So sometimes I just don't feel like writing. Other times I don't even think about it. I'm not going to force myself to write something that comes out awful. Today, however, I feel like catching up.
October 18, 2014 - I ran my first full marathon. I trained for it using my Nike + app on my phone. I used the 'Coach' feature inputting my goal, 26.2 miles, and the date of my race. From that, it mapped out a training schedule for me to follow. I'll admit to slacking some at the end while I was in a show. I was always running several times a week, but a few of my long runs towards the end were not as long as they should have been.
My goal going into race day was two-fold. One realistic goal and one more optimistic goal. I knew I could finish the race in under 5 hours. I wanted to attempt to finish it closer to 4:40. I came in at 4:53. My iphone/music/nike + died at mile 18. Coincidentally my calves started to feel like rocks at mile 18. Miles 18 - 23 were a struggle. I had pushed harder than I maybe should have in the first half of the race. I was ahead of the 4:40 pacers for a good chunk of the race. Then I saw 4:40 and 4:50 pass me by. I didn't let it discourage me though and by mile 23 I got a second wind. I just kept telling myself it was a 5K at that point. My friend, Kelly, was outside the chute cheering me on and telling me to, "finish strong". I did it. I ran a marathon. I dedicated my run to my Dad who has Multiple Sclerosis and to my Mom, his caregiver.
Just under a month later I ran a half marathon. This time Kelly was running. It was her first half marathon and she was nervous to say the least. I stuck with her and instead of coming in after 3 hours like she feared, we came in together at 2:46. It was 32 degrees at the finish and in the last mile snow was pelting us in the face. I'm sure she enjoyed my Christmas carols.
Now to plan the next one for a PR time.
Now that it has turned cold, I still plan to run. I don't have to be as strict since there is not a race planned yet that I am training for, but I will layer up and get outside in addition to some treadmill runs at the gym. I asked for YakTrax for Christmas. I do have a fear of slipping and falling in the snow/ice conditions. I am slowly getting back into using my Turbo Fire too. Dropping everything else and only running did no favors for my mid-section. So I'm looking to whittle that down before my Mexico trip in Spring.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Dating Older and Still Clueless
When I became open to dating 9+ years outside my age I thought, these guys are older thus more mature, more open to commitment and know what they want.
Boy was I wrong! I have found from dating older men that they have allowed themselves to be so...I'm skipping eloquence here...screwed up by previous relationships, namely marriages, that they actually haven't a clue what it is they want. In fact, what they are feeling seems to be conflicting. They want someone special, yet they want their space and alone time (more so than average for individuals) because they have settled into that rut, feel comfortable there and have lost the ability to adapt to change in their middle aged years. So this leads to all kinds of confusion for the women they date. Sometimes he seems really into this and other times they feel they are being pushed away. When it comes down to it and you ask them what it is they want relationship/future wise, they finally give and say, "I don't know". Then they might go into a story about their ex and it doesn't matter if that ended six months ago or six years ago, they still let that failed relationship define them. Not that we don't carry baggage from previous relationships, but we don't give up and live under a rock either. The ex might have well been a praying mantis, as he is no good to any woman now! Ok, so I'm jumping to extremes. Anyone else experience this though? What is your dating age restrictions, minimum to maximum?
These were just some thoughts I had this morning and have come from a whole period of time, not something that just happened. So no need to try to figure out who has these issues. We all have issues.
Boy was I wrong! I have found from dating older men that they have allowed themselves to be so...I'm skipping eloquence here...screwed up by previous relationships, namely marriages, that they actually haven't a clue what it is they want. In fact, what they are feeling seems to be conflicting. They want someone special, yet they want their space and alone time (more so than average for individuals) because they have settled into that rut, feel comfortable there and have lost the ability to adapt to change in their middle aged years. So this leads to all kinds of confusion for the women they date. Sometimes he seems really into this and other times they feel they are being pushed away. When it comes down to it and you ask them what it is they want relationship/future wise, they finally give and say, "I don't know". Then they might go into a story about their ex and it doesn't matter if that ended six months ago or six years ago, they still let that failed relationship define them. Not that we don't carry baggage from previous relationships, but we don't give up and live under a rock either. The ex might have well been a praying mantis, as he is no good to any woman now! Ok, so I'm jumping to extremes. Anyone else experience this though? What is your dating age restrictions, minimum to maximum?
These were just some thoughts I had this morning and have come from a whole period of time, not something that just happened. So no need to try to figure out who has these issues. We all have issues.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
No Rest For The Mutli-Interested
8 1/2 weeks until Marathon day. This weeks long run is 14 miles. We've had really decent weather, but I'm not sure it's going to hold up for my long run this weekend. I hear humidity will be back and rain will be coming in. Wait... rain?!?
Rain on a run can be nice, but I have a performance this Saturday... outdoors. The event is a craft beer festival with four One Acts performing at the top of every hour on each corner of the towns square. So we will perform this particular One Act four times. I'm sure the more you drink, the better we'll get! I kid. It should be a good time, granted the rain holds off.
