My race is only 4 short days away! It's hard to believe that the last 9 weeks have already passed. 9 weeks ago I was just opening up to the idea that I might try running again, and now I'm excited to run my first 5k! I'm feeling much stronger, and really enjoy running. It's crazy to see the change that happens when you really push your body. I'm amazed at the way that the Lord created our bodies to adapt, and at how strong He meant for us to be. I had no idea how strong I could be until I faced my weaknesses and pushed through. :)
Here's to growing and getting stronger - physically and in Christ! Woohoo!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
12.5 minute mile (I think...)
Oh - and I wanted to add that I'm estimating that Sheri and I ran at a 12.5 minute mile pace today. Based on the mileage we recorded from www.mapmyrun.com and the time we ran - I think we were actually running a bit faster than that. We spent at least 30 seconds or a minute running in place at a stoplight -which cuts down on overall mileage and makes us look a little slower... but not much. :)
I'm looking forward to reporting my race time... I've heard people generally run faster in a race because they're so excited. Hopefully I'll be able to pace myself just enough that I don't just fall over before I hit the finish line. Hehe.
I'm looking forward to reporting my race time... I've heard people generally run faster in a race because they're so excited. Hopefully I'll be able to pace myself just enough that I don't just fall over before I hit the finish line. Hehe.
I'm on my final week - starting Tuesday!
It's hard to believe that I completed week 8 today - but I'm proud to say that I've officially been running for 8 whole weeks! And while there have been many times I've wanted to give up (usually right before I start feeling dizzy) I can say that I've run EVERY step of my training program. :) I think those "missing" 8 minutes from Week8Day1 will always haunt me (OCD anyone?)... but I can say in good faith that I ran every step that I thought I was supposed to... lol. *sigh.
This week I will be doing 30 minutes of continuous running, and the following week I'll officially be "graduated" from the C25K program. What better way to celebrate than by running my first race? Less than two weeks until my 4th of July race with the Oregon Road Runners Club! Yay!
Please email me if you'd like to come support me. It's in the morning (but not super early) so you wouldn't miss out on any bbqs or fireworks. :)
This week I will be doing 30 minutes of continuous running, and the following week I'll officially be "graduated" from the C25K program. What better way to celebrate than by running my first race? Less than two weeks until my 4th of July race with the Oregon Road Runners Club! Yay!
Please email me if you'd like to come support me. It's in the morning (but not super early) so you wouldn't miss out on any bbqs or fireworks. :)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A victory pretending to be a failure...
I'm in week 8! Today was my first 28 minute run... or it was supposed to be. I've got a great story to share with you about feeling like I "failed" but then realizing I'm in way better shape than I imagined. :)
I'll start by sharing that Daniel's Aunt Pat (Harriet's sister) is visiting from Florida, and was kind enough to join me for my run today. We decided to run at Glendoveer partly to avoid the "full-court press" from the gym salespeople (inevitable when you have a guest visit with you), and partly because it sounded like fun. I know that Glendoveer is a little over 2 miles long and have walked it often with some of my girlfriends, so it is a familiar and fun trail. Especially on a beautiful morning!
We headed out and I turned on my Week 8 mix from DJ Steveboy (found him through the C25K website - check him out at www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.htm). Apparently techno is my favorite running music! I rely on the recording for each week to tell me when to walk and when to run (it has tones that go up or down, and the bpm of the music changes when it's time to run). I knew that this week had a 5 minute warm-up, 28 minutes of running, and a 4.5 minute cool down walk. As we approached the end of the trail I was surprised that the 28 minutes wasn't up yet - I've been completing about a mile and 3/4 during my previous runs and thought I should be close to be done. I peeked at my ipod to see how much time was left over, which I don't usually do. I like to be oblivious to how much time is left so that it doesn't overwhelm me. Plus, it's a nice mental discipline to just focus on the moment instead of focusing on getting done. When I peeked at the time left over, the ipod displayed 5 minutes and I assumed that meant we only had 30 seconds left... yippy! So I kept running and kept watching the countdown tick off... 4:30 came and went... then 4:20... I assumed that I'd missed the tones telling me the run was over and announced that we were done. YAY! We did 2 miles of running - woohoo!
When we got back in the car I was checking out the track and trying to figure out where I'd missed it. Sometimes if I don't have the music up loud enough I don't hear it. Call me tone deaf, or maybe a little too distracted... I like to consider myself a zen master. :P
I noticed that the full track was only about 32 minutes long, which didn't add up. A minute and a half of an intro from DJ PodcasteyGuy, a 5 minute warm up walk, 28 minutes of running and a 4.5 minute cool down should have been 38ish minutes... oh no! I didn't finish my run!
