Another Race

On Saturday I participated in the Zach Tucker Memorial 5k.  My dad did this race with me.  He can run circles around me, but he stayed with me anyway.  As a result, he only took 5th place in his age group, which was "60 and over."  He probably would have been in the top three if he had run us best race.  Even at my slower pace, he was in first place in the "70 and over" group, but the organizers didn't include that category.

I finished in 44:56, which is not my best time, but it's better than the last race, so that's good.  I was in 8th place out of 19 in my age group, so that was also good. 

I've got to improve my endurance, but it's so hard with back and neck problems.  On some days when I plan to run, I find that I just hurt too much to do it.  I've got to push myself more on the days that I don't hurt so that I can run for longer and longer periods.  I plan to run some tonight, and will push for at least two 3 minute runs. 

Stay strong!
Cheryl

Discouraged, but never giving up!

I've been feeling a little discouraged lately.  My blood pressure has been high, and I've had to add a new medication to try to get it back under control.  I had been hoping that all this healthy eating and exercise would help me to reduce the number of meds, and instead I'm increasing them.  Very frustrating. 

I've also been feeling like I'm not progressing on the running fast enough.  I can still only run consistently for about 2 minutes.  On a good day, I might get in one 3-4 minute run, but after walking a bit, I can't do that again.  With 2 minute runs, I can repeat it a few times.  My dad (a fitness instructor and my greatest cheerleader!) reminds me that I'm in it for the long haul.  I don't have to run an entire 5k TOMORROW!  I just want to do it EVENTUALLY.  Still, I thought I would progress faster than I have. 

I have another 5k coming up on 10/26.  This is the Zach Tucker Memorial race, and I believe this one will include some running on trails.  It's also beginning to be cooler in the early mornings, so hopefully that will be conducive to a good race time.  I'm still just trying to finish one in under 40 minutes.  My dad will be running this one with me, and I fully expect his time to blow mine away!

Keep moving friends!
Cheryl

Good Enough.

Hello Friends,

I participated in another 5k on Saturday.  This was the Tunnel to Towers 5k in Orlando.  It's still super hot here in Central Florida, and on Saturday morning in Orlando, it was also super muggy.  That, combined with some sciatica issues, meant that I did NOT have my best race.  My official time was 45:07.  I had hoped for closer to 42 minutes, but I did my best, and that's always good enough!  My friend, Connie, ran with me again, and her time was much better:  42:47.  Although not a personal best for either of us, we were both in the top half of our age group, and in the top half overall, so we feel really good about our results.  I guess the heat and humidity affected everyone! 

Next up is the Good Cookie run in Plant City on 9/21.  Does anyone think that two weeks will make a significant difference in the heat index?  Probably not, but I keep telling myself that running when it's hot will make me run BETTER once it cools off.  I hope I'm right!

Cheryl

Fitness Update

I've struggled with a sinus infection this week, and it has made me not feel much like working out some days.  I try to work out six times per week, and I only made it five times this week.  Not bad, I guess, under the circumstances! 

I have managed to complete the Couch to 5k, week three program 3 times, so I'm going to move on to week 4 starting tomorrow morning.  It goes like this:

Jog for 3 minutes.
Walk for 90 seconds
Jog for 5 minutes
Walk for 2.5 minutes
Repeat.

Of course, there's the 5 minute warm up walk first and a cool down after.  I don't know if I can jog for a full 5 minutes, but that's the goal for the coming week! 

I have another 5k coming up next weekend and I hope to beat my previous best time of 43:16.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment if you have the time!

Be strong!
Cheryl

Stitching for Brynne

Last Thursday, I attempted the Couch to 5k Week three program again, and I got closer, but still couldn't quite do it.  On Saturday, my third attempt was wonderfully successful!  I did the four runs as planned (90 seconds, 3 minutes, 90 seconds, 3 minutes) and then did six rounds of running for 2 minutes, walking for 3.  It was a great work out. 