Next Friday and Saturday evenings I will be in a Murder Mystery dinner show. It's improv, it's working directly with your audience, it will be great.
In between, I am in rehearsals for Taming of the Shrew every week night. So I am looking forward to, hopefully, a little break over Labor Day weekend and then things dying down in late September. Then it will be time for all the fall festivities that I love to take part in. Ah, Autumn, how I love thee!
Rain on a run can be nice, but I have a performance this Saturday... outdoors. The event is a craft beer festival with four One Acts performing at the top of every hour on each corner of the towns square. So we will perform this particular One Act four times. I'm sure the more you drink, the better we'll get! I kid. It should be a good time, granted the rain holds off.
Next Friday and Saturday evenings I will be in a Murder Mystery dinner show. It's improv, it's working directly with your audience, it will be great.
In between, I am in rehearsals for Taming of the Shrew every week night. So I am looking forward to, hopefully, a little break over Labor Day weekend and then things dying down in late September. Then it will be time for all the fall festivities that I love to take part in. Ah, Autumn, how I love thee!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Week 10/24, Callback, World Cup Love
So first off, my training is still moving right along. Scheduling has been tough so I have had to utilize the dreaded treadmill still. For example, Monday night I had a theatre audition so I hit the gym afterward. I will do the same this evening as I just found out I got a callback for the same show. After this week the long runs increase steadily before there is another recovery week. Bring it!
Scheduling will stay challenging if I am offered a role after tonight. Rehearsals seem to be Monday through Thursday, 7pm - 9pm and even some weekends. The show performs in September. My marathon is only a month after that! Eek! :)
Other than running and theatre related stuff, I have been enjoying my favorite quadrennial event - the World Cup! USA made it out of the "Group of Death", but they did not survive the knockout round. I enjoyed three of their games out surrounded by other soccer fans. One outing was at Power & Light District with thousands of other fans cheering on team USA!
Now that my home country is out, I have been cheering on my heritage country of Germany. Deutschland! Yesterday they killed Brazil in their home country. 7-1! Today the Netherlands and Argentina play. My brother is rooting for the Netherlands and is calling a World Cup final of 6-2 Germany over Netherlands. Could be! We'll see. Soccer is really growing here in the states. Most MLS teams now have their own soccer specific stadiums and are charging ridiculous amounts for beer. That's when you know they're doing well.
Enjoy the game!
Scheduling will stay challenging if I am offered a role after tonight. Rehearsals seem to be Monday through Thursday, 7pm - 9pm and even some weekends. The show performs in September. My marathon is only a month after that! Eek! :)
Other than running and theatre related stuff, I have been enjoying my favorite quadrennial event - the World Cup! USA made it out of the "Group of Death", but they did not survive the knockout round. I enjoyed three of their games out surrounded by other soccer fans. One outing was at Power & Light District with thousands of other fans cheering on team USA!
Now that my home country is out, I have been cheering on my heritage country of Germany. Deutschland! Yesterday they killed Brazil in their home country. 7-1! Today the Netherlands and Argentina play. My brother is rooting for the Netherlands and is calling a World Cup final of 6-2 Germany over Netherlands. Could be! We'll see. Soccer is really growing here in the states. Most MLS teams now have their own soccer specific stadiums and are charging ridiculous amounts for beer. That's when you know they're doing well.
Enjoy the game!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Week 8
It is week 8 of 24 of marathon training for me. Really since my trip to Dallas, where I still did at least two 6 mile runs, I have struggled with my schedule. This is partly due to a children's theatre camp I am helping with (doing choreography) for two weeks. We are on the final week. The schedule of going straight from work to camp until 9pm, plus my 40 minute drive to my town, not to mention not having air in the theatre and maintaining 50 kids (not even near as much as our director), has lead me to be pretty exhausted. Never the less, I have made post camp trips to the gym at 10pm to run on the treadmill. Treadmills are not my favorite, but I don't want to run in the dark for a number of reasons. So I make the best of it with speed intervals and such. Last night was a 5 mile run and below is my post workout photo. It doesn't really show the sweaty mess I was.
Oh since last post I signed up for a half marathon that takes place almost a month after the KC full marathon with a friend of mine. Yay for running pals!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Week 5 of 24 Weeks
I am in the middle of my fifth week of marathon training. Everything is going smoothly (aside from left shin pain :( ). I'm even waking up early to run in the mornings before getting ready for work! I had to essentially. I get heat sick so running over my lunch hour was a no and running after work finally became a no go too. I have done a couple of late night runs, but overall morning runs have been the way to go. I wouldn't say I am a morning person now by any means. I hit snooze, roll out of bed in my jogging gear, splash cold water on my face and am out the door. My first miles have been "wake up miles" at a sad (for me) 11 minute/mile pace. Then I make up for it in subsequent miles.
I'm trying to add more gym time aside from the alloted cross training day in the middle of each week. Distance running can deteriorate your muscles if you're not weight lifting as well.
