Running - Week 4

Welcome to four-mile week. I have no idea how this is going to go, as my body has not been too happy about all this running lately, but I've come too far to quit now. So without further ado, running - week four:

Day 22 - Huh, amazingly enough, running today was not so bad. The gap from two miles to three miles felt like we added an extra two miles, but the gap from three miles to four miles felt like maybe and extra 0.2 miles . . . weird. It was a nice morning run today (yes, for all of you who know me, I voluntarily got up early and went running . . . what is wrong with me?). It was nice to not have to avoid other people or cars though. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Day 23 - I ate Chinese buffet for lunch today . . . for those of you interested in my experiments, it seems that running with a tummy full of Chinese food is easier than running with a tummy full of Indian food, just an observation ;) One of the fortune cookies at lunch today said that Chinese food makes you healthier, somehow I think the running is doing that more than gorging myself on Chinese doughnuts, but I'll take it :)

Day 24 - Ouch, today I have very stiff heels (Achilles' tendons?) and knees. I still can't break the fourty minute mark (ten-minute miles) :( I'm definitely ready to be done running. In the interest of sharing my full experience with you, I will also tell you that I'm starting to get very sore under my arms from my sports bra . . . lovely huh? I can do this . . . only six more days of running.

Day 25 - Oofda. We got up early and ran (out of the door before six am, this is not normal for me at all). There were a few sprinkles here and there, but the rain held off until we were done running, thankfully. My heels (not the Achilles' tendon it seems, but a tendon or muscle a little further forward in my foot . . . I'm thinking a bursa sac), are really sore and my knees aren't that happy either. I'm very ready to be done with this (still) . . . only five more days.

Day 26 - I ran very fast today. My husband was trying to improve his time, but for some reason I just felt like I couldn't let him get away from me, so I ran very quickly to try and keep up. I know that is not part of the rules, but I was worried about getting lost . . . silly, I know. We cut over two minutes off our time from yesterday :) I still dislike running, it's such a mental game to push myself, not an enjoyable puzzle (where pushing is sometimes required) like rock climbing was.

Day 27 - I know you are probably sick of hearing this now, but I am so ready to be done running . . . that is all. (Not really, we ran in the afternoon today . . .I took the day off from work as we have to travel to my brother's rehearsal dinner tonight. We have our last two long runs (four and five miles) out of town, so this should be interesting). Wish us luck!

Day 28 - Hooray for less hills :) Today we ran through a big cemetery in Milwaukee (where we were staying with friends so we could go to my brother's wedding this weekend). It was drizzly and cool out but that is so much easier to run in that hot, humid weather. We deviated a little bit from the map as the cemetery "roads" don't have names, but the route was still about four miles. It was not a fast run today, but we (amazingly) made it through our four miles a day week :)

Day 29 - As much as I wish the month was an even four 7-day weeks, it's not, so Day 29 shall live in infamy as our 5-mile day . . . yikes! And the verdict? Whew . . . we made it! We took some advice from the great teacher (I'm not talking about Jesus this time, I'm talking about Yoda): "Do or do not, there is no try". Five miles really didn't feel that much longer than four miles, surprisingly. Also, where we ran today had few hills which makes running so much easier. Only one mile left to run this month!!! :)

Day 30 - Finally, this month's challenge is over. We chose a flat, relatively straight 0.5 mile route to run out and back on, and we both pushed ourselves very hard. Instead of going for distance like we had for the rest of the month, today was all about speed. I've never run a mile that fast in my life, so I'm pretty happy about it. My husband was hoping to get his mile time under seven minutes, but I'm still really proud of how he did and that he committed to this month's insane challenge with me :)

Week Four Running Chart

Mile Times

Heart Rates

I'm so glad this month is over. I keep thinking that my hardest month is over now, but we'll see if that's really the case. I did rock climbing first as I thought it would be the hardest one (at the time I was considering a jogging month, but nothing this intense), but then then the cake challenge came around and that was extremely stressful (sometimes) and very time-consuming. After those were over, reading novels was a great,  relaxing month, but I have to say this running thing has been the biggest challenge so far. Not that the cakes were easy, or that I'd want to go back and do that again, but I am so glad this running is over. As you can see from my extremely nerdy charts, my mile times stayed pretty consistent (with the exception of the last day) and my heart rate decreased a little over the month . . . I think that is a good sign. So I'm back in shape again, what can I do next month to ruin it? ;)

Running - Week 3

Alright, I thought that two miles was a fine enough distance to run, but I’ve made the crazy challenge for myself and have to try and run three miles every day this week, so we’ll see if I can do it or not . . .it’s going to be tough.

Day 15 – Whew, I don’t know if I can do that again . . .three miles is hard! It was both windy and humid today, I feel so icky now. It was such a busy weekend, I just want to rest.

