Progress......small but forward

So I decided to keep track (in a more organized way) of my weightloss and exercise goals. So after looking over the months of June and July I have some results. I lost 15.2 lbs in the month of June and only 2.2 lbs in July. Not a big suprise because we travelled to Iowa and we were there for 11 days counting all the travel days. I intended to eat well and exercise a lot......but somehow that did not happen. I did eat okay and exercised 3 times.........but as the numbers show-NOT enough!!!

I did really well last week though. I made it to the gym 4 times and did yoga at home. Hopefully I will keep the same schedule this week. On sunday we leave for the beach for 4 nights!!! I am very excited to take this last vacation before Chad leaves and the kids start school again. My goal is to run 1 day, use gym one day and maybe yoga one day while we are there. If I can throw in some walks on the beach with the four kids (and my fabulous husband) I think I will be set! However, it is vacation and enjoying our time is the priority for the trip!

I have changed my running routine a little bit. I now run 1 mile then walk .15, then run 1 mile, then walk .15. After that I increase my speed and run .5, .25, .25 walking in between. I ran 3 miles in 32:54. I am satisified with that for now! My goal is to run 3 miles under 30 mins by Oct 15th. In order to do that I need to be able to run 3 miles without walking!!! If I stick to my diet and lose more weight it should be no problem. (SHOULD).

When the kids start school I am hoping to really get into a regular routine. I would like to run 3 times a week, yoga 1-2, weights 1-2, spin 1-2. Hopefully it will ALL fall into place and keep me distracted and busy so I don't notice that a very important part of me is half way across the world sleeping in a tent!!!!

Well after reviewing my short term goals I realize I have some work to do. First, I cannot believe I still have not gotten new running shoes (my knees are starting to object!) I need to accomplish that this weekend!!!! Second, I still have 45lbs to lose :( Third, on a good note, I HAVE increased my speed and the distance I run (before a walk break) so that is PROGRESS!

So short term goals: SHOES!!!, regular workout schedule, 3 miles under 30 mins, timed 1 mile sprint .......

Typical Run/walk workout-the beginning

I added a new link to my page. It is called map my ride. I used this in Texas to plan my runs (and the few bike rides I did). It was useful to make sure I got in the mileage I needed and helped us decide where we needed to put water during the longer runs. It is very important that if you are doing long runs(over 6-10miles, in winter too, but especially summer) that you plan water breaks. If there is no where to get water, you may have to put out the water bottles along your route (the night before works well if you run early am).

Please keep in mind if you use this to make sure the roads you use are safe to run on, especially in early mornings. Sometimes you could make a route and you might not know how much traffic a road has, if it has shoulders to run on or if the road has lights (if running in early mornings). AND even when you make sure all is safe it can still be dangerous..........I am fighting back the tears right now so I will stop and hope you got my point.

I really do not know what I am doing with this blog, but as I continue to learn I will add other sites/products that I think are useful/helpful to runners.

Okay so I am concentrating on speed mostly but distance too. I figure if I increase my speed...my distance will increase too. I am a genius I know :) I am only running 2 times a week right now but will add another day soon. I also do weights, cycle class and yoga when I get the chance. So here was my morning run/walk today.

3 min @ 3.5 Walk

10 min @4.8 Run

1 min @ 3.5

10 min @ 4.8

1 min @ 3.5

1o min @ 4.8

2 min @ 3.5

3 min @ 5.5

2 min @ 3.5

3 min @ 5.5

2 min @ 3.5

1 min @ 6.0

1.5 min @ 3.5

1.5 m @ 6.0

1 min @ 3.5

1 min 6.0

So that probably means little to you. I basically ran 4.5 miles in 60 mins. Which is lot better than I was doing(2 months ago) and I am happy about that. There is a little bit of me that remembers that the pace I sprint at now (6.0 for 1 min) is slower than my recovery speed use to be (6.2). At first I was trying not to even think about where I use to be in terms of fitness, but now I have decided that it is important for me to remember that I could do it then, I CAN and WILL do it again!

Right now I am using time to define my intervals. Which means that I am running a set speed for a set time (4.8 for 10 minutes) and then I walk (3.5 for 1 min) for a set time. I am planning on switching this to a set distance (1 mile @ 5.0 then .1 @ 3.5 or something similar) instead of time soon.

As you can see I am running slow right now. I hope that as I keep at it and build up my speed/distance that this will help you realize that YOU can also set a goal, make a plan (very important), work hard and achieve it.

I am really hoping that all my mom/women running buddies that have told me before that they have a goal of completing a marathon someday(and told me they are thinking of doing this with me! YOU know who I am talking about?) realize that YOU CAN do it!

I am pretty sure that all of you could have completed that workout with me this morning (and most of you could have ran a LOT faster than I did). I think that is why I started a blog. To show you exactly where I am at right now, even though it is not pretty! To encourage ALL of you wonderful women/fellow moms in my life that you CAN do it with me.

One mile at a time..........

The beginning

First and foremost, my disclaimer: I am Not a writer, I am NOT a running expert, nor will I ever be considered one. I am just a mom who likes to run to burn off calories and stress. If you have run a marathon before, you probably know what to do better than I do. I just have a goal and decided to Blog about my process & adventure, all the ups and downs. For all my fellow mom runners (that have never run a marathon before), I hope this at least offers you some different ideas for your training.

So I have had a difficult past year, my father past away, I became pregnant with my 4th child (yes this is a blessing), I moved, I gained 65lbs, I lost a very dear friend and I am now responsible for taking care of my mother who has MS. Needless to say it has been rough and I have had no time to exercise much less run at all.

Recently a good friend and my first running buddy asked me to run a race with her, Marine Corps Marathon Oct 2011 (why so far away? Because she is expecting her third baby this nov!)

At first I was thinking NO WAY! But then I decided that it might just be far enough away that it would be an obtainable goal for me and a way to de-stress myself? But now how do I make it happen??? I am not exactly sure, but I have a few ideas to help me get started in the right direction.

I decided I need to do TWO half marathons before I even think about doing a full. So I am in the process of finding a half in apr 2011 and then in sept 2011(early/mid). I will use a 12 week program to train for the apr race so I know that I will need to start training early feb 2011 for my first half. The marathon training program is 18 weeks, so I will need to start in early Jul 2011 for that.

Right now I need to lose weight (50lbs more-hopefully done in dec this year). I also need to work on running further distances and speed work. My goal for Dec this year is to run 6 miles under an hour (which is basically under a 10 min mile pace).

Short term goals (by dec 2010)

-new shoes

-loss 50lbs

-increase speed

-increase distance

Mid term goals(summer 2011)

-run 2 half marathons (apr and sept) Goal for 2nd half is 2 hours but may need to change.

-start training for Apr half in Feb 2011 probably using Hal Higdon's novice plan modified a little

-start Marathon training Jul 2011

-set marathon finish time goal

Long term goals (oct 2011)

-run marathon

So right now my work out schedule is very erratic because of the summer. I am doing my best to work out but will have a set schedule in the fall when school starts again. I will continue to concentrate on losing weight and get in all the workouts I can till then! What are YOU doing right now to prepare for Oct 2011?