3 Runs in One

Well, with traveling and a super crazy schedule over the last 10 days, I haven't posted anything - but I've still been running so here are the last 3 runs in 1 post.

Wednesday, June 4
Last Wednesday I got up early to get in a run before we headed out to Denver for the weekend. I knew I needed to keep my routine up if I wanted to keep progressing. When I stop for more than a week, I totally regress so I was determined to keep it up. It was a good run. I extended my normal route to add a mile. It had a little more uphill and was definitely a push for me, but if felt good to go into a little vacation with a nice run.

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 28 minutes
Average PPM: 9.3 minutes/mile

Friday, June 6
Then while in Denver I decided to get up early and go for a run. My brother lives in a beautiful area of Denver with lots of nice hills and a little jogging path a mile from his house. I wanted to try out the jogging path, so I ran down to the trailhead (about 1 mile), ran on the path for another mile before turning around and heading back. It was a fun run. I did the first 3 miles pretty well until I hit the huge hill coming back. It was quite a doozy so I took my time and ran some, walked some. The last big hill was only about 1 block long so I decided I could finish strong by running up that hill and then be finished. It felt good to muscle up a big hill, even if it was a short one.

Distance 4 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average PPM: 9 minutes/mile (unless I was walking... :))

Friday, June 13
So, I didn't run Sat, Mon, or Wed this week. Saturday and Monday I was still in Denver and wanted to enjoy some of my vacation without a run. Then on Wednesday, I was at girls camp and there wasn't really a trail that I could run. SO that leaves today. After a solid week without running, today was kind of hard.Not so much being in shape to run the distance, but because I have been so nauseous. But I was proud of myself for sticking to a 4 mile distance. I changed my route and the new one has a bit more downhill. But with every downhill there has to be some uphill right? The downhill was great! It was that uphill that really got my stomach churning. And the fact that my mouth was so crazy dry and my body was a billion degrees didn't help. But I powered through it and finished under 40 minutes, which makes me so happy!

Distance: 4.18 miles
Time: 37 minutes
Average PPM: 8 minutes 45 seconds

(ps: can you see my pink eye in this picture? yeah, I woke up yesterday with pink eye. way cool.)

The First Long Run!

(This post gets to cover two days, since I was a slacker on Saturday and didn't post anything about my long run.)

Saturday: Saturday was my first long run (if you can really call it "long") down Emigration Canyon. And honestly, it was so great. Sarah met me at 7am and we drove 3 miles up the canyon. 3 miles is probably not long to most people, especially avid runners, but when you are just getting back in the game, 3 miles is long, and 3 miles is hard! So all of you naysayers can just stop reading and go take yourself on a nice 10 miler. I was so proud of both of us. We ran the entire distance without stopping or walking. And honestly, it felt so good. I mean, it wasn't easy and it hurt a little, but it always feels so good at the end. 

Today: I met up with Sarah again, this time at 6 am and we went for another little 3 mile stroll - this time a bit harder and bit slower. We both agreed that running down the canyon is a lot easier than running on the uphill/downhill  roads in our neighborhood (huh... who woulda thought?). I love that Sarah has started running with me. It motivates me get up in the morning and get out the door. It pushes me to run further and faster than I would on my own. And it's so nice to have someone to talk to - even if we are only - getting - a - single - word - between - breaths. Love you, Sarah!

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 29 minutes

Average PPM: 9 minutes/mile 

Little by Little

I have a correction to make... which makes me a little sad because it means I haven't been doing as well as I thought I was doing. Last Wednesday's 3 mile run where I thought I was averaging a 7:30-8:30 minute mile? Yeah, that never happened. I've been running the same route for the last 2 weeks and every time I would finish, my GPS tracker would say 2.03 miles. And each time I was averaging about a 9 minute mile. So that made me start thinking... Where the heck did that 3 mile, 7 minute mile come from? So, I went back and looked closer at my route:

Do you see that? I may run with a little stop and go, but I do not run skeewompus like that. So, apparently the GPS had been reading that run all wrong, and there I was thinking I was fast like a gazelle. So here I sit, back at square one with the realization that getting back into running is hard. And knowing that I've been capable of so much more before makes starting down at the bottom even harder. But, little by little I will progress, and little by little I will reach the goals I have been striving to accomplish. And that's what I have to remind myself of everyday. That a little bit of effort, everyday, is all it takes.

