January 28, 2018

Weekly Wrap Up: Week 2 of Half Marathon Training

Well, I now have two weeks of training under my belt!

This week was much better than the first. Now that I'm getting back in the habit of running, I have this "no excuses" attitude, just like I used to have back in the good ol' running days. I enjoy running just four days a week instead of five or six, because with the exception of Tuesday, I know that I don't have to run the next day.

This week on the schedule:

Tuesday (speed work):
     10 minutes easy
     10 minutes at tempo pace (hard enough where I want to stop, but where I know I could keep going)
     10 minutes easy

Wednesday: 3 miles easy

Friday: 2.5 miles easy

Sunday (long run): 5 miles easy



Tuesday - 10 min easy, 10 minutes tempo, 10 minutes easy

Treadmill run - This was the hardest run (which it should have been, because it's the only speed work I had). I decided to reduce the pace I was doing last week in order to make my easy running truly easy (and more enjoyable). So, my easy pace this week was at 5.0 on the treadmill (a 12:00/mi pace).

I have to say, it was so much nicer! I ran for 10 minutes at that pace and felt great. I wasn't sure what pace to do for my tempo, and I thought maybe 6.0. But when I increased the speed to 6.0, I felt like it might not be enough, so I bumped it up to 6.2.

I was definitely watching the clock for the full 10 minutes, because it was tough and I wanted that segment to be over. Finally, I dropped the speed back down to 5.0, and I desperately wanted to quit the workout at that point. But I continued, relieved that I didn't have to do another interval.

When I was at around 28:30 minutes in, I started to feel really nauseous. Like, "ohmygod, I hope I don't throw up right now" kind of nauseous. I didn't want to quit with just 90 seconds to go, so I struggled through it. The second I turned off the treadmill, I made a beeline to the bathroom and stood over the toilet on the verge of throwing up for probably about four minutes.

I never did throw up, and the nausea passed. Shows how out of shape I am! I've seen people on The Biggest Loser throw up from working out, but that's never happened to me before. Strangely, I felt satisfied after that workout. I felt like I worked hard!

Something to note (basically to myself) about the Garmin vs. treadmill: The timer on the treadmill is off. I believe the speed is correct, but the timer is set to match the distance + speed. My Garmin isn't calibrated to the treadmill, so, my stats are a little wonky. The Garmin showed that my 6.2 mph tempo mile was only a 10:42/mile. There is NO WAY that I was running 10:42. So, I'm not sure what to think. Basically, I just run until I hit my distance on both the Garmin and treadmill.



Wednesday - 3 miles easy

Treadmill run - This time, I set the treadmill at 5.0 mph and didn't touch it the whole time. I was curious what the Garmin would read. A speed of 5.0 mph is a pace of 12:00/mile. My Garmin read 12:02, 12:07, and then 12:13 for my three miles. Pretty close, but you would think that they'd all be the same.

I felt great during this run, though. My heart rate was 148, which is only a couple of beats per minute faster than ideal for an easy run.

This was just a screenshot from a video--I thought it was funnier than a typical selfie ;)



Friday - 2.5 miles easy 5 miles easy

Outdoor run - Jerry was off work, and asked if I wanted to do our three mile run together outside. The weather was really nice, so I said sure. Once we got outside and started running, I said we should just do our long run--it was so nice outside and I thought it would be awesome to get it done on Friday instead of Sunday.

So, we just kept going. We circled all the neighborhoods, which is my usual five-mile route. I didn't even feel tired when we were done! We were both so happy to have gotten our long run done. And we knew Sunday was going to be a busy day, so it would be easier to fit in our 2.5 miler instead of 5 miler on Sunday.


Sunday - 5 miles easy 2.5 miles easy

Outdoor run - Today was the first morning run I've done since I started running again. I've turned into an afternoon/evening runner; and today, it was really hard to get motivated to go out for a run in the morning. But, Jerry was off, and we decided to run outside together again.

It was colder than Friday, but it still felt amazing. I don't know that I'd ever done a 2.5 mile route before, so we just modified a three-miler in the hope that it was about 2.5. We did pretty good--we only had to go past our house for about a tenth of a mile at the end. And I found a penny on the ground just past our house, so it was worth it ;) (I still collect change when I run--between yesterday and today, I found five cents.)

It's so easy for me to speed up unintentionally while I'm talking during a run, and that happened a lot. I kept noticing that my breathing was getting harder, and then I would slow back down. In a couple more weeks, I'm might start utilizing my heart rate monitor alarm, so that I'm reminded to keep my heart rate low.




