Busy

I've kept up the running for three days. I've been helped by not having any plans Mon-Wed nights. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be tougher. I have plans tonight, so I'm going to leave work, run, and then do directly to my plans. I have an even tougher schedule tomorrow. My post-work plans don't leave me any window to run after work. I will need to either run before work, or at 10ish tomorrow night.

I will do it, though. I don't want to give $11 to bigots. I also promised myself and others that I would do it. I will probably try to take a dog with me tomorrow night, though. It's dark and cold that late at night and I'll feel safer with 80ish pounds of fur near me. I said that my minimum to consider it a run would be a 13 minute mile. I sure hope the dog can handle that pace.

I really hope that running with one dog will work, because it does not work with both of them at the same time. I have tried it a few times and they just try to kill me and each other the entire time. I can't get up any speed without risking tripping and falling. I think one of them might work, though. Plus, the dogs are a bit chubby, so running will help them, too.

Incentive

As a way of motivating myself to stick to my run streak, I have bet $99 on me. If I don't run every day, $11 each week that I miss that goal will go to Maggie Gallagher's group, iMAPP. This is an awful thought. Not only would I be out the money, but that money would go to someone who actively hates me. This is a modern way of using a stick as motivation.

I have a carrot already. Everyone has a carrot for motivation to work out. We all know it will make us feel better, lower our health care costs, increase longevity and many other positive outcomes. It's a bit harder to find a stick for working out, though. Most negatives for being lazy are not experienced immediately. No one wants to hire someone to physically threaten them for laziness, either. Luckily. StickK has come along to fix this.

It works on a simple concept. People set goals and can set financial penalties for not hitting those goals. The money can be sent to a random charity, a friend, a foe, or to a charity that makes your skin crawl. I don't have any foes, wouldn't mind donating to a friend or random charity, so I picked the stomach-turning charity option. The idea of Maggie Gallagher having any of my money makes me physically ill. That should motivate me to keep my run streak up.

This site lets you have a friend ref your commitment, so you could easily set it up as a bet on who will work out according to an agreement. It really looks like a good site. Not sure how they make money, though. Unless it's all still just a continuation of their acedemic study. Regardless, I now have a stick to help keep me motivated. The carrot is trying to get my running speed to improve so I can finish the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in under 4 hours.

Challenge #3

Today's challenge is to do challenge #2. Something I didn't do last week when I picked it. I will also be adding my running back into my schedule. Today will be my first day of running every day until the end of April.

Yes--a run streak. I'm setting my minimum distance at 1 mile in order to consider it a run. I am setting a maximum time of 13 minutes. Even if I end up walking much of it, that's a solid power walk. I will not break the run into shorter distances.

Now all I need is someone to take on the challenge with me. That will give me someone to compete against.

Any takers?

Treadmill

I am avoiding the winter temperatures and darkness by running on the treadmill. I don't like it at all, but will continue to use it until it gets warmer outside. It's a battle between two things I dislike and picking the one that's less awful and safer. Treadmills inside are much safer than running in the dark. It's also less hassle because I don't need a ton of winter clothing to protect myself. I can run in shorts and a singlet.

Most articles on running will tell you to put the incline at 1% grade to simulate running on flat terrain. Because the motor will carry you part of every step, you need the slight incline to overcome that assist. I have a run scheduled in February that will involve hills, something hard to find in Chicago, so I'm setting the treadmill on an incline of 2%. This is such a small number, but it was surprisingly tough. My first attempt at incline put it up to 15%, but that almost killed me. That made me do a bit of reasearch to understand what that number actually means. Each percentage point is 52.8 feet rise over 5,280 feet (mile) run. The Tour de France doesn't appear to have anything higher than 8%.

I ran a full 5K yesterday and it took me 34:30. I'm not sure if that's because of the grade, or because of it being a treadmill. Whenever I took the speed over 10 minute miles, I ended up too close to the front and hit it. I think that was because I was afraid of falling off the back. I know that fear kept me from getting as full of a stride as I would like. I was afraid that if I tried for a higher back kick, I wouldn't get my leg back in time and I would go shooting into the wall. I think I'd feel better if the treadmill were longer.

I think that more time spent on the treadmill will make me more comfortable, which should help me bring that time down to something closer to 30:00, if not lower. My goal for an outdoor 5K time at the end of April is 25:00. I know that running on an inclined treadmill is hard to translate to flat outdoor running, but any improvement in my time will be a good thing. I know I will get in a few outdoor runs during winter, but since the bulk will be on the treadmill, I will use that to gauge improvement.

