Personal GPS!!??

Good news or bad news first? Okay, the good news is that I ran today after letting myself off the hook yesterday. I even ran 3.5 miles - yahoo for me. What's the bad news? The bad news is that I got lost running today. Yes. It finally happened. Now, in many ways this is no surprise (especially to my husband). I have no sense of direction at all and was giddy when I received my GPS for my car a couple of Christmases ago. It has gotten me to my destination many times after "recalculating" once or twice (or more). I have actually gotten lost even WITH the GPS in my car, but that is another blog entry for another day.

Back to today. So, I take advantage of the beautiful day and head outside at lunch to get my run in. I decided to make up my own route. It worked really well one other time (famous last words). So, I decide to simply go one particular direction until my half-way point (1.75 miles) and then turn around and backtrack back to the university. Sounds simple enough, one would think. Well, the first part worked out fine. The run actually felt pretty good, saw some pretty homes and kept track of where I was going - names of streets. I should mention that I don't live in the same neighborhood where I work. I commute about 45 minutes south so I don't drive around much where I work at all and am not familiar with the streets. The rationalization continues. As I'm heading back I notice that the street I was on suddenly changed names and I got all confused. I turned around and headed back the other way and then it happened again! Ugghhh! I decided to go against my instincts and run in the total opposite direction. I see a street named "University" up ahead and take it that it is a good sign that I'm getting close to John Carroll. Pretty soon I see an intersection I recognize and the big huge brick classroom building looming ahead. Ahh, home, sweet, work! By this point I had already finished my run and was walking back, wondering just how late I was! I got back at 12:55 and had approximately 5 minutes to shower, dry hair, etc. I am proud to say I was back at my desk ready to rock-n-roll and eating my lean cuisine at 1:07.

All in all, it was a good run even if I took the scenic route.

Good decision or rationalization? You decide!

So, I made the decision NOT to run at lunch today. All my intentions were to do so, brought all my stuff and even was prepared to run outside if necessary (have a long-sleeved shirt). BUT, getting closer to lunchtime I decided not to go based on these reasons:
1. It was cold outside (lower 50s and windy) and I'd rather run outside. The inside track was just not appealing today.
2. It is supposed to be nice both tomorrow and Friday (upper 60s).
3. I have a 1:30pm meeting with a student so it would be pushing it to get the run in, shower, eat, etc.
4. Both Thursday and Friday I don't have meetings after lunch until 2pm so plenty of time.

So, in conclusion, for the reasons stated above I decided to "skip" today and run both Thursday and Friday. Good rational decision or good ol' fashioned rationalization??!! I know what I think....:-)

The Green Light

So, I'm writing this book that chronicles my weight loss journey, right? My original plan was to see if Weight Watchers would publish it given that I talk about the company throughout the book. I contacted the company via the website and asked about this option. After I got an initial generic automatic email response back, I had low expectations that I would hear back from anyone about my particular question. Well, yesterday I actually did! A woman kindly emailed me back and told me that WW does not publish any unsolicited manuscripts and wished me well. She did say that many members who have had success publish on their own. Well, that was all I needed to hear. I learned of a website called www.lulu.com from the "My Happiness Project" book that I read recently that is a self-publisher and it looks very cool. I looked at it briefly and it is very reasonable to have them publish a hardcover book for me to keep. They also have selling options through the site, but I'd have to explore that more. In the meantime, I need to keep proofing and editing and have someone else read it and edit it soon as well. I was worried about getting permission from Weight Watchers to use the name in a published document, but I guess I just did!!! It is just fun to know that this is a real option for me and that I don't have to worry about using the WW name. Hooray!

The Amazing Race!

I had a great race experience yesterday! I ran my second 5K and it was the "Run for the Orphans". It began at Seton School, but mostly the route was throughout Hudson Spring Park trails. It was cold (real feel of about 33 degrees). I was dressed appropriately, however, with leggings, long-sleeved underarmour shirt, fleece jacket, windbreaker, hat and gloves. I was really keyed up and nervous before the race. I had gotten up early to go to my Weight Watchers meeting first and get my regular breakfast and coffee. Luckily I ran into a former high school friend at registration. It helped calm my nerves to talk with her a little bit. A few minutes before the race began my parents showed up which was also fun and very supportive. Mike had to take Zach to soccer so they couldn't be there that morning so the 'rents filled in!

