C25K again this time just at the much faster pace. So that's what I did...

Five-minute warmup then...
Alternate 60 seconds of jogging (6.2 MPH)
and 90 seconds of walking (4.0 MPH)
for 20 minutes

That ended up being about 1.6 miles, and I wasn't dead, amazing! I figured at that pace I might not be able to keep up and toward the end I'd shoot off the back of the treadmill...lol.



But I didn't!! It was a challenge...but a doable challenge and it felt GREAT!
After that I did some exercises with my stability ball.

Ball Squats



And

Leg lifts


After all that I felt like I got a pretty good workout.

The Run thru Purgatory is getting closer and I'm starting to get butterflies now...First Race....Scary!!

Just a Quickie

Today instead of my 3 miles, I thought I'd just do 2 miles and try to ramp my pace up instead. I thought it might be good to mix it up a little and to be honest... I'm still having some muscle fatigue from my outside run. So I got on the treadmill and really pushed myself.

5 minute warm-up at 3.3 MPH.
21:25 run at 5.6 MPH for 2 Miles
5 minutes cool down at 2.5 MPH.
Pace: 10:41

That's a bit of alright!

I'm pretty pleased with those numbers, I am getting better!
As far as the muscle fatigue goes...the weird muscles in your leg are what's tender on me...like my ankles, the muscle on the inside of my leg on top of my knee, and the back of my knee that muscle is tender too. My thought is that these must be the muscles I use to stabilize myself on rough terrain and they haven't been used much since I've only ran on the treadmill. But sore muscles mean in a few days I'll have stronger muscles so that's a good thing.

Goin' Outside

That actually felt pretty good...
I ran outside for the first time today. I figured since I'd been bummed out about my weight and my running a change of pace and scenery might do me some good. It was a nice day for a run too... 61 degrees, Mostly sunny, winds out of the WNW sustained at 7MPH with gusts up to 29MPH.
Starting out I was running straight into the wind and the gusts were strong enough at times to almost stop me dead in my tracks. But on the way back of course the wind was at my back pushing me along which really made me feel great. I think the run outside was a nice break for me. I had been fearing it for a while now, just because I've spent all this time training indoors on my treadmill. All in all for my first time out in the world I'd say I did pretty well.

8 minute warm-up to get out in the open.
38:30 run at 4.92 MPH for 3.16 Miles
8 minutes cool down walk back to the house.
Pace: 12:11

I'm considering this Week 9 Day 2

Fickle Feelings

It’s weird how one day you can be gleeful over a good run, and then the next day beat yourself up about it. This week things are not going as planned because of a MINOR surgery and I mean M-I-N-O-R. I had a tiny cyst removed from my lower back. Just a ¾ inch incision; just one stitch. But between that and trusty Aunt Flo … I didn’t run practically all week. No running, means no weight loss and in fact my weight has gone up three pounds in 4 days!! It's the same few pounds, over and over again..lose them gain them, lose them again....AGGGGGHHHHH. I’m eating essentially the same…not the greatest food choices but not horrible and I’m trying to watch my portion sizes. But that scale just seems to hate me.

Besides weight, running has me down to...I know a few days of laying around isn’t going to ruin my running progress forever, but I also know that it’s not going to get any easier and I won’t get any faster if I’m not running; and since I ALREADY feel like a land monster when I run… well, it just makes me sad. Not to say that I feel fat when I run… it’s not that. I just feel slow; real slow, like sloth slow. I feel like I’ll never be fast or even normal. I get wild expectations like 5K in less than 28 minutes which for me right now is virtually impossible. But rather than cut myself some slack and say,” hey I’ve only seriously been running for a short time and what I’m doing is good for where I’m at right now”…. I opt for the beat myself up head games that get me to the point where I want to give up or work out so hard that I risk serious injury. This time around, I’m not doing either of the aforementioned options. I’m just sitting here knowing how I should look at it… feeling bad… struggling to look at this in the right light…and pondering why I do this to myself.

Week 9 Day 1....Finally!

Yes that's right...I finally decided to go on to week nine. Today was the first day of 3.0 miles and I did it! At mile two I had to stop for a second to take a potty break, but then I was right back at it. The run was hard but manageable which was nice. It gave me a much needed boost of confidence. After week nine I'm considering taking it outside...gulp!! I hope being outside doesn't slow me down too much. I don't wanna feel like I'm starting all over again. That would be a hard blow for me to take.

