Training Progress

My first 5K is now 12 days away! I have been trying to run as often as possible in order to be ready, but as I said in my last post, it is hard to find enough time. Today though, I got in a really good run. I was so proud of myself! I ran for a total of 2.15 miles and walked for a total of .83 miles for a grand total of 2.98 miles! I alternated a lot in order to make it the whole way, but hopefully I can increase my running mileage so that I can be ready to run 3.2 miles all at once in the race.

Here are the stats from the times I have run:
4/24: 1.91 miles total in 25:08, a 13:09 min/mile. I estimate 1.3 mi running and .61 mi walking
4/28: 1.89 miles total in 27:17, a 14:25 min/mile. I estimate 1.5 mi running and .49 mi walking
4/29: 1.16 miles total in 14:19, a 12:20 min/mile. I estimate .7 running and .46 walking
5/1: 2.98 miles total in 36:53, a 12:23 min/mile. 2.15 mi running and .83 mi walking

On the days between, I have tried to at least get a walk in. I usually end up walking with Andrew because he won't let me have enough time to get on the elliptical or I don't have someone to watch him for me. And that's okay too -- walking helps almost as much as running. At least it's movement, which is the main goal! :-)

I say estimate on the first 3 days because I wasn't counting exactly, but today I was because I wanted to know exactly how much I could run. In case anyone is wondering, here are my intervals:
0-.25 walking (.25 mile)
.25-1.25 running (1 mile)
1.25-1.50 walking (.25 mile)
1.50-2.00 running (.50 mile)
2.00-2.10 walking (.10 mile)
2.10-2.65 running (.55 mile)
2.65-2.85 walking (.20 mile)
2.85-2.95 running (.10 mile)
2.95-2.98 walking (.03 mile)
Total 2.98 miles, with 2.15 running and .83 walking

The intervals were not in any way planned, I just ran until I felt like I needed a break, and walked until I felt strong enough to run again. I am going to try and keep up with my runs like this in the future, because I always like to know exact counts on how much I do of everything.

More training will come this week, but it may be a little bit difficult to fit it in....I start back full-time to work this week. :-/ This is a mixed blessing. I have been back part-time for a few weeks now, but this week starts full-time. So, I will keep updating on how the training is going as I can get to it!!

Where do I find the time??

It is way crazy-super-difficult to find the time to get some exercise with a baby in the house. So far, the only times I have been able to exercise is when someone keeps the baby for me. I obviously can't leave him at the house by himself when I go run, and I don't have a jogging stroller yet so I can't take him with me easily. I have tried just using my elliptical at the house, but I can't lay him down long enough to be able to use it. The only time I can use it is in the afternoon, which is his fussy time. So exercising requires that I either take him to my mother-in-law's house or I get my mom to stay at my house with him when she is there. Either way, I am taking up someone else's time. But I have to do it, seeing as how I have my first 5K coming up soon!! I am really excited for it, and I hope that I can be ready for it because I really don't want to have to give up and walk part of it. It's just hard to find the time....

Case in point - I am writing this post at 4 am. Lol! It's the only time I have to myself when he is sleeping, not fussing, or not needing my attention. Of course, this probably significantly decreases the quality of my posts considering the sleep deprivation and lack of coherent thoughts at this time of day :-) Not that I would trade it for the world!

If you're a mom, or even just busy, how do you find the time to exercise?

I have a goal!

I needed motivation to get my butt back in motion so....(insert drumroll here)....I signed up for my first 5K!! With 3 weeks to get ready!!! (Yes, you can tell me that I've gone crazy, but I already know.) I'll be running in the 2011 Twilight 5K on May 13th. This was my goal #8 that got thrown off track by my getting preggers, so now it's time to get it done! :-)

I ran for the first time again this past Sunday. I went for a total of 2 miles, about 1.3 of that was running and .7 was walking. I'm pretty happy with that, seeing as how it had been NINE MONTHS since the last time I ran! I was SO SORE afterwards though!! Lol! Then due to my schedule and the weather, I wasn't able to do another run until today, 4 days later. I did another 2 miles, but I think that I did closer to 1.5 miles running. That's progress! Hopefully this weekend I can get up to 2 miles running. We will see. I should have kept moving using my elliptical on the days I couldn't run, but it's a little difficult to find the time or energy! That's getting a little better each week though, as the baby starts to sleep a little better every week.

It really does feel great to get back out on the road. Running was one of the things I really missed doing. I love the feeling I have after running, and it clears my head when I'm stressed. I love the burn I feel while doing it. I love just turning up the music and thinking about nothing but my feet hitting the pavement. I also love to run with a partner! My sister-in-law is running this first race with me, and I love having her there to help me and to push me when I would quit if I was on my own. Running with someone gives us both the opportunity to push each other and to make each other better.

