It's Been So Long . . .

. . . I nearly forgot the address of my blog.  P.I.T.I.F.U.L.

So it was 94 degrees and humid when I went out to run today.  Grossness!  I lasted at a (for me) decent pace for all of 20 minutes.  Then I walked the rest of the 30 minutes and felt awful.  94 degrees is just too hot for me!

The triathlon is just over a month away.  I am doing only the biking portion of it -- splitting the tri with two others, the swimmer of which is unknown at this time.   But I AM doing the triathlon.  Time to get in gear!

Not On a Roll

So I fell off my great trend.  Sigh.  It happens so quickly and easily.  I got a cold and that was all I seemed to need to make me step away from exercise.  I need to learn how to be more disciplined, because I feel oh-so-much better when I am regularly exercising.

At any rate, tonight I got back to the gym.  I intended to use the treadmill, but after a warm-up fast walk and then going into a run, my knees were hurting.  I stayed at it for a short time, backing off to a walk, and then back up to a run again, but the nagging pain persisted.  I know my body well enough now to realize that running will NOT make the pain better.  Yes, I can survive the pain, but what is the point?  The next day they usually hurt pretty badly when I force myself to continue.  So tonight I stepped off that pain machine and decided to try something else.

I walked over to the long-forgotten bike, climbed on, and ramped up the rpms till I was spinning 90-95.  I kept up this pace for 30 minutes, ending up doing 8 miles for a 16mph average.  Yes, a PR!!!  (It feels good, yet so silly to tout about  "PR's".  I mean, I'm new at this.  If I wasn't making PR's left and right, I would wonder why in the world I'd joined the gym, you know?  "PR's" are for the seasoned athlete, who really truly has something to talk about.  I should just go in my corner and get on my machine and sweat away for another year and THEN talk about PRs, huh?)  

On a Roll!

After last night's run, I did not have high hopes for any better speed tonight.  But Trainer Husband said to do three times of running, with each consecutive run a little faster, and THEN pull it back for a lighter run at my fourth session.  So that's what I did.  I set my interval run at 4.6 for the recovery pace, and 6.6 for the speed work.  I kept my speed work longer than my recovery phase, and was surprised to feel my body responding well to the run.  That recovery time I am seeing as very valuable to actually make my overall run faster.  Really, I am shocked!  At any rate, my stats came out:

3 mile run in 31.08 minutes giving me a 10:36 minute/mile pace.  Yes, that would be ANOTHER PR!!!  I am fairly excited!  There IS hope in being:

~Faster by Forty!

Another PR

Yep!  I beat my fastest time by all of seven seconds.  ;)

I ran on the treadmill again, and tried out interval running for the first time.  I set my "fast" time for a 9-something minute/mile, and my "slow" time for a 13-something minute/mile.  I ran the fast time at an equal or longer length of time than I ran the slow time, giving myself a fairly decent work-out.  I was aching to slow it down, but kept pushing myself.  I can see how this will increase my pace over time.  Glad I discovered this.

~Faster by Forty!

Training Buddies

I am fortunate to have found several different friends who are helping to keep me on track with the exercise game.  Last night I met up with one friend.  She showed me how to do something different on the treadmill than I usually do:  use one of the pre-programmed settings.  I plugged in my info, and away I went.  It was great!  I did the "aerobic" track for 30 minutes and ended up doing only 2 miles, which I thought was pitiful, but it pushed me a bit and let me rest.  I tend to be an "all-or-nothing" type person, and have worked really hard at my fastest pace for most runs and feel pretty whipped at the end.  And there is a time and place for this, I know.  But I really enjoyed the run last night.  Having a buddy next to me on another treadmill who I could talk with throughout the time made the minutes tick by quickly.  When we were done walking/running, we then checked out some of the machines for weight-lifting.  I hate weight-lifting.  I don't want bulging muscles, although toning up isn't bad.  But yeah, I hate those machines.  However, Brenda had an app for beginners that we followed, and it really wasn't that bad.  I did as little weight as I could get away with because I didn't want to be sore today, and only one rep of 12.  I survived.  :)

Today I met up with a few more friends at the pool, and we swam with our kids.  My trainer husband was also there, and he helped me some more with my strokes.  Taking breaths on the left side was frustrating, as my hair always flew into my mouth when I turned.  I've decided I need to wear a fancy-schmancy swim cap.  Sigh.  Fashion statements are falling by the way, one at a time.  Anyway, it was another fun time.  One of my friends today told me that she's considering doing triathlons, specifically the same one I am training for!  She didn't know I was training for such, and so we both got a great surprise over this.  We're in the same age category, and she is already such a better runner than I am.  Sigh again.  BUT, I must tell myself that this is for ME and my health, and let the competition be used to better me.  I'm really excited that my friend is considering doing this, as it's another connection point, and who doesn't like that in a friendship?

Enjoying the experience!

~Faster by Forty!

I'm Back!

Oh, shamefulness.  It's been too long since the gym and I were together.  Tonight, though, we met again.  The walk/run was short and painful (side stitch), but I am BACK!

I have a fabulous trainer who took the kids to their program so I could get to the gym.  On their way out the door, he did say, "I'm gonna be mad if I come home and you didn't go to the gym."  Hmmm . . .  Love you, too, Sargeant Trainer.  He knows me well, what can I say?  I definitely need a kick in the pants at times.  This was one of those times.

The holidays are OVER.

November Totals

So I've not been very active for a few weeks.  Blame it on a cold or a sinus infection or a cough.  Or Thanksgiving.  But tonight I went back in.  Ran on the endless track of a treadmill.  3 miles.  Low 11min/mi. pace.  Didn't feel like doing it, but glad that I did.

So, for the totals:

November 1-30
Biking:  7.6 miles
Running:  12.31 miles
Mileage totals:  19.91 miles
6 days total for all three disciplines

Ugh.