Summer work conference - excercise

If fitness is important to you, then it's important to maintain it while traveling.  I was in the middle of marathon training at this point, and a full week conference is a long time.  I brought some running shorts, tanks, sports bras, and a good pair of running shoes, so that I could work out in the hotel gym and/or run outside.  Even if I wasn't in the middle of training I probably would have brought this stuff - running is a great way to see a city.  It turned out to be a great way to see some of New York.  And, at some conferences, running can be a great way to network.  It didn't quite turn out like that here, but I did join the conference-associated running group a couple mornings.  While it wasn't amazing networking, it was really fun, and it was energizing before the long conference days. 

The shorts in the pocket and the flask I'm carrying are important for city runs in a new place - where I can't rely on water fountains and where I'd want to have my phone and a map with me.

If you are staying at or near the conference hotels, you also have to make sure that your workout gear is something you're comfortable with others seeing you in.  Sure enough, someone commented later in the day on Tuesday that they had seen me in the gym - and complimented me on my tricep extensions.  LOL.  These shorts are long enough, and the tank loose enough, that I feel comfortable, but they are still practical for the summer heat.  If I had anything more in the chest area, I may have gone for a higher-cut sports bra or tank, but given there's basically nothing there, I don't get self conscious about that.

(Shorts: Lululemon, tank: old navy, sports bra: Champion for Target, running shoes: from a local running shop - always go to a good local running shop to get fitted for the right shoes for you!, hand flask: Nathan (amazing design which make the hand flask feel really light and makes it so easy to carry) purchased through Amazon)

My first marathon!

It's been a while since I've done a fitness-related post, but I have to record this one in painstaking detail.  I just ran a marathon!  An entire full 26.2 mile marathon.  And I had such a great time!

Training:
I started preparing for my October 9 marathon at the start of May.  I picked an 18-week training plan, and then spent a month getting ready for it to make sure that the plan wouldn't be too much for me.  I built in an extra 2 weeks into the plan to account for likely delays due to work or colds or such.  So overall, I pretty much prepared for 24 weeks - a little over 5 months. 

For me, being the nerd that I am, preparing included reading, listening to running books and podcasts while running, and frequenting a message board of like-minded but more-experienced runners.  The running itself was typically 4-5 days a week, including one "hard" run which was either hill repeats (there's only one hill around here, so I went up and down and up and down and ...) or a faster "marathon pace" run.  The rest of my runs, including one "long run" per week, were all very very slow. 

The plan also had "step back weeks" so after building up to a new longer distance, the next week would have fewer miles to allow the body to rest and recover. 

Overall it was a really nice conservative plan.  And I have an excel spreadsheet with all the details.  :)

I kept up with my weight training, pilates, etc., at first, but it slowly dropped off as my running increased.  By the time I hit 50 miles of running a week, I was lucky if I got in one 1/2 hour pilates session during the week, and that was it.  It just became too hard to get it all in.  So I am looking forward to working on those other aspects of my fitness regime now that the race is over (while keeping up my running at a more moderate level).

By the time of the race, I had run 3 20-mile runs and a 22.5 mile run in training, and had practiced all of the race-specific things like carrying my flask, using "fuel" (race-specific food to keep you going), etc. And I had "tapered" the last 3 weeks - allowing my legs to rest more, and carbo-loading to stock up the glycogen stores in my muscles.

The race itself:
When I was preparing, I looked for "my first marathon" articles/stories online, and they were all horrible!  So many dumb mistakes, so many stories of horrible painful finishes.  I think my nerdiness helped a lot here, because even skimming a single short quick-read marathon book would allow most people to avoid a lot of those mistakes.  I was lucky to also have the great advice of that online group along the way - that helped a lot. 

SO.
I packed my "gear check" bag the day before, laid out all of my race gear the night before, and went to bed early while hubby took the kids to a Halloween party.

I woke up at 3am on race morning.  The race started at 6.  I wanted to get there at least an hour early.  It's a 40 minute drive without road closures.  I wanted to have breakfast before.  etc.  I got ready, had breakfast, took my first ever Uber ride.  But forgot my coffee!  Oops.  Oh well.  We ran into road-closure barricades even though roads weren't officially supposed to be closed yet, but a friendly bicyclist told us we could just drive through at one point, and a police officer one block on confirmed.  So we got across, then got close enough that I could get out and walk.  I found gear check and checked my bag.  Then I settled in on the curb near-ish to porta-potties and had some more to eat.  It was pretty deserted at that point, but slowly all the runners trickled in. 

 I hung out on my spot on the curb until 5:25 and used the potties.  Then I ended up chatting with someone who's done over 300 marathons - walking all of them.  He had recently had eye surgery and was going to walk this one with a patch over one eye.  Finally I got up to warm up, stretch a little, and find my "pace group."

The race has pacers who hold up signs for certain goal finish times and then run at a steady speed to get to the finish at that time.  My plan was to start with the 4:25 pacers and then slowly fall behind, or at least not pass them.  A lot of the horrible finishes to marathons are due to runners starting out too fast.  I wanted to avoid that mistake.  But at first, all I could see were 4:10 (WAY too fast), and 4:55 (too slow).  Finally, just a few minutes before the start, the 4:25 signs popped up and I made my way through the crowd to them.  A little idle chit-chat, I tossed my "throw-away sweater" aside, and we were off.

At 6am it was already warm enough that I was comfortable standing around in shorts and a tank top.  Running felt great.  Cool enough to be comfortable, but warm enough that I was comfortable and loose from the start.  I fell into a rythm, and enjoyed the run.  It was a little crowded for the first few miles, but not bad, and I avoided another energy-sapping mistake: weaving.  I fell behind the pace group on every uphill, and caught up on every downhill.  Note to self: May need to do more hill training to build up that uphill strength.  The roads were also very strongly "cambered" for the first 6 miles - sloping one way or another.  That was tiring for the feet and ankles, and I hadn't trained on roads like that so I wasn't prepared.  But I don't think it hurt me overall.  At mile 2 my foot started to go into a pothole and I lifted it back out before rolling my ankle.  Man that made my heartrate jump!  I could have rolled my ankle at mile 2!!  Luckily I did not, and it made me watch the road more carefully going forward.  

The course was stunning for the first 6 miles.  We went over a bridge at mile 2-3 and to our left was the sun rising over the ocean, with the Queen Mary ship to our right and the aquarium and harbor to our left.  It was stunning.  We went by the port with it's big cranes.  We ran on the freeway!  At mile 6 after doing some looping around, we were running right by the water and Pelicans were gliding just above, and several types of birds were swooping into the water nabbing fish.  The sun was still just rising and the sky was streaked with colorful light wispy clouds (which burned off all too soon). 
Here are a couple of the official Marathon pics to give you an idea:

We looped back past the start area where the half marathoners were now getting ready for their start, and then we got onto a beach path.  This was not as nice as it could have been because we were running straight into the sun, and the sun was just over the horizon!  I ended up pulling my visor *way* down and looking a little bit down at the path.  But I took a few moments to appreciate the view - the beach path is quite lovely in Long Beach, with cliffs to the left and islands out in the water to the right. 

We looped back onto the street and a slight uphill.  Then turned around to head inland through a few different neighborhoods.  This was a fun part of the course, but also the section where I got really frustrated with water.  On most races, there's a water station every 1.5-2 miles where tables are set up with cups of water and/or some electrolyte drink like Gatorade (here it was Nuun).  Volunteers hold the cups up so that runners can easily grab them as they pass.  Here was the problem: The first inland station was only electrolyte drink.  It would upset my stomach.  The second one was only coconut water.  Same thing.  So I ended up going over 5 miles without a water station!  Luckily I had carried a flask with me just in case, but I drained it before mile 4 of that stretch, and then I was left wondering when I'd find water again.  When I finally got to the water station, they weren't very good at refilling my bottle, so I had to basically put it down on a table and fill it with cups of water. 

