Another Garmin 310X Give-away

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It's a new year and I'm still here and training. Too much has already happened with me signing up for a marathon, getting engaged, and my fiance deploying overseas (in that order). Will be back as soon as I've re-calibrated my life to include all of the chores my fiance was doing before.

Progress

Sorry for neglecting the blog for a few months - I am happy to report that my lack of blogging is not tied to a lack of exercising but rather my attempt to finish my boyfriend's anniversary gift (see photo), keep up with my workouts, and entertain guests.

The Army 10-Miler was in there somewhere as well and I totally rocked the race! Last year my time was 1:49 (avg pace 10:55). This year, I knew I was running faster but I didn't know how much faster so I set a goal of averaging 10:30 min/miles. Result: 1:42 (avg pace 10:14) and that is with a bathroom break around mile 6.5! I can't tell you how excited I am about that result. I've been working really hard and it is paying off both in terms of my running times and my weight. On race day I had lost 10 lbs and between guests coming for epicurean weekend trips and Thanksgiving, I'm holding my own at that 10 lbs mark.

I was looking over some of my posts from four years ago when I first started focusing on improving my fitness and I am pleasantly surprised to see that I am really turning into an athlete. For the last two years, when I thought about that first season, I thought of myself as a wanna-be athlete who was going through the motions but wasn't really dedicated. But when I read back over those posts, I don't get that impression at all. I was out there putting in the mileage and doing good things. But now that I have 3 training seasons behind me, I feel a lot more mature as an athlete. I'm training smarter, I know a lot more, and I'm safely getting back to the volumes I was doing 4 years ago.

I have to say, I love looking around me and seeing the people walking into a yoga class or a Body Pump class for the first time and realizing that I am not that beginner anymore - I'm not lifting the 2.5 lbs anymore or moving into child's pose because I can't handle the intensity of an asana. Now I'm the one the beginner looks at skeptically when I tell them about my fitness journey. I'm the one the beginner thinks is crazy because they don't believe that I used to only be able to run 30 seconds at a time.

The next year is going to be very exciting. I've got quite a nice group of women who I've recruited to run the Army 10 Miler with me next year. My running partner who believed me when I told her she could run more than a mile is now running 5 miles with me once a week and will be one of the cohort. Another friend asked me to help her train for the race after seeing how well I did this year, and 2 other half marathoners have agreed to pander to the lowly 10 mile distance. As for me personally, I've got my sights set on a half marathon next year. I'm also toying with the idea of getting back into triathlons but I'll wait and see how I feel about it in March.

More Breakthroughs

After week one of three away from home (at a class) all I have to say about my exercise adjustments is "booya!" I wasn't sure I'd find a gym offering yoga or a body pump-esque class but I arrived at my hotel to find that not only is there one within 5 miles but my hotel has a special deal with them!

So last week i got my body pump, yoga, and spin on at the gym and got in 2, 4 mile runs. With no running partner I took the opportunity to see how fast I could go on my 4 mile runs and was pleased to find that a 10:45 min/mile was possible if not a little challenging.

For my long run this weekend, I had 11 miles on the docket and thought it felt hard because I hadn't taken any days off last week. When I got back to my hotel and plotted out the course, however, I realized it felt hard because I went 12.25 miles and ran an average of 10:55 minute miles! How's that for a breakthrough?!

I am really happy with how I'm feeling and how I'm performing this close to the race. I won't lie - I'm looking forward to my last long run before the race but in the mean time I'm excited that I'm getting faster.

It's all coming together

Well, since I'm sitting at home sick I might as well post an update of the last few weeks. But before I do, may I say I'm very perplexed by what happened today? I woke up at 5:00 AM as usual, went to the gym, put in 30 minutes on the stationary bike, felt a little tired (as I always do when I get up at 5:00) but great, went home, got ready for work, ate breakfast, put on my coat, and suddenly felt ill. I gracefully threw up and immediately felt somewhat felt better but thoroughly exhausted. I chalked it up to my 5:00 am start, grabbed my coffee and set off to work. 3 hours later, caffeine wasn't doing anything, my body temperature was all wonky, and I was getting progressively more tired. So I came home and promptly slept for 4 hrs. I really hope this is just some 24 hour bug but it's just strange!

Anyway, back to my training weeks. The last two weeks have been super awesome. Breakthroughs everywhere. First there was my friend E's first 4 mile run, then there was yoga where I managed to successfully hold the crow pose for more than a second. Then there was the "legs-feel-dead" 9.63 run that surpassed my wildest expectations at an 11:19 pace. Not the fastest I've run this season but it is the fastest I've run with Lebihui.

I love that I'm starting to feel strong again. I love that I can do crow for more than 5 seconds and that at every yoga session I go to I can see improvements in every pose I do. I love that I'm slowly and carefully losing weight in a healthy manner. I also love seeing the resiliency of my body and stretching my limits. I just love feeling like I'm getting back to where I want to be in terms of fitness!

Going going...

Once I'm hitting my workouts, wrapping up my life for 3 weeks, packing, and driving to my training, I'll be back with a better update. But I didn't want to let the week go by without posting something.

Last week was a killer week again - more to come this weekend.

Another Garmin 310X Give-away

DC Rainmaker is doing another giveaway for anyone who is interested.

Breakthroughs

Ok, I just have to brag about my super awesome running partner. We started running together because she wanted to improve her endurance and since I do intervals once a week, I thought I could help her out. She does a lot of other activities during the week (Body Pump, yoga, tennis, swimming) but has always had problems with her knees when she tries to run more than a mile. Until today the farthest she had ever run at one time was 1.84 miles and she did that last week. I say "until today" because this morning she dominated 4.05 miles at an 11:09 min/mile pace. I am so excited for her! I found myself reminiscing about the first day I ran any distance to speak of and what it has meant to me to get to a point where I LIKE running 8-10 miles on the weekend.

On the one hand I'm humbled by where I am in terms of strength and agility but on the other hand, I finally feel like I'm a runner and it makes me very happy that I'm able to pass that joy onto someone else and watch as they evolve into one as well. Yay, breakthroughs!!