Update and This Weeks "Schedule"

I really should change this to my fitness blog, since that is all I have been blogging about lately. Anyway, last week was back to work after having two weeks off and I must confess that during the week, i was quite the slacker. I didn't run at all during the week! Fortunately, I did run on the weekend and pretty much followed the weekend schedule for running (Not that it excuses my laziness during the week). Here's the rundown of the schedule and actual running that I completed last week.

Schedule:                                                               Actual:

Monday (7/9) - Cross training--------------------------- Nothing
Tuesday (7/10) - 3 Miles----------------------------------Nothing
Wednesday (7/11) - 6 Miles------------------------------Nothing
Thursday (7/12) - 3 Miles---------------------------------Nothing
Friday (7/13) - Rest-------------------------------------Rest (LOL! Needed a rest from doing "nothing") 
Saturday (7/14) - 6 Mile pace-----------------------------5 Miles
Sunday (7/15) - 11 Miles----------------------------------11 Miles

Although I did nothing during the week, I did a 5-Mile Trail run in Lake George followed by a Tubing trip, which was awesome! :)  Then, on Sunday despite being tired after mile 3, I completed 11 Miles through a combination of running/jogging and walking (On the Nisky Bike trail). It was a seriously slow 11 miles but I did it. Tonight I will be attending a workshop on Nutrition for Runners so maybe I will have something to write about for the "Food" portion of my blog. :) Oh, Almost Forgot, Here is my Hal Higdon schedule for the week:

Monday (7/16) Cross Training

Tuesday (7/17) - 3 Miles

Wednesday (7/18) - 6 Miles

Thursday (7/19) - 3 Miles

Friday (7/20) - Rest

Saturday (7/21) - 6 Miles

Sunday (7/22) - 12 Miles

That's it for now! Until next time........

Hopefully I will have some pics to post for my next entry. :)

The effort continues...

Well, let me start by wrapping up week 2. I am sorry to say that I didn't really keep up the momentum of training.  The Buffalo half-marathon was cancelled and then it was back on again (thrown together in a hurry by the tourism department) and then due to being able to find a reasonable hotel room, I did not end up going.  Instead I went to the Norman Rockwell Museum with my free museum passes, which was lots of fun! :)  I didn't end up running on Thursday or Friday either. :(  Then I began my descent south on Saturday and also drove on Sunday so I missed those days running as well. I did, however visit a few wineries on Sunday in North Carolina! :) If nothing else, it was fun!

Week 3 of training began and ended O.K. but the middle of the week was a bit sketchy. LOL.  I began by running 3 miles on a fairly shaded trail in the woods on Monday. On Tuesday, I only ran about 2.5 miles because it was so hot. On Wednesday, I packed up my things and drove North to MD and no running that day. On Thursday I went to the beach so no running. :( On Friday I was a bum! On Saturday I drove home so no running again. Finally on Sunday I ran 15K at the Boilermaker and knocked about 12 minutes off my time from last year! Wahoo! Now we are entering week 3.

I didn't run yesterday, but have plans to run today after work. :)

Here's the schedule for the week.

Monday (7/9) - Cross training
Tuesday (7/10) - 3 Miles
Wednesday (7/11) - 6 Miles
Thursday (7/12) - 3 Miles
Friday (7/13) - Rest
Saturday (7/14) - 6 Mile pace
Sunday (7/15) - 11 Miles

I have been averaging about 3 days per week.  Lets hope I can step it up! :)

Week 2 of Training/Week 1 of Vacation :)

Let me start by saying I have had a very busy week! Beginning on Thursday, June 21st, which was my first day of my 2 Week plus 2 Day vacation from work, I have been busy doing so many things AND keeping up with my exercise schedule. So far, I have done something every day. Yay! I will provide a synopsis at the end of the week as well but I will tell you that on Monday I ran/walked 4 miles on the SCCC bike path, on Tuesday I did a hike in the Mohonk preserve which was a little under 5 miles (We will call this the cross-training day), and today (Wed), I ran/walked 6 miles! Tomorrow morning I posted a run on my running website for 4 miles. :) I will rest on Friday and then on Saturday I will run a half-marathon in Buffalo.

