Juneathon Day 6: National Running Day

Happy National Running Day! I celebrated by running 7miles. Amazing. My legs were feeling good today, unlike yesterday. My pacing wasn’t the greatest, but overall, a good run.

Mile 1: 9:27
Mile 2: 9:20
Mile 3: 9:21
Mile 4: 9:17
Mile 5: 9:18
Mile 6: 9:11
Mile 7: 9:34

Beautiful Day for running!

National Running Day! Yahoo!!

Decent run. Ready for the Bellin!

Juneathon day 6: 7.07miles. 1:06:11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because it is National Running Day, I wanted to list the reasons why I fell in love with running.

–Running has given me a lot more self-confidence. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would have ran a half-marathon and am training for a full-marathon when I am 23, I wouldn’t have believed you. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence back then, but running has helped me believe in myself and my abilities. I KNOW I can run 3miles without a problem. I KNOW I am capable of running 12 miles. And I KNOW that after my training I will be able to conquer 26.2 miles! I’m not afraid to ask questions, try new things, and do things on my own. I want to push myself, see what my body is capable of. Test the limits and then test them further.

–With running and training, I always want to better myself. I want to be faster, stronger, have good pacing, get in a good rhythm. I lift weights to build a strong body. A strong body that can carry me distances of 6,9,12+ miles. A strong body that will help me be faster. Not only will bettering myself improve my running, but it improves my quality of every day life. At work, I know I can lift heavy things, be on my feet for hours, and move around with ease because my body is strong and able.

–Runners have their own little community. While running today, I must have passed two dozen runners (and countless bikers, walkers, rollerbladers. We will just focus on the runners), and over half of them either gave me a little wave or said Hi. I will probably never see that person again in my life, but they were friendly enough to say Hi. I find that I’m friendlier when I’m running. I wave and say Hi to people as well. We’re all out there for our own reasons, but we’re all running. A race is the same idea. We all line up at the start with the same goal: cross the finish line. Everyone is full of adrenaline and excitement, that you can’t help but chat with the person standing next to you as you’re waiting for the start.

–Last Tuesday I was having a difficult day. So I took all my anger out on my run. I ran as fast and hard as I could. Getting all my aggression out. And I felt so much better after. I was singing in the car, happy about my run. All my problems melted away for those minutes while running. It felt great. Running, for me, has been a great stress release. If I’m having a problem, worry, bad day, I can look forward to my run and just go all out.

–I used to pay VERY close attention to numbers on the scale. Whatever it said that morning, depicted the rest of my day. It’s not fun living like that. When I started running, I stopped obsessing about those numbers. I started feeding my body what it needed. I want my body to be a well-fueled machine that is capable of anything. Everything in moderation. I weigh myself once, sometimes every other week. Whatever I feel like. I’ve stayed around the same weight for about 6months now. Sure, I would love to weight a little less. But I guess my body is happy right where it is. I don’t want to obsess and fret about one number. The only numbers I want to worry about are PR‘s

Those are my main reasons for running. I wouldn’t have thought any of that a year ago, but what a difference a year makes. I feel like a whole new (and better) person since I found running. I want to take care of myself and keep myself healthy and strong. Live a long and happy life, one mile at a time

November: Starting Over

Where have I been the past month!? October is a pretty busy month because my bf is really into Halloween. So every weekend we were busy doing stufff with his hearse friends and the other days I work. I know these are all sad excuses, but it’s all I could come up with.

So, since my birthday was November 2nd, I’m using that as a way to sort of start this blog over, sort of. I really want to try and keep this updated. Clean slate.

November is going to be a good month. I have some big plans and Thanksgiving!

- First, there are two races that I want to run this month: The Turkey Trot and the Noodleini. The Turkey Trot is Thanksgiving morning and my sister is also running, so that would be fun to do with her. Although, she’s running the 2 mile and I would run the 5 mile. The Noodleini is sponsored by Noodles and Company (!) and it’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This one is either 3.1 miles or 9.3. I think I would do the 9.3.

- I’ve been running a lot of miles lately. But I’m not sure how WELL I have been running them. I want to start doing some weight training before (or after) my runs. In doing this, I want to scale back my runs and go for QUALITY rather than QUANTITY. I bought the Women’s Health book of 15 min workouts and I want to do two of those on days that I deem short running days and one workout on long running days. I feel that I stick with strength training when I have a set workout to do.

- I used to get up in the morning, pee, and then go and weigh myself. I haven’t been doing that lately, only weighing myself every other day; mainly to just keep my weight in check. And I know if I start weight training I might gain some weight in muscle. But I would rather weigh a little more and be muscular and toned, then skinny and a little flabby.

- Thanksgiving is this month! And I have THREE to attend! Yikes. I want to try and eat really well this month and have awesome workouts.

So those are things I want to keep in mind this month. I want to add more photos to my posts and encourage reader comments. I’ll end with a question…

How many Thanksgiving’s do you have to attend? Do all of your Thanksgiving’s involve turkey?
I have three Thanksgiving’s to attend: my moms family, my dads family and Barnaby’s family. Both of my Thanksgiving’s involve turkey and sometimes ham, but his Thanksgiving is lasgna. I’m not quite sure why. But I guess it sort of mixes things up

Fitness Friday: Back on Track

Last week my runs were pretty slow, but this week I got back on track. It was great. During all my runs I felt like a million bucks and just wanted to keep going and going. I got paid yesterday, so I signed up for my first 5k! The St. Joe’s 5k Run in Menasha, WI. I’m pretty pumped, but also sort of nervous. It’s only 15 days away now. I will probably do some of my runs outside now, just to get used to the conditions.  That makes me nervous as well because the last time I ran outside, I hurt my knee. So hopefully all goes well! This weeks work outs included:

Saturday: Ran 7.52 miles in 1 hour 6 min. Average pace was 8:47 min/mile. Awesome. Ran 3 min, recovered for 1 min, ran 5 min, recovered for 2 min.