5 minute warm-up at 3.0 MPH for 0.25 Miles
36:05 run at 4.99 MPH for 3.0 Miles
5 minutes cool down 3.0 MPH for 0.25 Miles
Pace: 12:01

Not too Shabby!!

Week 8 ..... Day 4?

Yeah Day 4...lol...I don't wanna move to week nine in the middle of a week like this, and I don't wanna commit to run 3.0 miles every time just yet either. I did however run the 3 miles today, just to see if I'd survive and I did! YEA! lol.. I'm pretty please with that. Now I know that I can in fact finish the 5K. So that's got me pretty stoked! I also figured kicking it up a notch and doing the 3 miles vs. the 2.75 would help burn a few more calories so that maybe...just maybe, I can lose some weight for the Independence Weight Loss Challenge I'm taking part in.(see bottom of page) The timing of that challenge is just fabulous since my first 5K is Saturday July 05, 2008. Hopefully I'll drop a few pounds and be looking nice and svelte for the race.

Here's the nitty gritty on today's run...

5 minute warm-up at 3.3 MPH for 0.27 Miles
36:45 run at 4.9 MPH for 3.0 Miles
5 minutes cool down 3.0 MPH for 0.25 Miles
Pace: 12:15

I feel pretty good about that!

Week 8 Day 3

Another day another run. Not so good a run. That's ok though since I worked all night then had an orthodontist appointment and then when I got home decided that was the time to run...yikes. So i'm not gonna beat myself up too much over it. At least I got a run in anyway.

So today run went like this....

5 minute warm-up at 3.3MPH for 0.27 Miles
34:50 run at 4.7MPH for 2.75 Miles
5 minutes cool down 3.3 MPH for 0.27 Miles
Pace: 12:40

So now I"m off to get some much needed sleep!!!

Week 8 Day 2

I'm doing good now...maybe that break was good for me. Today's run was even better than the last. Not too shabby! I think I'm going to keep doing week 8 this week too and start week 9 the week of June 9th. Week 8 has really been a hard week for me to get through...hopefully week 9 will be easier.

My run went like this....

5 minute warm-up at 3.3MPH for 0.27 Miles
32:30 run at 5.0MPH for 2.75 Miles
5 minutes cool down 3.3 MPH for 0.27 Miles
Pace: 11:55

Week 8 day one ...Again...

Well my Vacation went a little longer than expected, but I got my run in today. I feel so much better about today's run. Apparently the little break did me some good, this run was much faster than lasts weeks attempts. That gives me some confidence again...I was really starting to get down about the whole thing, now I'm feeling hopeful again.

Today's run went like this....

5 minute warm-up at 3.3MPH for 0.27 Miles
32:50 run at 5.0MPH for 2.75 Miles
5 minutes cool down 3.3 MPH for 0.27 Miles
Pace: 11:55

Vacation from running....

Well I was supposed to run Friday...and I didn't... shame on me. But, it's a holiday weekend and since I plan to do week 8 over again I just figured I'd take this weekend off. Maybe what my body really needs is some recovery time. Okay, I know that's weak...lol. But oh well, I'll be back to running on Tuesday...yes Tuesday...I'm even taking a long weekend...lol... Hopefully next weeks runs will go better otherwise I'll be running with this guy

Dang He's Fast!!

lol...

Week 8 Day 2 ... this again...

Another day, another bad run. I'm not sure what my deal is...I'm definately doing week 8 over again to see if I can do better. I did get my 2.75 miles in but this time I was even slower...it sucks. Hopefully my next run will go better.

Week 8 Day 1 ~ Pretty Pitiful

Today was W8D1 of the Couch-2-5K

and it was Horrible....

I don't know what was wrong with me today. The whole time I was running it felt like I was wearing a jacket made of bricks or something. I just felt so dead! I forced myself to eek out a mile...that's right just one mile. After that every tenth of a mile was murder. I stuck it out though and got my 2.75 miles in.

I wonder why that happened? Maybe it was the yogurt I had 20 minutes before my run...that's not very substantial? I had gotten a decent amount of sleep, so I don't think that's it. I'm gonna have to pay closer attention to my pre-run rituals, cause I don't want that to happen to me on race day.

As for how the run went... lets just say my pace was 12:45, and that's all I have to say about that.

Thursday and Friday...A Recap

I didn't feel good Tuesday or Wednesday so I took those days off. Then on Thursday I was feeling better so I started back up running again. I did W7D2 on Thursday, and W7D3 on Friday. I had a busy few days and wasn't able to squeeze a blog in so now all you get is a recap...lol.

