TNT training week 4

Can you believe as of tomorrow I will start week 5 of my training?  I can’t.  For me that means that I am on the last week of page 1 of my training schedule.  There are a total of 4 pages.  I am so excited about it.  I had my first longer run this week that felt really good.  On Wednesday I got to do 6 miles.  It has been really hard to pace myself.  I get to do it again this week.  What I noticed on Thursday was even though I hadn’t run 6 miles in weeks, I wasn’t sore at all from my 6 miles.  I think that means the training is working.  I really had to pace myself and slow down.  Speaking of pace.  I finally figured out what my pace should be per mile so I can finish within my goal time of 2 hours.  I need to maintain a pace of 9:20.  I’ve been consistently running at the 8:30 minute miles.  This knowledge is really exciting to me.  That means I don’t really have to push myself to go faster on my longer runs but maintain what I’m currently doing.  Granted I have to push myself on my tempo days, but that’s okay.  I’m starting to enjoy the tempo runs.

Tomorrow I start back with the 30-Day Shred DVD with the Sisterhood.  I think I mentioned something about this last week, but I’ve changed my mind.  I want to complete it for 30 days straight – just like last spring.  I can do this.  I just have to choose to do it.  I will need to do it after my runs on run days so I don’t lose my mojo to endure the monotony of the treadmill.

So that’s been my week.  I’m still trying to get donations in.  I am getting close, but I’m not there yet.  I still have $1238 to raise.  The good news is that so many have already donated $1762 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  This is wonderful and makes my heart happy.  I hope those of you who have donated have a happy heart too.

So that’s it for this week.  I’ll check back in a week and let you know how the training went.

Please feel free to pass on my fundraising link to your family and friends.

 

Things that make us stronger

Literally.  As you may know I’ve been a part of The Sisterhood since its inception over a year ago.  I have participated in most of the challenges even though all of the challenges have been about weight loss and I don’t have any weight to lose.  But, so many times I have been inspired by others to keep on running.  Just to keep working towards bettering myself.  I’ve come a long way, let me tell you.  I’m at a point where I’m excited that I get to get on the treadmill and run 6 miles (which is on my training schedule for today).  Two years ago I might have known I was going to run, but I wouldn’t have run 6 miles or been looking forward to it.

The Sisterhood has a new challenge starting today.  It’s the Spring Fling.  It feels like spring here today.  What with the rain and clouds and cozy-like weather.  Spring can hang out in Northern Nevada for as long as it likes.

So about this new challenge.  We are teaming up.  I didn’t participate in the last team challenge because it was all about who was going to be the biggest loser.  I would be a hinderance to my team because I have nothing to lose.  So when the call came out for all those interested, I raised my hand high and said “ME!”, but only if there is a team with other non-losers.  (And I say that with respect.  The losers? Those who are losing weight?  They are awesome!)  So far it is me and Tobey.  We are trying to come up with a fun team name, but I’m creatively challenged, so hopefully Tobey can help us out.

Our first challenge starts next Monday.  It is completing the 30 Day Shred.  I did this last year when The Sisterhood first did it, and man did I hurt for the first 4 days.  But it was awesome.  I’ve been scared to go back to it though.  Not because it’s hard and you sweat a lot, because you do.  But because you don’t do any one thing for longer than 90 seconds.  This is a HUGE pro in many ways, but for me it was so hard to get back on the treadmill and just run for 30 minutes.  So I’m nervous.  I’m not sure I will have the time to do it every day in the month of March.  Team In Training has to be my priority and I don’t want to wear myself out by overdoing the exercise.  So, I will be participating, but I will only be doing it on days that I run and only after I run.  That way the hard mental part will be done with.  I may not be able to walk, but I’m sure that the Shred will make me stronger which will, in turn, help my running.  So wish us luck!

(Oh, I forgot to mention and I’m too lazy right now to go back and find all the info, but I did awesome in the Sisterhood Olympics!  I came away with some gold, silver, and bronze medals out of the deal!)

