Last year when I first started running, I downloaded an app, UltraTimer, that let me set in my own running program. I could put in a 5 minute warm up followed by run/walk intervals of any lengths that I chose. It was great as I moved from 2 minute running/1 minute walking up to a combo of 4 and 5 minutes running with 1 minute walking breaks. As I ran more and more, I relied on it less, walking when I needed to and running for as long as I could. I eventually got to the point that I could run a full 5k without any walking breaks.
I’ve been away from running for a few months and I’m easing myself back into it. That means that I’m back to doing run/walk intervals till I build up my stamina again. So I set up my UltraTimer and headed out. When each interval finishes, you have the option to set a sound to play, that comes up over any music you might be listening too. I have mine set with a car horn beep when it’s time to run and a group of people sighing a big long AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh when it’s time to walk. I never in a million years expected to have such a Pavlovian response to sound! Even if I was have a great running segment, had found my stride and was enjoying myself, the second I heard the AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh I would break stride and start walking. And the same would happen with the beeping car horn. Even if I hadn’t recovered and was still huffing and puffing, I would start to run.
I need to be more confident and learn to listen to my body instead of some pre-programmed designated running time. I bet I can go longer and farther on my own, but I’m limiting myself to what the timer says right now.
Do you use a timer when you run? What apps do you use?
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Weigh In - April 27
Last Weigh In - 219.8
Current Weight - 219.8
Weight Lost - 0
I was pretty hesitant to get on the scale again. It has been nearly 2 weeks since my last weigh in and during that time I had a lovely visit from my MIL which involved lots of yummy meals at home, eating out, wine and a more than a couple of martinis. In the middle of her visit we also had Easter which involved a lot of chocolate and Peeps. There was also very little exercise in the last 2 weeks.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had not gained any weight and had stayed the same.
So now the journey continues. My goals are to run 4 days a week, to get back to TKD on a regular basis and to eat well. Becka from Fat to Happy shared a FB group called Mileage May that I've also joined. My goal is to walk/run 5 miles a day (approx. 10,000 steps) every day in May, for a total of 155 miles. So far for April I only have 92.4 miles, so it will be a push to get 5 miles in every day!
Want to join in the Mileage May challenge? Let me know and I'll send you an invite.
Current Weight - 219.8
Weight Lost - 0
I was pretty hesitant to get on the scale again. It has been nearly 2 weeks since my last weigh in and during that time I had a lovely visit from my MIL which involved lots of yummy meals at home, eating out, wine and a more than a couple of martinis. In the middle of her visit we also had Easter which involved a lot of chocolate and Peeps. There was also very little exercise in the last 2 weeks.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had not gained any weight and had stayed the same.
So now the journey continues. My goals are to run 4 days a week, to get back to TKD on a regular basis and to eat well. Becka from Fat to Happy shared a FB group called Mileage May that I've also joined. My goal is to walk/run 5 miles a day (approx. 10,000 steps) every day in May, for a total of 155 miles. So far for April I only have 92.4 miles, so it will be a push to get 5 miles in every day!
Want to join in the Mileage May challenge? Let me know and I'll send you an invite.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
17 seconds
I set a new PR today for a timed 5k by a whopping 17 seconds!
route from Lung Association of Nova Scotia on Vimeo.
This is only the 2nd time I've run a chip timed race. I had no expectation of even being close to my time from last summer, so I was very pleased when I got home and found out my official chip time of 41:59. This was also the first race where they "corralled" runners based on their estimated finish time. 30-40 minutes was the slowest option, with the walkers lining up behind us. I felt better knowing there were walkers, since I figured I would at least be able to stay ahead of them and not finish last.
The day started out cold and pouring with rain. I figured it was going to be a miserable wet run, but about an hour before the start, the rain cleared up, the sun came out and it was beautiful out. This was a great course to run, mostly all along the waterfront. It was very flat which suits me just fine. I love that I live in such a beautiful city with such great places to run.
route from Lung Association of Nova Scotia on Vimeo.
