Yeah Baby

Last night's run was pretty awesome. I was really movin' in my second run segment. I stopped to retie my shoe at one point and stopped the nikeplus, but not the wristwatch, so the data is a little off. All in all, though, it felt really great.

Easy Breezy

It's windy tonight. 10mph from the east, according to weather.com. Another R5W3x4. My current route put half of my run segments against the wind and half with the wind. My pace still showed a second of improvement, even with the wind... so I consider that pretty promising. I'm sure not as aerodynamic as I used to be. It seemed easier to get into the zone tonight... less frantic plopping of feet, more rhythmic striding. Just need to figure out how to get out there earlier in the night... this procrastinating is killing me.

I guess it wasn't a fluke...

Successful completion of the second run. Repeated the R5W3x4 sequence. Seemed pretty good. Recovery between running segments appeared to improve, as well as post-run recovery. During the run I was fantasizing about all of the healthy things I'm going to eat tomorrow and making a mental tally of all the things I ate this evening that were slowing me down (pesto pasta). Nothing like sweating bullets and burping pesto. Yummm.

On the road again

Just completed the first run back. Whew. I ran 5 minutes, walked 3, and repeated this four times. Started out great, ya know, thinking, "Hey... this isn't so bad. Maybe I should go for 6 mins." And by the last running segment I could barely lift my feet. The muscles definitely need some building. Cardiovascular and pulmonary stamina was good, but the energy stores in my muscles have really been depleted. Nike+ reports 2.47 miles with an average pace of 12'58"/mile. I feel like an old lady... my feet ache, my back is doing some weird twinge thing, and my head hurts. This sucks. Every time I start up again I curse myself for ever stopping running. Maybe this blog will be a good reminder for when I am tempted to falter in the future. Oy... time for some Advil and bed.

This was today's run


This is what I consider my best run. This is also my PR for the mile and 5k.

A word to begin

Okay, so I don't really expect anyone else to ever read this. This blog will be about my journey back. Back to healthy. Back to energy. Back to self-esteem. Back to running. I started running the most successful time (there have been many failed attempts) at the beginning of this year. I was up to 15-20 miles a week and my personal best for the mile was 9:34. Not stellar, but a heck a lot better than my sedentary lifestyle would permit before (when I started, I couldn't run 45 seconds at a time. Seriously.). I lost a ton of weight (down to 132 lbs. on a 6' frame), my boobs shrank, my body fat decreased significantly, my muscle mass was up... and my legs... well, THEY were on their way to hot.

And then I graduated from college and started a new job. This job put me working from 3pm-11:30pm. This, coupled with the 115+ degree weather in the Valley of the Sun, wreaked havoc on my running schedule. I basically stopped completely. I went into a funk. I was eating terribly. All the weight came back. In fact, it brought friends. My muscles seem almost gone. My legs.... well, I'm back in pants, that's for sure. Speaking of those pants... I cannot fit into any of the pairs I purchased for my new job in June.

This blog will be my personal tale of getting up off the couch... and falling in love with running again.