Finances and Fitness

Many people use a lack of finances as an excuse to avoid fitness. Yes, being filthy rich would make it much easier to be fit. Expendable income could mean more free time to spend exercising. Money to spend on personal trainers, ideal equipment and a personal chef would be ideal. Unless you won the lottery, figuratively or literally, you don't get to have the ideal; you have to work within reality. That does not mean you have no hope of living a healthy, fit life, though. There are many, many ways to achieve fitness on a budget.

Walking: There is minimal cost to beginning a walking program. The only needs are a comfortable pair of shoes and socks. If it's cold outside, you would need winter wear, but it can be the exact same items you wear the rest of the time. There is no need to buy special clothing to begin a walking program. You don't even need to venture far from home, if at all. You can walk around the block, up and down your hallway, or around your yard.

Running: Just like walking, the only equipment needed are a good pair of shoes and socks. I do recommend going to a good shoe store and getting the shoes fitted for running. I would also try to avoid cotton socks, but sweat-wicking socks can be bought for about the same price as cotton. If you're a woman, you will also need a good sports bra, but if that's outside your budget, you can wear a good normal bra with a cheaper sports bra over it. Again, it's not ideal, but as long as it keeps the bouncing to a minimum, it will work. As with walking, you don't really need to venture very far. I have done interval training by running around my block repeatedly for 30 minutes.

Resistance: You can work most muscles without any weights, other than your body. Push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, crunches, squats, planks, and leg lifts are all exercises where you can use gravity and your body weight to challenge your muscles. There are about as many of these exercises as there are muscles in your body. For a few dollars, you can also buy resistance bands, which work like hand-weights, but cost less and take up less room. You can also use old, handled beverage containers filled with water as hand weights.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. If you want more cardio, you can buy a jumprope. You can also search online for fitness videos. There are yoga, Tai chi, stretching, and many other fitness videos available on youtube, netflix and cable's On Demand features. As always, the internet has as much bad information as good information, so you'll have to weed through the crap to get to the good stuff. I think it's worth it to get healthier, though.

Hustle or Hustled?

Most 5Ks are run as awareness and fundraising vehicles for charities. Larger races like the marathon and half marathon are corporate sponsored, but are done simply for the sake of runners; no one is making a profit. The 5K I ran yesterday, on the other hand was organized by a company designed to make money. This was the second for-profit race I've done this summer, in addition to the one I spectated, but I won't make this mistake again.

Yesterday's run was called the Santa Hustle 5K. I finished it in 26:16, a full 1:30 faster than my PR from this summer. I tweeted out that time, along with my shock, because I didn't feel that I had run that quickly. It turns out that the course, although certified, was about 1/5-1/4 of a mile short of a full 5K. The corrected distance of 4.65K seems to be the reality, but it's really going to be hard to know positively what the distance was, because the race organizers are covering their asses. They're issuing corporate statements that sound apologetic, without actually taking any blame. If I recalculate my pace based on this distance, my pace was 9:05 per mile, meaning I would have a 28:13 for a 5K.

I'm ok with that pace and time. It's slower than my last race, but not by much. The race went fine, so 28:13 seems reasonable. The first mile seemed like I was running slowly, nowhere near the 8:55 that my chronograph clocked between the start gate and the first mile marker. The field was too crowded to get any speed going, though. There was a 180 degree turn after about a mile and a half that immediately encountered the crowd-slowing hydration station. I ran the third "mile" a minute faster than my first or second mile, which seemed unlikely to me, especially considering I walked part of it while taking off my jacket.

Charity races tend to be capped at 2,000-4,000 people to make sure they run smoothly. For-profit races don't do that, because it would limit profits, so they end up with double the number of runners, if not even more. This leads to many problems with the race going off smoothly. One for-profit race this year had lines of 2-3 hours for packet pick-up because of the 40,000+ participants and poor planning. The other for-profit race I did this summer started 30 minutes late because of a vendor and people had to wait 10 minutes while a bridge lifted for a boat to pass, in the middle of their race. Those runners also had to dodge tourists during the last .2 miles of the course because it was held at a tourist attraction with no roped off course.

These races attract people because they have a clever concept and/or great swag. I received a Santa hat and beard yesterday, in addition to a long-sleeve tech shirt that looks like Santa's jacket. Others give out really expensive running jackets, sweatshirts and medals. They have much better marketing behind them, too. It makes sense; if you're making money, you can pay for a good ad campaign, which will lead to bigger profits. Charities don't want to spend money on marketing that could be better spent on their actual cause.