Day 16 – Whew again. I ran faster today, but it was still very windy. I’ve decided three miles is just too long, I don’t know how long I can keep this up. My knees, hips, and ankles were all not happy with me at the start of the run today . . .this is not a good sign.

Day 17 – Today I took it a little bit slower. My legs were very tight. I think I’ve reached point where my body is telling me I need to take a break. Well TOO BAD body, you have a lot of running to do yet! I really don’t understand why anyone does this for fun; I did not enjoy it today at all. My legs finally loosened up after about 2.75 miles . . .that figures. Another thing that made today more difficult was that my shoe came untied after about a mile and a half. I probably should have stopped to tie it, but that is against my strict unwritten rule that “Thou shalt not stop”. What have I gotten myself into?

Day 18 – So while I ran today I managed to rant to my husband for the entire time (trust me, with the nonsense that was going on at work, you would be ranting too). Usually I’m very against talking while I run, but this was something I definitely had to get out, so rant I did. Of course this made my time much slower (the slowest mile time yet), but it made running go by much faster. Kind of backwards, but it’s true. Although “pounding the pavement” (and ranting) helped me to get some of my frustrations out, I am still not convinced I could ever be a real runner.

Day 19 – (To the tune of “Singin’ in the Rain”) I’m running in the rain, just running in the rain, not a glorious feeling, but I’m moving again. I’m wet and I’m cold, but I’ll be home soon. Just running, running in the rain! J

My lovely fuzz puff :) 

Day 20 – Oof . . .I am so stiff today. My husband and I must have looked like really old people hobbling along as we began our run because we were both very stiff. It definitely took a while to loosen up. Also, I felt like the robins were either teasing me or encouraging me along . . . there were a lot of them on the path, and they always seemed to be just a little ways ahead of me. Also, I think I was carrying and extra five pounds in my tummy today from all of the good (and exotic) food at the work potluck. Unfortunately, that food (or acid reflux or something) started bothering my stomach at about mile 1.5 . . . after that, running was pretty miserable. I felt like I was just limping home (but I wasn’t really limping), it just took so much effort not to stop. Other than the utter disappointment I would feel about not completing a daily challenge after I’ve made it this far, today was the first day I think I would have felt much better if I had not run . . .I hope I feel better tomorrow! In other news, the fuzz puffs (dandelions gone to seed) were out in abundance today. My husband picked one for me as we ran to make me feel better J I’ve included a picture of it with this post.

Day 21 – Ugh, my tummy is still not happy this morning, but running was a little easier today than it was yesterday. I ran by myself for most of the run as my husband ran much faster than I did today. This was a morning run, and it was a little cooler out, but it was pretty nice running weather. I’m proud of myself for running this many days in a row, but I am so ready to be done running! I did have an interesting Bible thought while I was running today as the verse about “running the race before you” popped into my head ("Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." Hebrews 12:1-2a). I realized that I really focus too much on this earth and the temporal things around me instead of on heaven and on my ultimate prize, and I think this distracts me and makes me “run” (figuratively speaking about running my race of faith and life) slower . . .I need to work on that. Additionally, in my search for that Bible reference, I also found another fitting verse, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air." (1 Corinthians 9:24-26). And I hope that one day I will be able to say with the Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:7) "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

I can’t believe that I made it through three mile week. That is pretty amazing to me. Unfortunately, that jump from two miles to three miles was really rough, so I don’t know what to expect next week. I’m a little worried that my body is just going to break down and I’m not going to be able to finish it, but I’m young, I can do it . . .right? 

Running - Week 2

First of all, I will apologize again for being so behind on my writing. I promise you, I’m writing my current entries in Word format and will be able to post them much quicker, I just needed to get these running blogs written first. Things have been crazy around here, I just switched positions at work so that’s been hectic and time-consuming, and blog writing has just been lower on my priority list than many other things . . .sorry. Anyways, without further ado, week two of my running challenge.

Neat statue at the entrance to the cemetery

Day 8 – Well, today was our first day of two mile running, and amazingly, it was a really nice run, the closest to enjoying running that I’ve ever come. We were both well “fueled” for our run thanks to a nice couple from church who invited us over for Easter dinner. Happy Easter everyone! There were fewer hills on this run, and we had lower humidity and cooler temperatures . . .what a nice day.

Day 9 – Today we reversed yesterday’s route per our usual protocol. It was very windy, and that made today’s run much more difficult. We managed to cut a bunch of time off of our total, mostly thanks in part to my husband pushing me to run a little faster today. One odd thing though: after all of that running, all of me was warm with the exception of my wrists . . .weird.

