<p>Probably ran my last 5k for the year (21:40). Ran first mile in 6:10 so slowed down considerably. Will now focus on base miles and try to train sensibly now.</p>
<p>Congrats, iDad. It seems like it went exactly according to plan (as much as CAN be planned for a race) and that you did great. Love the picture, too.</p>
<p>I just spent a miserable weekend with this 2 day bike MS event. Saturday wasn’t too bad, but the cold night sleeping in the tent followed by today with a horrible headwind almost the whole way did me in. I didn’t enjoy being with former VPs from the company, either, even though there are plenty on our “team” that don’t work there. I just felt like an outsider and was sad. Today I biked with one of my former paralegals who is a strong biker but hasn’t biked but once this summer due to some female surgery. We really helped each other and I did enjoy the camaraderie. I hated the headwind, though.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that I only enjoy cycling in ideal conditions and am NOT a 2-day cyclist. My butt got tired and so did my legs. I rode 30 minutes slower today than yesterday, which H says isn’t bad considering the wind. He even opted for the shorter route today instead of the 75 he did yesterday. There are some hills, needless to say, and I’m just glad it’s over and the biking can end for the year. I won’t do this event again next year. It’s great for many, but it isn’t for me. Done. </p>
<p>I got awesome new Brooks Pure Connect (just released) running shoes in the mail Friday and I didn’t even get to try them yet. Tomorrow…</p>
<p>Welcome to PizzaGirl. You will get a lot of good info on this thread and we all support each other- whatever our craziness might be.</p>
<p>BB- Glad your knee cooperated and you could get back out there.</p>
<p>My daughter was in a bad mood Friday because she was having some shin issues since last week’s half marathon and was 2.3 miles short of a 100 mile month and wasn’t going to be able to run Friday even to do that little bit. Glad to see I’ve passed on such positive traits! :)</p>
<p>Welcome, PG.
I think the moral of this and other threads is that different things work for different people, so it’s important not to compare.
(to keep it CC relevant, kind of like a kid’s stats ;))</p>
<p>However, I do think some common components to success are self awareness, focused intent and being honest with yourself.
To that end, accountibility is huge, no matter if the goal is changing eating patterns or exercise habits. I and others have used livestrong’s daily plate app or the like and found it to be quite helpful. Just entering what you eat and do without judgment can be a real eye opener.</p>
<p>Like you, I never saw myself as an athlete in high school or even college. I have said here before, in hs, I was a “cool girl” and we did not exercise. But as I tried different forms of exercise over the years, I did discover that really it was my adolescent insecurities that were masking my innate athletic abilities. Don’t misunderstand, no potential Olympic records were inadvertenly missed, but after cardio dance, tennis, cross country skiing, marathon running, cross fit etc. I now appreciate what my body is capable of and what I am good at. </p>
<p>That said, if weight loss is the goal, it is almost impossible to out train a “bad” diet, so ease into exercise with a focus on what you might enjoy, but don’t look to it to melt off the pounds.</p>
<p>Like others on this thread, I have been having the most success with the lower carb approach. I have been surprised about how much I do not miss bread, pasta, sugar etc. once I eliminated them from my diet. And you would not have found anyone more skeptical about that than me before I started this.</p>
<p>Looking forward to your thoughts and experiences.</p>
<p>MOWC:</p>
<p>I think I could go for either sleeping in the tent OR biking a second day, but probably not both! My ol’ (formerly) fat bones would be too stiff from one or the other without piling on more pain and suffering!</p>
<p>I never broke the bike out once this summer. I just don’t really enjoy it that much, although I’m sure I would be in better shape for it.</p>
<p>CJANE:</p>
<p>Yeah, I plan to keep with the walk/jog intervals. I’m really sold on the whole progression of walking to walking intervals (hills and/or pushing the pace) to walk/jog intervals to jog/run intervals (if you are fit enough).</p>
<p>I actually think that 200 meter walk/200 meter jog might be better for me. I’m pretty much recovered after walking for 200 meters and the 400 meter intervals are just a bit too long for me to keep up a good kick at this point. I just figured I’d stick with the 400/400 plan this time around because it worked out well on this course, I was trying to acclimate to a longer interval, and I wasn’t sure how many practice runs I’d get with the weather. I want’ to make sure it was all familiar and do-able on race day.</p>
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<p>If you compare the average population at a mall to the casual 5K, I
think that you’d notice a difference in the proportion of people
looking trim and fit. BTW, that’s a pretty good looking picture of
you - you’d fit right in at the gym or burning up the pavement.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to analyse fit and trim people at the grocery store
on weekends and my current hypothesis is that the percentage of fit
and trim people that shop early in the morning is a lot higher than
those that shop later in the morning. I was at a supermarket in an
upscale area and I don’t see any correlation between wealth and
excess weight.</p>
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<p>That was me a few years ago. 4.2 to 4.6 MPH. You have to start
somewhere and below 4.0 is walking for me.</p>
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<p>I had a look at coolrunning.com for the results but they don’t appear
to be there yet. I was amazed that there are 20 races in the area on
today alone.</p>
<p>I don’t do a lot of racing either - so far one 5K/year is fine for me.