I don't want these for-profit races to disappear. I think they are a great gateway for new runners. People who may never consider running otherwise may be lured in by the fun concept and giveaways. If these races get more people into running, they serve at least one good purpose. Personally, I will just avoid them in the future. They aren't providing me with the product I actually want when I pay to run a race.

July 5Ks

I know I promised an update on how I did in my 5K Double-Header back in July. I am here to deliver, even if it's FOUR months late. My post might be late, but I wasn't late during the 5K Famous Racing Sausages Run/Walk at Miller Park. In fact, I passed most of the sausages, even though they had a good minute or two head start.

When trying to set a time goal, I finally settled on under 28 minutes total or faster than 9 minutes per mile. I finished in 27:37, which is 8:53 per mile. That was more than a full minute shaved off of my time from my PR 5K in April.

I've said it many times, but one of the reasons I love running is that the main competition is you on any prior day. I was not nearly as fast as the person who won the trophy for my age group (30-39) but I was about 4% better than I had been a mere 3 months prior to this. 4% might not seem like a huge improvement, but it's about 20 seconds faster per mile. I will take a 4% improvement every time.

I haven't run a 5K since that run, but I'm running one this weekend. I would love to see a 4% improvement for a finishing time of about 26:30. That would put me closer to my long-term goal time of 25:00. When I run races, I usually have a realistic goal and a reach goal. My reach goal will be 8 minute miles for a time of 25:00, but my realistic goal will be 27:00. That's not a full 4% improvement, but it's an improvement, which is always welcome.

I just looked at the best times for my age group and they're closer to 20:00. That's a pace of 6:26 per mile. I have never even run one mile faster than 7 minutes. I can't imagine running 3.1 of them at that pace. I'm sure some people would see that my goal of being 25% slower than the fastest runners of my age is "losing." I see it as realistic and competing against myself, not random strangers. It is possible that if I hit 25:00, I will evaluate my progress and aim to be faster than that.

I'm Back!!!!

I have neglected my blog for far too long. Instead of writing, I was running and training. It was all for a very good reason, but it's time that I got back to writing. I will still run and train, but also write. I promise to fill you in on some of the more exciting moments since July 27, but for now, I'll just post this picture.

5K Double Header

On Saturday, I will be running in two 5Ks. I cross the starting line of my first one at the Klement's Sausage House right by Miller Park in Milwaukee. That's at 8am. At 6:30pm I will cross the starting line of the second race on Lombardi Avenue by Lambeau Field. I am hoping for some big things from these races. I am postponing my 16 mile team run until Monday after work, so I want it to be worth it.

Last year, I ran the Lambeau Field 5K a week after the 16 mile run and I was still in pain. I probably had a stress fracture in my femur already, just didn't realize it. I still managed to finish the 5K in 33 minutes, but that was the last real run I had until November. That was a long time without running. I don't have any of those problems this year at all. I am not walking with a limp, and only have a slight tweak in one thigh, but only after I run.

I have never really said this before a race before, but I want a personal record (PR) on Saturday. The last 5K I ran was at the end of April and I finished in 28:43, for a 9:15 pace. That is my PR and it was almost 40 seconds faster than before. I did run a timed 3 miles a week after I set that PR and finished a bit faster than 9:15 per mile. I think I can run faster than that on Saturday. I don't think I can do it in both races, but in the morning one. I know that running at 6:30 after driving and an earlier 5K may slow me down.
I don't know what time I am setting as my goal. In reality, 28:42 would be great, because it would be my new PR. However, I know that won't make me truly happy. I shaved almost 40 seconds with my last PR, so 28:00 would be amazing. That would put me in the top 10% of my age bracket, something I never really imagined. I just have to average 9 minutes per mile. I think I can do that. It is only 3.1 miles.

After thinking about this for a while, I really want to break 28 minutes. I will be shooting for 9 minute miles. I've come close to that pace for that distance before, I can do it again. I will post tomorrow to let you know how I did.

Body Image vs. Comfort

Because I'm currently training for a marathon and half marathon, I wasn't able to avoid running during the heat of the last few weeks. I haven't been running as much as my schedule calls for, but I have been running at least twice a week. This has meant that I have been extra careful about hydration and not running as quickly as I normally would.

It has also led to me running shirtless on two occasions. This was harder to do than I would like to admit. The first time, I debated taking it off for about 10 minutes, or 1 mile. I was really, really hot, but taking off my shirt meant inviting eyes onto me. During that mile, I thought about my lack of six pack and tan. I thought about comments I've heard about others going out without a shirt. Finally, the heat and sweat won. The second week, most of my pace group took off their shirts, and I gave in to peer pressure and joined the crowd.