Thursday May 15th went like this...

5 minutes warm up 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
31:00 minutes at 4.9 MPH for
2.5 miles
5 minutes cool down 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
Pace: 12:10

and Friday May 16th went like this...

5 minutes warm up 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
30:00 minutes at 5.0 MPH for 2.5 miles
5 minutes cool down 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
Pace: 12:00

Tomorrow is the start of week 8 of the couch-to-5k, hard to believe I'm almost done!

Week 7 Day 1 ...... and I feel miserable.

I talked myself outa running today, then I talked myself back into running. I really feel crappy today. Cramps, Headache, really a number of good reasons not to run. But, I got on the treadmill and pulled a forrest gump...

" Forrest Gump: That day, for no particular
reason,I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And
when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got
there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since
I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's
what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on
going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone
this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another
ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep
right on going. "

I promised myself that if I just got on the treadmill I wouldn't have to go fast, just walk even just to get the 2.5 miles in. But as I got on the treadmill I figured, well I can walk at 3.5Mph and once I had 5 minutes in, I figured...well I can jog for a bit...that bit added up being 30:30 minutes and 2.5miles....that's how I tricked myself into running today....lol. I still feel pretty sick, but now I have a bit of pride too.

So here is how my run looked today...

5 minutes warm up 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
30:30 minutes at 4.8 MPH for 2.5 miles
5 minutes cool down 3.5 MPH for 2.8 miles
Pace: 12:11

I did something a little different today. I fartlek'd...for those of you who may not know a fartlek is....

"A fartlek is almost as fun to do as it is to say. "Fartlek" is Swedish
for "speed play" and consists of bursts of speed in the middle of a training
run. Essentially, it's an unstructured interval session, the track without the
rules. Fartlek gets your legs used to a variety of paces and in the process
gives you an enhanced awareness of your ability to keep up those paces at
various distances.
After warming up, run at an easy training pace, throwing
in bursts of speed for various distances throughout the run. Vary the speed and
times of the speed sections, from as short as 15 seconds to as long as two or
three minutes. Between these bursts, allow yourself enough recovery time to
match roughly 2/3 of the effort time. The recovery pace, though, should be
faster than the recovery jog you might do during intervals on the track; keep it
moving at an easy training pace. "

That was interesting, I struggled to keep my breath undercontrol and was able to hold 8.0 MPH for one minute. In the running world I'm sure that's laughable but for me, I think it's something to be proud of. Here is exactly what I did...

5:oo minutes walk 3.3 MPH
0:45 seconds run 8.0 MPH
5:15 Minutes Walk 3.5 MPH
1:oo Minute run 8.0 MPH
5:00 Minutes Walk 3.5 MPH
1:oo Minute run 8.0 MPH
7:00 Minutes Walk 3.5 MPH

That ended up being about 25:oo minutes of running and I went a distance of 1.67 miles.
Then I did a little light yoga too!

WoW - Week 6 Day 3

Well I made it, 25 minutes straight! C25K estimates that in 25 minutes you would run 2-1/4 miles. I only managed to get 2.15 miles...how'd I lose that 0.10? Oh well, I was almost dead when I got done so...good enough! I actually didn't think I was gonna make it through... I had to hold on to the treadmill several times during the second mile. My legs seem like they can handle the workout...it's my cardio that can't keep up. Toward the very end it's nearly impossible for me to keep my breathing under control, and my poor little heart is just pounding. But when I got done, I felt great...even if I did have to cheat a little and hold on.


According to the C25k week 6 day 3 should be this...
Brisk five-minute warm up walk, then:

jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.


Here is what I did...

First a paced 5 minute warm up walk at 3.3 MPH for 0.28 miles

Start Time: 11:50 PM
End Time: 12:15 PM
Time Taken: 25:00
Pace: 11:37
Average Speed: 5.1 MPH
Distance: 2.15 Miles

And Finishing with a Brisk cool down walk at 4.0 MPH for 0.33
miles

Week 6, Day 2...

I made it...I lived... that's what I thought today getting off the treadmill. It wasn't that bad. The first mile went great I even felt like I could go further...but I stuck with what the C25K program had laid out for me and walked 0.25 miles then picked it up again for the second mile. The second mile was much more difficult but I kept on it and made it through...YeaY! Every time I get on that treadmill I think, "I just don't know if I'm woman enough to complete this...it's so Hard!" But every time I complete it I cool down and stretch thinking...wow...look at me go...I'm stronger than I thought!