Very soon after that I passed the half way mark, but the sun was starting to get hot, and the water debacle had taken a little energy out of me, so I officially gave up on my under-4:30 goal.  I had known I'd have to with the forecasted heat, but that's when it really sank in. 

The amazing thing - the moment I really truly gave up on my time goal, I started enjoying the race MORE!  I started shouting back to the spectators and people cheering, making silly comments about their signs or thanking them for being there.  I started watching the other runners more from a people-watching perspective than a running/racing perspective.  We hit a stretch where we could see runners coming the other way - and these were FAST runners - ones who were running a full marathon in 3 hours or less - it was amazing to see them. 

And at mile 15 I saw my mom and youngest brother!  They had come out super early to see me at that point in the race - they had to drive out from several towns away, and then walk out from my brother's place.  But they were there.  The stretch where I saw them for some reason had gotten pretty deserted.  No one was coming the other way, and in my direction the runners had gotten fairly spread out.  So my mom got some good pictures.  I was SO happy to see them there.  I waved like crazy and blew them a couple kisses.  :) 

The next mile was somewhat shaded, and a slight downhill, and I was energized and happy.  There was a live band playing 80s music on a sunny corner.  And then, we turned right into the sun.  It was no longer near the horizon.  It was higher, shining brightly, and hot.  The street was wide and there was no shade - just asphalt reflecting the light and heat back up at us.  And I knew that we'd be on this road for 2 miles.  It was mile 15.84 - I kid you not, I remember that moment so clearly - and oh I was not happy about the next 2 miles.  And then, at about mile 16.5, my very favorite spectator besides my family showed up - a woman holding a tray full of tiny cups of ice.  I took a cup of ice, and for the next half mile felt oh so good.  It gave me just what I needed to keep me going strong right onto the Cal State Long Beach campus.

Cal State Long Beach is a local University. The campus is pretty.  The band was playing as we entered.  At various points there were groups of students cheering.  There was a DJ playing in one spot.  But it also has the biggest hill of the whole course.  A hill so big that one running coach at a local running shoe store had told me to expect to lose 2 minutes on it.  I didn't quite lose that much, but wow it was steep.  And even coming back down - it was so steep that it was hard on the legs.  Then we came out onto the longest pure-sunny stretch of the race - over 3 miles with not a single spot of shade.  I once again wished there were more-frequent water stations, but I managed okay with my flask.  I definitely slowed.  But I didn't feel bad about it all.  My #1 goal, as the forecasted temps had crept up the prior week, had become "Finish without heat exhaustion" and slowing down was required for that.  And the amazing thing is I started to pass people.  A lot of people.  I was slowing down, for sure, but a lot of the other runners were slowing much more.

When we turned the corner near that band again, we were at mile 20.  Only 6.2 to go - but everyone describes a marathon as 2 races - a 20 mile race, and a 6.2 mile race.  It's that 6.2 mile race that gets people.  And I was about to start that second race - HOT.  On the way down that street the first time, we'd been in the shade.  Back up we were in full sun.  And now, for 1 mile, the main thought in my head was "Oh no, my family is going to see me at this point.  I have to muster up some strength.  I want to look good for them!"  But when I turned the corner onto the street they would be on, I didn't have to fake it.  Knowing they were going to be there renewed my energy.  And when I actually saw them - Oh man it was amazing.  They had stationed themselves on a corner so I was running straight towards them and then turned away from them.  I could hear my little 5 year old boy from over 100 yards away shouting "Go Mommy, Go!"  (I love his big huge voice.)  And I could hear my little 3 year old girl when I got a little closer.  And I could see them both running and shouting and cheering.  Hubby, both my brothers, and my mom were there too.  It was amazing.  I just waved and shouted out "My Loves!" as I ran past them, and I was on a high for another 1/2 mile. 


At mile 22, I got a text from one of our friends. I didn't read the text of course, but my running watch let me know that a text had come in from her, and I knew she must have been texting to send me good wishes for the race.  That gave me another boost.  At this point I was starting to see runners stopped on the side of the road to stretch.  A couple were sitting on the curb, their elbows on their knees and their backs hunched over.  This was "the wall" people talked about.  But I still felt solid.  Tired of course, but solid. 

And finally, around mile 23, my "fast music" kicked in.  I had planned my playlist so that the highest-energy music was saved for the end.  Around mile 23.5 we merged in with the half marathoners, and since it was the tail end of the half marathon they were mostly walkers.  The organizers had set up coned lanes, but there were no signs or people to direct us for where runners and walkers should go, so it was just a big mess.  With whatever energy I had left, and my fast music pumping me on, I just went for it.  I ran with whatever I had left, weaved through the walkers and around the cones, and ran to the finish.  As I was approaching the finish line, I saw the big race clock reading 4:34:4x.  I pushed with everything I had left to get in under 4:35.  I didn't know what time I passed the starting line, but I knew that if I hit the finish under 4:35, I'd be under 4:35 overall.  Given the heat, and since I'd just let myself run by feel after mile 14, I had assumed I'd be coming in over 4:45 and possibly closer to 5:00.  Seeing that time on the clock was crazy. 

They gave us an ice-cold wet towel after crossing the finish line and oh man that was amazing.  I got my medal, collected up my baggie of snacks, a couple water bottles and a coconut-water can (not good for me while running, but perfect after), and just kept walking to prevent my blood pressure from dropping too suddenly after the race (with one pause for a selfie - that's the finish line in the background). 

Hubby and I exchanged some texts, I picked up my gear check bag, walked out to where hubby was.  And originally he was parked on this street with an ever-so-slight hill I'd have to walk up to get to him.  I was staring at that hill ahead of me and it looked almost overwhelming.  He drove down to the bottom.  :)  I got in, we went home, with a quick stop at a gas station to use the restroom - oops forgot to use the porta-potties after the race, and it had been ...  oh, 6 hours. 

When we got home I checked the weather and it was 86 at that point.  I don't know how hot it had been during the race, but almost certainly at least 80 by the finish. 

My official time was 4:33:32.  And my experience was just amazing.  I loved running this marathon.  I hope I get a chance to run more.  No more than one a year, for sure - it was a huge undertaking, and definitely hard on the body.  I'm pretty sore and stiff today, and I know from my reading that it will take at least a month before my body fully recovers.  But wow, it was amazing.  I may look for one a little later in the fall next year, given that these So-Cal October heat waves are not ideal running weather, but I may do this same race again - especially if my family would come out again.

Half Marathon Race Report

I did it!  I ran a half marathon!

I'm pretty happy with my time too: 2:05:52.  SO, let me give you the full report.

Training:
I started training early because I knew January, the last month before the race, would get crazy for me with teaching and conferences.  October, when I was training for the 10k, I ran 40 miles.  November, starting to train for the half, I ran 80.  December I ran 120.

Then, sure enough, January turned out to be crazy.  It was actually even worse than I expected.  I came down with a cold, it turned into a sinus infection, when that finally got better I got the flu.  All together I was basically out of running for 3 weeks (luckily with 2 good runs in between the sinus infection and flu), and when I finally felt good enough to run - I had less than 2 weeks left before the race.  The last week before a longer race like this needs to be a "taper" week with less running, to let the legs rest up.  That left me with just a few days to do some longer runs, and try to rebuild some of that lost fitness.  Obviously it wasn't enough.  So I wasn't sure what to expect going into the race Sunday.  I just crossed my fingers and hoped that my November/December training had built a solid enough base of fitness, and that my few runs in January and February had been enough to maintain some of that base.

Race Morning:
I have two running buddies that I normally race with.  One opted out of the half because she felt the mileage would be too tough on her knees - which is probably the sane approach.  But she offered to drive me and other-running-buddy to the race!  That was *awesome.*  We didn't have to stress about driving and parking, or try to walk super-far and get tired before the race even started.  So all three of us met at my house before 7am, and drove over to the race.  She dropped us off, and race-buddy and I made our way to the starting area.