I still had to overcome by discomfort at being that exposed, but it was easier the second time. I was really comfortable physically, and too distracted by the heat to dwell on any personal, emotional discomfort. I think I'm just as annoyed with myself for being self-conscious as I am actually self-conscious. I wish I didn't care what others thought of my body. I wish I was as self-assured as I project.

I post about positive body image very often. I think I do that to convince myself as much as convincing anyone else. I believe that everyone should feel free to take off their shirt when it's over 100 degrees outside. No one should feel that they're too fat, too hairy, too pale, too old or too anything at all. If someone doesn't like how you look shirtless, they can look away. Now I need to work on convincing the nagging voice in the back of my head that those beliefs apply to me, too. To help me, I will read and reread the creed of the "Shirtless Runner" until I am more comfortable without a shirt. I will consider running the Chicago Undie Run when the details are settled. 

Speed

I know that I follow this advice, without even thinking of it. If you look at my mile splits on the Daily Mile widget at the bottom right, you'll see my last miles tend to be faster than the middle miles. Weirdly, the people in my pace group seem to follow this advice, too. We all speed up the last mile or two, even though we're not running slower than pace up to that point and don't discuss trying to finish early.

Even if You Suck

Source: finding-gymspiration.tumblr.com via Christi on Pinterest

I think many of us have some level of competence that is required before we will do something. It's something that only seems to afflict adults. All children dance, sing, paint and run. It's only once we develop self-consciousness that we stop doing some of those things in public. This is dumb. We should all dance, sing, paint and run. Who cares if someone sees us running slowly? If they're bothered by that, it's their problem. It was really hot on Saturday when I was getting in my 12 mile training run. I very quickly became annoyed with my shirt, so I took it off. I would have taken it off 5-10 minutes earlier, but I was worried about what my run companions would think or say. That didn't last long, because I realized that they wouldn't care. They made some friendly teasing comments when I first took off my shirt, but then seemed to forget about it. I know I did. If something makes you feel good and isn't hurting anyone else, DO IT!!!

Challenge

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is a concept most of us are familiar with, but defining it is still difficult. It's basically how we value ourselves. It is something that we hold internally, but it's built when we're children by our own actions and those of our parents. Unfortunately, many of us didn't build enough or a healthy self-esteem as children. It's really easy to blame this on our parents, but that doesn't fix the problem. Even if your mother never encouraged you and criticized everything you did, you're an adult now and need to build your own self-esteem.

It's easier to build a healthy self-esteem when you're a baby and have a blank slate to work with. It's harder when you're an adult and your brain has a lifetime of negativity to fall back on when you face a small set-back.   It may be easier to give up on a dream or goal and rely on those voices of negativity to tell you you didn't have a shot anyway. Just because it's harder to build self-esteem as an adult, doesn't mean it's impossible.

This is why I love running. Running has allowed me, as an adult to repair the self-esteem that my mother failed at building when I was a child. (Yes, it's easy to blame her, but I'm not resting on that blame. That's key.) Every  time I set out on a run is thirty minutes of building up my self-value. I don't look at it that way, but I know that's what's happening. I set many tiny goals and several larger goals during each run. When I'm getting really winded and want to walk, I try to run a bit more and set a landmark. Every time I can reach that landmark and/or exceed it, I have improved my view of myself. Reaching my overall distance and time goals does the same thing.

I've been running for a few years, and I know that I feel better about myself than I did when I began. I weigh about the same as I did a few years back, but I feel more confident in my skin. I am comfortable with how I look and with what my body can do. I'm even more comfortable when I don't reach a goal. I don't view it as insurmountable and quit. The set-back ins't the end, but quitting is. Failure to reach a goal on the first try isn't the end of everything. Failure is a set-back that can allow you to try again with a better plan of attack.

I am not promising you that running will make you feel better about yourself overnight. It may even reinforce some of those negative voices at first. If you stick with it and get better, you'll see that it's easier to believe you can stick with it and get better. It's a circle that may be hard to get started, but it keeps feeding itself. It's not just running that will do this, but any exercise program where you can set, meet and exceed goals. Do yourself a favor and get active.

Running Community

Sometimes the running community is really a "community." I see it in little ways all the time. Runners sharing war stories that have a moral or lessen within. People talking about their favorite gadgets or run routes. I've also seen it in bigger ways. Last year, a runner fell on the lakefront path. It was really hot that day, and many thought she had heat stroke. Everyone on the path stopped and ran to make sure she was ok. It turned out that she had tripped and skinned her knee. Until that was clear everyone forgot about their pacing and their chronographs and just focused on making sure their fellow runner was ok.

