I have been terribly neglectful of our training blog. I apologize to our reader for that. :)
Like Kristin, even though I haven't been diligent in posting here, I've been doing my workouts. We've pretty much done away with the idea of mandatory cross-training, but I'm also trying to lose weight, so I'm still doing workouts other than the runs to keep burning calories and include a variety of activities so I don't get bored.
I rode six miles outside on Billy's bike Saturday night. Despite the cold and wind, it was a lot of fun. I ended up riding uphill into the wind, which gave me an incredible legs workout. It worked muscles that running doesn't work, so I think I'm going to try to ride at least once a week.
It's getting pretty chilly here in Oklahoma, so I'm trying to play around with my winter gear so that I'm warm (but not hot) and that I retain freedom of movement. It's been tricky. I wore my long tech pants for the first time on yesterday's 5-miler, and they kept falling down every time I'd increase my pace. Guess I'll be going down a size!
The marathon is 55 days from today, and with each passing day of training, I am better able to visualize my and Kristin's success!!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Half-Marathon: Week 4 Recap (Kristin)
So I finally, FINALLY, got to run each of the four runs this week. That means I did my long run!! Yay! I never thought I'd be cheering at the fact that I ran 5 miles, but I really needed to, and I'm genuinely happy that I did. This week should be much much better for my running schedule. I'm finally on the mend, so I shouldn't need to skip any runs or move them (unless something comes up with the kiddos). Next week will be great, too, but the two weeks after that are going to be a bit of a challenge.
As most of you know, I can only run when both of my kiddos are at school. That leaves me with a 2 hour window, which it's really less than that when you count drive time and shower and lunch. Anyway, in two weeks, both of my kids will be out of school for Christmas break. FOR TWO WEEKS! Most stay-at-home moms would love this, and I normally would, too, except that it throws a wrench into my training schedule. I haven't talked to her about this yet, but I'm hoping my grandma can watch the kids three days for me so I can run. If she can, then everything will be as smooth as peanut butter. If not, then I'm going to have to get really creative, or wake up in the wee hours of the morning and run before the hubby goes to work. I really am hoping she can watch them. (Fingers crossed!)
My times were slower this week than I wanted them to be, but I'm giving myself a break because I've been sick. I'm really just happy that I got to run all four times. Mind you, I did them all four days in a row, which probably wasn't exactly smart, but I needed to get them in, and that was the only way I could do it and not kill myself.
Here's to hoping THIS week is great and my runs are normal/spectacular! :-)
-Kristin
As most of you know, I can only run when both of my kiddos are at school. That leaves me with a 2 hour window, which it's really less than that when you count drive time and shower and lunch. Anyway, in two weeks, both of my kids will be out of school for Christmas break. FOR TWO WEEKS! Most stay-at-home moms would love this, and I normally would, too, except that it throws a wrench into my training schedule. I haven't talked to her about this yet, but I'm hoping my grandma can watch the kids three days for me so I can run. If she can, then everything will be as smooth as peanut butter. If not, then I'm going to have to get really creative, or wake up in the wee hours of the morning and run before the hubby goes to work. I really am hoping she can watch them. (Fingers crossed!)
My times were slower this week than I wanted them to be, but I'm giving myself a break because I've been sick. I'm really just happy that I got to run all four times. Mind you, I did them all four days in a row, which probably wasn't exactly smart, but I needed to get them in, and that was the only way I could do it and not kill myself.
Here's to hoping THIS week is great and my runs are normal/spectacular! :-)
-Kristin
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Half-Marathon Training: Kristin --CATCHING UP
Instead of trying to keep this up daily, like I did the last go 'round, I think I'll just update this at the end of every week. But for this post, I'd like to catch you up on what's been going on with me.
I've been sick...a lot. And it's put a damper on my running/training schedule. I've gotten most of my runs in, but not on the days they're supposed to be on, and I've not been able to do a long run yet. Luckily I trained so intensively for the 15K that I'm going to be fine, but I really can't afford to get sick like this anymore.
My running time has improved with each run, which is nice. I just hope that I stay healthy enough to get in my long run on Sunday. As it stands this week, I haven't done either of my two runs yet. However, I do have Friday and Saturday available to make those up, which is what I intend to do. I know that having an ear infection and bronchitis is probably slowing me down, and it's probably not the smartest thing in the world to keep running. BUT, I don't have time to stop. I can't afford to take any more time off. If I'm going to run this half-marathon, I have to push through this sickness. I'm taking antibiotics, so I figure I'll be fine. And I'm not going to kill myself. Obviously, if it gets worse, I'll take it easy. But I have to at least try.