The Starting Line:
The Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon is a huge race.  Last year there were 20,000 runners.  I think this year was slightly smaller, but still over 15,000.  So you can just imagine - over 12,000 runners all lined up to start the half marathon together.  To make it work, they have "corrals" - areas for different bib numbers, which are based on peoples' self-reported estimated finish times.  They start a corral, wait two minutes, and then start the next corral.  And each corral has pacers to help people in the group stick to their estimated finish time if they want to.  My running buddy suggested we start with the 2:15 pacers - the ones targeting a finish time of two hours 15 minutes, and I was okay with that. 

The corral-start is a good idea.  But it turns out it breaks down completely at Surf City.  We didn't realize this, and my running buddy and I lined up pretty much where we were supposed to - in corral 5.  It turns out we really should have put ourselves in corral 2.  Instead, we ended up having to weave through thousands of runners and walkers who were much slower than us.  This was tiring and slowed us down.  Lesson learned for next year.  

Miles 1-4 (9:38, 9:24, 9:55, 9:25):
The first couple of miles are a straight run along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). 
Every race I tell my running buddy "Okay, let's start slow and pace ourselves.  Let's stick with our pacers," and then the moment I cross the starting line, I'm weaving through the crowd passing annoyingly slow people.  Every time I pass someone I speed up a little to do so, and I never slow back down!  So of course instead of the planned 10:15 pace, I ended up going 9:40 or faster.  Oops.  But my running buddy kept up, and eventually we got to an area with enough open space that we could run next to each other and chat a little, which is always fun.  

Just past mile 1, we ran past my street, and my husband and kids were there to cheer me on.  It was so amazing seeing them there.  The photographer got a good picture of me waving to them as I ran past.

At mile 3 we hit our first water stop, and I got completely stopped up.  Someone fell next to me, slipping on the dropped cups.  People were stopping (stopping completely, not walking) at the station, and I got surrounded by people standing still.  It was a mess.  You can see that mile 3 was 30 seconds slower than the miles before and after - and I think that awful water stop was a big reason why.  Subsequent water stops went better though because I passed more of those runners who probably hadn't run many races before and didn't know how to handle the water stops, and I myself got better at doing a quick enter to get the cup and a quick exit back out into the moving stream of runners.  This is another thing that will go better, I think, if I place myself in an earlier (more appropriate) corral next time.

After the water stop, the course turns inland for a couple miles.  My running buddy and I ran mostly together, though the narrow course and crowds forced us to split to weave often. 

The Hill (miles 5-6, 9:02, 9:17):
Around mile 4 we hit the only real hill on the course.  That's when I lost my running buddy.  I powered up the hill - I think it's all that running with the toddlers in the stroller, but I just cannot go slow up a hill.  I ran shoulder to shoulder with another women, which I joked about half way up the hill.  And I kept that speed up at the top.  I picked up even more speed on the way down the other side of the hill, and kept that speed up for another mile.  I passed a lot of people during these two miles.  Most people slow down on a hill, not speed up.  And even on the flat, my faster pace carried me past a lot of folks.  It was after this that I finally had a little more space to run.  There was still plenty of weaving - but it wasn't constant anymore.

Miles 7-12 (9:48, 10:01, 9:22, 9:45, 10:01, 9:57):
Around mile 6 we turned back onto PCH, and that's when I slowed down.  I suddenly realized that we were only 6 miles in, 7 miles left, and I wasn't quite sure whether my legs could keep up the fast pace.  So for a little over a mile, I ran at a 10 minute pace.  Looking back, I could have run this part faster - but my uncertainty was understandable given January, and if I was going to make an error at that point in the race, going too slow was probably a better error to make than going too fast.  Next time though.... :)

Then I hit an unexpected treat: Live bands!  Miles 7-9 had three surf bands playing.  They were awesome.  So upbeat and happy, such a perfect fit for the beach-front course - I couldn't help but speed back up for a couple miles.  (This also made me think that music and headphones might help me to keep up a faster pace for longer... I will have to give it a try.)

After those surf bands were behind me, I started feeling the fatigue of having run reasonably fast for 9 miles.  I think this is where my awful January affected me most - I just didn't have the endurance I would have had a month earlier, or the confidence to push myself with 3 miles left. 

One thing that surprised me though - very few people were passing me.  Even though I had slowed down, I guess that either I was still far enough back corral-wise, or others had fatigued just as much or more, but only a few people passed me and I was continuing to pass others.  That may have contributed to my slower pace, honestly.  I'm competitive enough that if a lot of people were passing me, I might just have sped up!  Tired legs or not.  ;) 

That last 1.1 (9:06, 8:29, but I turned the Garmin off late...):
At mile 12, I passed my family again!  And man did that kick me into gear.  I caught up to the 2:10 pacers, which I had been hoping to do.  Since they were in an earlier corral, that meant I had cut at least 7 minutes off of the 2:15 pacers that I had started with.  They of course were chatty and happy, so when I told them "I was hoping to catch up with you!" one replied "You did!  Now pass us!"  Between the high I was feeling from seeing my kids, and that little extra encouragement, knowing that the finish was somewhat close, and wanting to put everything I had into it, I ran that last 1.1 miles at about a 9 minute pace. 

Happy me after passing my family again:

And seriously running me:  

I finished in 2:05:52 (official chip time), and I feel like I really ran the race well.  I had fun.  I pushed myself and ran hard (at least in places).  I finished feeling tired but strong.  And I didn't hurt myself. I even had the energy to throw my arms up in the air at the finish.

Another runner and I took turns taking pictures of each other with the finish line behind us. Then we got ushered through, and out of, "the chute" which is the area after the finish line where they hand out water and food for the runners.  I ended up vending my way back to a medical tent to get some gatorade!  The heat, plus my usual low blood pressure, made Gatorade a necessity for me - I was getting dizzy without it.  I always drink it after runs when I get home.  But there wasn't any in the chute - only at the med tents.  So I sat and relaxed with gatorade for a few minutes, found my running buddy, and went home.

Each runner could get 2 free Sam Adams beers at the beer tent after the race.  I do love my Sam Adams.  But at that point I really just wanted food, gatorade, a good stretch, and a good shower.  My running buddy was in even worse shape, so it was clear she wouldn't be sticking around.  So we did the smart thing and went home (and were in good shape to really enjoy the Super Bowl party later that day). 

It was an amazing experience.  And I can't wait to run another half marathon.  

A new phase to running: Training for a half marathon

I signed up to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) with one of my running buddies.  It's in early February, which leaves just 6 1/2 weeks until the race.  But I signed up right after the 10k, and basically started training right away.

My training is focused almost 100% on increasing mileage - both overall and in the form of a gradually increasing "long run" each week.  All of these miles have to be run at a very slow and easy pace, to avoid injury while increasing so much.  It isn't very intuitive that running slow will help me run fast, but I am willing to take advice.

My other running buddy and I ran a 5k last weekend, and it turns out the whole lots-of-slow-miles-make-you-fast thing does work okay for me.  I cut over 3 minutes off my 5k time.  She cut a few minutes off too!  And I imagine it's at least partly because of all the ramp-up we did to train for the 10k and the fact that she's maintained that since then (we run a medium-long run together each week, plus a shorter stroller run, and she runs on her own in addition.)

The best explanation I found of the "lots-of-slow-miles-make-you-fast" idea is this: anyone can run fast for a *very* short distance.  It's endurance and stamina that help a person maintain that faster pace for a reasonably long distance.  I totally understand that endurance is important for a half marathon - 13.1 miles is a long way to run.  But now I finally really understand how important endurance is even at a shorter distance like 5k (3.1 miles).

Here are a few shots of some of the beautiful spots I've run to over the last few weeks, now that my long runs have topped 10 miles:

I have ventured inland a few times now too - the beach is gorgeous but it is nice to get a little variety.  I guess I don't take quite as many pictures inland though!  I'll work on that.

