Another session of pavement pounding

Ok...so tomorrow I have to get out in the cold for day 2 of my running extravaganza redo. Heres the problem. I can barely walk. All other attempts to run in the previous 4 weeks, happened either at the track on on the treadmill. But I decided that in order to keep up a rhythm I need not make an ordeal out of it. Getting up an driving to the track or gym usually means more reasons to not go. Not wanting to drive, my car breaking down. (which happens all the time by the way).

But there is no excuse when I just have to put tennis shoes on and go. Although, there is always an excuse. IE the freezing rain or the wind or all the other awful winter weather. All that said to say...running outside on saturday did a number on my muscles and joints. And walking is currently a huge chore. But the show must go on and I must run 26 miles eventually so I need to whip my joints and muscles into shape. So tomorrow I'll let you know how it goes.

NEW BEGINNINGS

So it has been about 3 or 4 weeks since my last run. I managed to run while I was out of town but that was the last time I ran. GO FIGURE! I get back home and I lose my damn mind stop all together. At first there was no excuse I just didn't do it. And then I got the flu and I'm pretty sure it was the swine flu. Then I went to a conference and the rest was history. Now its time to start anew. It is exactly 2 weeks before my 26th birth day. It is in the 26th year of life that I would like to run 26 miles. So here goes nothing... again.

Week 2 and day 2 of treadmill running

This is what I look like after 2.35 miles of running at 9:30 at night. ------------------------------------------------------------------->

Today was my second day of treadmill running. I still don't think

I want to make a habit of it. But it works well when you are out of town

i.e. in San Francisco where there are lots of hills. That will be for another blog

entry several months from now. CHUNKY GIRL RUNS A HILL. Oh how I can anticipate

the wheezing and huffing and puffing. But for now I'll pass.

So here's the scoop from my second day of treadmill running. This use to happen to me in college too. There is always some out of shape guys who wants to get on the treadmill next to me. And at some point he decided to run. Because he figures if she can do it I can too. What he fails to realize that I have mastered the art of pacing and am running at the same speed as others may walk. So this out of shape guys feels inspired by my treadmill antics and starts to run at a god forsaken pace. About five minutes in to it. He starts to hobble and breath really hard. But it would be a blow to his ego to just stop cause if she's doing it so can I right.

---WRONG!---

So the poor guys is dang near dying but his ego won't let him stop. Mind you I've already been running on the silly machine for over 2o mins and still have at least another 20mins to go.

---POOR GUY!---

Finally the guys give up and now both his ego and legs are sore.

---SO SAD!---

Well here to another 2 miles down and hundred more to go.

Running at the Gym

Yesterday I went for a run at the gym and I realized that treadmill running is not for me. Its too easy to just look at the time and realize that you've only been running for 5 mins and you want to stop already. I found myself just staring at the clock the ENTIRE time. Also I was on the most stupid treadmill known to man. It had a stop button on the side rails so I accidentally kept pressing stop, about every 5 mins when I was trying to keep myself from loosing my balance I would press stop. Who really wants to start running again after you've stopped. I was able to motivate myself about 3 times. But the fourth time I pushed it I just relented to defeat. So I only ran a mile and a quarter and then walked another mile.

But Ive decided that sometimes you just have to move your ass. I didnt do much but here to another day of ass moving. CHEERS!

WEEK 2 EVERYTHING BUT RUN!!!

Last week running is what I DID NOT DO!!!

Let me tell you what I did do.

I worked several 16 hours days

1. I ate out a lot: (korean, pizza, greasy pub, mexican, lunch trucks more pizza) ETC...

2. I ate in a little: (random left overs, pasta, mystery food from the freezer, crackers with pesto.) ETC...

3. I ate at outrageous hour of the day: (midnight runs to voodoo donuts, taco trucks, fry trucks, ice cream. Why because what else will you do with friends and college students at midnight.

4. I watch TV shows on the net: (AMTM, FLASHFORWARD, HOUSE, GLEE) also after midnight

5. I woke up at 8AM to go to campus

BUT NOWHERE IN THE GOD FORSAKEN LIST DID I RUN!!!!

So you know what I did today...

1. I RAN... AND NOW I am WEEZING!!!

2. TOMORROW I will RUN and PROBABLY WEEZE!

ETC...

RUNNING PARTNERS (the five reasons to leave them at home)

1. I DESPISE RUNNING WITH PEOPLE!!! ESPECIALLY SKINNY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE OUT OF SHAPE!!!!! Their skinny butts can run circles around me even if I've been training for months.

2. Its impossible to find anyone who is not skinny to run with you. NO FAT PERSON WANTS TO RUN. EXCEPT ME!

3. They try to be supportive but watching them try to run slower to run with me feels like torture cause its clearly more of an effort to run slow then to just run at normal pace for them.

4. You have to watch them pass you, then be in front of you, and then eventually lap you and then repeat!!!! I wish I could trip them.

5. In the game of mind over matter, it is extremely important to not feel defeated. BUT when you are lugging 300lbs around the track the word defeat is so inevitable that its laughable. THE LAST thing you need is to watch some skinny person, who claims to be out of shape bounce pass you over and over again. TRYING to BE SUPPORTIVE!

The Schedule

This is the running schedule I am using to get me to my half marathon by the spring. This picture shows exactly how I feel about it!!!

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

WEEK 1: 35 min Rest 35 min 40 min cross train Rest 45 min

WEEK 2: 35 min Rest 35 min 40 min cross train Rest 50 min

WEEK 3: 40 min Rest 40 min 45 min cross train Rest 60 min

WEEK 4: 50 min Rest 50 min 55 min cross train Rest 60 min

WEEK 5: 40 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 90 min

WEEK 6: 35 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 110 min

WEEK 7: 45 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 3 miles

WEEK 8: 4 miles Rest 4 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 5 miles

WEEK 9: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 6 miles

WEEK 10: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 11: 4 miles Rest 6 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 8 miles

WEEK 12: 5 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 9 miles

WEEK 13: 4 miles Rest 7 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 14: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 15: 5 miles Rest 5 miles 4 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 16: 3 miles Rest 4 miles 4 miles cross train Rest 12 miles

WEEK 17: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 6 miles

Week 18: 5 miles Rest 4 miles 5 miles 5 miles Rest 4 miles

Week 19: 4 miles 4 miles Rest Rest Rest Rest Race DAY!!!

Day 2 Week 1

I just finished day 2 of week 1. I decided to see how much I could push myself. I'm at the stage in training when I don't worry about miles I just worry about minutes. Week 1 you can run/walk for 35 minutes. Today I decided to see if I could run the entire 35 minutes. So I walked a quarter of a mile and then I set my watch and ran for 34 minutes. I only made it through 2 miles in that time so I'm running at a very slow pace of 17 min miles. Most people can walk at the speed but there's nothing like adding a little bounce to that walking pace to get your heart pumping.

I had a very interesting experience while I was out bounce walking (that's how I'll describe my running for now). This morning/early afternoon I was bounce walking at the track. There was this middle aged black man there walking in font of me. I finally go to the point where I caught up with him and wanted to pass him but I had doubts about it. First off...I'm black which means I have a serious badonka donk (aka butt). So bounce walking inevitably means serious butt is also doing some major bouncing. My shirt was not long enough to cover the bouncing action so my semi tight yoga pants and my bounding butt was cause for some major concern. Should I pass this middle ages man so he could stare at my butt for the next 2 miles or not? After a while I decided to get over myself and pass him. Luckily he stopped walking after about another half mile...so I only had to be self conscious 2 laps or so. I'm hoping it wasn't because of me, but who know?