Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 4

I flipped this photo to reverse the mirror image--this shirt was one of my "projects of the week". I love doing reverse appliqué! It's super easy and it's so fun to see the design revealed as you snip away. (The PURRVANA wasn't my idea; I got inspiration from Pinterest. But I love it! Also, can you believe it's been 32 YEARS since Kurt Cobain died?!)

Time seems to have slowed down quite a bit over the last couple of weeks, and it feels nice. Usually, I feel like I just blink and it's a month later. The only time that time seemed to slow down was when I was running ;)

Speaking of running, I reached a mile this week! I'm choosing to celebrate that, because I truly feel like a beginner again and a mile is a big deal for beginners. My first run (meaning, a month ago; not back in 2010) was 0.41 miles at a 13:01/mi pace and I felt like I was going to DIE. This week, I noticed that it felt *slightly* easier. Strong emphasis on slightly.

Thursday- My previous run had been 0.90 miles, so I decided to aim for 0.95. It was only 60 degrees outside, and I think that made a significant difference in how I felt. Since I was feeling relatively good, thought it would be a nice opportunity to go for my first mile. And I did--I finished 1.0 miles in 12:25 with an average heart rate of 153 bpm.

Saturday- It was on the cool side again, and I felt pretty much the same as Thursday. I had no idea what route to run--I can tell you 20 different three-mile routes from my house, but for these shorter runs, I'm basically guessing each time I go out. On Saturday, I figured I would do 1.10, but I did a terrible job guessing and had to run past my house. I turned around too soon and was at 1.04, so I just stopped there instead of entertaining my neighbors' Ring cameras for the third time. Ran 1.04 miles at a 12:38/mi pace and average heart rate of 155 bpm.

Tuesday- I went out at 6:30 and it was about 70 degrees (not terrible) but the air was thick with humidity. I ran about as slowly as I could, hoping to feel good throughout. It actually ended up feeling the best of all my runs so far! Still not easy, but I didn't feel completely spent toward the end. I ran 1.10 miles at a 12:42/mi pace and average heart rate of 153.

When I look back at my first run, my average heart rate and max heart rate are both significantly lower than yesterday's, but I think that might be because the duration was so short. It was only five minutes to start, so my heart rate didn't have much time to build up. Once I reach my three-mile goal, I'd like to work on lowering my average heart rate. Ideally, I'll be able to run at my MAF rate of 136 bpm; at my MAF rate was when I didn't dread running because it felt so easy. I would love to feel like that again.  

Anyway, as you can see, I've added a little to each run and four weeks later, I'm up to 1.10 miles. If I continue at about this rate, I should be able to start three-milers in October--the best time of year to run!

This was the last week of Jerry's and my beans and greens experiment. Since we started this for health reasons, the purpose of the beans and greens was to get a lot of fiber via whole foods--and beans and greens are basically the perfect whole-food high-fiber meal. I'll write more about this in a separate post. I made a big variety of versions of beans and greens, so I'll post photos and recipes/links with all that. Now the problem is that I have to figure out what recipe each photo was for! I should have written it all down.

I wish I'd thought of this beans and greens thing earlier, because holy cow--the weight is dropping off quickly.

I was down 3.2 pounds this week. In the last four weeks, I've lost 14.6 pounds--I'm more than stunned!  These are the factors that have been working for me:

*I'm vegan for the animals, but a vegan diet is probably the only reason I didn't get back up to 250+ pounds over the last couple of years. (There are a lot of vegan junk foods, however, so it's easy to gain weight, vegan or not.)

*I quit eating sweets several months ago. My sweets-eating was getting out of control, so I made a bet with a friend where I would lose quite a bit of money if I ate sweets before the end of August. It was rough at first--it actually took much longer than I thought it would to get rid of the cravings--but now I have zero cravings at all for sweets. I literally don't even think about them (and believe me, that is CRAZY TALK). I mean, my blog is Runs for *Cookies*! Even after this bet is over, I don't want to eat even a single cookie, because I'm like an addict and I just lose all control when attempting moderation.

*Eating a ton of (natural) fiber. Whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit. (That literally looks like a line from the health food books I love to hate.) In the beans and greens post, I'll write a little more about the specifics; my breakfast plays a big role in my fiber intake. My diet sounds extremely boring, I know; but my spice collection is huge and just by changing out spices, the same meal can taste completely different. My diet is far from boring (in my eyes, anyway).

*Not snacking. This wasn't a "rule" I made; I just naturally fell into it when I quit eating sweets and started eating very filling meals. The fiber makes a big difference--it's impossible to eat a high fiber meal very quickly, so meals are longer and more filling. I eat dinner at about 5:00-ish, and I'm not hungry again all evening (I go to bed at 9:00). Most of the time, I don't eat lunch; but if I'm hungry, I'll eat something (usually a small portion of dinner leftovers). 

*Cutting way back on salt. I've never had high blood pressure, so I never paid much attention to sodium intake. Since I've been eating only whole foods this month, however, my sodium intake was cut drastically. I also scaled back on how much salt I cook with. I've noticed that my weight doesn't fluctuate much at all day-to-day and I think the sodium plays a big part. I used to swing 3-4 pounds overnight sometimes, depending on my dinner!

That's all I can think of right now. Overall, I think the switch to whole foods has had the most impact on my weight this month. My body feels *so* much better, too, and it's only been four weeks!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 3

It's hard to believe it's only been a week since my last post, because this has felt like the longest week ever. Usually time goes by unbelievably fast!

Posting these Wednesday Weigh-Ins again has been so helpful in getting back on track with my diet and exercise. Getting started was the hardest part, but now that I feel like I'm in a good groove, I feel pretty determined to see it through. And the fact that I saw such good progress in the first couple of weeks was motivating, too.

Running is still HARD. Of course, I don't expect that it'll feel like it did back when I was running regularly and/or training for races. But I just hope it starts to feel easier as I continue to build mileage, because wow, am I out of shape.

This week:

Wednesday- I think I wrote about this last week. Ran 0.80 miles, 12:46/mi pace, average heart rate of 150 bpm.

Friday/Saturday- When I woke up on Friday morning, I let Joey outside and when I opened the door, I smelled smoke really strongly. I thought maybe there was a fire in the neighborhood, but it was 3:00 in the morning and very quiet; I would have heard if there was something like that going on. Still, it was strong enough that I woke Jerry. He told me it was from the Canadian wildfires.

When the sun came up, the sky was so hazy looking. The visibility was terrible. I couldn't even see the trees at the other side of the marsh across the street, which only happens when it's *very* foggy outside. I looked at the weather app, and the air quality was piss-poor (and yes, the smoke was from the wildfires).

This is where the "old Katie" started to nag me. A few weeks ago, I told myself I would run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; since "old Katie" had a habit of being very all-or-nothing, it would have felt like I somehow failed if I chose not to run on Friday due to the fires. But I could hear my therapist's voice in my head telling me that I was only practicing self-care; running in such bad quality air would definitely not be taking care of myself.

Still, I was worried that I was subconsciously using it as an excuse to procrastinate or skip my run. Trying to let "old Katie" go, I ultimately decided that I'd skip the run Friday and try for Saturday; if the air was still terrible, I'd even put it off again. The hard part was simply the change in plans--I thrive on routine--but this is an obstacle that I've needed to work on for a long time. A change in plans doesn't have to offset my goals.

