Here’s my current running playlist if anyone needs any musical inspiration. 🙂 Stick it on shuffle and go run.
Monthly Archives: May 2013
I’m officially nuts.
Yesterday I was reading some running blogs and articles, as I normally do. I saw something mentioned about the Walt Disney World marathon, and I thought to myself, “Well, if you were going to run a marathon, seems like that would be a good place to do it.” It involves 26.2 miles of running through all four parks and more on the Disney resort. I looked up the website, out of sheer curiosity, to see if they had the course map.
Source: RunDisney
And then I signed up for the half marathon.
I knew I wouldn’t possibly be ready for the full thing, and the 10k was already sold out. The half marathon was 99% full (and two hours after I signed up, it was sold out as well). So I bit the bullet. Apparently I will be running a half in January. (Although 13.1 miles filled with princesses and characters and running through castles can’t be too bad, right?)
I realize that I can barely run a 5k. And a half marathon is over four times as long. But eight months seems like plenty of time to train. The Galloway training plan listed on Disney’s site shows a 19 week training plan, so as soon as I finish my 10k training (I’m on week seven out of fourteen), I’ll get started with that!
Also, it seems a lot of people run in semi-costume. Yes, that’s right. I get to mix cosplay (which I love) and running! But who should I be…? And who’s coming to cheer me on?
On Motivation
I’ve mentioned before that this is the third year I’ve attempted Couch to 5k. I just want to share my experiences with why I’ve actually stuck with it this year when I didn’t the others.
- I always have a race scheduled.
The first time I started Couch to 5k was in 2011 to train for the Law Enforcement Memorial 5k that I knew I would be running with my coworkers. However, after the 5k came and went, I didn’t have any reason to run, so I stopped after week 3 (which was probably my second or third time through week 3; it took me a while to get through it).The second time was in 2012, just because I don’t like quitting things. However, I never entered a 5k, so after two weeks I stopped. I started up briefly again in the fall, but quickly got distracted by other things and didn’t return.
Enter 2013. I was determined to actually do it this time. I signed up for the Color Run as soon as I could. Then this year’s Law Enforcement Memorial 5k. I plan on doing some other fun runs as well, like the second Color Run and the Electric Run. As long as I have a running event I’m looking forward to, it makes me get out and run.
- I started at my own pace.
When I started Couch to 5k in 2011, it was HARD. I basically grew to dread it. I couldn’t finish the running parts. I always had to go back and repeat days and weeks. And what’s the point of doing something if I don’t enjoy it?At the beginning of 2013, I didn’t immediately jump back into Couch to 5k. I took a month or two just running/walking on the treadmill at my own pace. I’d run until I was out of breath, then walk until I recovered, repeat. Doing this made me dread it less because I knew I was in complete control. Once I was comfortable with the amounts I was jogging, I slowly started back in Couch to 5k. But I still have days where I do my own thing, and I think this is key.
- I bought actual running gear.
The past two years, I’ve been running in some Adidas sneakers I got my freshman year of college back in 2000. They weren’t running shoes and they were old.In February of this year (after doing my thing on the treadmill for a month and being truly determined that I wasn’t going to give up this time), I invested money in real running shoes. This helped immensely. I started paying more attention to my form and my speed began to improve almost immediately since I didn’t have clunky sneakers weighing me down.
From there, I bought some running tights, shorts, and tanks so that I didn’t feel as gross and heavy wearing sweat-soaked cotton. And I just bought my second pair of running shoes so I can switch them out and make them last longer.
There were other factors, I’m sure, but I think these are the three main ones that kept me going. Now I think it’s the endorphin rush I get when I run. I actually enjoy it. (My 18 year old self is rolling her eyes at me right now.) And a little over 2 years after I initially began, I’m almost through with my Couch to 5k journey and about to embark on 10k training.
What keeps you motivated?
Week of 5/6/13 – 5/12/13
What a week of PRs!
On Monday, I had the urge to try to break my mile PR. (Nike+ says my mile PR is 9:45, but that’s actually a lie. The GPS just wasn’t registering properly that day, and my actual PR was 10:26.) However, it was 45 degrees outside and, right as I stepped out of my house, began to rain. I’ve never really run in the rain before, always opting for the treadmill when the weather goes bad, but I just really wanted to run, so I did it anyway. I started off at a slow 12:00 min/mile and progressively got faster, up to around a 9:20 min/mile (which is practically flying to me). I ended up not beating my PR, though, coming in just two seconds short! Blame it on the rain.
The next day, I attempted day 1 of week 6 of Couch to 10k, but it did not turn out too well. About halfway through the middle 8 minute run (about a mile and a half in), I got a terrible side stitch and couldn’t continue. I pushed a little further, but ultimately decided it wasn’t happening that day and called it quits.