SO, what is my training like?
I've gradually worked my way up to 25-30 miles a week, run in 4-5 runs.  My weekly long runs have slowly increased, 8 --> 9 --> 10 --> 12, step-back week then 9.5 --> 14  (I was feeling good - the plan had been 12-13 but I let myself go the extra mile).  I hope to work my way up to about 35 miles a week for a few weeks before the race, and keep my long runs at 13-15 miles other than planned step-back weeks.  And I'm going to run a 10k in a few weeks to better gauge my fitness and speed and help make some pacing decisions for the half marathon.

Pacing on a longer race is tough because if I go out too fast I'll tire myself out and won't make it through all 13.1 miles.  If I go just a bit slower at the start, I should have enough energy to finish strong, possibly even to speed up and really push through the end.  But if I go too slow at the start I'll just waste time that I won't be able to make up for later.  The usual advice for a person's first half marathon is to just aim to finish, and not worry about time and speed.  But this is me.

The last month or so I've let my other exercise suffer, but I'm trying to pick back up at least a little - at least one good core strengthening and one good yoga session per week and a few key lower-body strengthening/stability exercises.  It is hard to squeeze those in with all the running though - and all that other stuff like work, family, and sleep.  I figure these few months my focus is on aerobic fitness, and that's okay.  After the half I'll probably refocus on strength training for a few weeks at least and rebuild a bit.  But for now - I know I can't do as many pushups as I could a couple months ago, but my legs are strong enough to carry me for 14 miles at a 10:30 pace (10 minutes 30 seconds per mile), and my lungs and heart are strong enough to get enough oxygen to those muscles for that distance.  So that's something.

Fitness and Healthy Eating - Motivations and Goals

A friend of mine pointed out that I mentioned the "Body Transformation Contest" in passing without much context, and the idea that I am trying to further transform my body is a bit crazy.  So I decided to write a broader post to describe both my own goals and motivation, and my perspective on it more generally.  I'm curious what all of you think on this issue, and what your own goals and motivations are when it comes to fitness.  But this also might be a boring post for some of you, so as always feel free to ignore it.  :)

First, the contest - I'm not really trying to transform my body.  One day I popped into my usual GNC-type-store to get some protein bars, and they happened to be just starting up a new 6 week contest.  I'd get 10$ store credit just for doing it, and $100 would go to the winner in each category.  Given my category roughly translates into "old women," and at that point no one had signed up in my category, there probably wouldn't be much competition for me.  :)  So I signed up.  Since the only requirement is to come in a few times to get weighed on their fancy scale, and I'd be going in to the store anyway, and enjoy seeing qualitative numbers about weight and fat percentage. etc., it was a win-win-win-win.  In terms of how I could possibly beat the other woman or two who might sign up in my category - it will not be through losing fat.  In my opinion, I really shouldn't lose any more.  If I end up with competition and win, it will be through gaining (gaining more muscle than fat).  I wanted to gain some weight this fall anyway, and this is a nice push to work on that.  It takes a lot of effort to gain weight healthily, and pride plus $100 can help to push me to make that effort.

Now, the more general:

What Motivates us to Exercise and Eat Well?
In my opinion, there are 4 broad categories of motivation.  Tell me if your personal motivation falls into these or not:
1.  To look good (however we personally define that)
2.  To feel stronger and more energetic
3.  Because it is fun - whether you have found a sport you enjoy, like the sunshine and outdoors, or appreciate the endorphins
4.  For health reasons - this is usually focused on long-term health, but usually comes because of some big "scare" moment that makes you suddenly realize you really do need to take action now to protect your long-term health.  A vague general "I want to be healthy when I'm 90" motivation is rarely enough here.

In the past
I knew from the past that exercise really helped me with (2) and (3) - I enjoyed it like crazy and felt so much stronger and more energetic.  When I learned to ski, I didn't get tired, and I had no problem getting back up when I fell down - because I was in such good shape.  So I had a blast!  And I even enjoyed the workouts themselves, especially anything related to weights.  Honestly, (1) - my appearance - had never been a motivation before, because I never watched what I ate so I usually gained weight if I worked out.  I'm naturally thin - that's just how I am.  And I'm usually pretty happy with that.

This time around - getting started
This time around, appearance was a factor. I've always had a tummy and post-baby it was bigger than ever.  It was to the point where the rest of me looked the way I wanted it to, but that tummy - man it was annoying to have to shop and dress around it.  And it was going to be a little hard to feel comfortable in a string bikini over the summer with it sticking out.  At the same time, I was feeling a lot lower energy than I would like.  I was getting tired easily and just didn't have the energy to play with the kids the way I wanted to.  And then we booked the Wyoming trip.  SO, what really motivated me to start working out and eating more healthily last spring was:
(1) Appearance - I wanted to get rid of that tummy in time for bikini season!  And I wanted all the "feel good about my appearance" feelings that would come with it.
(2) Strength and energy - I wanted to be able to hike on our trip to Wyoming.  I had *loved* hiking when I was in shape before, but I knew that I did not have the strength and energy to enjoy it as of last spring.  I also knew it would take me a few months to get there.  So, I wanted to get there.

And continuing:
What has kept me going?  I hit my appearance goals to my satisfaction within less than two months.  And I hit my hiking strength/energy goals with room to spare by the time of the trip.  Now it's really all of (2), (3), and (4) that motivates me.  (4), long-term health, probably wouldn't be enough by itself, but it's always in the back of my mind, and some things I learned from my dad lately have really reinforced it.  (After all, I have genetic risks for the same things.)  (3), having fun, is probably the main reason I'm running - man oh man is it fun!  *Especially* because of my awesome running buddies.  And (2), strength and energy, is the reason that I do everything else - the weight-lifting and yoga especially.  I love love love being able to run and jump and play with the kids all day long all weekend long and not feel tired.  And I'm not quite there, but I feel like every week I get closer.  I have so much more energy and can do so much more with them (toss 4-year-olds into the air or twirl them around so their feet lift off the ground?  Sure!) than six months ago.

What about body image issues?
To be honest, I do often forget that I am quite thin.  I don't see it in the mirror clearly.  Luckily, it is obvious to me in photos.  And since I do this blog, I see those photos of myself quite often, and that helps to remind me just how thin I am.  I probably do suffer from some body perception issues in that sense.  But the great thing is that how I feel about my body is very positive.  There's not a thing I would change about my appearance at this point.  And that has been true for about 4 months now, even as my body has fluctuated in subtle ways over that period.  That's a great feeling. (Even before, it was just that annoying post-baby belly that I wanted to get rid of.)

I mentioned that I'm tracking my calories/fat/carbs/protein for a few days to get a feel for how I eat.  Well, yesterday was a 2300 calorie day.  Do I feel like I need to exercise more or eat less to make up for that?  Not one bit.  I have to admit I do feel a little of "Wow, that's *awesome*.  Who would think someone who looks like me eats 2300 calories on a random Wednesday?"  But I'm guessing that's a perfectly fine reaction to have.  :)

What About You?
So, what motivates you to exercise or eat healthy?  Now and in the past?
And if you don't, do you think any of those motivations might apply to you in the near future? 

Sometimes you can feel it creeping up.  I did with (2) - I knew that I didn't feel as strong as I had in the past, and I could tell it was bugging me more and more.  It was the booking of the Wyoming trip that was the catalyst to act, but that feeling of wanting to be stronger and have more energy had been building up...

Body Composition and Eating

I entered a body transformation challenge a couple of weeks ago, and as a result I have had my body fat analyzed weekly for a few weeks.  I'm less than half way through the challenge, so I will have more to say in a few weeks, but one thing that jumped out at me based on both this challenge and a few conversations I've had lately, is how different peoples' approaches to fat loss can be.