It rained Friday night, which helped clear the smoke quite a bit; on Saturday morning, it was much better. I headed out before I could change my mind, aiming for anything more than 0.80 miles (my previous run). It felt hard, like all of the runs have felt so far, but maybe slightly less hard than before. I ran 0.85 miles with a 12:43/mi pace, average heart rate of 155 bpm. This is interesting, because my previous run's heart rate was 150 bpm and I felt HORRIBLE, but at 155 bpm for this one, I felt (slightly) better.

Tuesday- (I'll explain below why I didn't run Monday) I set out to run anything more than 0.85 miles. From the very beginning, my body felt heavy and I could have sworn I was running backwards by how slow it felt. Since I couldn't care less what my pace is, I just focused on trying to reach the distance. I truly thought I might have to stop midway, but after half a mile, I could "see" the finish line and that was enough to make me push on. I was going to stop at 0.86 miles, but I was practically in front of my house, so I just continued until hit 0.90.

Despite feeling terrible, I'd run 0.90 miles with a 12:34/mile pace and average heart rate of 154 bpm. Since I was deliberately going very slowly to try to avoid getting to the point where I can't breathe, I was really surprised to see my pace was faster. So maybe I am improving a little, just not in the way I hoped. (Like I said, I don't care about my pace as much as I do the distance and especially the *feeling*; I ultimately want to be able to run three miles and have it feel easy again.)

The reason I ran Tuesday instead of Monday was because Jerry and I spontaneously decided on Sunday morning to go for a bike ride at the Metropark (this led to sore hips and thighs). A spontaneous bike ride is *extremely* unusual for us. Ever since lockdown, we sort of got into the habit of being far less active in our free time. We've never been one of those couples that goes out kayaking, cycling, running, etc. every weekend (that would be great, but it's never been us).

In fact, I couldn't even remember the last time I rode my bike. Three years ago? Five? Jerry even got our bikes tuned up last summer and we never. took. them. out. So, when I was feeling kind of antsy on Sunday morning, I told Jerry that I felt like *doing* something--I didn't know what that meant, just that I had some energy to burn. He suggested going for a bike ride (probably not even being serious) but I actually thought that sounded like a good idea. And now that he has a truck, we're able to easily take our bikes somewhere to ride (we don't have sidewalks or bike paths near home, and it's pretty dangerous to ride on the roads).

We parked in the same place that Jessica and I used to park for our long runs when we were marathon training. One direction of the path leads into the Metropark, and round-trip is 10 miles (I'm surprised I remembered that, considering I haven't done a long run in probably seven or eight years).

It wasn't too hot or sunny, which is why I ended up really enjoying it (if it had been sunny, I probably wouldn't have gone). There were a lot of people out walking, biking, fishing... it was rarely busy when I used to run that route, so it was nice to see people out being active. And it was inspiring to me to make me want to be more active, "just for fun".

We took our time and chatted the whole way, and we really enjoyed it. We stopped for a picture on the bridge where we'd had our first kiss back in 1999!

Remember that time I went for a long bike ride with my helmet on backwards? Hahaha, Jerry never lets me forget it.

We both said we should go again next weekend; the whole thing, including the drive, only took about two hours and it set a good mood for the rest of the day.

Anyway, I feel good about my activity for the week. I did all three runs, increasing the distance (just slightly) each time; and I did exercise when I didn't even *have* to ;)

As far as my diet... three weeks in, and I've still been making some variation of beans and greens for dinner. I usually cook every other day; I'll make four portions and we eat it two days in a row. It's so odd not having to feed kids! Of course they're welcome to eat what I cook, but beans and greens aren't exactly the most enticing for 20- and 22-year old boys.

If I were cooking for just myself, I would eat dahl literally every day, but I've been making a variety of things to keep it interesting. I've been taking pictures and at the end of the month, I'll do a post of all the variations I've made. I honestly think that the beans and greens are what is making my weight drop like it is. We haven't had any processed/convenience food (for a while, Jerry was obsessed with breakfast burritos--tofu scramble with potatoes, peppers, vegan cheese, and chopped vegan breakfast "sausage" on a tortilla--and we ate it way too frequently).

The beans and greens are so filling that I don't even have thoughts of snacking after dinner. The sodium reduction alone is probably responsible for the large drop in what I assume was water weight. After last week's large loss on the scale, I assumed this week would be negligible; but once again, I was pleasantly surprised to see the scale moving along in a downward direction.

I was at 159.6 last week, and this morning I weighed 157.4.

It feels SO good to see progress. My poor food choices over the last couple of years had been hanging over my head and just felt so heavy all the time. But I guess I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to change it. I want to keep this momentum and make some permanent (healthy) habits!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 2

Mirror selfies are the worst--so awkward!

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than I am that I have kept up with this for two weeks, haha. Knowing that I had committed to posting here on Wednesdays has actually been really helpful, though--now I remember why I liked the accountability (and also hated it sometimes).

This week hasn't been eventful at all, so this is going to just be a quick recap and weigh-in.

Jerry and I have still been eating some form of beans and greens every day for dinner, and I really love it. I don't think my digestive system has EVER been this happy! To find recipes/ideas, I've basically just been choosing bean dishes and then adding greens whether the recipe says to or not. Dr. Greger's cookbooks, How Not to Die Cookbook and How Not to Diet Cookbook, have a lot of good recipes that include beans and greens, too.

I had a container of salad greens that I bought with the intention of having salad before dinner every day, but didn't end up doing that. Next time, I need to make my dressing before buying the greens--otherwise, I get lazy and don't feel like getting out the blender and all the ingredients to make dressing. I didn't want to waste the greens, though, and I wondered if I could incorporate them into the beans and greens. (This was a mesclun/spring mix, so it included some red and green leaf lettuce; and cooking lettuce seemed really weird to me.)

When I googled it, I was very surprised to see it's actually super common to add lettuce to soup and other hot dishes! I made creole beans and added several handfuls of the mesclun mix (chopped) while it was cooking. It all wilted just like any other green and I honestly wouldn't have known what the heck kind greens were in there. We ate it with red rice and it was delicious!

Of course, this morning I happened to read that there is a big outbreak of some parasite in fresh produce, causing cyclosporiasis (main symptom is explosive diarrhea, can last weeks). And guess which of the 34 states who are reporting cases has the highest number? Correct, it's Michigan. Particularly, my county and two bordering it. And the most likely source for it? Lettuce mixes. Naturally.

It can't be killed with the typical chemicals, bleach, vinegar, or from freezing, but cooking food to at least 158 F will kill it. So maybe being too lazy to make salad dressing saved my ass (literally) this time. Jerry and I are going to Eastern Market (a farmer's market) in Detroit this weekend, so I'll buy a bunch of greens there. Collard greens freeze really well.

There is also a Vegan Fest in Detroit on Saturday! Other than my friend Bonnie, who lives in West Virginia, I don't know any other vegans. I'm excited to go check it out and talk to some of the vendors, and not feel like "the weirdo" with crazy harebrained ideas, like choosing not to eat animals ;) If anyone else is planning to go, let me know and I'd love to say hello.

[I started this post by saying it would be short and to the point. Have I *ever* done that?!]

Anyways, my food has been great this week--tons of fiber, beans and greens for dinner, lots of water. No sweets or snacking after dinner. Eating a filling dinner has helped a ton in cutting out the snacking.

As far as my return to running...