On Wednesday, I headed out to attempt it again. And again, I got a side stitch about a mile and a half in. I pushed through and finished the 8 minute jogging section before taking a detour to my car for my water bottle. I’m fairly certain all of my side stitches come from dehydration, and I need to remember to carry that thing with me all the time. I just hate holding things when I run. After I hydrated, I got back on track and managed to run another 8 minutes, instead of the 5 I was supposed to. Then I did some sprinting intervals, doing a 30 second sprint, followed by a 1 minute walk. After five of those, I was pretty beat, so I switched to jogging for 90 seconds and walking for 30 until I felt I had run enough and called it a day.
Thursday was the hottest day I have run so far this year. 83 degrees and partly cloudy (not the part I was running in, though; it was all sun with some trees for shade). However, I somehow pushed through the heat to complete day 2 of week 6. This consisted of 10 minutes jogging, a 3 minute walking recovery, and 10 more minutes of jogging. Ugh! I wanted to stop so bad about 3 minutes before the end of the second jogging session; I was feeling kind of nauseated (maybe I drank too much water too fast trying to keep from getting a side stitch, who knows). But I pushed myself and finished it. Too bad because now all my Couch to 10k runs until week 9 include no walking! I managed a 12:17 average pace, with the fastest mile being my second at 11:44.
Friday I received my second pair of running shoes, the Saucony Kinvara 3 (I’ll write more on them later), but I didn’t get a chance to try them out until Saturday. I only did slightly over a mile because (a) they were new shoes and (b) I was second shooting a wedding later that day and didn’t want to be exhausted. However, I did manage to PR, doing a mile in 10:15! Probably due to excitement of new shoes and the fact that the weather wasn’t bad (mid-60s and overcast). But yay!
On Sunday, I donned my usual Skechers for my weekly long run. With the 5k coming up in less than a week, I didn’t want to do too long a run, so for the first part I did a mock 5k. I did Galloway intervals of 3:30 running and 1:00 walking, but tired myself out too quickly, so I may lower the running time for the actual 5k, although it was mostly due to me not pacing well and running too fast, as I am prone to do. However, despite my ill pacing and exhaustion, I still managed to knock nearly three minutes off my previous 5k best and PR at 36:47! Now there’s even more pressure to beat my best time. For the second part of my Sunday training, I did a mile of fartleks. Don’t laugh. They are basically unstructured speed intervals. I always feel like Phoebe when I do them, but they are fun way to increase speed.
So two PRs this week makes me super happy. I only hope that I can keep that up!
Running with Asthma
As I mentioned in my initial post, I have asthma. My first experience with it was 17 years ago, and I’ve known I had asthma for 13 years, but I didn’t get treated for it until about 4 years ago when it got really bad.
There are a couple things that will trigger my asthma. One is cats. I love cats. I grew up with them, and I adopted my sweethearts Oscar and Vera from a rescue in December 2007. The other is cardio exercise. This is the main reason I’ve never ran before now.
Around the time I got my cats, my asthma started getting worse (go figure). However, it prompted me to finally go see a doctor and get treatment. I was put on Singulair first, but it didn’t help at all, so my doctor switched me to Advair, aka the Wonder Drug. For the first time that I could remember, I could breathe well and not have to worry about NOT breathing over the course of my routine day.
While my asthma no longer acted up around my cats, I did still get wheezy when I tried cardio and would have to use my albuterol inhaler.
I want to let all the asthmatics know right now: you can’t let this stop you.
Since I’ve started regularly running, my asthma has improved. I used to use my albuterol inhaler before running to prevent any wheeziness during the run. When I forgot it, I would tend to get wheezy about a mile in. However, over the course of my training, that has changed. I don’t know when, but one day I forgot the inhaler. I realized it, but didn’t want to stop my run. So I kept going. And never got wheezy.
Now I can do an easy six mile interval run without needing it at all. If I’m doing speed work, I may sometimes still need it, but it’s not like it used to be.
Some tips for those of you with asthma who may consider running but are scared:
- Always have your inhaler with you or nearby where you can get to it quickly. Though I no longer really need mine, I always have it nearby (either in my car or in my house, depending on where I’m running) for short runs or on me for long runs.
- Start out slow. Don’t be a speed demon. It’s going to probably take some extra time for you to build speed than it would a non-asthmatic. Don’t worry about it and just focus on building your endurance.
- If you start to get wheezy, slow down to a walk or even stop. Do it before you can’t breathe at all. It’s okay. I highly advocate the Galloway method, which is intervals of running and walking. I couldn’t get through my long runs without doing this right now.
- Remember that having an asthma attack is more exhausting and taxing on your body than running is, so make sure you listen to your body.
Any other asthmatics out there have anything to add?
Progressive Runner 