In particular, many of us cut calories or carbs, skip meals, etc., to drop pounds.  All of those do work in the short run, but I wonder if they are the best approach for sustainable shifts in body composition.

The approach that the more body-building-ish folks seem to take is one of higher-calories, medium carbs, frequent meals and snacks, and some element of "cycling" which includes built-in cheat days at least once a week with higher carbs and higher calories (though not during competition season).  These elements help to keep the metabolism high, so that although they are eating more, their bodies are also burning more.

I decided to track my calorie and "macronutrient" (fat/protein/carb) intake for a few days to get a sense of where I am.  Based on my gender, height, weight, age, and activity level, my maintenance calories should be roughly 1200 based on a few calculators I found.  Pretty low.  Given the additional exercise I do, that could go up to about 1400.  From my tracking, I seem to eat about 1600-2000 calories a day, averaging around 1800.  (I haven't tracked on weekends, but I'm pretty sure I eat at least that much, and possibly more, on weekends.)  And yet my weight is steady.  And my body fat percentage keeps going down - I keep losing fat and gaining muscle.

So what do I think is happening?  I think that the way I'm eating helps to keep my metabolism high, and of course I think that all of the weight lifting and strengthening exercises I've done over the last six months have helped me build muscle, further increasing my metabolism.  I'm no expert, and I haven't read a half dozen books on this yet, as I'm sure I will in the near future now that I'm curious.  :)  But these are my initial thoughts.

I'll let you know what I learn once I read like a crazy-person about metabolism.  :)

BTW, I basically ran out of running books I could borrow from the library with digital download - I've read 4 cover to cover now, plus parts of 2 more.  So it seems about time to transition to a new topic.  And both my competitive side, and my desire for $100, have me pretty motivated to lower my body fat percentage over the last 4 weeks of the challenge.

10K!

I did it!  I ran a 10k!  AND, I finished in 57:18!  That's a 9:14 pace.  For 6.2 miles!  I feel so good about it.  And what was really amazing, and still has me high, is how proud my husband and kids were, and how encouraging all of my friends have been! 

And yup, I signed up for the half marathon.

Here are a few pics from the 10k.  We decided to wear our race shirts and all match, which was super fun, but also meant that I wore a different pair of shorts than my usual.  These ones were *super* short!  I can hardly believe I managed to go shorter than last race - but I bought these to normally only wear at home!  So I'd say from a "fashion" standpoint, this wasn't my best race yet.  :)  But from a running standpoint, it certainly was!

Near the start, and gives you a feel for the race:

Around mile 4, and the pack was getting a bit more spread out.  I found myself an emptier patch near the side of the street.  That's the beach path in the background - our entire race was along "PCH", Pacific Coast Highway, with the beach to one side.

Right across the finish line - do I maybe look a little happy and a little tired?

And with my finisher medal!

What an experience!  Wish me luck training for the half marathon!  I've put together a training plan for myself which I'm sure I'll adjust and adapt as I go.  But it follows my basic preferences for:
1. Gradual increases
2. Rest and recovery, either with full rest days or by alternating run days with upper-body/core-focused workouts
3. Variety - especially by including strength training, yoga and pilates-based workouts (using my beachbody videos which I enjoy so much!)

One of my race buddies trained in a very different way - very very intense, with runs 5-6 days a week and a rapid increase in mileage.  And she did amazingly well.  But I'm still reluctant to try it out for myself.  I just suspect that my body wouldn't like the sequential days of running.  But who knows?  Maybe I would get stronger and faster if I train that way.  Maybe after the half I'll give that a try.  :) 

Training for a 10k, and pondering a half marathon

I haven't posted about fitness in a while.  After my 30-day boot camp trial, I went on vacation, and then when I returned I focused on running.  I'll do a post on boot-camp soon, but here's a little about my current endeavor:


The nerdy part
I've read three running books cover to cover now, and parts of two more.  I feel like I'm getting a pretty good handle on views on running.  And it basically comes down to two camps:  The Running Runner Runners camp believes that the more you run the better (40 miles a week? Great!  What?  You only run 40 miles a MONTH?  Well, then you're not really a runner...), and the Everything in Moderation camp believes that running three days a week is perfect, maybe four.   The Running Runner Runners camp believes in the value of strength training - when done on the same day as a run and completely focused on muscles that will be helpful for running - and believes in the value of cross-training - when it happens to be the elliptical or pool running, because that's what cross-training is, right?  Another variation on running?  The Everything in Moderation camp takes a bit of a broader view on strength training and cross-training.

Even though it clearly comes from the Running Runner Runners camp, this book had a lot of very helpful tips in it:

   

This book is obviously for after you've read the beginner books (or gotten the key points summary from me :) ) and actually started running.

I fall squarely in the Everything in Moderation camp.

But that said, I definitely see the charm in running long long distances, and often.  There's something really soothing about running.  And there's something incredibly rewarding about the constant improvement - knowing that your body can just jog on and on and on or working to get there.

I've also learned a little about funny little things like running belts, hydration systems, sport sunglasses, and GU.


My current training
The latest phase in my running life started after I came back from our fabulous vacation in early September, and I started preparing for the 10k that's coming up in 2 weeks.  I started reading more, and started a program of basically: 1 stroller jog per week, 1 "long run" per week, and 1 intense/speed run per week.  Each one is different, and each one helps me get fit in a different way.  I figure the combination is good for me.  As I read more, I concluded that this intuitive training approach was pretty much spot on, but there were some nice ways to fine-tune it.  How much do I increase the distance on my "long run" every week?  What types of intense/speed runs should I do?  etc.

SO, here's the plan I'm using:

Sunday: Stroller jog pushing the double jogging stroller.  Typically 2.5-3 miles at a conversational pace (since I'm with my running buddy and her daughter, and all 5 of us are conversing!  LOL.  It's a party on the run.  We often make people running in the other direction smile.  :) )

Monday: Upper body strength training  (21 DFX or P90X3), possibly with some additional core-focused stuff

Tuesday: Long run - "long" run started at about 4 miles and increased by about a 1/2 mile each week.  Ideally you want to increase weekly mileage by no more than 10% a week to minimize the chances of injury (giving your body a chance to grow stronger to keep up with your increasing demands on it).  

Wednesday: Yoga (21 DFX, P90X3 or Piyo)

Thursday: Random - sometimes upper-body, sometimes pilates, sometimes yoga, sometimes a rest day  (21 DFX, P90X3 or Piyo)

Friday: Speed run - typically 2.5 miles with varying speed workouts like:
- From the running books: (warm up well) 1 minute run really fast, 1 minute jog slow to recover, repeat  (cool down well)
- From the running books: (warm up well) "fartlek," aka "speed play:" run pretty darn fast until a specific point ahead that I choose, run slow to recover until I feel relatively recovered, run fast until a new point that I choose, etc.  (cool down well)
- And NOT from the running books but still fun, inspired by my hubby who said "Just run fast and keep going": (warm up well) run fast for as long as I can, walk to recover because, oh man, a slow jog just isn't going to cut it, jog the rest of the way  --> This is a fun one for a beginner like me because I think sometimes we beginners don't even know how fast we can run.  This one helps us figure that out.

Saturday: rest day (or really "playing with the kids so quasi-resting" day)


To half-marathon or not to half-marathon
I'm up to a 5-6 mile run for my "long run" and I can do that comfortably with my fabulous running buddy.  Now that I've realized that we're basically half way through a half-marathon training program, I admit I am toying with the idea of trying one of those.  But that certainly violates the Everything in Moderation approach.  It would require longer runs, up to 10 miles, and that is starting to get pretty darn long.  That's a lot of pounding for the joints to take, and a lot of stress for the tendons, ligaments, etc., to bear.  While I'd certainly work my way up gradually, each body has only so much it can truly take, and I'd be risking going over my own body's limit (which luckily I have not hit yet).  Plus my wonderful running buddy wouldn't join me for a 1/2 marathon, and 10 miles without her might be pretty boring!  :)


AND, our recent 5k 
In the midst of this 10-k training, my friends and I ran a second 5k.  I ran it in 29:22!  It was a goal of mine, but I wasn't wedded to it, to do the 5k in under 30 minutes.  And I certainly did.  Some time next summer, I want to do a 5k in under 28.  I think I can do that.  (And let's just say that in my head there may be some even more aggressive "after that" goals... ;) )  If there were a local 5k in December to sign up for, I'd be signing up for that. 