So there's where I am. My weekly updates will probably not have any times or statistics in them. They'll be like conversations. I think I'll be more apt to keep up with it if it doesn't seem like a job to me. I don't have any time for that, honestly. And I don't have the energy.
There you have it.
-Kristin
I've been sick...a lot. And it's put a damper on my running/training schedule. I've gotten most of my runs in, but not on the days they're supposed to be on, and I've not been able to do a long run yet. Luckily I trained so intensively for the 15K that I'm going to be fine, but I really can't afford to get sick like this anymore.
My running time has improved with each run, which is nice. I just hope that I stay healthy enough to get in my long run on Sunday. As it stands this week, I haven't done either of my two runs yet. However, I do have Friday and Saturday available to make those up, which is what I intend to do. I know that having an ear infection and bronchitis is probably slowing me down, and it's probably not the smartest thing in the world to keep running. BUT, I don't have time to stop. I can't afford to take any more time off. If I'm going to run this half-marathon, I have to push through this sickness. I'm taking antibiotics, so I figure I'll be fine. And I'm not going to kill myself. Obviously, if it gets worse, I'll take it easy. But I have to at least try.
So there's where I am. My weekly updates will probably not have any times or statistics in them. They'll be like conversations. I think I'll be more apt to keep up with it if it doesn't seem like a job to me. I don't have any time for that, honestly. And I don't have the energy.
There you have it.
-Kristin
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Half Marathon: Kristin (Week 2 - Part 1)
I need to finish up last week's training schedule documentation. Last week was a terrible week for me in so many ways. However, I was able to do my 3 miles on Thursday as scheduled. We also had strength training to do on that day. Here's what I did
Thursday (Week 1):
50 calf raises
50 2-legged bridges
25 squats
10 planks
Run totals:
Total distance = 3 miles: all running
Total time = 30 minutes
Now, for the rest of the week, let's just say it was horrendous. I went to dinner with my husband on Saturday night and got food poisoning. That meant that I was not able to do my 4 mile run on Sunday. I also wasn't able to do the extra cross-training (which I'm substituting with strength training) because of that. I was really busy on Saturday during the day, so I planned on doing it on Sunday. Yeah, that didn't happen. And you know what? I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I was sick, for goodness sakes. There was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I just decided to not worry about it, and take Week 2 as it came.
So, on to Week 2. On Monday, I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I decided to move my stretching and strengthening to Tuesday. I'm glad I did, because I didn't want to push myself too hard, just to be set back again.
I also had a 3 mile run to do on Tuesday. Before the run, I forgot to put on my knee brace. I knew something felt weird about a quarter mile in, and then it hit me that I didn't have my brace on. I felt it, too, after the run was over with. I will not make that mistake again.
Tuesday:
Stretching and strengthening first:
100 oblique crunches
100 calf raises
100 2-legged bridges
50 squats
5 planks
10 minutes stretching
Run totals:
Total distance = 3 miles: all running
Total time = 30 minutes
Today's schedule has us doing a 2 mile run or cross-training. I'm going to do the run. I'll post all the details from that at a later date. I just wanted to catch you up on what's been going on with me.
-Kristin
Thursday (Week 1):
50 calf raises
50 2-legged bridges
25 squats
10 planks
Run totals:
Total distance = 3 miles: all running
Total time = 30 minutes
Now, for the rest of the week, let's just say it was horrendous. I went to dinner with my husband on Saturday night and got food poisoning. That meant that I was not able to do my 4 mile run on Sunday. I also wasn't able to do the extra cross-training (which I'm substituting with strength training) because of that. I was really busy on Saturday during the day, so I planned on doing it on Sunday. Yeah, that didn't happen. And you know what? I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I was sick, for goodness sakes. There was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I just decided to not worry about it, and take Week 2 as it came.
So, on to Week 2. On Monday, I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I decided to move my stretching and strengthening to Tuesday. I'm glad I did, because I didn't want to push myself too hard, just to be set back again.