It's been SO HARD. I've been doing what I planned (three days a week, only goal is to run farther than the time before, in order to build my endurance up to three miles again). I am still just so stunned at how hard running feels. I had forgotten what it's like to be a true beginner, and to say it's humbling is an understatement. It's also been super hot and humid over the last couple of weeks. I've been doing my runs in the morning, but it's still not very hospitable.

-Last Wednesday, I did 0.63 miles at 13:04/mi. Average heart rate of 148 bpm.

-Friday, I had a VERY hard time. I kept telling myself to just go slowly, I can reach 0.64 miles (just slightly more than Wednesday). I ended up doing 0.65 at 13:23/mi and had an average heart rate of 150 bpm. (The air felt thicker, so I think that had something to do with it feeling so hard.)

-Monday, I was totally dreading it. I'd had such a rough run on Friday that I didn't want a repeat. Thankfully, it ended up going much better than I expected. I even thought about doing a full mile, but then I realized that would mean I'd have to do more than a mile next time. I'd rather just do smaller increments until it feels easier. So I ran 0.75 miles at 13:00/mi with average heart rate of 153 (interesting that my heart rate was higher but I felt better).

-I ran early today, knowing how hot it's going to get, and once again, felt like I was going to die. I pushed hard to finish 0.80 miles at 12:46/mi and 150 bpm heart rate.

And finally, my weigh-in...

Last week, I was at 166.2, and I was 158.6 today--what the heck?! Believe me, I am shocked. I was unsure I should even post this, because it's very atypical; I must have been retaining some serious water weight or beans and greens are magical foods. I definitely notice a difference in my clothes, though, which is nice. I'm not expecting a big loss (if any) on the scale next week after a week like this, but right now I'm happy to see the 150's again!

[It's funny, I remember saying, probably several times over the years, that I "never wanted to see the 150's again". It hits a lot different on the way down than it does on the way up!]

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Running Recap: August 12-18, 2022

It's kind of pointless to continue calling this the "Return to Running" recap like I was before, because I pretty much feel like I'm starting over from square one! I hadn't run in a few months prior to Monday.

I don't know what possessed me on Monday, but the weather was a little bit fall-like and I had the urge to go run. Before I could talk myself out of it, I hurriedly threw on some running clothes and my Garmin and headed out.

I know I always have some sort of plan for running (whether I follow it or not) and I usually have an agenda, whether it's lowering my heart rate, getting faster, or running farther. 

Well, I'm stating right now that I have no agenda. My biggest goal is to run three miles, three times a week until I'm confident that I'm running regularly. No matter the pace or time or heart rate, my only goal is to hit three miles. That takes a lot of pressure off! And since I'll be coaching cross country again this year, I want to be able to keep up with the kids.

I discovered a cool new feature on the Garmin Connect app that allows you to add your runs' stats to your photos. I figured that would be super efficient on my running recap posts. 

On Monday, I ran outside. It felt hard! My legs were tired and my throat got very dry to the point that it hurt to swallow (I definitely need to drink water before I leave the house to run). I did one of my favorite routes and I was happy that I managed to do pretty well! It was hard, but do-able.

I was actually really surprised by my pace--I was sure I'd be logging 13-14:00 minutes per mile. Still, it wasn't easy!

My second run was today. I was tempted to skip it, but when I was complaining to Jerry that my stomach just doesn't seem to be shrinking right now, he reminded me that I was in my best shape when I was running. That kind of lit a spark in me--I am eating really well and getting my shit together (I was hit with bad news a few times over the last three weeks and it's been emotional). I think that getting back to running will help me to feel a lot better about things (or at least forget for a while).

Today, it was miserably hot outside, so I chose to do the treadmill. There was quite a bit of dust on it! The first mile felt like *forever* and I waited and waited to hear the beep that signaled a mile. Finally, I looked at the Garmin and saw that I'd run 1.32 miles--I guess my auto lap wasn't turned on (usually I get a notification at each mile).

I varied the speed quite a bit as I was running--faster and slower--to make it feel hard but not TOO hard to where I wouldn't want to do it again. I was so hot when I was done! But I'm really happy that I'm still able to run three miles. I honestly wasn't sure if I could.

I'm curious to see if eating vegan has any effect on my running. Jerry went for a run today and he said it was one of his best runs yet and he wonders if it's because he's been eating vegan for about three weeks now.

Okay, so if I can just keep on running, I'd like to start posting my weekly recaps again (Wednesday through Thursday, so today will mark the end of this week). My body feels really good about it and it helped me to take my mind off of everything for a little bit. Maybe it'll even help me get back into reading! I used to read on the treadmill, but I haven't finished a book in a long time because I just don't take the time to read anymore.

Anyway, I did not only one, but TWO runs this week and I feel great about that :)

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Return to Running Recap : Week 45

This is not at all the post I expected to be writing!

A few months ago, my sister suggested running the Glass City Marathon Relay in Toledo on April 24th. I had no interest in running races since I got back to running last May, but the idea of the relay actually sounded really fun. I've run it before and the course is fantastic.

The relay is done with a team of five, each person running one leg of a particular distance. Jeanie asked if Jerry and I would be interested, as well as her best friend Audrey and my younger brother Nathan. It didn't take long to even think about it--training for that sounded perfect to push me to follow some sort of schedule.

I wrote up a relatively easy 10K plan (the longest leg of the relay is 6.6 miles if I remember correctly) to prepare for the race. Jerry and I have been following the plan and are up to running five miles for our long run.

Unfortunately, I've had issues with my knee and I still don't know what's going on with it. I cut back on running--instead of running four days a week, I've been running three. My knee hurts pretty badly the day after a run (it doesn't start while I'm running, but several hours after I finish and then continues the entire following day). Then the day after that, I feel fine to run again. So I was giving a full day's rest between runs.

As of right now, I haven't run since Sunday because my knee is still bothering me! It hurts to walk or even do anything other than stand still or sit. I even notice it hurting when I turn over in bed. I'll run again as soon as the pain goes away, but I'm frustrated. It doesn't feel like a typical knee injury and I don't remember doing anything to injure it.

Anyway, that's secondary to the other problem... our relay team fell apart! Audrey is injured and Nathan said he doesn't feel ready because he hasn't run in a long time. Jeanie has a lot of unexpected stuff going on and said if we really need her to, she can come out for the race but it would just be for one night. She lives in Illinois, so I wouldn't want to put that pressure on her to drive all the way here for the race that isn't going as planned. (I don't even know if my knee will allow me to run then!)

I did ask a couple of other people about possibly joining and was able to find someone for one spot, but it's just not working out to put together a whole team this last-minute (about two weeks away). So, it doesn't look like the relay is going to happen for us. I'm super bummed! I was looking forward to it.

The bright side is that the training has gotten me following a running schedule and I've improved my fitness since I started. Jerry and I both said we are going to continue with the training schedule (it's only two more weeks) and then I'll write another one for maintenance so that we don't lose our fitness. I'm really hoping my knee will be feeling good enough to run tomorrow, but it might be good to give it a few extra days' rest.

Anyway, despite the fact that this isn't going as planned, I'll write a quick recap of this past week's runs.

FRIDAY (Run 4 miles easy)

It was cold and a little windy on Friday morning, but I still wanted to run outside--and I actually went out there and started at 7:40 AM! It was funny when I was getting ready--I had no idea how to dress for the weather anymore. It's been so long since I was regularly running outside that I completely forgot what to wear for different temps. (It was 34 degrees outside)

I ended up wearing my Cold Gear running tights, a thin long-sleeved shirt with a running jacket over it, gloves, and a Buff for my head. It turned out to be pretty good--I was a little warm sometimes, but each time I got close to the lake, I was glad I dressed warm.

