Tuesday, August 31, 2010

i did it!

4 miles straight! running the whole time!!

if i am around at the end of september (ie not in beautiful baghdad), i may sign up for a local 10k - and run the whole damn thing!!!

honestly, it was nice and warm out (upper 90s today), but the sun had gone down a little and it wasn't as humid as it was last time we did the whole 4 mile loop (before the chicago 13.1), so it felt a little easier. and i sped it up on the last little bit and angie (my neighbor and running partner) and i talked on most of it (except the last part of the three biggest hills), which we couldn't do last time. thursday we are going to do that again, but this time, add in the extra little hills section (i think it is another 1/3 mile).

the neighborhood i live in is all hills, seriously almost nothing flat. that has actually turned out to be a good thing for me. i think running is a very mental sport. i can push myself to the top of a hill and then tell myself to let gravity do the work on the way down. if i make sure i take it easy on the way down, it really feels like a recovery and i can push myself up the next hill. we always walk 1/3 mile out of the neighborhood, then start our run and end with the 1/3 mile back to our houses. it is a great little loop. hopefully someday soon it can be a several times a week 5 mile loop - that is my life-style fitness goal (for running anyway).

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Swimming (and running report)

This year at work, one of my co-workers talked about swimming all winter long. So, naturally I started wishing I knew how to swim for real. Don't get me wrong, I took swimming lessons as a kid. I feel extremely comfortable in the water, but I don't (didn't) know how to lap swim.

I found community rec center swim classes for Audrey and I at the same time on Saturday mornings and she and I just finished up our first round of classes and signed up for round two. I love it. It is an hour of Saturday morning working on the various swimming strokes, down the length of the pool and back. I finish completely exhausted and very happy.

Last week, I asked the teacher if there is some unwritten lap swimmers rules that I need to know. She gave me the basics and I went and did lap swimming for the first time last Wednesday morning. It was awesome. It was a great workout and a great way to start my day. I can definitely see what my co-worker was talking about and I am so glad I tried it.

Also, since I am clearly very bad at updating the blog, I did a 13.1 in Chicago with my sisters and it went well. I shaved 5 min off my time from the year before. I was still super sore the day of the 13.1 - my feet especially. But this time, after a nap and a good nights sleep, I was fine the next day - which is awesome.

I think my next one will be in Feb in Disney - the Disney Princess Half-Marathon awesomeness! That way we can fit in a trip to Disney for Audrey at the same time. Somehow, the 13.1 seems to be a good number for me. I have no desire to do a full 26.2 - that seems like more time for training than I am interested in committing and more pain than I am willing to inflict on myself. The 13.1 is tough enough, that I really do have to train for it, even though I walked most of the last two. It is a real challenge to complete. I hope I can shave off another five minutes this time too. That is the one good thing about starting at the bottom - no where to go but up.

And since we are at it, I made a new life goal - do a triathalon before I hit 50. I have a while to go, both in training and years. But I am making progress, I am now a short distance jogger and am starting to be a swimmer too.