Stopping to admire the view at Mohonk Preserve

That's it for today. Just wanted to type up a brief synopsis of my progress so far so I don't forget! Ha ha!

Week 1-2 of Marathon Training

Well, I will start by saying that I didn't completely follow the plan to a tee. I was a bit of a slacker at times but there were some good days too. :)  On Father's Day (6/17), my friend Jen came into town and I ran a 5K with her and two other friends from Healthy Kids (Kim and Terri).  I have to admit that I did not run my best time. I will blame it on the heat. But, I did do it. Monday (6/18) was supposed to be a cross training day and I did nothing. :( On Tuesday, I forced myself to go out running for 3 miles. It was an OK 3 miles but again, not great. On Wednesday I was working late and it was super hot, so again I did not run. I also did not run on Thursday (6/21) but I did walk around at the museum for the day. I ran another 3 miles on Friday morning with my friend Nancy and then did a 5K on Saturday.

So, here is the synopsis for the week:

Originally Scheduled Plan:                                             Actual Running:


Monday (6/18) - Cross-training                                                    Monday (6/18) - Nothing
Tuesday (6/19) - 3-miles                                                               Tuesday (6/19) - 3 Miles
Wednesday (6/20) - 5 miles                                                          Wednesday (6/20) - Nothing
Thursday (6/21) - 3-mile run                                                         Thursday (6/21) - Nothing
Friday (6/22)- Rest                                                                         Friday (6/22) - 3 Miles
Saturday (6/24) - 5-mile pace                                                       Saturday (6/24) - 3.1 Miles
Sunday (6/25)- 8-miles                                                                  Sunday (6/25) - Nothing




So I ran 3/5 scheduled days and did not do any cross training this week.  The good news is that I ran 3 times! That's not exactly sticking to my schedule as much as I would like, but it's a start!  I have been busy non-stop for the past week. 


As for this week, I ran 4 miles this morning even though the schedule calls for cross-training on Mondays. I am going hiking tomorrow, which will count as my cross-training. :)  Here is the projected schedule for this week according to the Hal Higdon Plan:


Monday (6/25) - Cross training
Tuesday (6/26) - 3 Miles
Wednesday (6/27) - 5 Miles
Thursday (6/28) - 3 Miles
Friday (6/29) - Rest
Saturday (6/30) - 9 Miles


As noted above, I have a good start so far on this week. The tough days will be Saturday and Sunday, since I will be traveling.  I will keep you posted!

Here I Go Again....

It's been a while since I have "blogged" about anything, but summer is coming and I have a few half-marathons and a full marathon coming up in October! I am very excited about doing the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. I just looked at the schedule and if I start next week, that will give me 18 weeks of training, which is exactly how long the Hal Higdon training program is! So, I am going to try this again!

Here is what week 1 looks like and my plan for those days:

Monday (6/18) - Cross-training (Hmmm... Not sure about this one yet)
Tuesday (6/19) - 3-miles (I am meeting my friend Nancy at SCCC bike in the evening)
Wednesday (6/20) - 5 miles (Maybe I will go to Watervliet Bike Path)
Thursday (6/21) - 3-mile run (Either an early morning run or ARE's trail run in the evening)
Friday (6/22)- Rest (I am, however going on a hike - Maybe this can count as my cross-training?)  I will keep you posted.
Saturday (6/24) - 5-mile pace (Either post a morning run or sign up for an ARE group run)
Sunday (6/25)- 8-miles (Probably post my own run)

As for the rest of this week and weekend, the only thing on my agenda is the Father's Day 5K on Sunday. Wish me luck on keeping up with my schedule! I am aiming for consistency and a 12-minute pace on marathon day! That will put me at 5:15. I would be happy with 5:30 as well. Can I do it?  I am sure gonna try!

Hiking!

I'm thinking that I may need to change the title of my blog since I have not written anything about food or finances in a while! I have, however been participating in various fitness activities. I would like to get better about my running during the week, but John and I continue to run at least once every weekend and we just added hiking to the mix!