I actually felt so good that while I was running, I decided to run five miles instead of four; my long run on Sunday was scheduled for five miles, but since I was feeling good, I figured I'd just swap the four- and five-milers. I ran the same five-mile route that I was walking daily for months in 2020-21 and it felt nostalgic.

As usual, I covered my Garmin so I didn't see my pace, but I deliberately tried to run slower than I've been running outside lately. I wanted it to be a *true* easy run, so I ran at a pace that felt comfortable. A good way for me to notice the difference is in my breathing rhythm--when I run an easy pace, I tend to run with 4:3 breathing (inhaling for four steps and exhaling for three steps). As soon as I notice I'm breathing with a 3:2 ratio, I know I'm probably going a little too fast.

(I actually wrote a whole post on How to Breathe While Running, if you're interested--I learned about it from the famous Budd Coates when I was at the Runner's World headquarters. It's actually much more interesting than you may think!)

After five miles, I saw that my average overall pace was 11:20 (I was imagining 11:30, so pretty much what I expected). What interested me most, though, was my heart rate. It was really consistent for each mile! And it was in the ideal "easy zone" for the entire run (according to the heart rate reserve training I wrote about last week).

Summary: 5.01 miles in 56:46 (an 11:20/mile pace). Average heart rate was 147 bpm.

SUNDAY (Long run - Run 5 miles easy)

I already wrote that I switched my long run to Friday, so on Sunday, I just had to run four miles. It actually snowed on Saturday night, but after having such a good outdoor run on Friday, I decided to run outside. There were only a few areas on the roads that had any slush/snow anyway. (It was 34 degrees again, same as Friday)

I used the same pacing/breathing strategy as I did on Friday and I had pretty much the same results! My average pace was 11:21/mile and my heart rate was consistent. I was in the "aerobic" zone the whole time.

A few hours after I was done running, my knee started hurting; then it got pretty bad on Monday. I skipped Tuesday's run and I'm skipping today's run. If it's better on Sunday, I'll run. I've actually really been enjoying the outdoor runs in this weather. The weather is miserable for everything else, but great for running!

Summary: 4.01 miles in 45:30 (11:21/mile). Average heart rate was 145 bpm.

Okay, well that's what's going on for now. Maybe now that I'm not doing the race, I'll write up a heart rate training plan to start when this schedule is done. I like seeing the splits on the new Garmin!

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Return to Running Recap : Week 44

I don't have much to recap on this post because I didn't do much running last week! Jerry and I both agreed to take the second half of the week off and then start it all over this week.

We were working on Week 6 of our training plan, but we each had problems with it--mine being my left knee. It doesn't really feel like a "real" injury, but it bothers me the day after each run for some reason. It doesn't hurt while I'm running, but the following day it hurts. And it's not terrible pain, but more of a nagging pain. It almost feels like the top of my tibia is bruised (I know that's very specific, haha).

Anyway, I had been skipping one run per week due to my knee anyway, but when Jerry suggested taking a few days off and then repeating Week 6, I thought it was a good idea. I hoped that the extra few days would help my knee to quit bugging me.

And thankfully, it seems to have worked! I'm going to continue to run just three days a week instead of four, at least until after the race. I really don't want to risk having knee issues come race time. So, I'm going to skip the Thursday runs. (I wrote in the plan that if you have to skip a day, the Thursday run is the best one to skip.)

That means I only have one run to write about today, and unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess), it's not very eventful!

Tuesday - Tempo Run

Tuesday's run was a tempo run; since I'm repeating Week 6, this is the same run I did a week prior:

Run 5 minutes easy; Run 15 minutes at tempo pace; Run 5 minutes easy.

I liked that this was only 25 minutes total! ;)  I looked at what I did the previous Tuesday so that I could run at the same speed (or possibly a little faster) this time. I read my book while I ran, but the run felt hard--which was good, because a tempo run isn't supposed to feel easy. 

Summary: 5 minutes at 10:58/mile, 15 minutes at 9:02/mile, 5 minutes at 10:48/mile. Total of 2.59 miles in 25:08.

Since I got the new Garmin and spent some time messing around with it, I decided to try something a little different. I changed the heart rate zones to the default (percentage of heart rate reserve) rather than using the MAF heart rate formula. I'm not heart rate training right now, but I am curious to see where my heart rate falls under the default settings.

Percentage of heart rate reserve (HRR) is more accurate than using a percentage of maximum heart rate (MHR) because it takes your resting heart rate into account as well as your maximum. Lately, my resting heart rate has been about 70 bpm. 

I don't know my *actual* maximum heart rate, but using the well-known formula of 220 minus my age (40 years), I get 180. This method has been shown to be pretty inaccurate and gets less accurate as you get older.

There is another method called the Gulati formula that is just for women and it's apparently much more accurate. Your maximum heart rate is calculated like this: [206 - (0.88 x age)]. That would make my maximum heart rate 170.8 (we'll round up to 171 bpm). That seems a lot more likely than 180 for me--even when I run my very hardest, it's hard to get to the high 160s. 

So, I'm just going to go ahead and set my maximum heart rate at 171 bpm. So here is what my heart rate zones would look like when using the heart rate reserve method:

It took me forever to find a good chart for the descriptions of the zones using heart rate reserve, but here is a great one from RunBundle. You can put your own numbers in and it will calculate everything for you, but here is the description of the zones themselves:

This only lists four zones, so Zone 1 on the Garmin would basically be "Zone 0"--useless as far as this training goes. I marked the chart with red to reflect the zones on my Garmin. So I would basically run in Zone 2-3 for easy runs, Zone 4 for tempo, Zone 5 for intervals.

Like I said, I'm not training by heart rate right now (although my runs lately seem to fall into those zones) but after the race, it might be fun to try training with these zones for a change. I always like trying something new to keep things from getting boring!

I had no intention of turning this into such a long post about heart rate stuff (in fact, I think I said I *wasn't* going to write about heart rate stuff during this training period, haha!). Since I only had one run to cover on this post, I figured it was a good time to mention it, though.

Let's hope my knee holds up okay this week. Four miles tomorrow and then five on Sunday!

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Return to Running Recap: Week 43

This has been such a fun week for running! (Yes, you read that correctly.) I got a new Garmin Forerunner (running watch) and I was so excited to try it out--not only outside, but on the treadmill. I could write an entire post about the watch, so I'm going to save that talk for Sunday or Monday, and I'll just stick to my running recaps today.

I had another three-day running week (instead of four). I wanted to do my Friday run (3.5 miles) after I got my new Garmin (which was supposed to arrive Friday from Amazon). Well, I waited and waited and it didn't show up until 8:30 Friday night. So, I decided to run it on Saturday instead. Then my knee was hurting again on Sunday, so I took an extra day off this week, which I'll get to.

Saturday (Long Run - 4.5 miles)

Saturday was not supposed to be a long run. I was supposed to run 3.5 miles on Friday, rest on Saturday, then run 4.5 miles--my long run--on Sunday. Since I skipped Friday, I headed out relatively early on Saturday to run 3.5 miles. I've really liked getting my runs done in the mornings again. And it was drizzly and overcast without being insanely cold or windy, so it was nice!