For our 10k, my only goal is to run the whole thing.  I don't have any time goal in mind.  I'm going to stick with my friends' pace, and have fun - and wave at the kiddos and hubby when I run past the house (the 10k route goes right by)!  That's the goal.  :)


FINALLY, Weight
A lot of people take up running to lose weight.  From everything I've read, that's really not a good idea.  Here's why:

1. You want to lose most of the excess weight before you start running, because the pounding on your joints will be much worse if you are heavier.  Walking is great, but when running the impact on your joints is roughly 8 times your weight (I've seen quotes of anywhere from 4 to 12).  An extra 50 lbs means an extra 400 lbs of force on your knees and ankles.  Not good. 
2. Your hunger urges will go up, probably more than the extra calories you are burning.  This is particularly true for women.  So if you eat to satisfy hunger - you'll end up gaining weight.
3. There is a psychological effect that people often feel like they can eat more, especially more starchy carbs and more junky sugary food, because they are running.  Some of the starchy carbs are good, but a lot, and certainly the sugary stuff, is not.  

That said, guess what my results have been so far?  Well, I've gained weight.  I'm up about 3 lbs.  BUT, my body fat percentage went down!  I've gained muscle!  And lost fat!  I am eating more total, more healthy fat, more healthy carbs, and more dessert foods with basically no nutritional value whatsoever.  But I guess between the running and the strength training that I've maintained, my body has been able to put a lot of those extra calories to good use.  

SO, despite everything I read, maybe running is good for *fat* loss?  At least when part of a well-rounded fitness routine?  Maybe.

A little reflection

I tend to write about exactly what I'm doing at the moment, fitness-wise.  But I just took a new "before" picture for boot camp, and it caused me to reflect on the last several months.

I started working out consistently and eating better at the beginning of April, and I have kept it up for 3 1/2 months now, including over a vacation, and in between fitness challenge groups. 

What really struck me about my new "before" pic is that, even right after my vacation, I look almost exactly the same as I did after my intense 21DFX round.  I'm eating a little more flexibly, I'm not using my containers regularly, etc.  But the general healthy eating habits I have developed must be okay or I'm sure I would have put on more chub.  I plan to go back to the containers when I get a little too far off track, which is sure to happen (holiday season, if not before), but for now I'm feeling pretty encouraged.

I've also varied my workouts more.  I mixed together 21DFX, T25, running, yoga, and those assorted travel workouts with a resistance band.  But I must be doing a decent job of mixing things up, because I haven't lost muscle tone (if anything I think my arms look a little better).

At this point, I doubt I will get more toned looking, because I doubt I'm willing to eat the way that I would have to for those muscles to show.  But who knows.  We'll see what the next month brings.

Anyway, for now, I just wanted to share my new before photo.  I hope you take this as inspiration - if you work hard and achieve some great results that you are happy about, maintaining those results will probably be a lot easier.  I definitely worked hard those 3 weeks I was following 21 day fix extreme exactly.  But the 7 weeks since then - I've just been having fun, in a healthy way (e.g., 5-6 workouts a week of my choosing, eating generally healthy but not watching exactly what I eat, and lots of playing with the kids at the park :) ).

Boot Camp Day 1

I went to my first day of bootcamp today!  Thanks to my super-awesome friend who gave me a free month.  I'm doing this one: Fit Body Boot Camp - Unstoppable Fitness Formula.

They are a chain (franchise), and I'm going to my local chapter.

They are open 6 days a week, and run anywhere from 3 (Saturday) to 10 (Mon-Thurs) workouts a day.  Each day is a specific workout - Monday is legs and Abs, Tuesday is Biceps and Triceps, Wednesday is Back, Shoulders and Core, etc.  And they introduce new exercises each week, so the workouts are constantly changing and challenging the muscles in new ways.

Today I went to a morning "Biceps and Triceps" class.  It was a blast.  They have 10 different exercises, 3 sets of each, with cardio intervals in between.  The exercises include fun things like ropes and TRX training. 
(If you're wondering what TRX training is, it's this:

 

It's one of the things I miss most with my home workouts - there's just something so playground-fun about TRX training.)

There were 2 trainers rotating around to keep us on track, yell at us if we were slacking, check our form, etc. They were totally doing a good cop/bad cop thing - one yelled at us and the other cheered us on.

Here's my take:

• The number of people and self-selection of weights means that the workout is as hard as you make it.  I saw a couple of people who were taking way more breaks than they should have been to get a really good workout.  (Near the end, we were doing sprints across the parking lot outside and had to pause to let a car go by.  I was the *only* one who ran in place while waiting, until bad cop yelled at everyone else to do the same.)
• The workouts are 45 minutes long, and you're really going that whole time (assuming you don't give yourself extra breaks!).  The "warmup" is really pretty intense - you really jump right in, and there is no cooldown or stretching.
• The soft/bouncy mat surface is excellent.  There is a lot of jumping, but it felt pretty easy on my knees.  Of course, we'll see how I feel after 6 days in a row, but this is a good start.  
• BUT, 45 minutes to work biceps and triceps?  I have never worked a single body part so thoroughly, so it'll be interesting to see what that does, but it also doesn't seem that efficient to me.  SO, we'll see how I end up feeling about that after doing a full week (and my whole body).

Overall, this workout is different enough from what I've been doing that I'm going to take a good set of before pics.  I'm curious if the super-thorough working of each muscle group will give me different muscle tone than I have now.  I'm also excited to be doing this just because it's going to be with a friend - that part will be fun.  At this point I think this is probably not for me long-term - it just takes too much time - basically an hour including drive time and a little extra stretching - vs. my 1/2 hour workouts at home (yay Beachbody! and especially 21 Day Fix Extreme).  But we'll see.  30 days is a long time, and I just finished day 1.

Vacation Workouts

(Out for a morning jog in the Napa valley - the vines were covered in grapes)

This trip was all about relaxing and partying - we went to multiple parties, including a wedding reception.  We went to Napa.  And we had lots of meals with friends we hadn't seen in a long time.  So this was not a fit-and-active type vacation. But I also think that 11 days of sitting on my butt and eating horrible food would have made me feel pretty awful too.  I wanted to strike a balance.

My eating was definitely a bit worse on vacation - I drank at least a couple glasses of wine a night (at least), and had dessert almost every evening.  But overall I ate decently.  I wasn't suddenly having pancakes for breakfast and a burger and fries for lunch and pizza for dinner - I was still eating salads, greek yogurt, fruit, eggs....  Just throwing some wine, Indian sweets, and a few nibbles of those pancakes and muffins, on top.

Similarly, I relaxed a bit on my workouts, but I still managed to get some activity in.  I took a resistance band with me and I have a few fitness-related-apps on my phone.  Those both came in handy. 