The race was tough. The course was SO hilly, but I was proud of myself because I DID NOT stop and walk at all and that was my goal! I did not want to walk!!! I know some people do this, but for me I would feel that it would be cheating. So, my time ended up at 31:17 and I was okay with that, especially because of the hilly terrain. I beat my time for my first 5K in October which was 32:18 and that was on a flat road race. Totally different! I also achieved a personal best on my mile for the first mile of the race yesterday at 9:03. That was pretty cool.

I didn't win anything in this race (like I did in the first one - first place FSA/ONLY FSA!!) I came in 82 out of 141 runners...not too shabby for a non-athlete like me!! I felt like I wanted to throw up as I came across the finish line. But, I didn't. Then, I felt good...good that I accomplished something...good that I competed and improved...good that I ran the entire time...and if I'm totally honest, good that I wasn't last - not by a long shot!!! The organizers of the race caught videos of the runners at the start and at the finish which they put on youtube which was a nice surprise.

I need to look at the active.com calendar to find the next race. It is just great to have something to train towards. Very cool. I "heart" running!!!

Size DOES matter!

I'm getting ready to run a 5K on Saturday at Hudson Springs Park. I've walked the trail at the park before, but I thought I should at least run it once just to get a feel for it. I'm glad I did! It kicked my butt! There are quite a few hills along the way and they are not small!! I'm used to gradual ones, but a couple of the ones on that trail are pretty steep! For the first time ever I actually had to stop and walk a little bit of the way! However, I did finish! I was disappointed at first because I've been running longer distances than that. But, like I said - size does matter with those hills! My time was slower than normal, but that is to be expected because of the hills, I guess. I'll be ready to rock-n-roll on Saturday and run the whole time. I'll be sure to blog about it, don't you worry!!

My own route

Today I had the best run of my life. No, seriously, I did! I think I might have said that before, but it is totally true this time. Perfect conditions outside...55 and sunny...just enough wind...I was dressed perfectly right...shorts, long sleeved running shirt with t-shirt over it. I felt so good before, during and after the run. I ran 3.5 miles in 35 minutes flat and my rate per mile was 9:58 according to Pamela (I've named my ipod nano now - Pamela - just this second I have dubbed her "Pamela"). I could have run longer actually if I didn't have the time constraints of my lunch hour.

But, the best thing about my run was my route. It was MY route. And by my route, I mean I made it up myself. I started out following the little post-it that I carried with me that I has directions for a route that I know is 3 miles that I got from a friend. Of course per my normal MO, I made a wrong turn in Albuquerque (thank you Bugs Bunny)...but now I think it was not an accident. Because I just felt like running. I wanted to see where my feet wanted to take me so I let them. Of course after Pamela told me I was at the half-way point I just turned around and ran back. I'm not THAT crazy...and didn't want to have to have my colleagues send out a search party for me. It just felt so good to run where I wanted to run. Very freeing not to have to follow someone else's prescribed route or even my own prescribed route. I liked to make it up as went go along, which in many ways is totally NOT like me in life. I'm a planner. I'm a planner for a living, as a matter of fact. Perhaps that is why I liked NOT following a plan today. I'll have to do this again...but not the same route!!

Hey how about some irony to finish the story! I forgot to pack a towel with me today and didn't realize it until after my run in the locker room. Luckily, I borrowed a hand towel from a friend! What was that about me being a planner?!! Or perhaps this is just another lesson...hmm...

Pushing Through the Wall!

I finally pushed through the 3-mile wall today! I just decided to set my nano to 3.5 miles and see what happened. I have never run more than 3 miles at a time and have wanted to do it for about a couple of weeks, but just never had the gumption to DO it! Today was the day. It was strange because the woman "in my ipod" (I really should give her a name) gave me more feedback than she does on my normal 3 mile setting. She announced one mile, half-way point (1.75), .5, and then the standard count down from 400 meters.

I felt surprisingly good throughout the run. I was on the inside track today because of the cold (and snow, I might add - in April!). The first mile went by quick. My legs were a little stiff, but then after I got to .5 miles left, I felt really good - I could have run longer, I think. Great feeling just to have conquered the 3 mile wall. I'm not sure what my goal is from here...do I want to keep increasing my distance? Do I want to increase my speed? I'm leaning towards increasing distance. Of course, I am somewhat limited by time during my lunch runs, but I could still probably easily do 4 miles and shower within an hour. Okay, that is my new goal...I want to work up to doing 4 miles every run. I will keep doing 3.5 for awhile, however, and get used to that first...baby steps...