This is only the 2nd time I've run a chip timed race. I had no expectation of even being close to my time from last summer, so I was very pleased when I got home and found out my official chip time of 41:59. This was also the first race where they "corralled" runners based on their estimated finish time. 30-40 minutes was the slowest option, with the walkers lining up behind us. I felt better knowing there were walkers, since I figured I would at least be able to stay ahead of them and not finish last.
The day started out cold and pouring with rain. I figured it was going to be a miserable wet run, but about an hour before the start, the rain cleared up, the sun came out and it was beautiful out. This was a great course to run, mostly all along the waterfront. It was very flat which suits me just fine. I love that I live in such a beautiful city with such great places to run.
So I have another race in the books and I feel pretty great about it. I'm still on the fence if I'm going to run the 5k or the 10k in June, but I'm mostly not sick now and I can start training a bit more, so I'll have to decide soon.
I loved that our race bibs had our names on them. All the volunteers and other runners would shout out personalized encouragement and as I crossed the line the announcer was calling out my name!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Commitment
The best ways to ensure that I do something is to first publicly declare it so that my friends and family can help keep me accountable. Secondly is to pay money or officially sign up for it.
So I’m now telling all of you that as of last night I am officially registered for the Nova Scotia ITF TaeKwon-Do Open Championship tournament on May 3rd.
That gives me three and half weeks to conquer my 24 step pattern Do-San and to practice my contact sparring – hopefully with other adults and not the little kids I usually train with. This is the same tournament that I entered last year, so I at least have a sense of familiarity for how it will be run. That doesn’t help my sense of nervousness and fear however!
So I’m now telling all of you that as of last night I am officially registered for the Nova Scotia ITF TaeKwon-Do Open Championship tournament on May 3rd.
That gives me three and half weeks to conquer my 24 step pattern Do-San and to practice my contact sparring – hopefully with other adults and not the little kids I usually train with. This is the same tournament that I entered last year, so I at least have a sense of familiarity for how it will be run. That doesn’t help my sense of nervousness and fear however!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Weigh In - April 6
Last Weigh In - 219.8
Current Weight - 215.1
Weight Lost This Month- 4.7
So it's been a month since my last weigh in. I got hit with a stomach bug two weeks in a row and life just seems to have been extra busy. But the good news is that I've lost 4.7 pounds! I do chalk at least half of that up to being sick. Not the way I want to lose weight, but I'll take it.
The weather has finally turned to spring, and I'm back to running outside. We started the 10 week Learn To Run Programme at Liam's school on Friday. My goal is to be ready to run a 10k by June. I was really feeling how out of shape I've gotten over the last month, and was glad that I was running with the newbies with a run 1 minute/ walk 1 minute intro. I hope to build up my endurance and speed by getting out and running at least 4 times a week.
I'm also back to TKD. I hope to test at the end of the month and there is a tournament the first weekend in May that I would like to enter. I've been so inconsistent with attending classes for the last 6 months, that I really need to not miss any being now and then. So far I'm 2 for 2!
I'm still drinking the Shakeology shakes for breakfast, but have stopped with the DVD workouts in lieu of running and TKD. I think they will make a nice back up if the weather is horrible, or I just don't have time for more then a 30 minute workout.
I'm hoping that April is the turning point and that I can keep to all my goals. What are your April goals?
Current Weight - 215.1
Weight Lost This Month- 4.7
So it's been a month since my last weigh in. I got hit with a stomach bug two weeks in a row and life just seems to have been extra busy. But the good news is that I've lost 4.7 pounds! I do chalk at least half of that up to being sick. Not the way I want to lose weight, but I'll take it.
The weather has finally turned to spring, and I'm back to running outside. We started the 10 week Learn To Run Programme at Liam's school on Friday. My goal is to be ready to run a 10k by June. I was really feeling how out of shape I've gotten over the last month, and was glad that I was running with the newbies with a run 1 minute/ walk 1 minute intro. I hope to build up my endurance and speed by getting out and running at least 4 times a week.