For those of you who know how selectively OCD I can be, you're probably already laughing. The thought that I didn't complete my run makes me feel like I should go and do it over. I wasn't sure how short I'd cut the run until I got home and downloaded the track again and listened to all the transitions. It turns out I'd cut my run off EIGHT minutes short... AH!
So here I was, sitting and beating myself up for "falling behind" two weeks - when it occured to me that I'd run two miles in those 20 minutes. OH! That means apparently I'm comfortably running a 10 minute mile and had no idea! "Comfortably" might be an exageration... it was my first trail run of this training session and I was whining for it to be done 8 minutes early... but I had no idea we were running so fast.
So - the bad news is I only did 2/3 of my first run of this week. The good news is - I'm getting faster! I'm going to choose to let this run "count," rather than being OCD and making myself do it over. I've got the correct track completely installed on my ipod now so that when I run later this week I don't have to worry about it. Stay tuned for more updates - I'm sure I'll have some great stories to share with you guys after my next run... jumping from 20 to 28 minutes is going to make for some funny "mental game" commentary. :)
I only have 5 runs left in the Couch to 5k training program, and less than three weeks until my first race! I can't believe I'm almost finished! After that 5k I will start training for a 10k, and then it's on to the Half Training. Wee!
I'll start by sharing that Daniel's Aunt Pat (Harriet's sister) is visiting from Florida, and was kind enough to join me for my run today. We decided to run at Glendoveer partly to avoid the "full-court press" from the gym salespeople (inevitable when you have a guest visit with you), and partly because it sounded like fun. I know that Glendoveer is a little over 2 miles long and have walked it often with some of my girlfriends, so it is a familiar and fun trail. Especially on a beautiful morning!
We headed out and I turned on my Week 8 mix from DJ Steveboy (found him through the C25K website - check him out at www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.htm). Apparently techno is my favorite running music! I rely on the recording for each week to tell me when to walk and when to run (it has tones that go up or down, and the bpm of the music changes when it's time to run). I knew that this week had a 5 minute warm-up, 28 minutes of running, and a 4.5 minute cool down walk. As we approached the end of the trail I was surprised that the 28 minutes wasn't up yet - I've been completing about a mile and 3/4 during my previous runs and thought I should be close to be done. I peeked at my ipod to see how much time was left over, which I don't usually do. I like to be oblivious to how much time is left so that it doesn't overwhelm me. Plus, it's a nice mental discipline to just focus on the moment instead of focusing on getting done. When I peeked at the time left over, the ipod displayed 5 minutes and I assumed that meant we only had 30 seconds left... yippy! So I kept running and kept watching the countdown tick off... 4:30 came and went... then 4:20... I assumed that I'd missed the tones telling me the run was over and announced that we were done. YAY! We did 2 miles of running - woohoo!
When we got back in the car I was checking out the track and trying to figure out where I'd missed it. Sometimes if I don't have the music up loud enough I don't hear it. Call me tone deaf, or maybe a little too distracted... I like to consider myself a zen master. :P
I noticed that the full track was only about 32 minutes long, which didn't add up. A minute and a half of an intro from DJ PodcasteyGuy, a 5 minute warm up walk, 28 minutes of running and a 4.5 minute cool down should have been 38ish minutes... oh no! I didn't finish my run!
For those of you who know how selectively OCD I can be, you're probably already laughing. The thought that I didn't complete my run makes me feel like I should go and do it over. I wasn't sure how short I'd cut the run until I got home and downloaded the track again and listened to all the transitions. It turns out I'd cut my run off EIGHT minutes short... AH!
So here I was, sitting and beating myself up for "falling behind" two weeks - when it occured to me that I'd run two miles in those 20 minutes. OH! That means apparently I'm comfortably running a 10 minute mile and had no idea! "Comfortably" might be an exageration... it was my first trail run of this training session and I was whining for it to be done 8 minutes early... but I had no idea we were running so fast.
So - the bad news is I only did 2/3 of my first run of this week. The good news is - I'm getting faster! I'm going to choose to let this run "count," rather than being OCD and making myself do it over. I've got the correct track completely installed on my ipod now so that when I run later this week I don't have to worry about it. Stay tuned for more updates - I'm sure I'll have some great stories to share with you guys after my next run... jumping from 20 to 28 minutes is going to make for some funny "mental game" commentary. :)
I only have 5 runs left in the Couch to 5k training program, and less than three weeks until my first race! I can't believe I'm almost finished! After that 5k I will start training for a 10k, and then it's on to the Half Training. Wee!
Monday, June 8, 2009
I ran over two miles today without realizing it!