I find that I always do better on the weekends when I can work out first thing in the morning.  I just can't work it into my schedule to work out in the early morning during the week, but I suspect I would improve faster if I could.  I plan to stay with the week 3 program for another week, since I've only fully accomplished it one time.  Then next week, I'll move on to the week 4 program. 

Another of my hobbies, is cross stitching.  I'm not as much into it as my sister (you can check out her work at http://chocolates4breakfast.blogspot.com/), but I am currently working on something fun.  It's an afghan for my daughter.  She graduated from high school last year and was very active in the drama department.  I bought an afghan with 20 cross stitch panels, and I'm stitching each one with one of her plays.  Since she wasn't in 20 plays, I'm having to fill in with some other items like this one, showing that she lettered in Drama, Chorus, Band and Academics:

Here are the others that I've completed so far:

In each one I'm showing the role she played in smaller letters (that's why it says "Annie" twice on that one!).  Brynne's troupe was the first to EVER perform "Magic Fairy in the Microwave," so they are the Original Cast.  The difficult part of this project is that there are no patterns for these.  I have to create my own pattern and then stitch it.  I'm hoping to complete the afghan by Christmas!

That's all for today!  Looking forward to a great run tonight!

Keep Trying!

Yesterday I attempted the Week 3 portion of the Couch to 5k plan.  I didn't do so well!  This was the plan:

Walk for 5 minutes to warm up.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 3 minutes.
Walk for 3 minutes.
REPEAT.
5 Minute cool down walk.

Here's what I actually did:
Walk for 5 minutes to warm up.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 2 minutes.
Walk for 2 minutes.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 2 minutes.
Etc,, until I had done 20 minutes of run/walk.  Then I continued walking at the same speed until I completed 2 miles.  THEN the cool down walk for another quarter mile.

SO, it looks like it's going to take me a while to get comfortable with the Week 3 plan!  I may be on Week 3 for three or four weeks!  I'll keep trying!

Flavor!

On Saturday, my friend, Connie, and I participated in the first ever Flavor Run in Tampa.  This was a 5k race, but not timed.  Along the way, there were flavor stations where "flavor fairies" tossed colorful, flavored corn starch at the runners.  We started out in white shirts

and finished in a mess of color! 

I still haven't been able to wash off ALL of the color, but we had such a good time, we'll definitely do it again next year!

Books

I love to read.  Just before I turned 12, my Aunt Frankie asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I said, "Books."  My sister, Terri, and my cousins, Sharon and Lynda, thought I was NUTS!  Aunt Frankie gave me two books that year:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  To this day, A Little Princess is one of my favorite books.  In 2009, my husband gave me a Nook for Christmas.  Since then, I've read almost 200 books.  I suppose, "I love to read" is a bit of an understatement!

I've just finished reading Swimming with Maya:  A Mother's Story by Eleanor Vincent.  This is a book about dealing with the accidental death of a child.  It is a heart wrenching and wonderful story that had me in tears many, many times.  Well worth the read!

I had a wonderful dinner at Applebee's last night with my daughter.  She's going off to college on Sunday and it was very special to spend some time with just the two of us.  I probably put on 2 pounds, but it was well worth it, and I'll have those two pounds off again in no time!  Sticking to the plan today, and a workout with my friend, Deb is on the agenda for this evening.  I'll be doing a 2 mile run/walk using the Couch to 5k program - week 2. 

Races

When I began trying to run for exercise, my stamina was almost nil.  I could run for a few seconds....maybe 10....and then I had to walk.  I WANT to be a runner.  I've never known a runner who wasn't thin!  It's taking some time to get to where I can run for any distance, and I can't really say at this point that I LIKE to run.  I read an article once about a Tiger Mom.  Her child said, "I don't LIKE playing the piano."  The Tiger Mom said, "Of course you don't like it.  You're not GOOD at it yet.  You'll LIKE it when you're GOOD at it!"  That's how I feel about running.  I know that I will like it more when I'm better at it!  For now, I just have to keep working to get better at it!