Distance: 2.00 miles
Time: 20:07 minutes
Average PPM: 9 something.

Memorial Day Run

Well, it's Memorial Day and I was hoping to sleep in (which is really only like 7:30 or 8:00 with a 1 year old - and that's if you're lucky), but Kirk had to leave for work at 6:40 so a 5:45 wake-up call it was. Lucky for me, I couldn't sleep last night so I was up at 4:30 with a full hour to sit and imagine my morning run. Great.

My run this morning was good. I'm getting just a little stronger each time, but it's still of heck of a climb. But I love the way it makes me feel and the confidence it restores, helping me remember that I AM capable of doing hard things. I think that's why I fell in love with running in the first place. It just makes me feel good.

I LOVED running into Sarah this morning. It was so nice to see that I wasn't the only crazy person up early getting in a run. She's such a great friend and has always been my little running buddy. She motivates me to stay fit when pregnancy #2 happens and to not wait as long as I did after Jack to start a regular workout routine. I love friends like her.

Distance 2.03 miles
Time: 23 minutes
Average PPM: 8:33

Womp Womp...

I think exhaustion best describes today's run. After a night of feeling pretty crappy, waking up and going running wasn't the first thing I wanted to do. But I made myself get out and go, and I'm glad I did, but it certainly was not the best run I've done. My average pace slowed down quite a bit and I ended up walking probably 1/2 mile. But in the end, isn't it all about lengthening your stride and keep on keepin' on? So - yay for those accomplishments, and here's to tomorrow's long run. 

Distance: 2.04 miles
Time: 22:32 minutes
Average PPM: 10:33

Day 2

Well here we are. Day 2. I've got to say, I'm surprised that I'm picking it back up so quickly. I mean, it's not easy by any means, but it's not as hard as I anticipated I guess. My pace is quicker than I thought and my ability to run distance without tiring very fast is good. My goal with every run is to run just a street further than the time before. Today, I stopped running a street before where I did last time (oops), but I was also running a whole minute/mile faster than last time. Also, I picked up and started running again after resting for a few streets, so I'd say there is some accomplishment there. So here's hoping that in 4 months, I can PR and show myself that I CAN run after a baby.

Today for breakfast is another green smoothie. These things are seriously the best. And for dinner... something healthy? Today is a "think one meal at a time" kind of day. Though I absolutely love it, here's hoping it's not Dominos pizza again (cause that was last night). I think I can, I think I can...

Distance: 3.08 miles
Time 22:34 minutes
Average PPM: 7:20

Back to Basics

Well, I did it. I signed up for my first half marathon in 3 years! I'm not even sure what got into me, but I decided 2 days ago that I was gonna do it and I did it. Today was my first attempt at training. I woke up and got out of the house and tried to get my butt in gear. The first mile of my run felt great! I was actually super surprised. I averaged an 8:30 min/mile - I totally thought I would average closer to a 9:30 or 10:00 min/mile. I guess going to the gym for the past 5 months has helped. The second mile was fine, but it was uphill, so I slowed down a lot. But I did it. That's all that matters to me. 4 months and 11 miles to go!

I also started eating a Whole30/Nutritarian diet a couple months ago and have had some good success since then. Down 10 pounds. But it's been hard to stick to on weekends and holidays so I'm gonna add my thoughts about it here so that I can keep track of it somehow. So, here we go:

This morning I started my day with a yummy green smoothie. I added coconut water, spinach, wheat grass, a banana and an apple, some frozen tropical fruit, and a bit of greek yogurt. I topped it off with a few tablespoons of flax seed. It was delicious!! Tonight - spinach and fruit salad with a strawberry/basil/mint dressing. Yums.

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 20 minutes
Average PPM: 8:30
Whoop whoop!