Since 3.5 miles is a distance I rarely run, I didn't have a route in mind. I just started running and added a little here and there to a three-mile route. Well, I discovered that I'd overshot--big time. I reached 3.5 miles while I was still half a mile from home. I figured I could either run an extra 0.5 miles for the day or I could add an extra 0.5 to that and turn it into my long run of 4.5 miles.

I was feeling good, so that's what I did. I turned here and there on the streets and then made it home right at the 4.5-mile mark. It was a really good run! And my heart rate (from my wrist, not with my chest strap) seemed to be very accurate.

On the left is the overall summary and on the right are my one-mile splits (the fifth one was the last half mile). I was very surprised to see a 10:54/mile pace for 4.5 miles! I actually felt really good, too--good enough to choose to run an extra half-mile to make it my long run for the week.

Tuesday (15-minute Tempo)

I was VERY curious to see how the Garmin would work on the treadmill. As you know, I love to complain about the inaccuracy of the Garmin when I run on the 'mill. I'll explain more about that on my post about the Garmin itself, though.

Tuesday's speed work was a tempo run: Run 5 minutes easy, run 15 minutes at tempo pace, and then run 5 minutes easy. While I was just sitting and drinking tea in the morning, I looked at the clock and realized that since it was only a 25-minute workout, I had enough time to get it done before I had to drive Eli to school. So I actually got this one started at 6:12 AM!

I varied my speed a little and I can't remember the exact speeds I used. But the numbers here look faster than you would expect because the new Garmin is super accurate on the treadmill. I've been running faster than I thought this whole time! (Again, I'll explain this in another post.)

The splits for this one aren't one mile each; they are just the warm-up, the tempo, and the cool down. I ran the tempo portion at a 9:19/mile pace!

Thursday (Easy run - 3 miles)

Today, I wasn't very much in the mood to run, but my knee was feeling fine and I had no reason not to do it. I like the drizzly overcast weather for running, so I took advantage of it this morning. I chose to do one of my old favorite three-mile routes. I used to do this route a lot when I was training super hard for my 10K--I ran many super fast intervals on that route! Haha.

I consciously tried to focus on going slower/easier. Since I have to run four miles tomorrow, I was worried about my knee again. I kept my watch underneath my shirt sleeve the whole time so that I wouldn't see my pace. I just ran by feel; I knew I was probably going too fast, though, so I kept slowing down; then I'd realize I was going too fast again and it was just a cycle of that.

Anyway, it was a good run! It felt really long, but I liked running the familiar old route. (Although, someone who was looking at their phone while driving drifted onto the shoulder and nearly hit me! Stay off the phone when driving, pretty please.)

I'm happy with how the week went! It was super fun playing with the new Garmin (they've come a long way in the last nine years, hahaha). Here is a (Amazon affiliate) link to the Garmin Forerunner 245 that I bought; but if you're interested in one, I'd wait until I write more about it this weekend to see if it's what you're looking for. Or you can read DC Rainmaker's review--it's SUPER in-depth and that's how I make most of my decisions about stuff like this. His review is for the 245 + music; mine is the same watch only without the music option.

Weekly Summary: I ran 10.18 miles in 1:47:34 (10:34/mile average pace); average heart rate of 153 bpm.

Here is today's random fact of the day:

This one wasn't really of interest to me, but maybe it will be to someone else! ;) 

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Return to Running Recap : Week 42

Like last week, I only ran three times this week instead of four. My knee--the opposite knee from last time-- was bothering me out of nowhere. Nothing terrible, but definitely noticeable. I was supposed to do speed intervals, but I decided not to take a chance of running through the knee pain. After two days off, it was back to normal. Thankfully, the plan I wrote is accommodating to only doing three runs per week.

I had a great couple of outdoor runs this week! Here goes...

FRIDAY (Run 3 miles easy)

This was the earliest run I've had in a long time! I've had quite a bit more energy lately and it felt so good to get the run done early. I wanted to try to run a little faster than last time, so I set the treadmill for 5.3 mph and just ran at that speed until the last half mile or so. Then I just kept bumping up the speed, finishing at 6.0.

Summary: 3 miles in 33:24 (11:08/mi average pace). Average heart rate: 152 bpm.

MONDAY (Long run - 4 miles)

I was in a very bad mood Monday thanks to Daylight Saving Time (I used to say "daylight savings" but then a reader commented that it's "Daylight Saving Time" and not "daylight savings". Now when I think of Daylight Saving Time, I remember that. It sounds so weird not to add the s onto saving.)

Anyway...

I was in such a bad mood that I ended up putting off my long run to Sunday. And I'm so glad I did! The weather was PERFECT for a run outside. Since it was my long run for the week, I was happy to be able to do it outside.

I set my Garmin but covered it with my shirt sleeve so that I wouldn't see my pace. I was truly curious what my pace would be without seeing any sort of feedback and just running by feel. The first mile felt kind of hard and I was sure I was probably running a 12:00-ish pace. After that, though, I got into the rhythm of the run and listened to my podcast. I ran a route I used to run all the time for four milers, and it felt kind of nostalgic. 

I felt like it was too easy during the second mile and I picked up the pace a bit to see when it felt hard. But I felt pretty comfortable the whole time--a moderate effort level.

I was shocked, then, after I'd reached four miles and stopped my Garmin to see that my overall average pace was 10:46! I had no idea. Even better, though, I felt really good. It was encouraging to see that I've made fitness progress.

Summary: 4 miles in 43:05 (a 10:46/mi average pace). Mile splits: 11:33, 10:45, 10:38. Average heart rate was 151 bpm.

THURSDAY (Run 3 miles easy)

Today, I woke up to another perfect morning for a run. I know Joey has been missing Eli, so I decided to take Joey with me. As soon asked I asked him, he started jumping around like crazy, slipping and sliding all over the floor, haha. He hasn't run with me in a while so I hoped he'd be good on the leash. As he's gotten older, he's been so much easier to walk on a leash.

Well, he was way too excited and was trying to run about 10 times faster than I was able. I had to hold him back from pulling, which is tiring and not easy to do while you're running. I was worried he'd make me twist my knee or something. After half a mile or so, he calmed down quite a bit. Whenever we saw a dog he got tunnel vision and either yanked me in that direction or came to an immediate dead-stop, nearly causing me to biff it right into the concrete.

So, this run definitely wasn't a smooth as the previous. It felt harder than it should have, due to Joey's excitement, but it still felt good to get outside and run. This time, I was trying to push the pace a little since I missed Tuesday's speed work. Nothing too hard, but more of a tempo feel.

Summary: 3 miles in 31:53 (10:37/mi average pace). Mile splits: 11:08, 10:38, 10:05. Average heart rate: 154 bpm.

Overall, I'm really happy with my running this week. Even thought I had to miss one, it was fun seeing the improvement of my outdoor runs. My heart rate on my long run surprised me--it was lower while running a faster pace outdoors than it was a slower pace on the treadmill a couple of days prior. I'm going to plan on doing at least my long runs outside every week. It felt nostalgic and I miss my old routes!

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Return to Running Recap : Week 41

This has been quite the week as far as running goes. I almost thought that I wasn't going to be able to continue my training! Last Thursday after my run, I was putting clothes away and I knelt down on the floor in my closet for a minute. When I stood up, I didn't hear the usual crackling noises from my knee (it gives me the heebie jeebies every time I hear it); instead, I heard a loud pop. It was followed by terrible pain in my knee all day. I couldn't straighten my leg and when I walked, it felt like something was popping.