Yesterday we hiked to the top of Hunter Mountain. It started out as a mild day with the sun shining and about 50 degrees or so. It was sunny as we began climbing up the mountain and John kept commenting on what an easy trail and easy hike it was! It was a nice wide path, grassy in the center and fairly easy to walk.  John had mentioned casually that we would most likely be seeing a little bit of snow up at the top of the mountain and about a mile and a half into our hike he turned to me and said, "Did you see the snowflakes?" No, I did not. As we continued to climb, I certainly did see the snowflakes followed by snow on the ground! We were in a winter wonderland! Except it wasn't winter!  We thoroughly enjoyed it and kept snapping pictures as we laughed happily up the snow laden trail.  It was a bit slow going for me at times because as we continued, there were portions of the trail that were a bit more difficult due to the large incline but we managed nonetheless and made it to the top without incident other than the huge blister on my heel for which I placed a bandaid over and called it good. I definitely did not have the proper shoes on for hiking!

We made it to the top where the temperature was 36 degrees! As we reached the top, there was this large metal structure (also known as a viewing tower).  This structure absolutely terrified me because of my fear of heights. I did however climb up with John behind me the entire way. As we almost reached the top, I began to feel the wind and it frightened me a little more at which point, John allowed me to begin the descent back down the tower. I will try this again at some point when it is a clear and sunny day but I do appreciate his support on the tower never leaving my side. I did take a peek at the view and it was beautiful! Due to my fear and my desire to reach the ground, I unfortunately did not get a picture. One more reason to do it again!

We relaxed for a bit and had a few snacks. John found the privy for us off in a distance, which was helpful before beginning our 3 1/2 mile hike back to the car.  Going back down hill was tricky at times due to the snow and slippery rocks and leaves.  We tried to be careful and I was about to say, "It will be a miracle if neither one of us falls" but I kept that statement to myself until...... One of us fell. :(  Thankfully there were no serious injuries and it was overall a really great day!  It is the beginning of a new series of adventures for us.  It was so nice to be out in the fresh air exploring nature.

Things that we need to do before our next hike:
1) Purchase some hiking shoes (I have a huge painful blister on my heal due to the ratty old sneakers I wore.
2) Get a new backpack (Carried my decorative girly backpack that is not meant for hiking. LOL)
3) Bring a change of clothes (Weather can be unpredictable in the mountains)

Things to think about bringing for longer hikes:
1) Headlamp in case it gets dark before getting back to the car

That's it for now! I will post more after our next adventure!

Still Running and a PR! :)

Today I ran the Olesak Lumber Half Marathon with John in Westfield, MA. I wasn't feeling well before I started but as I got going I kind of got into a mind set and just kept going. There was a tough hill at mile 3, which I walked. I love having my GPS watch because it keeps me somewhat on track. I would say I did fairly well and was feeling good up until mile 7.  Luckily the course from that point was mostly downhill with a few upward slopes and a slightly bigger hill at mile 10. I was getting tired so I did a little bit of the run/walk method in order to get me through. It helped me to decrease my overall time per mile, which helped me reach my PR! :)  I have been continuing to exercise once a week, but didn't actually run this week. John and I are working on a plan to get our mileage in during the week. We have been meeting once a week on the Watervliet bike path, which we will continue to do. :)  We are also going to make a plan for better, healthier eating habits. Today was a bit difficult after the race as I experienced severe stomach pains and fatigue. Thankfully, I am feeling better now, but I need to make some dietary changes and change my plan of action for pre and post race eating.

I am happy to say that with each subsequent half-marathon I have run this year, I have continued to improve my overall time. I started with the Colchester Half Marathon in February with a time of 2:57:49, then did the D.C. Rock and Roll Half with a time of 2:49:01 and today I completed the Olesak Lumber Half with an approximate time of 2:41:00. Official results have not been posted. I am going by my GPS. Either way it is a PR. My last PR was at the Hangover Half Marathon in 2010 with a time of 2:45:06. This makes my first PR of any distance in 2012.  I would also like to say Thank you to John for all of his love, support, and encouragement today! :) He is always waiting at the finish for me and he made me feel very proud of my accomplishment today! Thanks honey!