I'm also back to TKD. I hope to test at the end of the month and there is a tournament the first weekend in May that I would like to enter. I've been so inconsistent with attending classes for the last 6 months, that I really need to not miss any being now and then. So far I'm 2 for 2!
I'm still drinking the Shakeology shakes for breakfast, but have stopped with the DVD workouts in lieu of running and TKD. I think they will make a nice back up if the weather is horrible, or I just don't have time for more then a 30 minute workout.
I'm hoping that April is the turning point and that I can keep to all my goals. What are your April goals?
Friday, March 28, 2014
How exactly did this happen?
This past January I ran into Gail, the woman who ran the Learn To Run programme through Liam’s school last year. She was an amazing coach and really helped me believe in myself and was instrumental in me sticking with running and making it through my first 5k race. We spent a few minutes catching up with each other before talk turned to this years Learn To Run programme. I inquired if she would be leading it again this year, and I said that I was going to sign up for it. It’s great to have a weekly commitment to run with a group. I find that it forces helps me out the door to run on days that I might otherwise talk myself out of it.
Gail was indeed planning to run the group again, but mentioned that she had 2 weeks where her work schedule interfered and asked me if I could help out on those nights, since I live close and was planning to be there anyway. I don’t know what she thought “helping out” meant, but in my mind it entailed saying to the group “Okay, let’s all run for 40 minutes, see you back here.” And then making sure we didn’t lose anyone along the way.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I got an email from the school. “…can you send me a brief bio so that I can introduce you, along with Gail, as the instructors this year?”
Ummm… Sorry?
So helping out a couple of nights has now been elevated to “instructor”.
And if you live in the HRM area, why don't you join us for a 10 week learn to run programme, led by 2 amazing women? You can sign up here: LTR Registration
Gail was indeed planning to run the group again, but mentioned that she had 2 weeks where her work schedule interfered and asked me if I could help out on those nights, since I live close and was planning to be there anyway. I don’t know what she thought “helping out” meant, but in my mind it entailed saying to the group “Okay, let’s all run for 40 minutes, see you back here.” And then making sure we didn’t lose anyone along the way.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I got an email from the school. “…can you send me a brief bio so that I can introduce you, along with Gail, as the instructors this year?”
Ummm… Sorry?
So helping out a couple of nights has now been elevated to “instructor”.
We are happy to introduce our Learn to Run instructors, Gail and Andy, who are volunteering their time to teach our group how to run. Gail was an instructor for us last year. Gail is a Registered Nurse who worked as a certified aerobics instructor while going to school. She has participated in numerous runs over the years, supporting a number of charities. Andy, a 43 year old mom, started running for the first time last April with the OBTR Learn to Run Programme. She had never run before, and had even managed to avoid it during every single gym class in high school! She kept with it, and by the end of the 10 week programme was ready to take part in her first ever 5k race (The OBTR Gale). Gail and Andy are looking forward to teaming up to coach the Ocean Breeze Learn-to-Run Programme and can't wait to meet our group.While I’m honoured, I hardly feel qualified. I’m going to rise to the challenge though and hopefully we can all learn to run together.
And if you live in the HRM area, why don't you join us for a 10 week learn to run programme, led by 2 amazing women? You can sign up here: LTR Registration
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Stomach Bug
I got hit with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug on Sunday, that has now taken down Liam. The only good thing to come out of this is that I lost 4 pounds in less then 48 hours. It's not a weight loss plan that I would wish on anyone. Today I was able to eat crackers, bananas and yogurt! It was like a smorgasbord.
Hopefully by tomorrow I'm fully on the med, since we are due to get 30-40 cm of snow! That's between a foot and a foot and a half in less then 12 hours. I'm going to need all of my energy for shoveling.
Hopefully by tomorrow I'm fully on the med, since we are due to get 30-40 cm of snow! That's between a foot and a foot and a half in less then 12 hours. I'm going to need all of my energy for shoveling.
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