Week 2: Faster 5K Training

Week one was nothing to write (home) about. 4 foundation runs. Snore.

I'm using a Matt Fitzgerald training program that runs on the Pear app for iPhone. I like it, because it syncs with my Scosche Rhythm+ heart rate monitor, and tells me audibly when I have exceeded my target zone. A LOT of the training is done in Zone 2. Also, I like how Matt comes on, randomly, and says things like "Form check!" and gives a running tip.

I had great success with a half marathon training program by Matt Fitzgerald in 2010, so it was an easy choice to go back to him for a faster 5K. As of now (always subject to change, but I'm trying to commit) my goal is to be a 5K specialist in 2015. I do get tempted by the half marathons advertised, but I really need to remember that 1) I don't have enough free time in my schedule to do justice to the training required to run as fast as I would want and 2) I like more visible muscle on my body. I can work my 5K training around my weight training schedule easily. I would have to give up a portion of my weight training to do HM training.

Tonight, I will be testing my new Brooks LSD Lite Jacket. Judging by the weather, it should be a good test of wind proof-ness and water resistance. It's blowing and raining out there right now! The jacket is a little big on me. It fits perfectly through my (linebacker) shoulders, but that makes the rest of it a little big. One of the best things about Brooks Running is that they let you return items, even after you've worn them, so if I don't like it I can still send it back.

Back to the training program. Yesterday was a fartlek run, today is a 4 mile run, Saturday will be a foundation run, and Sunday  will be a fast finish run. #runhappy

All foods are not created equal...

Food intolerances.  They are real.  I used to be able to eat anything, and my mother would swear I had a "cast iron stomach". Suddenly, I'm noticing that has changed.

Rice is off my daily list and must  be limited to once a week.

Dairy has been off my list for over a decade. But now that is including ice cream. Sigh. Tiny quantities are OK.  So there is that.

It's Been a While...

I never quit training, but I did quit blogging. I'm ready to pick it back up, as once again my goals have changed. 

It all started when I ran the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge race. I didn't train for it, other than one run to make sure I could still run 3.5 miles at a shot. Being in a pack of runners (and not performing too badly) contributed to that competition bug returning.  

Two months later, I saw a flyer for a 5k almost literally right in my back yard.  I entered and loved it. Soon after that, I began running once a week with the group that meets at Fleet Feet Sports. It's about 4 miles each time. In the beginning, I would get left behind.  I wasn't as fast as the fastest runners, and yet I was faster than the slowest. So I typically ran alone during the group run. I keep up better now. 

Those 4 mile runs prepared me enough to enter the Webster Turkey Trot this year. And THAT is where the running bug fully returned. I ran negative splits and had a great 4th mile. It didn't hurt that it had a big downhill. 

I'm now starting a Faster 5K training program. It's my first winter running in a real winter...cold, snow, ice...and so far I love it. 

That Running Bug

I've mentioned before how I only run when I'm training for a race. I don't really run year-round. I maintain that I'm "a runner" because not too long goes by before I'm looking for another race to train for.

My half marathon is nearly 90 days behind me, and I can feel that running bug biting me again. During my time off from running, I have returned to my other love, heavy weight lifting. I can squat and deadlift  over one hundred pounds again. I love that. I still hope someday to be able to bench press one hundred pounds.

My "cardio" has consisted mainly of HIIT sessions. Mostly treadmill sprints, but also some elliptical and bike work. I much prefer the treadmill and bike to the elliptical. Well, that's not entirely true. If we are talking the Precor Elliptical with the increasing ramp in addition to increasing resistance, I do love that one. The Nautilus one that only has a resistance adjustment is boring.

My trainer mixes up my cardio. Currently, my program has 3 HIITs and 2 steady states. Each are 40 minutes in length. The steady states are "killing" me in the gym. So boring! I think that's part of the running bug returning.

Another part is the cooler weather. It just feels like running weather! I'm excited to lace up and head out for a couple of 40 minute runs this week. :)

When Did They Start Making Fish Out of Gold?

I bought a $38 bottle of fish oil today. $38. I almost didn't. But I needed it.

I've been using fish oil capsules for several years. The problem with that is that you have to take a ton of them to get to the amount recommended for supplementation. Whereas with oil, a couple tablespoons a day will do you.

I haven't done the math to figure out how long that bottle will last me. But you can bet that I will be using it down to the last drop at that dollar amount!

This has been a week filled with obstacles. My flight being delayed 6 hours and being up 20 hours that day, my car breaking down, not sleeping Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday nights. Please let sleep come tonight.

I'm still living out of a suitcase. I need to get some time to unpack. My first deadline is Monday and there is much to do before then, so I'm working through the weekend.