I can't believe I've done eight runs of my training so far. My five-miler this week was the longest run I've done since February 5th of last year! Each new long run will feel like a fresh new milestone (literally), and I'm excited about that.

I really enjoy running with Jerry, and I hope that we can at least continue to do our long runs together. Preferably outside. Sometimes it will be hard because of his work schedule, but we may be able to switch up days here and there to make it work. Training with a partner is so much more enjoyable!





I have a cute story about Eli. Eli is THE most compassionate, sweet, caring kid I've ever met. He's an anomaly, and I'm not just saying that because he's my kid.

My birthday was on Thursday, and when I woke up, Eli gave me this picture that he'd made for me. Sweet! But what made it even sweeter was the story behind it.

"Dear Mama: I hope you have a great birthday and I wanted you to know how much I love you and how much I appreciate the things you do for us!"

Whenever I tuck the boys into bed, I ask if they want their doors open or closed. Noah always says closed, Eli always says open. But on Wednesday, he said he wanted it closed. I thought it was odd, but I closed it. Then I went to my room for a while, probably 45 minutes or so. Then I went back to the boys rooms to turn off Eli's laser light thing (he likes to fall asleep with it on) and to open their doors.

So, I walked into Eli's room, turned off his light, then went back to my room and got ready for bed.

After Eli gave me the picture, he told me the story. He waited until I tucked him in and closed his door, and then he got up and turned on his desk light. He worked on making this picture for me for a long time. Then he heard me walking toward his bedroom, so he hurriedly shut off his light and dove into bed. When I walked in there, I had no idea!! Usually, I'm in tune with these things ;)

After I left his room, he snuck back out of bed and finished his drawing.

Later, I found a pile of about 15 papers where he'd drawn the heart part, but discarded it because it wasn't the way he wanted it. So he finally drew one that he liked. *sigh* He is so sweet.



Look who is getting SO so big!! I went to visit him today, because it had been a few weeks since I saw him last. Love this little man.



13 comments:

  1. I have never commented on a blog before, but as the daughter of a former firefighter, your comment about opening the bedrooms doors prompted me to comment here. Closed bedrooms doors literally save lives in the event of a fire. Please reconsider this habit and start closing all bedroom doors before going to sleep (in addition, of course, to having working smoke alarms inside and outside each bedroom). Here’s some additional information: http://abcnews.go.com/US/closing-bedroom-door-night-save-life-fire/story?id=50573063.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting! My dad was a firefighter, and he always drilled it into us to keep our doors open. I'll have to check out that link!

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    2. That was my first thought too! My husband is a fire fighter and I have seen many videos how fire is spread and how important it is to keep the doors shut.

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  2. I have heard my entire like to close doors at night because it is safer in case of a fire. A couple seconds on google will say the same.

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  3. I have the same problem with my Garmin not matching treadmills. Need on my effort, I always believe the treadmill more. I've stopped even wearing my Garmin on treadmills. I just log the distance and time manually in the Garmin app. I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem, I could never find any other complaints when googling it.

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  4. Whoops, typo! Need= based.

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  5. I think the key word here is "could". Closing the door "could" save a life but it also "could" cause a loss due to not being able to hear what's happening on the other side of the door. Just like anything else, example- air bags save lives but they can also cause a death. Just because it saved a life in one scenario, doesn't mean it's the best option in every scenario. Katie, please do what you feel comfortable doing and what works for your family.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I guess I just wonder “what if the fire starts in the bedroom?” But I’ve just done what I’ve always known. I never thought to look into it!

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  6. Oh and by the way, Eli is absolutely sweet! You have such amazing boys!

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  7. Omg, the story about Eli just melted my heart. I've always been on the fence about having kids but stories like that maybe makes me want to change my mind :) I could only hope to have a kid like that!!

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  8. Hi I really like the content and your true genuine attitude towards your goal!! but I have a question and I hope to receive any response. 2 of my friends have been doing this Habit and I saw the dramatic changes on their figures early! Will it be safe to follow these routines presented from the "truefitness"?

    It takes them just 2 minutes a day for this daily ritual. huhu I really want to get rid of my big belly.

    I had it here -- https://tinyurl.com/truefitnesshabit

    Please help sister.

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  9. What a sweetheart!!!
    I do agree that I cringed when I read about the open door, I have always heard to keep them shut, although I don’t shut mine because I am worried I wouldn’t hear the kids if they are sick or need something in the middle of the night.

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  10. Awwww...Eli is the sweetest!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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