As I continue working towards this goal, I will keep updating how the "training" is going and then how my first race goes! Wish me luck :-)

Happy Easter!

I hope that everyone had a great Easter, I know we did!

Here is the little man in his Easter outfit!

We had a nice lunch with family and an egghunt that he slept right through, lol! Then after lunch , mommy (me) went for my first run since having him; and in fact, it was my first run in 9 months! More on that in another post.... :-) Have a great rest of your Easter!!

Exercise!

I got in some exercise today! Me and my mom went for a 30 minute walk in her neighborhood. We walked at a pretty good pace, and there were SO MANY HILLS!  I was totally worn out by the time we finished. But I felt good. I would like to run, but I've gotta build up to that!

Running is my absolute favorite form of exercise. I like it even better when I can run outside, instead of inside on a treadmill or on an indoor track. Running inside on a treadmill or track is much better for my knees and shin splints, but outside is just more enjoyable. I love being outside when the weather is nice and it is so pretty like it is this time of year. Plus I get some sun :-)

Using my elliptical is a close second, because it is more challenging than a treadmill. I enjoy challenging myself to get better and better, and the resistance and incline settings on the elliptical allow me to do that. Hmm....maybe I should come up with a challenge to motivate me now. I will have to come up with something and get back to you. Suggestions?

What is your favorite form of exercise?

I'm back!

HELLO AGAIN!!!

It has been a while since I have posted anything -- 9 months to be exact! I have been a bad fitness blogger! But I was having trouble being fit, so I couldn't really keep up with a fitness blog. In case you missed the big event, I was pregnant, and had my sweet little man on March 10th. I was pretty sick for the first half of my pregnancy with nausea so I was barely able to eat, much less exercise. Then after I finally got better, I ended up with Gestational Diabetes. I had to eat more healthy, but it was such a pain trying to keep up with my food and blood sugar that I didn't feel like also keeping up with the blog. I still didn't feel like exercising because there were a lot of days that I was super tired or that my hips hurt from the baby's position. Those days I was lucky just to make it home to the couch, lol! So, now that my little man is here and I have recovered from labor & delivery, I am ready to get back to it!! It has been 6 weeks now, and I have been cleared by my doctor to exercise again. I am committed to being healthy, not only for my sake, but now also for the sake of my son. I want him to grow up with good values when it come to being fit and healthy. I also want to be around for a while, so I need to live a healthy lifestyle.

So, how am I doing right now in the healthy department? Well, I have started walking some days (when it's nice and I'm not too sleep deprived), and I would like to start back to running soon. I am not eating super healthy, and I am eating a TON. But I know that's normal since I'm nursing...well the eating a ton part is anyway. I need to eat better but it's hard to resist temptations when I'm so tired. Not that I'm making excuses, but I'm just laying it out there. As far as my weight goes, I only gained 23 lbs during the pregnancy, and I have already lost 20. I wish that I looked like I only had 3 more lbs to lose though. My stomach is still flabby, but with exercise I know that will firm up.

What is my plan? I don't have a great plan yet, other than to just try in general to eat better and get in more exercise when I can. I want to do a 5k sometime fairly soon, but I have to work back up to that. I plan on both exercising outside in my neighborhood, and also using my elliptical machine when I can't be outside. I want to lose the last little bit of my pregnancy weight, and also lose about 5-10 lbs after that. So I would like to get rid of up to 13 lbs to get to my "happy weight".

I hope that you all will enjoy following my journey again and that you will gain insight from what I post. Also, feel free to leave me comments with topics you would like to read about or what you think of my posts!! Yay for getting back in the game! :-)

Tryin to keep up...

I have been trying to keep up with exercising and eating right, but I am not doing so well with that. I have been having trouble eating because of some nausea (not too bad, thank goodness). I don't really want anything to eat, and when I do eat something, I don't eat much. Exercising is a problem when I don't eat enough because I haven't taken in the calories to support any extra activity. I did attempt to go for a run with my sister-in-law last week. That didn't work too good, I thought I was gonna throw up halfway through. I estimate I did get about a mile of running in, and I walked the other mile, for a total of 2 miles. I felt awful afterwards though, so I need to do something different next time. I won't be pushing myself so hard, and I will make sure that I have eaten enough that day so that I won't feel so bad. I am going to try and go for at least a short walk each day so that I can stay active as much as possible. The doctor cleared me for running, but I don't know if I'll feel up to that anymore until I feel better. That remains to be seen....

Have a great Tuesday! Stay fit!