Tuesday, July 24, 2012

It. Is. Hot.

Really hot. So I've been keeping relatively cool working out inside.
You might be wondering, "Hey, why didn't you ever update about how your first 5K went?"
Well, it didn't.
Basically, I was sick for the entire month of May, and for the two days prior to the race, I was laid up with a migraine. So I skipped it. I was sad, especially because the weather turned out to be beautiful that morning.
The good news is, I've registered for my second first 5K, which will be at the NC Zoo in September.
I restarted my actual 5K training last week. So far, so...okay. I did get in my first run over 1 mile this past Saturday, which I was pretty proud of, I have to say. And I didn't pass out or die!
I have missed my road walks, but it's just been way too hot and humid lately. I'm ready for fall already.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Nothing much to update.

Frankly, the month of May has been kind of a bust for me.  I've been sick in one capacity or another for pretty much the whole month, and it's sucked.  I haven't been able to work out nearly as much as I would have liked.

I did actually manage to get in a couple of 5K+ walks on days that I was feeling halfway human.  One was 57 min (16:30 pace), and the second was 55 min (16:04 pace).  I was pretty happy with those times, and feel okay going into my race next Saturday.  At least I know I can finish!

My new shoes seem to be working out pretty well.  A definite improvement over my old ones.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "These are my running shoes!"



Aren't they pretty?  I got them as an early Mother's Day present (thanks Jon and Ella!), and they are awesome.  Huge improvement over my old Nikes.

After a full week with no exercise due to being sick, I headed back to the gym on Thursday.  It was nice to sweat awhile!

On a Team AllEars note, we're going to be selling cookbooks to help raise funds.  They're $15, will be spiral-bound, and will have loads of great recipes.  If you're interested, let me know, and I'll preorder one for you :)

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Wiped out.

Ella and I have both been stricken by some kind of nasty cold/flu illness, which has left me feeling a bit like I've been hit by a Mack truck.  Not an ideal state of being for exercise, which sucks, but I'm in no position right now to do anything except recover.  I will say, though, I'm feeling somewhat better today than I was yesterday, so hopefully I'm over the hump.

Before I got sick, I'd mapped out a couple of routes from my house using mapmyrun.com that were close to 5K, just so I could get used to walking the distance.  Since, let's be realistic, I'll be walking most of my upcoming 5K.   Anyway, I've headed out twice so far.  The farthest I've gotten (mainly due to it getting dark) is 2.27 miles in about 43 minutes.  Which means that by January, I need/want to shave about 4 min/mile off my pace.  Sheesh.  

My short legs are not fast.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

HOLY CRAP!

Yeah, I'm shouting, and for two good reasons.

Number one -- I GOT MY FIRST DONATION!!!!  Our friends Jay and Janet are great people.  Truly, if you don't know them, you're missing out.  They very generously made the first donation towards my $500 goal.  Thanks so much, you two -- I really, truly appreciate it. You're the awesome-est.  (And Janet -- yes! I would love to get some fundraising info from you.  That would be the best.  I'll shoot you an email so we can set something up.)

And what's the second reason I'm shouting?

My VERY FIRST EVER 5K IS ONE MONTH FROM TODAY.

Yeah, that's kind of scaring the ever-loving crap out of me.  Especially considering I haven't actually ever gone that far yet.  Yeeeeeeeeeeah.  Poor decisions, they are my forte.


Anyway, it's out at our piddly little airport, on one of the runways, which is kind of cool.  And at least it'll be flat, right?  Right??

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

About that fundraising...

As I mentioned in my first post, part of being on Team AllEars is helping to raise funds to support Deb Wills on her Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  She's a 25-year survivor, and last year, with the help of Team AllEars, raised over $100,000.  Pretty amazing.

Each member of the team has to commit to raising a minimum of $500.  So far, I've raised just over $50, by selling an old GPS on eBay and a few books on Amazon. (I can't seem to figure out how to update that on my little widget over there, though. Will work on that.)

Much like I've never run in my life, I've never fund-raised (raised funds?  That sounds better.) in my life either.  My ideas are nil.

Do you have any really good, kick-ass, put-me-over-the-top fundraising ideas for me, outside of blatant begging?  And let's be honest, we all know I'm not really above that.

In the meanwhile, while I'm coming up with ideas, if you're feeling a little generous, feel free to click the little button over there and send some fundage my way.  I'd really, really appreciate it -- any amount helps.  :)


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Like I need another blog, right?

So here's how this all got started.

A month or two back, I got a crazy idea that I wanted to start running.

(Understand here, please, that I am not fit.  I am not active.  I am overweight.  And mostly, I hate running.)

A couple of things happened to light this fire under my ass.  The first one was when I learned that someone I don't particularly like had completed a 5K.  Well, great for her, but now I had it in my head that *I* needed to go out and do one too.  Just to prove to myself that she wasn't any better than me. Stupid, you say?  Petty?  Yes, I'm well aware of all these things.

The other thing that happened was I saw a posting on FaceBook about this thing called Team AllEars.  (For the uninitiated, I'll mention here that allears.net is a Walt Disney World planning site, so I'm on there quite a bit, being the WDW freak that I am.)  I did a little bit of reading about it, and found out that basically, it's a group of runners and walkers from all over the country who meet at WDW for marathon weekend to run in one (or more) of the various races.  Not only that, the group raises funds to support Deb Wills, the founder of the AllEars site, in her Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Having two aunts who are breast cancer survivors, and having a personal need for a serious support group  that would motivate me to do this, I decided to join.

We joined the gym where Ella takes her swim lessons (and hey, a break on the price of swim lessons -- bonus!), and I jumped in, using the Galloway method, and quickly realized I was not yet ready to run -- not even for a minute at a time.

Taking a tip from a fellow Team AllEars member, I decided to change my strategy a bit and focus on the elliptical machine for awhile, to help build my stamina and drop some pounds.  There's not much better for pure calorie burnage (burnage?) than an elliptical machine, in my estimation.

So after plugging away at that for awhile -- and by plugging, I mean at least 40 minutes a day, 5/6 days a week, with some weight lifting thrown in for good measure -- I started added little teensy runs to the end of my workouts this week.   Still using the Galloway method, but going with a walk 2 minutes /run 1 minute ratio, I found I was able to hit .5 miles in 10 minutes -- without passing out!  A miracle!

And so that's how I got where I am now.

WDW Marathon Weekend is Jan 10-13, 2013.  I've signed up for the 5K, so that's what I'm shooting for. I'd like to be able to run the whole thing by then, but even if I walk it, I'll be pretty happy with that.