My new favorite breakfast protein shake consists of Skippy Naturals dark chocolate peanut butter, a banana, almond milk, plain greek yogurt, fiber powder and vanilla whey protein. Better than a Sonic shake! Yummy!
So there's a quick update. CANNOT wait for the World Cup to begin next week!!! Go U.S.A.!!!! For Club and Country!
Happy Nation Running Day!!!
I'm trying to add more gym time aside from the alloted cross training day in the middle of each week. Distance running can deteriorate your muscles if you're not weight lifting as well.
My new favorite breakfast protein shake consists of Skippy Naturals dark chocolate peanut butter, a banana, almond milk, plain greek yogurt, fiber powder and vanilla whey protein. Better than a Sonic shake! Yummy!
So there's a quick update. CANNOT wait for the World Cup to begin next week!!! Go U.S.A.!!!! For Club and Country!
Happy Nation Running Day!!!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Marathon Training
So I signed up for my cities marathon about a month ago. After I crossed the half marathon finish line last fall I was pretty sure I would be doing the full 26.2 this year.
I looked up several different training schedules, but I ended up going with the Coach feature on my Nike + Running app on my phone. The program runs for 24 weeks leading me right up to my marathon date. Each week has a specific goal heading like "Warm-up", "Fundamentals" and "Build A Base", which are the first three weeks of the training. Your weeks not only include the milage of your runs, but also cross training and rest days. It gives basic suggestions for cross training days like biking, swimming and elliptical, but I decided to dig a little deeper. My first cross training day workout (that I just finished) will be below. By the time it is all said and done I will have covered nearly 700 miles to my marathon goal. I am more than excited (and a little bit scared) for this journey.
This week has been easy so far for me seeing that I have been used to running several miles most days of the week from maintaining over the colder months.
Monday I did a 4 mile fartlek run. I know weird name, right? Fartleks are basically alternating between a faster and slower pace through the bulk of your run with a warm up and cool down. This is a speed workout to help you build strength and endurance.
Tuesday was an easy and comfortably paced 5K (3.1mi) to keep me fresh for my XT (cross train) day in the gym today.
Wednesday XT Workout:
Planks 3-5 reps holding for 1 minute each
Lower Body Russian Twists 10 to 12 reps
Scorpion 30 seconds each leg
Back Extensions with Stability Ball 10 to 12 reps
Kettlebell Squats with Overhead Press 10 to 12 reps
Overhead Lunge 6 to 8 reps on each leg
Stability Ball Jackknife 10 to 12 reps
Stability Ball Hip Extension 10 to 12 reps
Rotational Shoulder Press 10 to 12 reps
Alternating Dumbbell Row 10 to 12 reps
I repeated the above set 2 times (normally I would do 3 sets, but I was on lunch)
Cool Down Flexibility Moves:
Arm Swings
Leg Swings
Bridges (on stability ball)
Single Leg Stretches
Butterfly
Tomorrow is another 3.1 mile run and Fridays long run is only 5 miles before a rest day Saturday (where I will go for a brisk walk)!
Happy Fitness!!!
I looked up several different training schedules, but I ended up going with the Coach feature on my Nike + Running app on my phone. The program runs for 24 weeks leading me right up to my marathon date. Each week has a specific goal heading like "Warm-up", "Fundamentals" and "Build A Base", which are the first three weeks of the training. Your weeks not only include the milage of your runs, but also cross training and rest days. It gives basic suggestions for cross training days like biking, swimming and elliptical, but I decided to dig a little deeper. My first cross training day workout (that I just finished) will be below. By the time it is all said and done I will have covered nearly 700 miles to my marathon goal. I am more than excited (and a little bit scared) for this journey.
This week has been easy so far for me seeing that I have been used to running several miles most days of the week from maintaining over the colder months.
Monday I did a 4 mile fartlek run. I know weird name, right? Fartleks are basically alternating between a faster and slower pace through the bulk of your run with a warm up and cool down. This is a speed workout to help you build strength and endurance.
Tuesday was an easy and comfortably paced 5K (3.1mi) to keep me fresh for my XT (cross train) day in the gym today.
Wednesday XT Workout:
Planks 3-5 reps holding for 1 minute each
Lower Body Russian Twists 10 to 12 reps
Scorpion 30 seconds each leg
Back Extensions with Stability Ball 10 to 12 reps
Kettlebell Squats with Overhead Press 10 to 12 reps
Overhead Lunge 6 to 8 reps on each leg
Stability Ball Jackknife 10 to 12 reps
Stability Ball Hip Extension 10 to 12 reps
Rotational Shoulder Press 10 to 12 reps
Alternating Dumbbell Row 10 to 12 reps
I repeated the above set 2 times (normally I would do 3 sets, but I was on lunch)
Cool Down Flexibility Moves:
Arm Swings
Leg Swings
Bridges (on stability ball)
Single Leg Stretches
Butterfly
Tomorrow is another 3.1 mile run and Fridays long run is only 5 miles before a rest day Saturday (where I will go for a brisk walk)!
Happy Fitness!!!
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