 

I am a superhero

This week’s Monday Project was to introduce the world to my alter-ego.  I wasn’t sure I had one.  But the month of February tried to kick my ass and yet I’m still standing.  My superhero alter-ego does exist though.  She is someone that despite all the odds, despite my self-proclaimed laziness and high-level procrastination, I get it done.  What is it you may ask?  I can assure you that “it” is not the laundry or the dishes or the vacuuming.  ”It” is much bigger than that.  ”It” is holding down the fort while T travels.  ”It” is making sure the oldest two girls get their school work done and actually learn it.  ”It” is making sure  my feet hit the treadmill 4 days a week.  ”It” is making sure that the kids are fed and the bills are paid.  ”It” is having peace in my heart in order to take all of the other “it”s in stride.  ”It” is doing my very best to make sure that my family is taken care of, but “it” is also taking care of myself.  That entails my run days, my blogging, and my twitters.  The support I have found within the Sisterhood has given me super powers.  It allowed me to hone my priorities and to remember that I am important too.  I hope to be donning a sparkly purple cape emblazoned with “TSJ” in San Diego this June.  Yes, this superhero wears a cape and is damn proud of it.

 

My New Motto

I am a fan of Nike.  Always have been. (and I won’t go into how much I love the Nike+ system.now.)  You know their slogan “Just Do It”?   Well, I love it.  I mean, really.  That is what we need to do when we don’t feel like exercising.  Just do it.  Tonight we went to the Nike Outlet store to look for new shoes.  Mine current ones still feel good, but I have at least 325 miles on them.  I believe you’re supposed to replace your shoes every 200-400 miles based on your weight and how hard you are on your shoes.  I’m light, so I have always erred on the side of going longer.  Not to mention I’m cheap and even though I know it is worth it, it’s hard to fork over $100 for a pair of shoes more than once a year.  This last pair I got a few weeks before the half-marathon in San Francisco.  Anyway, T needed a new pair, so we thought we’d see if we would have any luck at the outlet store.

First off.  We had excellent luck.  We both found a pair that were on sale for $50 a pair.  This is incredible to me.  We never find a good deal on a good pair of running shoes that we like.  Score!  On our way out, though, I noticed the banner in one of their windows.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve been saying for a while now that running (and exercise) is all mental.  Heck, that was the last challenge at The Sisterhood – “Rethink Your Shrink”.  It is so easy to talk yourself out of getting out and running or walking or Wii-ing or cycling or DVD-ing or whatever it is that you do to get your exercise.  This is definitely going to be my new motto.  I’m hoping that when I get to the point of my longest run in this training cycle for Team In Training (12 miles) that while I’m running and trying to convince myself to keep going.  By the way, I will be in the middle of Nowhere, Texas at Christy’s place that Saturday.  I’m just going to chant this to myself.  I might add a little “shut up” to myself before I say “Don’t think. Run.”  But that is what I’m going to be telling that little voice in my head that says other things.  Also, did you notice that there aren’t exclamation points in it?  It’s not yelling at you.  It’s just making a statement.  A simple statement that hopefully will keep you going and reaching your goals.

FYI Nike doesn’t know who I am.  But if they want to throw shoes or gear at me, I won’t complain.

 

Shrinking Jeans Olympics

Leave it to the Sisterhood to coincide the start of the worldwide Olympics with their own version to keep us moving and healthy.  I have signed up for an event a day over the next two weeks.  The event I will compete in today is a 3-mile run.  This is lovely because Friday’s are normally a run day for me.  Although today is my tempo run and that means alternating with a slower pace, I’m going to attempt to keep my “slow” as fast as I can.  Tomorrow I’ve signed up for pushups.  As part of the hundred pushups challenge that I’ve been working on for the past 5 week, I have an endurance test this weekend to do.  Might as well count it towards my pushup event, Olympics style.  Sunday is technically my day of rest, but they have a 1-mile dash scheduled, and really, what’s a mile as fast as I can go?

