My Marathons

Spoke to my father on the phone this morning. He asked me if I've done any more marathons lately. By marathons he means races, in my case 5K's. I told him that  are nowhere near a marathon.  And he said "to most people they are".
Gave me something to think about.
I work out 5 - 7 days a week. My husband works out 5 - 7 days a week. I read fitness and weight loss blogs daily, listen to weight loss and running podcasts, read books and magazines on fitness, weight loss and running. So in my world, working out 5 - 7 days a week is normal.
But to most people, it's not. Not everyone gets up early to hit the gym before work or come home from work and do 40 minutes of cardio before making dinner at 7 p.m. Most people don't get excited about sweating, work out DVD's and running races (that they have no chance in winning). Most people don't look forward to the week-end so that they can get in a good 40 minute run.
I should be aware of this. Fall 2008, I'd get out of bed and every joint in my body was stiff. I had to stand in the shower for 20 minutes to allow the hot water to loosen up my joints. I limped to work. I was given a special elevator key so that I wouldn't have to take one flight of stairs down to my office. My physiotherapist recommended that I try swimming twice of week, but not to push myself, so limit my pool time to 20 minutes. I was overjoyed when she gave me the okay to try using an exercise bike - but only on the lowest setting and only for 10 - 15 minutes at a time.
I need to keep this in mind every time that I go out for one of my "marathons". No matter how hard it is, how slow I am, it's an accomplishment.

Recap

• Out of the 160’s!! Only took 9 months but I’ll take it. Currently hovering between 156 and 158. I haven’t seen 156 on the scale since 2007.
• Loving Turbo Jam Cardio Party and Booty Camp Fitness's Intermediate workout DVD.
• Husband is still P90X’ing and looking buff.
• I’m finally following a good running plan and improving my stamina. However, its getting chilly. Either need to invest in winter running gear or hibernate on the treadmill for a couple of months.
• October 5K was good – time was exactly the same as Island Girl 5K in September but had lots of fun! And the husband is considering starting racing too! (he’s already faster than me). Did not run the 10K which I think was a good decision.
• Eek! It’s November already. How’d that happen???

 
October 5K – wearing my new favourite running top.

Monday

So dark and dreary outside today. Cold, rainy.
My plan for today was to go for a run after work, but by the time I got home, I was slightly soggy and just felt like staying in. So instead, I dug out an old favourite:


Turbo Jam!
I did the 20 minute workout which was perfect for me today. Tons of fun. The music in Turbo Jam is great, not the usual non descript techno music that’s in most videos.

Week-End Over

Sigh… I need more week-end.
I’ve been on a money saving kick so part of that means limiting my week-end activities to things that won’t lead to spending money (i.e.. walking around the mall to browse = not good). This past week-end, I decided to just veg at home. The husband is at work during the day so good opportunity to get some stuff done.
Saturday morning, after spending an hour watching Gossip Girl and knitting, I set off on a run. I set the nike+ for the basic setting as I just wanted to see how far I would go. I’d turn around once I felt like it.
I ended up running 7.5km in 58 minutes. This is the furthest I’ve run, my pace wasn’t too bad (8ish minute/km – combo of running and walking). I was pretty beat for the last 2km though. Hopefully this will make 5K seem like a walk in the park.
Note to self – when its 10 degrees Celsius outside, a t-shirt doesn’t cut it. I was chilly for the first 20 minutes of my run. Time to bring out the long sleeve shirts.
Saturday evening I did half of the husband’s P90X Kenpo video with him but my legs were pretty tired out, so I left him to go read a book.
Sunday morning I did half of Jillian Michaels’ No More Trouble Zones with my 3 pound weights. I like the moves in that video and it feels challenging, but I’m not feeling it at all today. Maybe need to move onto the 5 pounders.
Sunday evening did another P90X video with the husband – Stretch X. Exactly what I needed! Felt wonderful. It’s really a good full body stretch – you even stretch out your fingers. I was jelly afterwards.
Eating is on track (I’m targeting 1700 calories per day), joints don’t hurt. Overall a good week-end.

Rainy than Sunny Day?

Weird weather today. It was just pouring cats and dogs and now sunny and lovely outside. Weird.
As expected, I didn't work out last night. Got home from work around 7 than just wanted to veg. It was raining too so not the best weather for running.
Woke up early this morning and hit the gym for a shoulders/chest/triceps/quad workout.
The husband started P90X yesterday. He was doing the plyometrics DVD today when I got back from the gym and yesterday he did the Chest/Shoulders dvd. I asked him how it went and he said he felt like he was going to throw up. I think I'll skip that.
Having doubts about the 10K race in October. I'm definitely not going to be ready for it and two races in one week-end is a bit much. But I get a shirt! (I run for swag). I don't know. I'll see how I'm feeling in a couple of weeks.

Island Girl 5K

Couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Island Girl 5K on Toronto Island.
Morning was pretty chilly. Took the ferry over around 7:30. The race didn’t get underway until 8:45.

(Yes, that’s me. Looking very incognito).
There was only 75 people or so doing the 5K. The Island Girl half marathon was starting after the 5K was done.
As per normal, I was pretty slow and near the back of the pack. It was fun running on the island. I didn’t feel like I was moving very quick though. I wasn’t feeling great for the entire run but I just wanted to do it and finish.
One thing I didn’t like about this race is that the route was open to the public. Which is fine when you’re getting passed by bikers and other runners, but at one point I had a truck behind me. Good incentive to run faster.
The finish line of this race was pretty cool. The half marathoners were lining the chute and cheering and clapping. I know they were cheering were everyone but it was a great push at the end. I saw the clock just over 40 minutes and thought “there’s no way I’m not finishing this race faster than the last” and booted it.



Results:
Time: 40:31
Chip time: n/a (not sure why I didn’t get a chip time but it didn’t take me long to cross the start line)
Pace: 8:07
Place: 60/75

My time for my first race was 41:26 and my pace was 8:22 so I’ve improved! Yay!

Oops

Yesterday morning I signed up for another 5K - Toronto Women's 5 miler/5K on October 23rd. It's the same course I ran on August 28th so I figure it'll be a good opportunity to see how much (if any) I've improved.
Than after work I stopped by the Waterfront Marathon expo . I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some info on other races (which I did).
The booth for an upcoming 10K had a wheel to spin and you could win a discount off the registration fee or free registration. I won the free registration so now I'm registered to run the Audi Best Buddies 10K on October 24th. Oops.
Back to back races in October? And a 10K????? EEEKK!!!