Monday, September 26, 2011

Training went pretty well this past week.  Sunday’s trail run (4.6 mi) at Big Creek was really fun, and I felt good about my pace (12:23).  Time and distance were a bit of an estimate.  I forgot my watch at home, and I did the full creek trail, but only part of the tower trail (the grass was too long and I felt like I was going to fall down the hill!)  There were a couple of difficult spots where I did a short walk up part of a hill because it felt like my HR was too high.  I would love to get a Garmin so that I know for sure when I need to back down!

I snapped a picture of one of the shorter hills just as I finished one of my walk breaks.  (I'm not sure why my phone makes everything look pinkish!)  This park is only about 4 miles from my house.  It felt amazing to make it to the top of some of these hills.  I was feeling happy about the progress that I’ve made so far.  It was definitely a runner’s high! 

The trail was a bridle trail, and I realized when I got to the creek that means no bridge to run across – horses don’t need a bridge!  There was no choice but to run through the water, since I hadn’t gone far enough yet and that part of the park does not have many other trails.  It wasn’t as bad as I expected to do most of the run with soaking wet feet. 

Hopefully tackling these hills and running over gravel and mud will make the 5 mile race on October 2nd seem like a piece of cake!  I’m a little worried about the distance.  I will have to be sure to start off slow so that I can finish the race on a high note!

On the weight loss side of things, I am up to 46 pounds lost so far!  I just realized over the weekend that I am more than halfway to my weight loss goal.  I don’t really have a firm number in mind, but I think I’ve got about 35 more pounds to go.  People ask me if I’m excited about losing so much weight, and I guess part of me is excited, but I still feel like this is a work in progress so I’m not celebrating too much yet.  I want to be sure I can keep heading in the right direction and maintain a healthier lifestyle permanently. 

I took my suit in to the seamstress to have it taken in for our law school photos next month, and it felt pretty good to have her say that she didn’t know if she would be able to alter the pants, she thought they were so big it might not work!  In the end, she decided she could do it, it would just be a bit more difficult.  I will be happy to pick up the suit and try it on – I don’t have a ton of clothes that fit me really well right now.  I guess that’s a good problem to have!

Monday, September 19, 2011

I completed my first 5K race on September 10, 2011.  I raced with my co-worker and we finished in 36 minutes – not bad for my first try!  It was rainy, but not very cold.  There were so many people, it took awhile to even get to the starting line.

I didn’t have any problem finishing, in fact, I had a little energy left to sprint at the end once we were close to the finish line.  It was a fun experience, and I was immediately thinking about signing up for another race.

I registered for a 5 mile race at the Maple Highlands Trail on October 2nd.  At first, I thought it was a 5K, but after I paid the fee, I realized it’s almost 2 miles farther.  I was a bit nervous about that at first, but my DM friends were very encouraging and now I feel ready.

My training runs this past week went well.  Now that I have increased my distance, I have had to do some runs that are outside the neighborhood, since going around the loop multiple times is getting incredibly boring.  I ran around town on Friday after work, which was great because it was less familiar.  This route also had more hills, and it felt pretty good to complete the run without being exhausted.

Sunday I went out to Big Creek Park and ran about ½ of the way on trails, ½ on pavement.  I went for a total of 5.1 miles and had a fast pace for me (about 11:30 or so per mile).  The trails were fun!  I started off with the Hemlock Trail that is beautiful, but includes a set of stairs right near the beginning.  I ended up doing most of the shorter trails in the park, then I headed out to the road.  I decided partway through the run to tackle the big hill on Robinson Road, the hill that really was tough back when I was just starting to run for 2 miles at once.  I did it pretty well – I felt good about the pace I was able to keep up going up the hill.  It was still a bit of a challenge, but it didn’t feel impossible like it did last time.  I had one brief walk break and finished it pretty strong.  If I run there again, I need to look at the trail map first to figure out the best way to get to the bridle trails, so that I can get my distance in without needing to worry about which trail I am switching to. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows – sometimes it feels like I won’t be able to get a run finished, but then I get past the mental block and do it and then it feels amazing.  I totally get how people love running and racing.  Too bad I didn’t discover this sooner, but at least I’m doing it now!

I’m looking forward to my race in two weeks!