I iced it, took ibuprofen, and rested--I skipped Friday's run so that I could rest my knee Friday and Saturday and see if it was better to run on Sunday. When I woke up Saturday, it was still really painful and I looked up some stretches I could do to hopefully help it.

And here is the sure-tell of how old I am--while I was doing the stretches for my knee, I threw out my back! It would have been hilarious if I wasn't in so much pain. It had never happened to me before. "Throwing out" one's back just means the muscles in the lower back have been strained. It sounds so simple, but holy cow, it is SO painful and debilitating. I couldn't bend over at all on Saturday. 

I was absolutely sure that I wasn't going to be able to run at all, and I was really disappointed because I've been working on getting back to running for 41 weeks now. I had no choice but to rest all day Saturday--I couldn't move!--and I hoped the pain would be better on Sunday. The back pain made me forget about my knee, though! 😂

On Sunday, my back was still very stiff and painful, but nothing like it had been on Saturday. As long as I didn't twist at the waist or bend over, it felt okay. My knee felt back to normal, thankfully, so I decided to try to run. I had a great outdoor run last Thursday, but I went back to the treadmill on Sunday just in case I had to stop.

This is already long enough, but I'll post a quick summary of the three runs that I did this week...

Sunday (Long Run - Run 3.5 miles)

My Sunday run is starting to increase to distances I haven't run in a long time. I was a little nervous about this run because of my knee and my back, but I figured I would stop if it started feeling bad. Instead of doing the usual 5.0 mph, I ran three miles at 5.2 mph and then the last half-mile I increased to 5.5 mph. I just wanted to get it done! Thankfully, I had no issues with my back or knee during the run. Bending over to take off my running tights is another story, haha.

Summary: 3.5 miles in 39:45 (average pace of 11:22/mi). Average heart rate: 152 bpm.

Tuesday (Tempo Run)

This tempo run was 10 minutes easy, 10 minutes at tempo pace (slightly hard), and 10 minutes easy. I wasn't sure what speed to run for the tempo portion; last time, I ran at 5.5 mph. That felt like it wouldn't be hard enough to make any progress, so I decided to run at 5.0 for the easy portions and 6.0 for the tempo. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do 6.0 for 10 minutes, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and I could always lower the speed if needed.

I was pretty proud of myself that I actually did it! A mile in 10 minutes. I can't remember the last time I did that. 

Summary: 2.69 miles in 30 minutes (average pace of 11:09/mi). Average heart rate: 154 bpm.

Thursday (Easy Run - Run 2.5 miles)

This was today's run. I was feeling really good this morning. My back still hurts to bend over, but it's much better than it was earlier in the week. I had a busy day today so I wanted to get this done quickly. I haven't been following my (usually strict) rule of keeping my easy runs at a low heart rate. I just don't want to overthink this training--I want to enjoy following a schedule that leads to a race at the end, leaving out thinking about my heart rate. I will get back to heart rate training after the race, but for now, I just want to run without overthinking.

So, I decided to run at 5.5 mph on the treadmill to shave a little time off the total. After a few minutes, though, I slowed it to 5.2 so it would feel more comfortable. I felt strong--really good. For the last quarter mile, I bumped the speed back up to 5.5. 

Summary: 2.5 miles in 28:23 (average pace of 11:21). Average heart rate: 147 bpm.

I'm actually pretty surprised that my heart rate on Thursday was as low as it was, considering Sunday's run was the same average pace and my heart rate was 152. I felt calmer today, which definitely helped.

Overall, it was a rocky start to the week, but the rest went smoothly. It's hard to believe I'm a little over halfway done with the training plan for the race! I haven't done a race in SO long; I'm really looking forward to it. The relay is the perfect race to get back into the game.

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Return to Running Recap : Week 40

I had an amazing outdoor run today! My first outdoor run since--probably November?--maybe January. Anyway, I'm going to jump right into my four run summaries so that I can keep this post as short as possible.

Week 2, Day 3 of Relay Training: Run 2.25 miles

I chose to do this on the treadmill, as I have been for all of my runs lately. Not only because of the cold, but because I like being able to read my book on the treadmill.

I started running at the usual "easy" speed of 5.0 mph and I felt really good--the belt felt like it was going too slow!--so I stopped my Garmin and the treadmill and reset for 5.1 mph. Not a huge jump, but slightly faster than I've been going. I started running again and it wasn't until I was about halfway through that I realized I forgot to start my Garmin. I wasn't about to do it over again, so I just started my Garmin and adjusted it later. I felt good throughout!

(The reason I started it over was because I have my Garmin set for splits every 12 minutes; the Garmin distance is slightly off when I run on the treadmill, so having the splits every 12 minutes when I run at 5.0 means they are 1-mile splits.)

Summary: 2.25 miles at 11:47/mile pace. Average heart rate: 147 bpm.

Week 2, Day 4 of Relay Training: Long run of 3 miles

I never used to think of three miles as a "long run", but the last run of the week is the longest and will keep getting longer throughout training. Still, 3 miles seemed so much farther than the 2.5 miles last week.

I didn't do 5.1 mph this time; I went back to 5.0. One thing I really miss about being faster is that my runs didn't take nearly as long. I used to run 3 miles in 27-28 minutes for an "easy" pace; that's a big difference from the 36 minutes I've been doing! I don't mind being a slow runner, I just wish it didn't take so much longer, haha. Nothing really notable about this run; I just read my book on the treadmill.

Summary: 2.5 miles at 12:00/mile pace. Average heart rate: 151 bpm.

Week 3, Day 1 of Relay Training: Speed Work Intervals

Speed work day! I actually was kind of looking forward to this workout because the intervals are so short and it makes the time fly by.

Run 10 minutes easy (I did 5.0 mph)
Run 1 minute hard (I did 7.0 mph) then walk 2 minutes - Repeat for a total of 6 intervals.
Run 5 minutes easy (I did 5.0 mph)

I debated whether to do 6.5 or 7.0 mph for my intervals. Two weeks prior, I did the same workout only with 4 intervals instead of 6. For that workout, I did 7.0 for the first interval and realized it was too hard, so I did 6.5 for the rest. I thought I'd see how 7.0 felt now.

The purpose of short intervals like this is to run HARD. As hard as you can run while still being able to finish. I didn't want to aim too low, so I aimed high and hoped I could do it.

After the first one, I was really surprised at how good I felt. I even debated going a little higher than 7.0, but then decided not to so that I could be sure to do 6 intervals at that speed. Surprisingly, I made it through all 6 and I still felt good enough that I probably could have gone faster.

Summary: 2.58 miles at average of 12:48/mi (including the walking).
        Intervals (6): 60 seconds each at 8:34/mi; 2 minutes walking at 20:00/mi in between.

Week 3, Day 2: Run 2.5 miles

The snow has melted and the sun was shining, so it looked relatively warm outside. I thought maybe I should try running outside. I looked at the weather app on my phone and saw that it was 24 degrees with a "real feel" temp of 12. Soooo... I almost changed my mind, but I remember once upon a time when I *always* ran outside and I loved the cold weather runs! The treadmill doesn't give me the same feel-good satisfaction that outdoor runs do, so I went ahead and got dressed in warm running clothes.