In spite of all of this, my diet has stayed pretty well on track! There hasn't been enough variety, but at least I've been eating frequently enough and clean enough. I've missed two workouts, though. I'm on a 6 day split and will have 4 of them completed this week. I expect next week to be much better. Fingers crossed!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

My summer vacation from blogging, that is! Time is flying. And I am flying, frequently. Every day I get up and go to the gym. Except Wednesdays and Saturdays. And now Sundays, it seems. Hmmm...I have to add back in a day.

I lift weights on M, Tu, Th, Fr, and do 30 minutes of HIIT following each weight training session. Wednesdays are steady state cardio days, so I go out on my bicycle. That's supposed to take 30 minutes, but I keep exploring and have it actually take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Sundays were for yoga, but I haven't made it there since I got back from WA the first of August. I should also have a day of functional training in there, but it just dawned on me I haven't been getting that in. I haven't missed it, lol.

So, I get up and ride my motorcycle to the gym. By the time I work out and the time it takes to get there and back, I have used up 2 hours of my day. I come home for a quick shower and breakfast and sit down to "go to work". I work 9-5 Eastern, and keep my phone by me until it's 5:00 Pacific. There are plenty of days when it rings at 7:00 Eastern.

By then, P is home and we either go somewhere or otherwise do chores and whatnot until it's TV time. Tonight we go look at another possible venue for the wedding. Tomorrow night we go on a group motorcycle ride. That ride ends at a park with a waterfall. Unbeknownst to the ride organizers, we will be looking at the park through the eyes of, "Would we want our wedding here?"

I bought my dress and selected my attendants, but I'm holding off on all other planning until I know where and when it will be. We are shooting for late May 2013. We are exploring options where everything is done for us and we just show up, as well as options such as having it in a park and we have to rent things, set them up, take them down, etc. BUT there are plenty of parks that have pavilion houses and restrooms, which would cut down significantly on rental costs.

We want our wedding to be fun, above all else. We want our guests to be comfortable and enjoy themselves. We want to be outdoors, but have a backup plan for fickle May weather. (It once snowed on Mother's Day, I'm told.) So far, we have only seen one place, and while the food was AMAZING and the venue (a rustic barn on an orchard/farm) was beautiful, it was too close to the road for our liking. (Scene: Do you, Sandi, take HONK HONK HONK! VROOM VROOM! wedded husband? Scene ends with Sandi showing disgust on her face.)

I have things to blog about! I have discovered the BEST thing to happen to kitchen supplies since the microwave oven! I will share that tomorrow. Tune in. ;)

Fireworks Will Never Be the Same

I've been ready for my boyfriend to propose to me since October of last year. We would speak vaguely of the subject, most often referring to other people's weddings and what we liked or didn't and what we would like. But we didn't talk it to death. I didn't want to. I wanted to be surprised. I know him well enough to know that he believes in marriage and that it is a life goal.

And so I waited. And waited. All of these occasions that I thought would have been perfect came and went. Most recently, a hike to the top of a waterfall on our 2nd anniversary of dating would have been PERFECT.

Finally I gave up trying to predict those perfect moments. Not really, but I told myself that. I thought a proposal on the fifty yard line of Ralph Wilson Stadium at the end of my half marathon would have been PERFECT. But no. Not it.

And then just like that it was 4th of July. We went to an amusement park that was having big fireworks. We got there after 5:00 and wandered through, eating carnie food and mostly (me) refusing to go on rides. We did go on the gravitron. And I would have done all the water slides, but we left our suits for another day. We played miniature golf there, too. I love it, but I'm terrible at it.

When we went back to the truck to get our chairs we discovered the parking lot was full of people just hanging out. Apparently where we parked was just as good as any spot for viewing. So we set our chairs up right by the truck and waited for about an hour and a half. We entertained ourselves on our phones, playing games and Facebooking. We chatted lightly.

Finally the fireworks started. They were nice ones! We got near the finale, and BF kept asking, "Do you think that was the finale?" and then they would start again. Finally it was very obvious it was the finale. He diverted my attention to speak to me seriously. I didn't get it, and was still trying to turn to watch fireworks. Then it dawned on me the words he was saying, and the intensity in his face. He had my full attention. I was just starting to put two and two together and almost in the same instance, he was on one knee in front of me asking me to marry him. He held out an open box with a ring in it, but it was too dark to see it. Of course I said yes! And the moment he picked was PERFECT.

He is the most wonderful man I have ever met. I am a lucky, lucky girl. And he thinks he's the lucky one. And by the way...the ring he chose is absolutely beautiful. The attention to detail he took in the setting and band are so characteristic of him. He said the diamond was the easy part. :)