Believe it or not, I have actually been looking forward to my runs in the mornings! That is VERY unlike me. Usually I have to talk myself into just doing it, and I'm always glad that I do--but it still felt like a chore. But with these 3-4 mile runs on my schedule, I actually look forward to getting some fresh air and starting my day off with a run :)
This morning, it was still a little dark when I left the house, so I threw on my Ragnar reflective vest. Jerry took this picture when I got back so I could show you just how many colors I could possibly wear on one run...
Let's count: bright blue, red, neon yellow, white, pink, black, navy, and burgundy (on the shoes). I'm nothing, if not fashionable.
On the schedule today was three miles at "race pace", which, for the Ragnar, is 9:00/mi. Last week, I did this on the treadmill, so it was easy to just set the pace and run. But today was going to be difficult. I have two speeds--fast and slow (relative to me, of course). Hard and easy. Today was supposed to be somewhere in between, and that's hard for me to do!
I kept looking at my Garmin every quarter mile or so, and adjusting my pace as necessary. I ended up doing the first mile too fast, the second too slow, and the third too fast... but over all, my pace ended up being 8:56/mi, so it was close. But I'd like to get to the point where I can just run a 9:00/mi pace by feel, rather than the fast-slow-fast-slow thing I was doing today.
When I got home, I had Jerry take some pictures--I wanted to show a comparison of now versus August at the Wood Duck Dash race. When Stephanie e-mailed me the pictures from the race, I was horrified. I had no idea that my weight gain was so obvious! I didn't post the photos because I hated them. (Well, I still hate them, but at least my weight is back down now).
So anyway, here is a picture from August (I think I was about 153 ish in that pic) and then today:
This morning, it was still a little dark when I left the house, so I threw on my Ragnar reflective vest. Jerry took this picture when I got back so I could show you just how many colors I could possibly wear on one run...
On the schedule today was three miles at "race pace", which, for the Ragnar, is 9:00/mi. Last week, I did this on the treadmill, so it was easy to just set the pace and run. But today was going to be difficult. I have two speeds--fast and slow (relative to me, of course). Hard and easy. Today was supposed to be somewhere in between, and that's hard for me to do!
I kept looking at my Garmin every quarter mile or so, and adjusting my pace as necessary. I ended up doing the first mile too fast, the second too slow, and the third too fast... but over all, my pace ended up being 8:56/mi, so it was close. But I'd like to get to the point where I can just run a 9:00/mi pace by feel, rather than the fast-slow-fast-slow thing I was doing today.
So anyway, here is a picture from August (I think I was about 153 ish in that pic) and then today:
Not nearly as big a difference as my before and after photos, but I can certainly see that the weight loss is noticeable. The scary thing is that I didn't see the gain when I looked in the mirror--I could feel it in my clothes, but was in total denial about it, apparently.
This afternoon, while the kids were at school, Jerry took me on a tour of his work. I toured it once before when we were just married, but I didn't remember anything about it. I don't talk about Jerry's job on the blog (in order to maintain some sort of privacy), so I won't get specific--but he works in a production factory. I had to put on safety glasses while we walked around.
It was SO HOT in there! There were parts of the plant that were 150+ degrees. It felt like walking inside of an oven because of all the furnaces in there. You could actually see the heat in the air (just like when you look at asphalt on a hot day, and you can see the heat radiating off the surface).
Anyway, it was really interesting to see what he does at work. I asked if I could take pictures, but they don't allow anyone to take pictures inside. I have a whole new respect for Jerry going to work in that heat, though! I could barely stand to be in there for 30 minutes--I don't know how he does it for a whole shift.
I wrote a post for Fitness.com about running or walking your first race, and what to expect. If you're interested, you can check it out here.
I'll leave you with this 'outtake' photo from this morning--I only wanted to post it because look how skinny it makes my legs look ;)