According to the C25k week 6 day 2 should be this...
Brisk five-minute warm up walk, then:
Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

Here is how it went for me...

First a brisk 5 minute warm up walk at 3.6 MPH for 0.3 miles

Start Time: 12:10 PM
End Time: 12:37 PM
Time Taken: 27:10
Pace: 12:04
Average Speed: 4.9 MPH
Distance: 2.25 Miles

And Finishing with a Brisk cool down walk at 3.8 MPH for 0.45
miles

Week 6

Today is the first day of week 6 of the C25K. It went pretty well, I had to hang on to the side rails once during the long run of it but that's all. I'm getting better hopefully I'll be ready for my 5K this summer.

Today run went like this...

First a brisk 5 minute warm up walk at 3.6 MPH for 0.3 miles

Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 12:40 PM
Time Taken: 25:00
Pace: 12:30
Average Speed: 4.8 MPH
Distance: 2.0 Miles

And Finishing with a Brisk cool down walk at 4.0 MPH for 0.34miles

Finally feeling better

Now that I'm finally breaking through the addiciton to diet coke, caffeine, asparatame, whatever...I'm finally starting to feel good again. It should probably be known that I came off diet coke like junkies come off herione. Major headaches, increased fatigue, shakes, iratiblity...anything that can take hold of you like that...can't be good for you. But now that I'm on the other side of that, I decided it would be a great time to resume my C25K.

Today is workout 3 of week 5 and that is suposed to go like this...

Brisk 5 minute warm-up walk then jog 2 miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

So here is what I did...

First a brisk 5 minute warm up walk at 3.4 MPH for .28 miles

Start Time: 1:05 PM
End Time: 1:25 PM
Time Taken: 20:00
Pace: 11:37
Average Speed: 5.1 MPH
Distance: 1.72 Miles

And Finishing with a Brisk cool down walk at 4.0 MPH for .33
miles

Next up is the begining of week 6.

another gentle stroll...

Well doing the Detox is making me feel pretty crappy. I'm crashing hard off something, probably my diet coke habit. Not sure if it's caffeine or asparatame but what ever it is it's kicking my butt. I've been having headaches and I'm VERY fatigued, I've been sleeping SO MUCH lately. I'll get up for a few hours and then go right back to sleep it's weird. But I did manage to get a stroll in for about 40 minutes... a little under 2 miles, so that's something.

Monday's slow start

I started a detox program today and since I'll be dramatically reducing my calorie intake for the first 2 days, I'm gonna cut back on my running as well. Today we just went for a walk...just about 2 miles. It was a really casual paced walk nothing fancy.

I was suposed to have a day off...

But I decided to run again today, just a quicky and not really part of the C25K. Today I just wanted to see if I could run at 5.1MPH straight for 15 minutes. So today's shorty run went like this.

First a brisk 5 minute warm up walk at 3.5 MPH for .3 miles

Start Time: 11:00 AM
End Time: 11:15 PM
Time Taken: 15:00
Pace: 11:31
Average Speed: 5.2 MPH
Distance: 1.3 Miles

And Finishing with a Brisk cool down walk at 3.5 MPH for .3 miles

Not too shabby...not as great as I'd hoped though. I really didn't think I'd be as whipped as I was. Oh well, at least I did it.

another day

Today was Week 5 day 2 of the C25k, I wanted to run it again, I felt like when I did it yesterday it really sucked, it was not one of my better runs. Maybe I was tired...I don't know but I just did it over to see how I'd do. This time I made sure to stretch out real good before and after the run to hopfully avoid being real sore... I've never been real big into stretching... If I'm gonna run I just wanna run. But your legs really appreciate a stretch and a warm up! Today's run went like this.

Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 4:26 PM
Time Taken: 26:30
Pace: 13:00
Average Speed: 4.62 MPH
Distance: 2 Miles

First Blogged Run

I'm doing the Couch to 5K training program found at CoolRunning.com. I'm currently in week 5 which goes like this:

Day 1
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile, Walk 1/4 mile, Jog 1/2 mile, Walk 1/4 mile, Jog 1/2 mile.
Day 2
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 3/4 mile, Walk 1/2 mile, Jog 3/4 mile
Day 3
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles with no walking.

I actually did Day 2 Tuesday... which went something like this.

Start Time: 11:50 AM
End Time: 12:17 PM
Time Taken: 27:30
Pace: 13:45
Average Speed: 4.36 MPH
Distance: 2 Miles