I also had a 3 mile run to do on Tuesday. Before the run, I forgot to put on my knee brace. I knew something felt weird about a quarter mile in, and then it hit me that I didn't have my brace on. I felt it, too, after the run was over with. I will not make that mistake again.
Tuesday:
Stretching and strengthening first:
100 oblique crunches
100 calf raises
100 2-legged bridges
50 squats
5 planks
10 minutes stretching
Run totals:
Total distance = 3 miles: all running
Total time = 30 minutes
Today's schedule has us doing a 2 mile run or cross-training. I'm going to do the run. I'll post all the details from that at a later date. I just wanted to catch you up on what's been going on with me.
-Kristin
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Week 1: Wednesday
Yesterday we had the choice to do a 2-mile run or some cross-training. I didn't want to exercise until Billy had left for class, and by that time it was almost dark out (stupid daylight savings!). So, I did a few exercises on the Wii Active.
Nothing fancy.
20 minutes
85 calories burned
Nothing fancy.
20 minutes
85 calories burned
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Kristin: Half-Marathon
I may not always be able to update this on a daily basis like I was able to the last go 'round. School has gotten me quite flustered as of late, and I'm busier with the kids than I have been in awhile. I will do my best, though, to get these on here at least two or three times a week. If I haven't posted, it doesn't mean that I'm not doing the work-outs. I promise.
This is the first official week of half-marathon training. I have been looking forward to this since running the Tulsa Run because I want to know that the end is in sight. I had to take a week off, however, because of a foot injury. That week we had between training could not have come at a better time. I was able to rest, take some steroids and ibuprofen, and really rehab that foot. So, yesterday when I went out for my first official run, I was a little apprehensive with the foot. It was fine, though. I'll get to that later.
Monday:
This is a strength and stretch day. For this, I would do what I normally do. I amped it up a little, though, this week.
I stretched for 5 minuets.
Then, I did 100 of each of these:
oblique crunches
squats
calf raises
2-legged bridges
I also threw in 10 planks. These were very difficult. You have to hold the position for ten seconds. It's supposed to strengthen your core, which I need help with tremendously. I'm going to do this every time we have a strengthening day, as well as to take the place of the one cross-training day (Saturday) we have a week. Our training schedule this time around allows for us to add an extra "light" running day in a week. I'm going to take full advantage of that. I promise to take it easy, though.
Tuesday:
This was supposed to be a 3 mile running day on the schedule. I woke up super early because I had gone to bed really early the night before. I was having a really stressful day, and I needed sleep. Stress does that to me. I love my hubby for allowing me to go to bed while he took care of things around here. He's an angel, really! Back to the run, though. I wanted to get up before my hubby had to go to work. He leaves at 6:30 am, so I got up at 5:30 am. I figured, it's only 3 miles, so I'll be back in plenty of time that he won't have to worry about being late. Everything was going great, until a dog caught sight of me from his back yard and decided he wasn't pleased. He busted his head through his stockade fence and it really freaked me out. I called Ryan to come get me because I was afraid that on my turnaround the dog would bust all the way through the fence and come after me. I'm sure that wouldn't have happened, but I didn't want to take any chances. Needless to say, I only got through 1.6 miles of the 3 mile run. So, since Wednesday's schedule calls for a 2 mile run, I decided to call it a day and use this for Wednesday's run. It doesn't equal 2 miles, but it was also my first day running since the Tulsa Run, and I wanted to baby that foot a little more. Glad I did!
Run totals:
Total distance = 1.6 miles: all running
Total time = 16 minutes: I had a great pace going! Stupid dog!!
Wednesday:
As I said above, I switched Tuesday and Wednesday. Today's run, however, was brutal. It was not a fun run. I haven't been feeling 100% the past two days. My stomach has been really achy and I think it could be the steroids I was taking for my foot. The pharmacist and the doc both said that could happen. Whatever the case, my run was rough. My legs felt like jell-o and my stomach hurt really bad. At some points, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I chose to slow way down when it felt like that, so as to not overdo it. Because of that, I have a much slower time. I really don't care at this point. I'm just glad the run is over. I've taken my last steroid pill, so hopefully I'll start feeling like myself again. Who knows? Anyway, here's the details for today's run:
Run totals:
Total distance = 3.1 miles: 2.9 running, 0.2 walking
Total time = 35 minutes
-Kristin
This is the first official week of half-marathon training. I have been looking forward to this since running the Tulsa Run because I want to know that the end is in sight. I had to take a week off, however, because of a foot injury. That week we had between training could not have come at a better time. I was able to rest, take some steroids and ibuprofen, and really rehab that foot. So, yesterday when I went out for my first official run, I was a little apprehensive with the foot. It was fine, though. I'll get to that later.