Here's the 11-day run-down:

• Thursday: woke up super early and did T25 Upper before we left
• Friday: Running and lower-body strength with bands: I ran a 0.4 mile loop (with a hill) and did something in between each lap - run, stretch, run, squats and lunges with band, run, side-steps with band, run, stretch (20-30 minutes and 1.6 miles total)
• Saturday: Warmup and upper-body workout with band in backyard (20-25 minutes)
• Sunday: rest
• Monday: 3 rounds of "Seven" 7-minute full-body workout app.  Modified to make it harder.  :)  (21 minutes)
• Tuesday: Morning jog in Napa - just 1.7 miles, but a nice steady 10-minute pace (other than a pause for a picture - I was surrounded by grape fields!  I couldn't resist.)
• Wednesday: slow/gentle 2 mile hike with baby on back in the morning - but there was some elevation gain and a narrow hill-side path, 20 minute flow yoga routine from YogaDownload in the evening (got the blood flowing, but also helped stretch my legs and back out after hiking with baby)
• Thursday: rest
• Friday: Warmup in back yard and upper-body workout with band inside (25 minutes)
• Saturday: rest
• Sunday: 21 DFX Yoga, after coming home

11 days: 3 rest days, and the rest were mostly short 20-25 minute workouts.  But I got my heart rate up and my blood pumping and used my muscles.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how I did.  I felt good.  I certainly enjoyed myself with the food and wine, but I didn't eat so badly that I felt bad.  And the workouts were nice.  I could have pushed myself more on the exercise side, but I was really just trying to stay active and keep feeling good and energized - not increase my fitness level.  I ended vacation at the same weight as when I started.  The chub layer on my tummy is a little thicker, but a few days of eating well and normal workouts will probably take care of that.

And now I'll be starting my boot camp adventure, so I guess the vacation tummy padding will help to make the "before" bootcamp picture looking more before-ish.  :)

Experimenting with T25

I told myself I'd hold off until after the Saturday 5k to try T25 in earnest.  So I started Sunday.  :)

I had just 5 days between the 5k and our vacation, so I decided to play around with different workouts to get a feel for it.

Sunday: Ab Intervals (Alpha) - a really nice heart-rate-increasing body-weight ab workout
Monday: Rip'T Circuit (Beta) - a heart-rate-increasing full-body workout with weights - great all-around workout
Tuesday: Cardio (Alpha) - a lot of jumping, a little speed work, and overall good cardio workout.  This was a little hard on my knees - I have to be super careful and thoughtful while I'm doing it to make sure I don't hurt myself.  But there's always the low impact modifier to follow if I want to.
Wednesday skipped - was up till midnight packing and trying to get work done before the trip.  I'm all for a late-night before-bed workout, but past midnight is a bit much for me...
Thursday: Upper Focus (Beta) - (so instead of staying up late, I woke up early! :) ) - oh so t25 - a great heart-rate increasing arms, back and chest workout.  I had to fully low-impact-modify to avoid waking the family, but it was still a great workout.  Not quite as heart-rate-increasing but still overall a great use of 25 minutes!

My overall take so far: I love weights too much to do the alpha phase as written - no weights for 5 weeks would be a little sad for me.  But the workouts are incredible.  They are all energetic and fun, and really heart-pumping.  The strength training workouts in Beta are fabulous - Shaun T takes a different approach than Autumn Calabrese (21 day fix), and I enjoy both!  Overall, I think I'm going to keep using the T25 workouts and mixing them up, doing them on non-run days, and stuff like that.  But I probably won't do the full-out 10-week T25 program exactly as written, the way I did with 21 day fix extreme.  I think it's also my personality - It's a lot easier for me to follow a single program, whatever it may be, for 21 days than for 70!

My next fitness adventure will be trying to still get some exercise during my 10 day vacation!  I'll let you know how it goes.  And once I get back - I'm going to try a Barre class with a friend, and then try a month at a Boot Camp Gym!  I am absolutely *loving* my Beachbody workout programs, but another fit friend (yup, I seem to have a lot of them!) convinced me to give boot camp a try.  :)

I ran a 5k!!

I ran my first ever 5k on Saturday!  (Yup, July 4th - notice all the flags and red white and blue! :))
It was a blast!  Here are a few things I learned:

1. When you'll be walking a mile to the race, and a mile home, it's worth factoring that into training.  Oops.

2. It's really not fun to be at the VERY back of the pack - because then you have to weave through all the walkers!  My friends and I took almost 15 minutes to run our first mile!  But then we ran the second two in about 19!  So yeah, positioning matters.

3. WOW, we can go fast!  :)  One of our friends is super driven and apparently pretty fast, so she pushed us to go.  And every time we passed someone we'd speed up a little bit to get around them - and then we didn't slow down!  So we basically just continuously sped up the entire time.  I'm sure the 3 of us could run an under-30 5k in the future if we want to.  We did our *last* mile in 9:14!

4. They take photos at the finish line!  Oops - probably shouldn't have let myself fall behind my friends *right* at the end!

AND, my time was 33:30.  (I'm totally regretting letting myself fall 2-3 seconds behind my friends.  Not for the time's sake, but we could have had an awesome crossing the finish line photo together!)  But still, not bad.  Obviously I wasn't going for speed, but given we expected it to take us about 37, and we were at the back of the pack and had to do all that weaving, I'm super proud of us.

It was a really fun event, and I'm so so so glad I did it.

Another hilarious thing - 1st mile, totally chatting.  2nd mile - a little chatting.  3rd mile - about 3 comments total from all of us combined.  :)

So last night...  we signed up for a 10k! 

It's in late October, so I'll focus on general fitness for the next month or so, and then start training for the 10k more specifically in September.  Pretty crazy for a woman who had never jogged more than a mile in her life as of a month ago, huh?  I'm having so much fun, and I really appreciate my friends encouraging me to try new things.

Shakeology or other Protein Shakes - Worth it?

One of my challenge group members asked me to do a post on this topic, and I think it is a common question.  The reality is that protein shakes in general, and shakeology in particular, seem expensive, and we all want to make sure we're spending our money wisely.  SO, here's my take on it.

First, how much do they cost?

* There’s a $40 signup fee to become a coach, but they waive that fee if you buy/have-bought a Challenge Pack, like the 21 day fix challenge pack. 

Here’s how I think of it (and you know I ended up on the right side of that table, but I went through some of the other squares first):

1.  Should you have a protein shake when you are working out consistently? Probably yes. If you are doing any strength-training, even body-weight or light dumbbell-based strength training, then the answer is probably yes.  And you should be doing strength training!!  Even if your focus is on more cardio-intensive activities like running or biking, that strength training is going to give you a more well-rounded strength and reduce your risks for injury.  It will also help as you age. 

          So why do I say “probably” yes?  Here’s how it breaks down:

a.       You absolutely need a post-workout snack that contains a mix of fast-digesting protein and carbs within 20 minutes of your workout.  No matter what source you read, this is true.  Running books will say more carbs in that mix, and weight-lifting books will say more protein, but the basic fact is that this snack helps your body.  The carbs replenish the glycogen in your muscles which you just used up, and the protein helps your muscles rebuild.  The speed is key here.  And that’s where a protein shake can help – its fast!  Could you make a snack of cottage cheese and fruit and eat that quickly right after your workout? Sure, but a shake is probably more realistic.

b.      You probably need a lot more protein than you think.  Unless you’re coming from an Atkins-style diet, you are probably eating too little protein for the average person.  Once you add in strength training, you need even more protein.  And so you are going to have to eat a lot of protein.  Let me put it this way: as an itty bitty 110-lb woman, which puts me in a pretty low calorie bracket, according to the 21-day-fix diet, I should eat the equivalent of 32 egg whites a day.  Yup.  32.  So, unless I’m really going to eat about the equivalent of almost 3 dozen egg whites a day, a protein shake can help to fill the gap – gives some quick, easy, and convenient extra protein. 

1. Should you have a protein shake? Probably Yes.
2. Should you take extra vitamins when you are working out consistently? Yes. I don’t have to say “probably” on this one, because the reality is that you should be taking extra vitamins even if you aren’t working out!  And of course, as usual, getting the right nutrients is even more important when you are demanding more of your body, like you are when you are working out consistently.  Here’s a quote from the Mayo Clinic: “Although a wide variety of nutritious foods are available in the U.S., Americans don't eat enough vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products. As a result, dietary intakes of several nutrients — potassium, dietary fiber, calcium and vitamin D — are low enough to be of public health concern for both adults and children.”  A public health concern!  And for many other nutrients, it might not be quite so bad to be a public health concern, but we will feel better and our bodies will function better if we have enough.  