Monday: Ran 7.51 miles in 1 hour 5 min. Average pace was 8:39 min/mile. New record! Ran 3 min, recovered for 1 min.

Tuesday: Ran 8.11 miles in 1 hour 11 min. Average pace was 8:45 min/mile. This has been my longest run so far and it went really well Ran 3 min, recovered for 1 min, repeated for 15 min. Ran 5 min, recovered for 2 min, repeated for 15 min.

Wednesday: Ran 7.60 miles in 1 hour 6 min. Average pace was 8:44 min/mile. Ran 5 min, recovered for 2 min, repeated for 15 min. Ran 3 min, recovered for 1 min, repeated for 15 min.

Thursday: Ran 7.65 miles in 1 hour 8 min. Average pace was 8:56 min/mile. Ladder up to 5 run, 5 recovery, repeated 5:5, then back down. Slower day. I think it was because I recovered for the same amount of time as the run.

I’m not going to be able to work out today because we are going to Milwaukee to look at Halloween stores!  Possibly tomorrow though. But I’m super pumped after this week. I’m feeling really good. Next week I will try and take a few of my runs outside. We shall see how that goes.

Y-M-C-A!

The only gym I have ever been to was the Student Recreation and Wellness Center at the UW-Oshkosh, where I attended college. It was free as long as you were a student. While I was a student, I went there almost everyday and when I lived in Oshkosh for the summer, I went there as well. But now that I’m not a student, I don’t get in free and I don’t live in Oshkosh anymore. I bought an elliptical when I graduated (which was my machine of choice at the time) and used it for about one year. After that, I got really sick of it and it wasn’t giving me the results I wanted. Now I have taken up running and I’m really enjoying it, but I wish that I could use other machines too, like the stationary bike and have more strength training opportunities. And this is why I want to join my local YMCA.

YMCA! It's fun to stay at the!

After looking into what The Y has to offer me, I think it seems like a good investment. The joiner fee for people 14-25 is only $25 and the facility is fairly close to my house, so not too much gas money (if I happened upon a bike, I could just bike there!). There is an indoor running track, which is something I have been looking for, strength training, cardio equipment, and THREE POOLS! Yay! Swimming! I have read all the benefits about swimming and exercise and I really want to try it. They also offer group classes, which I’ve never tried but I’m game for something new. Yoga classes, boot camp classes, cycling classes, and Pilates (just to name a few).

One of the main reasons I would want to join The Y is to give myself some variety. Don’t get me wrong, I like running and lifting weights after, but sometimes it gets boring. And lately I have wanted to do some biking or focus on some more serious strength training, but I only have so much room in my house. I want to be a well-rounded, healthy person. Give myself some variety so I’m not just stuck in an exercise rut.

I’m still in the decision process. On one of my days off I might trot over to The Y and take a look before I make my decision, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like the right choice. Give myself some variety. On busier days, I always have my treadmill at home, but on less busy days, I can head over there and get my sweat on in a different way.

 

Ecstatic about Exercise!

Yes, I am one of THOSE people who loves exercise. It is something that has become part of my every day life and I can’t see why I would ever stop.

I like knowing that I’m doing something good for my body. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you pushed yourself to your limits and you accomplished your goal. I have recently discovered running. It has been a challenge because I used to work out on an elliptical and running gives you something completely different. Running has pushed my limits and I have surpassed limits I didn’t think I could go. I have felt that ‘runner’s high’ and I’m not giving that up. When running, I feel free from all worries, thinking no one can ever stop me. Even when I’m exhausted and dripping sweat after a work out, I feel so accomplished and so good about myself. To me, there is no greater feeling.

Lifting weights is also something that I have recently started doing. I have seen great results there as well. I work at Walmart in the electronics department and trying to lift TV’s and computers was sometimes a challenge. Now, after lifting weights, I can usually more things around more easily and that is a great accomplishment. I don’t have to run and get some guy to help me, I can do it myself

What keeps me motivated about exercise and why I do it every day is because I know that I’m going to live a happy and healthy life. Exercise relieves my stress and keeps my heart and body strong. I have also done some of my best thinking while working out. My legs and body are moving and my mind is moving too.

Before I started college, I really didn’t exercise. I think I was 160lbs when I started college. But once I started college and had a free gym on campus, I started to exercise more and I lost about 20lbs. I had so much more confidence once I started losing weight. I was more social and gained more friends. Now I am about 130 and I wouldn’t give up exercising for anything. It helps me keep my weight in check and it has made me a lot more healthy.

Also, I try and eat healthy too. I have been trying to eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 big meals and it has been making a difference. I noticed that when I ate bigger meals I was more full and could maybe only eat 2 meals a day. Now, eating smaller meals, it keeps me going through the day and I’m not so full. I’ve also been keeping track of what I eat and how much. Because I’m eating 5-6 meals a day, I can’t just be grazing all day. Writing down what I eat has helped me keep everything in perspective. And I’ve lost a little weight

There is one form of exercise I have always wanted to try, and that would be yoga. I have heard that it is good for you and helps you get more flexible and toned, but I just haven’t had the opportunity to give it a try.

Reading is my mental form of exercise. After graduating, I now can read for fun! This year I have read almost 20 books! I think that is the most I have read in a year. Mostly, I read on my breaks at work and sometimes at night. Right now I am trying to complete the Harry Potter series.

Exercise is a big part of my life and I can’t see my life without it. It’s challenging, rewarding, and it keeps me healthy