Today was a big day! My son turned 1 yesterday (the 6th) and we had a very fun birthday party for him. Then this morning we all slept in until it was time to go running. Sheri and I did the 25 minute run today and ran 2 1/4 miles - AH! How do I know how far we ran in that time? Because I use this great little site called www.mapmyrun.com which allows you to map your run (hence the name). We did it! 2.25 miles!
Only .76 more to go before I'm comfortably running a 5k! Woohoo! And there is now less than a month until my very first race - I'm so excited!
When I was running today, I kept thinking about the fact that my legs were burning and that I was very uncomfortable. Running is teaching me some great truths;
1.) Making the "comfortable" choice is how I ended up weighing 200lbs...
2.) Being uncomfortable is good for me!
3.) If I'm uncomfortable - and I know I'm safe - the best thing I can do is keep doing what I know I'm supposed to do!
For some reason thinking about being "comfortable" while running connected to the whole idea of "safety." I'm learning the difference between "this is uncomfortable... but it's good for me" and "this hurts, something is wrong." Two months ago I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between those messages! It occurred to me in a very practical way that just because you FEEL safe, doesn't mean you ARE safe. My "comfy" choices over the last several years are what led me to be a 200lb woman at the beginning on my first pregnancy. They also led me to be a chubby Mama with ridiculously high stress levels, crazy blood sugar, high blood pressure, and stress contractions. I "felt" like I was doing just fine - but the truth is I was completely disconnected from my body. I had no idea how to recognize the difference between hunger and boredom/loneliness/frustration/etc.
I am very thankful for the things I'm learning, and looking forward to teaching these lessons to Ethan someday. :) I don't know how the Lord is going to work in his life to teach him that trust and true safety are not always comfortable, but I do know that He will do it!
Lord, help me to remember when I am feeling uncomfortable that it is not time to quit. Help me remember that "feeling" safe doesn't mean I am safe, and to always turn to You. I know that You are the one who guides and protects and strengthens me - help me remember that when You lead me through difficult lessons.
Only .76 more to go before I'm comfortably running a 5k! Woohoo! And there is now less than a month until my very first race - I'm so excited!
When I was running today, I kept thinking about the fact that my legs were burning and that I was very uncomfortable. Running is teaching me some great truths;
1.) Making the "comfortable" choice is how I ended up weighing 200lbs...
2.) Being uncomfortable is good for me!
3.) If I'm uncomfortable - and I know I'm safe - the best thing I can do is keep doing what I know I'm supposed to do!
For some reason thinking about being "comfortable" while running connected to the whole idea of "safety." I'm learning the difference between "this is uncomfortable... but it's good for me" and "this hurts, something is wrong." Two months ago I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between those messages! It occurred to me in a very practical way that just because you FEEL safe, doesn't mean you ARE safe. My "comfy" choices over the last several years are what led me to be a 200lb woman at the beginning on my first pregnancy. They also led me to be a chubby Mama with ridiculously high stress levels, crazy blood sugar, high blood pressure, and stress contractions. I "felt" like I was doing just fine - but the truth is I was completely disconnected from my body. I had no idea how to recognize the difference between hunger and boredom/loneliness/frustration/etc.
I am very thankful for the things I'm learning, and looking forward to teaching these lessons to Ethan someday. :) I don't know how the Lord is going to work in his life to teach him that trust and true safety are not always comfortable, but I do know that He will do it!
Lord, help me to remember when I am feeling uncomfortable that it is not time to quit. Help me remember that "feeling" safe doesn't mean I am safe, and to always turn to You. I know that You are the one who guides and protects and strengthens me - help me remember that when You lead me through difficult lessons.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
It's On!
I'm officially tracking my mileage for the "Mama Sue Slo-Serb" Fundraiser. :) So far this month (which is only, like 4 days old) I've put in 1.75 miles on my Tuesday run, and 2 miles on my Thursday run. I'm planning on doing 2.25 miles on Sunday - for a total of 6 miles this week. Wee!
I've had several inquiries about pledging (how, how much, etc) but no official pledges yet. Please forward my blog to anyone that you think would be interested in supporting Coram Deo's Slovenia-Serbia English Camp team by pledging "money for miles" that I run in June. :) And please consider supporting me in my training by supporting the Slo-Serb team!
Please email me if you have questions or want to pledge!
You can email me at beccasuester@gmail.com
Stay tuned!
I've had several inquiries about pledging (how, how much, etc) but no official pledges yet. Please forward my blog to anyone that you think would be interested in supporting Coram Deo's Slovenia-Serbia English Camp team by pledging "money for miles" that I run in June. :) And please consider supporting me in my training by supporting the Slo-Serb team!
Please email me if you have questions or want to pledge!
You can email me at beccasuester@gmail.com
Stay tuned!
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