• The reality is that we are all lacking in something.  No matter how healthy and varied of a diet   we eat, we are probably lacking in something. Taking a good multi-vitamin helps.  But there are caveats.  For example, did you know that your body can’t process calcium and iron together?  So chances are, your multivitamin has one but not the other.  There are other helpful things we can take that our bodies need – like added fiber, probiotics to help our gut health, extra B-vitamins for energy, extra vitamin C and certain other immune-boosting vitamins especially during cold and flu season.  Those don’t all fit into a multi-vitamin.   

• For a while I was trying to put all of this together myself, and the reality is that it takes a lot of time and energy, and the cost really adds up fast (1$ a day for multi-vitamin, $1.50 a day for probiotic, $0.30 a day for B-complex and C vitamins, $1.00 a day during cold-and-flu season for some extra C and zinc, $0.25 for my quick-dissolving benefiber, …).  I still remember having breakfast with another health-conscious professor a few years ago, and we both pulled out a little pile of vitamins to take with our breakfasts.  We had a fabulous conversation about the benefits of different vitamins, and he convinced me to start fresh-grinding flax seeds every morning.  J  The quality of the nutrients is higher when you do this piecemeal approach, because you can get the best probiotic, and your iron can be in a form that is good for you to digest, you can time the taking of your calcium supplements, etc.  But it is a pain!

1.  Should you have a protein shake? Probably Yes.
2. Should you take extra vitamins when you are working out consistently? Yes.
3. So, here’s where Shakeology can be super helpful.  You get that extra protein you need, the vitamins, fiber, probiotics, etc.  It’s super convenient.  And since it has carbs too, it’s a perfect post-workout snack.  You can tweak the protein/carb mix by adding more fruit or adding some greek yogurt when you’re blending up your shake, or just drink it as is.  And of the half dozen or so protein shakes I’ve tried, I’d say Shakeology is the best tasting.  That's also helpful when you're trying to eat healthier, because it can be your daily treat.  I still take my daily multi-vitamin, but I've cut out all the rest of that stuff, and I still feel better than before I added all of those in.
4. The biggest drawback of Shakeology is this single big visible cost.  While it doesn’t seem like much when you consider the combined costs of the ingredients, and the benefit of the convenience, it’s still a big number.  That’s where signing up for a coach account can be worth it.  If you’re going to be buying it on an ongoing basis and you want the extra discount, might as well sign up for the coach account!  Like everything else at Beachbody, you can cancel at any time.  I've canceled a few of the free accounts (like the free trial of streaming), and it has always been super easy.

The reality is that protein shakes are marked up a good amount, so are vitamins, and so is Shakeology.  It is the reality.  But so is pretty much everything we consume.  And this is a pretty darn good-for-you one to pay the markup on.  I’d much rather spend the money on something that helps my body than, as good as it smells when I walk by it every morning on my way to the office, a cup of fancy high-cal sugary Starbucks.

Hope this helps!

Here are a few helpful links:

Shakeology info, including the flavors, how it's made, and ingredient, vitamin content, etc. info for each flavor

To purchase Shakeology or a Challenge Pack (for Shakeology plus a fitness program)

And finally, if you're interested in signing up to coach, to get that discount, let me know and I'll walk you through it (for example to make sure you get your fee waived).

Running update - 2/3 of the way there!

My first update was after 1 1/2 weeks of running.  This update is after a grand total of 3.  So I am obviously still quite the beginner.  But we often learn the most when we're first starting out, so I thought I'd post about my progress, and what I've learned.

So first of all, the main thing I've learned during my second 1 1/2 weeks:

It actually does make sense to "warm up" and stretch before running!  Yes, I had read that.  In multiple places.  But when I used to lift weights, I warmed up by running!  So why did I need to warm up to run if running was a warm-up?  What I've realized is that 30 minutes of running is very different from 5.  During a longer run or walk/jog, we use the same muscles in a repetitive way for a long period of time.  That places a different type of strain on them and on the connective tissues.  It makes sense to warm those muscles up and lightly stretch them before that repetitive use.  That is very different from the type of muscle use we do during weight lifting. 

If you are a runner and starting to lift weights - note that the opposite is true for weight-lifting!  Do not do static stretches before weight lifting, or you will increase your chance of injury.  (A little dynamic stretching is good - but not static.)


Running with friends is fun!!!  SO SO SO fun!  Yup, I finally ran with a friend.  We jogged together on Sunday, both pushing our toddlers in our jogging strollers.  And then we jogged together again on Tuesday, with her pushing a toddler and me all on my own.  Jogging together definitely helped me with pacing - I went at a nice slow easy-to-maintain pace.  And I certainly can talk while maintaining that pace!  I'm hoping I didn't talk her ear off - but I figure she still wants to jog with me, so that's a good sign.  :) 
Since this is one of the friends that I'll be running the 5k with, I feel like a couple jogs a week with her are great 5k training.  That made me feel free to do what I wanted on my third jog of the week - so I did my favorite without worrying about it - I let myself go as fast as I wanted for a mile or so until I got tired, and then walked for a minute or two to recover, ran fast again for 2/3 of a mile, walked again, and so on.  I still end up going much faster on average when I do this than when I jog steadily at the conversational pace.  The key is that this time I didn't beat myself up mentally about the walking bits.  I work my lungs and hearts a lot more this way, so I figure the two types of jogs serve different purposes and both are good - I'll do one or two nice steady conversational jogs with my friend per week, and one or two heart/lung/speed workouts per week, and enjoy both!


T25, while designed for runners, is a little intense to start while also starting a running program.  Starting both at the same time was a little like increasing my mileage too quickly - apparently the most common mistake that new runners make.  So I've put T25 on hold for now, and will come back to it once I'm more established in my running.  In the meantime, I'm using my 21DFX videos for my cross training.


And here are my distances and paces (underlining a couple of the new ones I'm really proud of):
WEEK 1

• Walk/jog 1 Tues: 2.32 miles, 11:39 pace 
• Walk/jog 2 Thurs: 2.40 miles, 12:06 pace
• Walk/jog 3 Sat: 2.28 miles, 12:24 pace, but pushing almost-4-yo in the jogging stroller

WEEK 2

• Walk/jog 1 Mon: 2.54 miles, 10:50 pace 
• Walk/jog 2 Wed: 2.54 miles, 10:33 pace
• Steady jog Fri: 2.52 miles, 10:20 pace

WEEK 3

• Walk/jog 1 Mon: 2.54 miles, 10:09 pace
• Steady jog Wed: 3.12 miles, 11:52 pace
• Warmup + stretching + jog Sunday: 2.58 miles, 16:48 pace, w/ friend and pushing almost-4-yo in the jogging stroller (note, forgot to pause timer while stretching, so pace is a little slower probably)

WEEK 4

• Warmup + stretching + jog + post-jog walk Tuesday:  3.76 miles, 15:50 pace, w/ friend (note, includes time spent stretching, waiting at stoplights, etc.  So pace is a little slower)
• Walk/jog 2 Thursday: 3.20 miles, 10:41 pace (I did stretch after the warmup walk, but I paused the timer while I did)

I figure I probably have about 3 jogs or walk/jogs left before the 5k.  Sunday will be with my friend again.  Tuesday may or may not be with my friend.  And Thursday I'll keep my jog a little slower and shorter so I don't tire myself out or risk hurting myself. 

I haven't even done my first 5k, and I have to admit thoughts of a second race are already entering my head.  There's a 10k in my hometown in the fall - I could aim for that if my friends are also interested.  OR, if I can find another 5k, I think it might be fun to try and do an under-30 5k.  I suspect I could if I trained for it.  But I'm not sure if my friends would be interested in going for speed.  For now, I'm focused on having fun with my friends next weekend!  :)