My official training is going well.  I’ve been staying on top of my runs and really pushing myself for the shorter runs.  I have gotten down to my best 1-mile time of 8 minutes.  I participated in the Sisterhoods Tworkout, which is their twitter workout during the breaks of The Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights.  We had to do 3 minutes worth of lunges and 3 minutes worth of stride jumps.  My butt is still sore.

My fundraising is trucking along.  In the last week I have collected another $90 in checks and some more online donations.  Thank you so much everyone for your support.  I can’t believe how close I am to the halfway mark of my goal!  It is so exciting!

So on that note, it’s time to get my day started so I can get to my run this afternoon!

 

Tempo Run

Today was my first tempo run.  Way back when, in junior high, when I ran track and cross country we called it interval training.  Essentially you warm up and then you run fast for a certain amount of time or a certain distance and then you slow down for an equal distance/time and then repeat and then cool down.  I will admit that I’m having a bit of a hard time following the run schedule this first week and a half.  The longest distance is 3 miles.  I had the hardest time breaking the mental block to get past the 3-mile mark I’ve been scared to drop back down to that level. But today I did it.  I did my tempo run and it wasn’t bad.  Tomorrow is going to be another 3 mile day.  But my plan is to run it as hard and fast as I can.  I think, don’t hold me to this, that I am going to aim for about 23 minutes.  I’m pretty sure I can do it.  And is it a little twisted that I’m excited about the beginning of April?  Because the schedule shows my first 10-mile run.

Oh, and I’ve been faithful to the onehundredpushups.com schedule.  I completed week 4 today.  The lag time between sets has been variable, but today I did the first 4 sets of 29,33,29,29 in 20 minutes.  Then I had to go pick up the 4yo from preschool and forgot to do the last set until about 90 minutes later, but I was able to complete the minimum requirement of 40.  For-tee pushups straight.  Hot diggity!  You should check out my guns.  They are pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

So that’s it for now.  I’ll be back to check in next week, or maybe before that, and let you know how the training is coming.  (I get permission to run 4 miles two days next week! Don’t tell anyone that I’m excited about that fact!)

 

Do no harm

That is part of hippocratic oath that doctor’s take when they become doctors, right?  I also try to live by this motto.

This afternoon it was brought to my attention that perhaps the challenge I issued in my last post may not be well received.  A good friend pointed out that she didn’t want to play that game.  She was planning on donating but didn’t want to be part of the stunt of raising money and voting on whether or not I should shave my head.  At first I was stunned.  This concept seemed completely harmless in my mind.  And I had many reasons for why I chose this challenge.  I am not going to get into them, because they don’t really matter.  What matters is that I don’t put myself out in the world – internets and otherwise – and make people think my intentions are anything less than sincere.  Especially when I am asking for friends and family and some relative strangers to donate money in my name to such a worthy cause as Team In Training.  I don’t want to taint the importance of what I am doing – what Team Shrinking Jeans and all the rest who take part in charities that are close to their hearts.  The mission is too important.

So, I am retracting the challenge of voting on my new hairstyle.  I am asking you to support me in my determination to raise as much money as I can to support The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The issue of cancer is very close to my heart.  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just over 7 years ago.  She found out her biopsy was indeed cancer on Christmas Eve.  I was there when she got the call.  I remember that day vividly in my memory and it brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.  My mom is a big part of my life and it gave me a reality check of “what if”.  I am happy to report that after surgery and chemo and radiation she has been cancer-free for 7 years.  My uncle was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma 5 or so years ago.  He is strong and healthy now after going through chemo and radiation.  Tim’s former boss in Idaho had, I believe, lymphoma.  She went through chemo and radiation.  She had a 2 -year-old at the time.  Today is she is healthy and doing well.

There are so many people that I have met who’s lives have been touched by some form of cancer.  I ask that you donate in my name as a way to help fund research that will undoubtedly find new ways to fight cancer.

I am still planning on getting a hair cut in April with the hair being sent to Locks of Love. So if you see me with significantly less hair come May, you’ll know why…and you’ll also know that it was 100% my decision.