Day 10 – Brr, it was cold outside today, only about 40 F. I put on extra layers to keep warm. I was really rather tired today too, and I did not want to go running, but of course I did anyways. I’m one third of the way done with the month now (but who’s counting) ;)

Beautiful cemetery tower

Day 11 – Church run today! And by that I mean that we had to be up at church because I had a meeting and then later we had choir practice, so in between those two events, we went for a run around our church’s neighborhood. We had a rather funny incident when we were finishing up our run and we were sprinting to the church doors just as another couple we are in choir with was approaching. Usually choir practice is at 7:00, but it was pushed back to 7:30 and we finished running about 7:10. This other couple looks at us with alarm and says, “Did you think there was choir at 7:00 tonight too?” because they thought there was no choir but then realized there was and thought that they were late, and perhaps we were late too . . .oops. Overall, it was not a bad run though; it was a nice area to go running in.

Day 12 – Running was definitely more of an effort today than usual, perhaps because I knew I had so much to get done at home that I didn’t want to take the time to go. We have a busy weekend ahead of us that I need to get ready for. Anyways, running through the cemetery today was my favorite part of the run. It’s always peaceful there, with no traffic and usually some nice sunbeams in the sky or off the beautiful memorial thing . . .I took some pictures so you can all see how pretty it is. These were taken a little too early in the day to really capture the sunbeams, but it is still a lovely place for a run.

Day 13 – It was very windy again today, and I think attributed to our slower run times. I was planning on today’s run being a morning run, and getting up to go before work in the morning, but I stayed up too late last night making cakes . . .hmm,  now doesn’t that sound familiar? ;) The run today was just okay.

Day 14 – Today we went running in Illinois. We were visiting some friends there for the weekend, so we took a little time out of our visit to go running around their neighborhood. He is a Vicar (practice Pastor) at a local church and the congregation has let them rent this very nice house in a lovely golf course community. It was a good place to run. I am sure going to miss this two mile distance . . .that is long enough! The weather was rather pleasant today; spring is back J

Any Latin scholars out there care to translate this for me? 

Well folks, there you have it, we managed to run two miles every day for a week. We squeezed it in even when we were super busy, or out of town, and I’m pretty proud that we managed to make it this far considering how much of a non-runner I was before. Not saying that I’m a runner now, but I think my heart is getting in better shape. Below you will find my chart of mile times and heart rates for this week . . .I wonder what next week will turn out like?

Week Two Running Chart

Running - Week 1

Welcome to my month of running. Let me start out by describing my running plan. First of all, my husband has decided he will run with me, so I'll have a running buddy :) He is not allowed to let me hold him back though, so if he wants to go faster or, on the off chance that I'm feeling very ambitious, I want to go faster, we don't have to stay together while running, but it's nice to have that motivator to get started. Secondly, this is the website that I will be using to map my routes: Running Routes. It's a pretty cool site, you should check it out. It allows you to plot your course on a map and it shows the elevation changes along the route . . .neat stuff. For this first week, I will be running one mile a day, and then add one mile each subsequent week (so week two will be two miles a day, week three will be three miles a day, etc.). Finally, each run will be timed and my heart rate after the run will also be recorded (as I'm more interested in getting my heart healthy than becoming a sprinter), and being the nerdy scientist that I am, I'll plot these values on a graph when I'm all done . . .sounds like fun right? :)

So, now that you know "the plan", here is my summary of how each day of week one turned out:

Day 1 - My arms felt a little like jelly today, my calves got sore from a big uphill run right in the beginning, and my throat is sore from running so hard. But the good news is that I finished my first mile in under 10 minutes, so I met my goal for today :)

Day 2 - Today we ran the same route as yesterday, just in the reverse direction. I think we will switch off every day just so we don't get bored with the same route after a week. This direction had a more difficult beginning, but I found the second half easier (it began with a long gradual incline and ended with the steep slope that we ran up yesterday). My throat is still sore, my legs are a little sore, but not too bad. 

Day 3 - This original direction seems much easier than the reverse route. Also, today I found a way to exhale (making my cheeks a little puffy) that is a bit easier on my throat . . .yay :)

Day 4 - Today was a tough run . . .I am not looking forward to doubling, etc. the distance! My legs are not as sore today though, and I felt better after the run, and I'm not so tired . . .hooray. 

Day 5 - Not much groundbreaking today, I just noted that this route is getting much easier in the cardio aspect. I still breathe heavily, but it doesn't hurt so badly anymore. 

Day 6 - Ugh, back to the harder direction again. I didn't have much to eat today so I didn't feel like I had the "fuel" in me to go anywhere. I took it a little "easier" today, meaning I didn't push myself as much, but of course I still find it hard since I don't like running, but my time is okay :) 

Day 7 - Sadness, this is our last day of one mile week :( I didn't get under the 9 minute mark like I wanted to, but there was a stiff headwind on the last half of the run, so that didn't help. 

Here are my times and heart rates for this week, just so you can see how out of shape I was, at least in terms of cardio exercise:

(Note: My Day 1 heart rate was taken after about 1 minute because I almost forgot . . .oops)

So, readers, are any of you avid runners? Any tips or comments for what I should or should not be doing? Are you ready for week 2?

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