Monday:
This is a strength and stretch day. For this, I would do what I normally do. I amped it up a little, though, this week.
I stretched for 5 minuets.
Then, I did 100 of each of these:
oblique crunches
squats
calf raises
2-legged bridges
I also threw in 10 planks. These were very difficult. You have to hold the position for ten seconds. It's supposed to strengthen your core, which I need help with tremendously. I'm going to do this every time we have a strengthening day, as well as to take the place of the one cross-training day (Saturday) we have a week. Our training schedule this time around allows for us to add an extra "light" running day in a week. I'm going to take full advantage of that. I promise to take it easy, though.
Tuesday:
This was supposed to be a 3 mile running day on the schedule. I woke up super early because I had gone to bed really early the night before. I was having a really stressful day, and I needed sleep. Stress does that to me. I love my hubby for allowing me to go to bed while he took care of things around here. He's an angel, really! Back to the run, though. I wanted to get up before my hubby had to go to work. He leaves at 6:30 am, so I got up at 5:30 am. I figured, it's only 3 miles, so I'll be back in plenty of time that he won't have to worry about being late. Everything was going great, until a dog caught sight of me from his back yard and decided he wasn't pleased. He busted his head through his stockade fence and it really freaked me out. I called Ryan to come get me because I was afraid that on my turnaround the dog would bust all the way through the fence and come after me. I'm sure that wouldn't have happened, but I didn't want to take any chances. Needless to say, I only got through 1.6 miles of the 3 mile run. So, since Wednesday's schedule calls for a 2 mile run, I decided to call it a day and use this for Wednesday's run. It doesn't equal 2 miles, but it was also my first day running since the Tulsa Run, and I wanted to baby that foot a little more. Glad I did!
Run totals:
Total distance = 1.6 miles: all running
Total time = 16 minutes: I had a great pace going! Stupid dog!!
Wednesday:
As I said above, I switched Tuesday and Wednesday. Today's run, however, was brutal. It was not a fun run. I haven't been feeling 100% the past two days. My stomach has been really achy and I think it could be the steroids I was taking for my foot. The pharmacist and the doc both said that could happen. Whatever the case, my run was rough. My legs felt like jell-o and my stomach hurt really bad. At some points, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I chose to slow way down when it felt like that, so as to not overdo it. Because of that, I have a much slower time. I really don't care at this point. I'm just glad the run is over. I've taken my last steroid pill, so hopefully I'll start feeling like myself again. Who knows? Anyway, here's the details for today's run:
Run totals:
Total distance = 3.1 miles: 2.9 running, 0.2 walking
Total time = 35 minutes
-Kristin
Week 1, Tuesday: Joyful
On the schedule: 3 mile run
Billy has been trying to find a way to work out with me without having to run (for now). We came up with the idea of him riding a bike alongside me while I run. We tried it out last night, and it was awesome!
I loved having him by my side the whole time. Even though I couldn't really hold a long conversation with him because of my breathing, it was great to be able to spend that time together. Because he was obviously going faster than me, I tried to push my speed a little more to keep up.
This was my first run in over a week, so I had to take more walk breaks than I would have liked, but I felt strong the whole time. I also managed to beat my best time on the route by three minutes! It'd be great to consistently get under a 15-minute mile.
3 mile run, golf course loop, 2x
346 calories
Billy has been trying to find a way to work out with me without having to run (for now). We came up with the idea of him riding a bike alongside me while I run. We tried it out last night, and it was awesome!
I loved having him by my side the whole time. Even though I couldn't really hold a long conversation with him because of my breathing, it was great to be able to spend that time together. Because he was obviously going faster than me, I tried to push my speed a little more to keep up.
This was my first run in over a week, so I had to take more walk breaks than I would have liked, but I felt strong the whole time. I also managed to beat my best time on the route by three minutes! It'd be great to consistently get under a 15-minute mile.
3 mile run, golf course loop, 2x
346 calories
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