Since this was just a regular easy run, I decided to cover my Garmin with my multiple layers of shirts and not even glance at my pace. I know distances throughout the nearby neighborhoods like the back of my hand, so I managed to mentally map out a 2.5 mile route--and interestingly, I hit the 2.51-mile mark when I got back to my driveway! I didn't expect to get *that* close, but now I know a good 2.5 mile route, should I need it.

The second I started running, I felt AMAZING. Being outside in the cold air actually felt really good. I tried to run at a slow, comfortable pace and just ignore all thoughts. I listened to Sword & Scale (a true crime podcast) and the episode happened to be about a crime that took place just a couple of miles from where I used to live. When I heard the host say "Brownstown, Michigan", I was a little stunned--it's a teeny tiny little suburb; I even knew the neighborhood where it took place. Anyway, that was really interesting to me, so I was able to focus on the podcast and just ignore the fact that I was running.

A mile in, I stopped at my parents' house to feed the squirrels, but that only took a couple of minutes. Then I continued on, mentally making up my route as I went, adding up what I thought the total mileage was. When I got to my neighbors' house, I finally looked at my Garmin and saw that I was spot-on with the distance. I was *very* surprised to see my average pace was 11:09/mi!

I felt SO good about that run--not just the pace, but the way I felt when I was running in the cold air.

Summary: 2.52 miles at an 11:08/mile pace. Average heart rate: 150 bpm.

Overall, it was a good week! I didn't have any awful runs where I just feel miserable or anxious. And the outdoor run was the highlight :)

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Return to Running Recap : Week 24

Man, Daylight Saving Time really messed me up. It's 7:00 PM right now but it's pitch black outside and I feel like I should be getting ready for bed! I've been running at around 5:00-5:15 PM and it's dark when I get home. If my joints didn't hurt so badly in the mornings, I'd run early, when it gets light outside. (My appointment with the rheumatologist is on Monday; I'm 99% sure she's going to order an MRI of my back based on the recommendation of the radiologist due to my x-ray results. REALLY hoping for some real answers this time.)

Anyway, remember I said I was super determined to get all four runs in this week in order to complete the first week of MAF80? Well I did it! This post might be long (there is a 100% chance that it will be) so I'll just get right to it. (If you're not familiar with my current training, you can find the details on this training plan I wrote.)

Week 24, Run #1 - Run 40 minutes at MAF heart rate.

This run just plain sucked. I don't mind bringing Joey with me when I don't have to watch my heart rate, but when I am running at MAF, he gets impatient and wants to go faster. So he nearly chokes himself by pulling on the leash, which causes me to have to give resistance, which causes my heart rate to rise a bit. So keeping my heart rate low was tough, and I went at a slower-than-normal pace.

I didn't even run 3 miles in the 40 minutes! I didn't want to bring Joey but I felt guilty because he KNOWS when I'm going for a run. As quiet as I am getting dressed, putting on my shoes, etc., he just somehow knows. So I told my kids that from now on, when I'm going for a run, they need to take Joey for a walk at the same time.

I noticed that this graph is wrong, and I don't know if it's been like that all along and I didn't notice or if there was an update or something that changed my zones. But Zone 2 should be 131-141 bpm. My heart rate got up to 141 several times, but that's my MAF rate; it should be Zone 2. I changed the settings after this.

Week 24, Run #2 : 8 mins at MAF, then 4x (3 mins H, 5 min MAF)

I actually really like doing intervals when I keep my easy running to MAF heart rate. It feels good to go for a short hard run and then I get to walk until my heart rate returns to 131 (the bottom of my MAF range). Then jog a little and repeat.

I really wasn't in the mood to run, but as soon as I started, I was happy I did. The weather was PERFECT for running and I tried to push myself harder than last week during the "hard" intervals. I actually managed to do a couple of them at a sub-10:00 pace. Last week, my average for the harder intervals was 10:27 and this week it was 10:03. 

I put little red dots next to the harder intervals. My heart rate didn't get very high, so I certainly could have gone faster. I'm still figuring out my paces for each heart rate target.

The recovery/MAF laps include my walking time; I found that it usually takes about 80 seconds for my heart rate to get down to 131 bpm, which is when I start jogging again.

This was a great run! I felt accomplished.

Week 24, Run #3 : Run 40 minutes at MAF heart rate.

This time I wanted to try something a little different. Usually, I aim for the middle of my MAF heart rate zone (my zone is 131-141, so I like to see the mid-130's). For this particular run, I decided to try to stay at the very top of my MAF zone and see what my pace was. I set my Garmin to alert me at 142 bpm so that I would know to slow down.

I was surprised at how much faster I was able to run with the difference of just a few beats per minute. When I aim for the mid-130's, my pace is usually about 13:30/mile. During this run, I kept my heart rate very close to 141 the whole time, and my pace ended up being about 12:30/mile.

Interestingly, though, I didn't enjoy the run nearly as much as I do when I run at a mid-130's heart rate. A few beats per minute made a big difference! I felt more tired, my breathing was heavier, and I just plain didn't enjoy it as much. So I'll likely do my 40-minute MAF runs at mid-MAF range. I want to truly LIKE running! And when I go slowly at a low heart rate, I really do like it.

The reason it got into Zone 3 was because I'd accidentally set the alert to 142 thinking that it would alert me when it reached 142. However, it alerted me when it shifted from 142 to 143--so I spent some time at 142, thinking it was 141. (Yes, that was confusing to read.) Now I know to change it for next time.

Week 24, Run #4 : Run 20 mins at MAF heart rate, then 8 mins hard, 2 mins walk, 10 mins hard.

I almost skipped this run. I was feeling SO lethargic from taking my anxiety medication (I don't take it often because I hate this side effect--my limbs get heavy and I just feel kind of lazy. It basically acts like a mild sedative. My anxiety has been pretty bad, so I took it and then regretted it all day because I couldn't get anything done.

It was also cold, windy, and raining all afternoon. I love running in the rain, but not when it's cold and windy on top of it! By evening when I was supposed to head out, the wind had died down and it was barely sprinkling. I knew I'd regret it if I skipped this final run, so I went for it.

After a couple of minutes, I realized that I'd forgotten to get my heart rate monitor wet again, so my heart rate was reading really high. I knew it was because of my chest strap being so dry. So what's a girl to do in that situation? I licked my hand, reached under my shirt, and wiped the spit underneath the chest strap--hahaha! I'm hoping no one was looking out their windows. There is really no way to do that discreetly. It worked, though! My heart rate dropped into the 130's immediately.

But oh, man, the run felt hard. My legs felt like lead! I was moving really slowly but my heart rate was at the top of my MAF zone for the first 20 minutes. I was kind of relieved to hit the first tempo interval so that I didn't have to worry about my heart rate--I could just run faster so it would be over sooner.

The 8 minutes seemed to last forever; then I got to walk for 2 minutes and catch my breath; then I started running hard again. As soon as I started running, I realized I needed to listen to music instead of a podcast. The podcast was boring and wasn't taking my mind off of my feeling uncomfortable, so I turned on my running playlist.

The first song to come on was 'Bump' by the Kottonmouth Kings and it couldn't have been more perfect at that moment! I immediately picked up my speed and my legs felt a little springier. I'm going to make that my go-to song when I need a pick-me-up while running. (A lot of people have never heard of Kottonmouth Kings, but those who know them are usually quite taken aback that I like them so much! Hahaha.)