A similar event occurred in Tennessee this weekend, but on a much scarier scale. Near the last mile of an ultra-marathon, a runner on pace to reach his goal gave up on that to save another runner in distress. During the Strolling Jim 40 miler, which is a 41.2 mile race, Chris Estes noticed that a runner was in distress. It was near the 40.2 marker and he noticed that a runner had fallen down the embankment on the side of the road. The runner was unconscious and Estes stayed with him for about 30 minutes until an ambulance could arrive. That time kept him from crossing the finish line in under 7 hours, which was his goal. The race organizer did give him the sub-7 shirt that he clearly earned, even if his finishing time was 7:10.

These are the stories that help to override the frustration I feel at the end of races when the elite and fast runners treat the slow runners with a lack of respect. I know that's not intentional, just a lack of thought and consideration. I know that runners will help each other when it's really needed.

Marathon Training--Take 2

Just like last year, I am starting marathon training. I weigh about 10 pounds less than I did last year. I didn't really realize that until just now, so that was a pleasant surprise. I also am a bit faster than I was last year, so I should end up in a faster pace group.

In addition to being faster and lighter than I was last year, I'm also mentally better prepared. Last year, I hoped/assumed the group could get me to the race. This year, I know they can, but also understand how important it is for me to listen to my body and put in the effort during the week. I can't rely on the Saturday long runs to get me to my goal. I need to run during the week and do all my cross-training. If you see the training widget on the bottom right side of my blog, you will see those miles increasing much more quickly than it has the last few months. I already rode my bike for 30 minutes yesterday and am ready to tackle my 30-45 minute run tonight. This is in addition to the physical therapy exercises that I do twice a day, every day. With all of that exercise and trying to plan a large fundraiser for the charity training me for the marathon, it feels like my entire day is all about running. I'm ok with that balance.

Personal Record

I love running. I love the egalitarian nature of the sport. I love that most races are held at breakfast time so I can feel that I've accomplished a full day's worth of activity before noon. I love that when I'm in a race, my main competition is me in the last race. There may be people that seem to be right next to me the entire course and I want to pass them, but they're more of a rabbit, not competition. That last part is my favorite. I ran a 5K yesterday and finished in the top third of my 35-39 age bracket. That's better than my normal middle of the pack finish. I finished in the top third of all women; that's also better than my normal placement. That's all nice, and does show me that I am improving. Better than all of that is the fact that I ran :39 faster than my prior best time in a 5K. That is a victory.

I love other sports, but the objective nature of running really appeals to my analytical nature. Hours can be devoted to whether the Green Bay Packer team of 1996 was better than the team in 2010, but there is no way to know the answer. I can tell you, with proof, that I ran more quickly yesterday than I did in 2010. I can argue that I ran farther yesterday than I ran in 2010, but that is impossible to prove, since I didn't use GPS either time. This is one of the main reasons I love running, but it's also the hardest to really believe. We are taught from an early age that if you're not first, you're last. I don't think it's expressed directly that way very often, but that's the message given from most competitions. People can name the World Series or Super Bowl winners, but not the teams they beat. We can name presidents, but not the other candidate. Unless you're an elite runner, it's different. You can name your time, but not the winner's name or time.

Running Dreams

I saw this shortly after I sent out my last post. I think this is an adorable way of showing what I was trying to say.

Appearance

I read an article today that says appearance keeps women from exercising in public. It says that 90% of women have to battle self-image issues before going outside to exercise. That makes me sad. I think that clothing makers could help with this by making attractive work-out clothing in ALL sizes. I also think that we could help by encouraging others to be active and join us when we're out in the world being active.

Individually, we need to say "Fuck It." I know that when I run, I look like an angry badger, but I feel like a gazelle. I will continue to run regardless of how I look to others, because feeling like a gazelle is great. I can look at the picture of me running below and find many, many things to criticize, but I will focus on the fact that I was out running and not just sitting on the couch.

Eddie Izzard, part II

Eddie Izzard was my inspiring person a year ago. I'm still inspired by him and love that he's still out there running. He's currently running barefoot and whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifent to Ethiopia to train with the most accomplished barefoot runner ever: Haile Gebrselassie

I highly recommend you read Izzard's article on the meeting. It's funny but also informative. Turns out that Haile may have started running barefoot as a child, but doesn't advocate for it now.