I may do a longer one one of these days but it’s hard to make a lot of
improvement doing a bunch of different things. I’d also like to get
back to playing tennis tournaments or maybe do league play. We’ll see
if there’s time for that in 2012 or 2013.</p>
<p>Looking good, iDad. And congrats on following your plan pretty well. I keep hearing from friends who are very serious runners how hard and important it is to have a plan and execute it during the race, and not get caught up in going out a lot faster than you should.</p>
<p>Nice going iDad!</p>
<p>Here where I live, you have the occasional Amish lass or lad who shows up in their usual garb. It is a little embarrassing to be beaten by a 8 year with pigtails wearing a dress with black shoes!! But what is worse, is the runner/jogger who makes a big show at the end and sprints by said youngster!!!</p>
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<p>That’s awesome! You would have finished 13th overall in my 5K race today, although I suspect that many of the serious runners were in the 5 Miler at the same time.</p>
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<p>That wasn’t really that hard to stick to the plan, considering that I had the intervals programmed into the Garmin and this was the fifth time in two weeks I had done the same workout on the same course. This felt pretty much like the other four times, only with a lot more people around. I pretty much knew what I could do comfortably. I’m seeing very high heart rates (102% today) at the end of these jogging intervals, so trying to kick it up on a wing and prayer for raceday “wouldn’t be prudent”.</p>
<p>I was ticked that I missed the start of an interval. The one downside of the Garmin is that it just isn’t loud enough to get my attention if I’m not ready and waiting for the start of an interval. On the other hand, zoning out listening to the iPod is a good way to crank out the miles (or kilometers in this case).</p>
<p>My Garmin vibrates at my mile splits besides beeping. </p>
<p>We need you over on the Too Fat To Be President thread. BCE and I are fighting the unfit masses.</p>
<p>Thanks idad. I have to tell you that I thought my running days were over earlier in the summer with my back and aggravating it with all the old school ab exercises. The NORML book that you recommended (plus a new obsession with yoga) has given me a pain free back and hip. I owe you.</p>
<p>Strength, core and flexibility are keys to remain injury free. A book that I have been reading “run less, run faster” emphasizes this and limiting your running to 3 days per week, with a mix of cross training 2 days plus taking days off.</p>
<p>Mom - I am stressed out enough about the Phillies, I am staying off any controversial threads!</p>
<p>Has anybody here read, “Younger Next Year”? I’m reading it now. There’s lots of good information transmitted in an easy-to-understand way.</p>
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<p>Go Cardinals! :)</p>
<p>NYMom, I think there is a copy collecting dust on the bookshelf. DH got it as a gift for his big birthday, shelved away and never touched it. Thanks for the tip - I will read it.</p>
<p>This is only game 2 for the Phillies. I can’t let myself get stressed yet.</p>
<p>I hope you like it, BB. I’m assuming the information in it is correct. One of the authors is a doctor.</p>
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<p>Yeah. The gorgeous Forerunner 610 vibrates, too. Alas, the 405CX does not!</p>
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<p>No, I would just get sent to the corner for political discussions. I’m still laughing about our President claiming to have 90% beaten his nicotine addiction. Nicotine addiction is like pregnancy: you either is or you ain’t. There’s no in-between.</p>
<p>I’m sure poor Chris Christy is being told by his doctors that he just needs to eat more healthy carbohydrates! I actually feel sorry for fat people, now. It’s a horrible trap and trying to use willpower or self-control may just make it worse if they don’t do something to change their metabolism</p>
<p>^^LOL, idad!</p>
<p>Did a lot of yardwork, ripped out a bunch of ivy and collected what looks like the last crop of tomatoes. My gardening muscles are sore!</p>
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<p>No question about it, on both fronts. This core stabilty and joint mobility stuff is for real. I’m glad the New Rules book worked out for you. I’m doing the whole program a second time. My body responds really well to those workouts. I even did a couple of reverse inchworms on the pavement while warming up for my little race this afternoon!</p>
<p>I try to limit my walking and/or jogging to just two days a week. There’s no way around the fact that it is very high impact exercise, by far the highest impact of anything I do. I exceeded my self-imposed limit with five outings in the last 14 days. It’ll be back to the Airdyne and burpees this week.</p>