The music definitely helped me feel less like I was dragging my feet and more like I was running. I could have sworn my pace was a lot faster than it was, but maybe that's because my legs were so tired.

I felt really good when I got home. And so glad that I actually finished all four days this week. Hopefully I can do it again for Week 25 :)

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Return to Running Recap : Week 23

This week wasn't ideal, based on the same reasons as my Wednesday Weigh-In yesterday. I just had a bad week all around! I feel like yesterday was a big wake-up call, though, and I've had two great days in a row. I feel my determination coming back after a long lapse.

I managed to get in two runs this week. I'd planned to do four (the full first week of my MAF80 plan) but two is better than nothing. That actually reminds of something I read recently, and I thought it was really smart:

My knee feels back to normal and the weather is perfect for running, so there is no reason not to take advantage of that!

So, even though I only did two runs, I'll quickly recap...

Week 23, Run 1 : Run 40 minutes at MAF heart rate (131-141 beats per minute)

I was FREEZING while I waited for my Garmin to find satellites--I have no idea why it took so long, but I literally waited probably five minutes in the driveway. I was so relieved when I was able to start running so that I could warm up.

I ran super slowly to keep my heart rate in my MAF zone and I felt great. It felt just how I remember my MAF runs feeling. When I looked down at my heart rate, though, it said it was 160! I was shocked--I wasn't breathing hard, I was going slow, I hadn't broken a sweat. I tried to go even slower, but my heart rate was still high.

At that point, I just decided to forget the heart rate monitor and run by feel. It felt TRULY easy and my pace was around what it would be if I was running at MAF. After a mile or so, I noticed that my heart rate was in the 130's. Then it occurred to me...

It was cold outside and I'd forgotten to wet my heart rate monitor before putting it on (it needs to be wet for good conduction--once you start sweating, it's totally fine). When it's cold and my skin is dry, it takes a few minutes to get good conduction (the more you sweat, the better the conduction). When the conduction is poor, it shows a really high heart rate (or no heart rate at all).

So, the data for this run ended up being pretty much useless. In the graph below, you can see how wonky the first 8 or 9 minutes were.

Week 23, Run 2 : Run 8 minutes at MAF, then 4 repeats of (3 minutes hard, 5 minutes at MAF)

I was actually looking forward to this run. The intervals make the time go by quickly and the way I wrote the plan allows me to make "hard" be whatever I want it to mean--just running at a higher heart rate than MAF. I was curious to see if I'd be able to run in between the intervals or if I'd have to walk them to maintain my MAF heart rate.

It turned out to go really well! I ran the 8 minutes at MAF, then picked up speed and ran comfortably hard for 3 minutes--"comfortably" just means that I could have run faster, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it. After 3 minutes, I walked until my heart rate reached the bottom of my MAF zone (131 bpm); then I started a very slow run, hoping that my heart rate would stay under 141. And it did!

So for each interval, I did the same thing--run hard, walk until my heart rate hit 131 bpm, then jog at my MAF rate until the next interval. Overall, I ended up running 3.17 miles. My average heart rate overall was 142 bpm and average pace overall was 12:37. For the "hard" intervals, my average pace was 10:27. I swear, the intervals felt much faster! Haha.

Despite only having done two runs last week, I feel good about them. I'm determined to get in all four this week, though!

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Return to Running Recap : Week 22

Well, like yesterday's weigh-in, this week's running didn't go as I'd hoped either!

It's been 22 weeks since I started running again (that sounds so much less than saying 5 months) and this week, I decided to start doing the MAF80 plan that I wrote. I was getting kind of bored with the 3 miles on the treadmill at 5.0 mph, so I wanted to change things up.

My first run was AWESOME. The schedule was 40 minutes of straight MAF heart rate (my range is 131-141 bpm). When I do the MAF runs, I like to do them outside rather than on the treadmill; it's easier to speed up or slow down as needed.

It was raining, and I love to run in the rain (as long as it's not a total downpour or super cold and windy). I ran as slowly as possible so I wouldn't have to keep checking my heart rate (every time I looked, it was in the mid-130's, which was surprising--it's never that low on the treadmill!). 

This is perfect fall running weather for me!

About two miles in, my knee started bothering me. (Yes, I know--I feel like my body is totally falling apart, and I hate writing about this stuff because it sounds like I'm just whiny and full of excuses.) It was a sharp pain just beneath my knee cap on the lateral side. (It's not the knee that I injured by kneeling on a screwdriver, so it's not related to that.)

I've had this pain a few times before--it's super sharp and it makes my knee get very stiff and hard to straighten my leg. I changed my gait a bit while I was running and I didn't feel the pain when I ran a certain way (fully extending my leg behind me with each step).

When I got home, I walked up the driveway and the pain came back right away. The last time this happened, I was in so much pain I thought for sure I'd torn something in my knee, but I sat down to write my blog post and then when I got up, the pain was totally gone and it didn't come back. I have no idea what happened, but it was there one minute and gone the next. I figured a nerve must have been pinched and then it was released or something.

Anyway, my knee was really stiff and painful. I thought it would be like last time--I would just not think about it for a little bit and then it would be fine. Well, it was still there the next morning. And the morning after that!

The knee pain is gone now, thankfully. However, when I was in the shower, I noticed that my left foot was totally numb on top. It didn't hurt at all, but I didn't have any sensation on the top of my foot. 

I started to feel a little panicky. Of course, I googled what the problem could be, and it never occurred to me that the knee pain could have caused the numb foot until I read about peroneal nerve entrapment. Interestingly, the peroneal nerve is in the exact spot I was feeling the pain in my knee; and it also causes the top of the foot to become numb. If that's what's wrong, it's super mild because I don't have the more severe symptoms.

Something that really interested me was that the peroneal nerve could become damaged by several different things, and one of them was a fracture to the fibula. I had a stress fracture in my fibula in 2014-2015; there is still a bump where the fracture was (probably scar tissue, I'm assuming). I remember feeling the numbness in my foot shortly before my 10K in 2016. I wasn't worried about it then, but I thought it was weird. It may not be related at all, but like I said, it stuck out to me. So I'm wondering if I somehow damaged that nerve (mildly) when I had the stress fracture and now it's just irritated.

I did a LOT of kneeling and squatting and stuff like that this past week while I was working on fixing the door, so that could have triggered the knee issue as well. 

Okay, enough of that! I'm tired of thinking of all the ways my body hurts, hahaha. Since the knee pain is gone, I'm going to try to do the full first week of the running plan this week. Hopefully my knee won't be an issue since I'm done working on the door.

I had such a great first run that I was actually really excited to do the second one. I realized just how much I miss my MAF easy runs. When I first started doing them, it was like I finally understood why people enjoy running!

My pace was slower than it is on the treadmill, but I was also making sure to keep my heart rate under 141 bpm. When I run on the treadmill, it's always higher than that, so it would make sense that I would have to run slower for the duration.

I just ran as slowly as possible from the very beginning because I knew that the longer I ran, the more likely my heart rate would go over my MAF rate. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the run when I saw that my average heart rate was 138 bpm (my MAF range is 131-141 bpm) and my maximum heart rate was 142. So there were a couple of times that my heart rate hit 142, but I slowed down again. That's the lowest average and maximum heart rate I've had while running in a VERY long time.

When I was done, I wasn't out of breath or red faced and sweaty. I felt SO good. I hope this upcoming week feels just like that!

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