What keeps it interesting for me is participating in organized races.  My first was the Jingle Bell 5k to benefit the Arthritis Foundation.  That was in December of 2012.  We determined that the race was not properly timed since EVERYONE had their best time ever.  Since this was my first race, I had no idea what to expect for time.  I came in at around 40 minutes, but I've yet to achieve that time again, so I agree with my friends on the improper timing!  Nevertheless, it was fun and I've done six more since then, always improving my time just a little bit!  My goal is to do an average of one race per month for the whole year.  Here's what I've done so far:

Race Date		Race Name	Time
2/9/2013		Strawberry Distance Classic	48.00
2/23/2013		Gasparilla 5k	47.28
3/17/2013		Shamrock 5k	46.56
5/11/2013		Miles for Moffitt 5k	45.16
5/18/2013		5k4Q	43.49
7/20/2013		Watermelon Run	43.16

My next race is coming up this weekend.  It's the Flavor Run 5k and should be a lot of fun.  In this Fun Run, spectators throw colorful, flavored cornstarch at the runners so your white shirts end up almost looking tie-dyed.  Here's a link to the race information site:  http://flavorrun.com/

Of course, I'll do my best to improve on my last time, but this IS August in Florida.  It will be HOT, HOT, HOT, so the primary goal is FINISHING.  Improving the time is secondary. 

Meanwhile, in preparation for these races, I'm using the Couch to 5k running program.  This is a 9 week program, and each week you increase the amount of time you run.  I started the program on July 29th.  I did the week one program, as planned, for three days that week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday).  The next week, I moved up to the week 2 program.  In this one, you do a 5 minute warm up walk, then for the next 20 minutes, you alternate between running for 90 seconds and walking for 2 minutes.  Total running time is 9 minutes.  I decided to stay on this program for two weeks instead of one.  I didn't feel quite ready to move up to the next program just yet.  Even though it's designed as a 9 week program, I don't feel the need to complete it in 9 weeks.  My goal is to be able to run an entire 5k race, but I'm not in a huge hurry to be able to do it.  I'll get there, and my fitness level is improving all the time!

Beginnings

I've struggled with my weight all my life, and while I've lost and gained weight many times over the years, by the time I was 49, I was at my highest weight ever:  just about 200 pounds.  I knew I was out of shape, but when I started having chest pains after very minor exertion, I saw my doctor.  A week later I was in the hospital scheduled for cardiac bypass surgery.  Sextuple bypass surgery. 

My cardiologist told me that I needed to become vegetarian, and lose weight.  I tried.  I didn't really know how.....I quit eating meat but relied too heavily on pasta and dairy products.  The surgery was in October of 2010.  By February of 2012, I had not lost any weight.  In fact, I had gained another 10 pounds.  My doctor, who is a big fan of Weight Watchers, told me to get on a plan.  He didn't care what plan, but get on one, and we would evaluate it in 6 months.  If it was working, fine.  If not, "We'll choose a new plan."  I took that to mean that HE would choose the new plan, and it would be Weight Watchers.  Don't get me wrong.  Weight Watchers has done a LOT of good for a LOT of people.  It just isn't a plan that works for me.  I don't like a plan that makes me keep track of every calorie, point, gram, or whatever.  Just tell me what I can eat and what I can't.  I knew I had to get on track. 

A friend suggested the book called Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  I read it and began following the plan, which is essentially vegan (no meat and no dairy).  After 6 months, I had lost 30 pounds.  My cardiologist was thrilled, and didn't want to change my plan!  By February of 2013, I had lost 30 more pounds.  I was still overweight at 150, but no longer obese! 

Since June of 2012, I had been walking a lot for exercise.  In November, I decided to try to run.  At that time, I could jog for about 10 seconds at a time.  Not impressive by any standards.  Nevertheless, along with my friend, Connie, I began signing up to participate in organized 5k races.  I knew I'd be walking most of the time, but the races keep the exercise interesting, and I hoped to improve over time.  In about May of this year, I began weight training along with the walk/running and have really begun to focus on total fitness.  I'm now 52 years old, and I know that fitness is an ongoing thing.  It's not something that I can achieve and then cross it off of my Bucket List.  I will have to continue to pursue health and fitness for the rest of my life.  I'm up for the challenge!