Should I Start Up Again?

I'm meeting Trish, in like 30 minutes, at the gym tonight. I'm wondering if I should start up the 5K program again. Yes, I know I have already done a 5K, but I still have room for improvement ... like running the whole entire thing! (yea, right, as if!) So if I pick up where I left off I can either do 3/1.5, 5/2.5, 3 OR 5/3, 5/3, 5. But you know, I do more than that outside, so hmmmmmm .... must think about this a bit.

In the meantime, I need to work on finishing the next 5K in under 40! 39 ish is my goal. Run run run ....

Have I mentioned that I really do not like running??

I Wish I Had Longer Leggs

I have these short stubby legs, and my running stride is just short and thus slow. If I stride out longer it is just a lot more work, and not efficient. My 11:30 min mile pace is my natural pace, and I think that is all I'll ever do.

Oh yea, and longer legs sure would look nicer too! And pants would not be constantly too long on me. I'm not asking for much, just another 2 inches or so. 32" legs would nice!! If I stretch, I just barely make 30". And I'm 68' tall folks! That's short!

Oh yea, my 4' 8 year-old has legs almost as long as mine. Seriously!

I wish I had longer legs. Just saying .... that's all.

New Run

So, I just got back from my "new running route." (Still hot and sweaty!) I am now running my usual 2 mile route, but then continuing on back to the path and a bit more. My goal was to add another half mile to my daily run, and turns out I added .64 miles to it - good estimating Kay!

That last 100yrds of my new run was hard today!! I ran a mile and quarter non-stop. I suppose I could have run more; I was breathing hard, but quickly recovered, and very soon my legs felt like they could run and should be running. So I continued on after maybe a minute of walking. Since I was trying for more than 2 miles today, I did not want to tire myself out prematurely. During the 5K on Monday, I really felt tired around 2.25-2.5 miles. I guess that is the hump I have to get over now. I've been completing 2 miles for a long time now. Time to up that distance!

Todays Workout

I am beginning the training to run my 5K in under 40 mins. So today I did the elliptical. I can go farther and faster on the elliptical than I can running. The weird thing, however, is that today was the second time I set the machine for 45 mins, but it only gave me 30 mins. Go figure.

Anyway, today I managed to do 3.13 miles in 35 minutes. Not too bad! I really pushed myself the last 5 minutes of the workout, but I survived OK. The really amazing thing is that I recover so quickly now. My heart rate finally reached 140 (my goal) during the last 30 seconds, and within a minute of my ending the workout and doing the 5 minute cool-down my heart rate was 118 again. Cool, I'm officially getting into shape!

Tomorrow I am going to run. Not sure what (Oh no!! Rocky is playing on TV and I hear the theme song coming up!! eeeeekk!) what I am going to do, but I need to push myself a bit harder! I want to have a better time come July, and I also want to get some more of this weight off me! Like ... maybe another 5-7 pounds. It is just over 4 weeks away, and weight is not coming off easily now, so I'll be gentle with myself! :)

Bigger & Better Goals

So, I have goals to run another 5K. July 4th in Whitmore Lake to be precise! So ... I'd better start training myself to run a full 5K; I have 5 weeks! I think I can shave 3 mins off my time.

So, I am making it official - I want to run my next 5K in 39ish mins. OK, here goes some training now folks.....

Hartland's 5K Run

I DID IT!

Not only did I do it, but I did it in 41.50 (official time, but I would take 45-60 secs off bc I started behind the starting line in the very back of the pack, and then I waited 30 secs to run) my average mile time was 13.30 ... not bad actually. When Trish & I were trying to do 2 miles under 28 mins., a time of 27 was considered pretty good! (by us)

Waiting for the race to begin, and putting the silly "luggage tag" on my shoe; it is the computerized ID that figures out my "official" time.

At the beginning of the race. See the two women (#130 & 186) I actually ran behind them the whole run, and the person in the dark shirt behind those two -- I beat her! (go me!)

At the end of the race just before the finish line. Like the purple face I have! Just goes to show that I was working it!
Look, I'm so fast that Trish couldn't even get a photo of me! hahahahahahaha........

And there I go into the tunnel towards the finish line. I think I was running so fast (snark!) because I had to pee pretty badly. And look at those cows. dang I have large calf muscles!

OK, seriously, I am excited and pretty dog-gone proud of myself for doing the entire race. Now, to train for the Whitmore Lake 5K!

Tomorrow is THE DAY

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and thus it is the Hartland 5K run. Gulp! Four months ago when Trish & I started training for a 5k I was not so sure I would ever really be up for running 3.1 miles. I have to say that, while I have not yet ever run more than probably 2.5 miles, I am not too worried about my abilities to complete this run. I highly highly doubt that I will be able to run the whole thing, especially since there is one HUGE hill and one smaller hill to contend with. I am hopeful that I will finish in 45-ish minutes. If I ran my 11.50 minute mile for all three miles then I would finish in 35.65 mins. So, that gives me 10 extra minutes to walk the hills and such. This is my goal, and I am really afraid that I will do it in less than 45 minutes. So wish me luck!