meganursula | Entries tagged with training

The long story short is that getting to the point where I can run again has been amazingly frustrating and difficult. I think I'm finally making progress, but I don't know how that 5k on June 1 will go. I have, as yet, been unable to do more than a 10 minute run, and I'm guessing the 5k will take me closer to 38 minutes. (My mental goal for 'being able to run' is to be able to do a 5k under 35 minutes reliably.)

Last Saturday I ran my most successful training run this year. I made it around the inside loop of Greenlake in 33 minutes, for an 11.8 minute mile pace. Additionally, that was at minute 8 of my 10 minutes long interval, so I tacked on a little tiny bit of distance.

I have identified a few issues with my progress. One that I can't do anything about is my recurrent asthma - even when I'm healthy I'm needing more medication to keep the exercise induced asthma at bay. There are a few things I can do something about: The first is that trying to build ability on one day a week isn't cutting it, so I need to have more than one workout per week. The second is that I believe the couchto5k program isn't really cutting it for me.

Working out more than once per week is obvious, and something that I've know for a long time. It is obviously easier to implement when the weather is nice. My current goal is to be running at least twice per week, but I also think it is necessary to do some strength and stretching. I have an orthogonal goal to be riding my bike more, but that will also help increase my stamina and leg strength.

As to the Couch to 5k - I have identified some fundamental problems with the program. Fundamentally, I think its more like 'Non-running but fit to 5k'.

I have been following the first weeks based on the time values, not distance values. If you do this, the basic distance being covered is not sufficient to get many people up to a 5k.... the final week has a 30 minute 5k, and even at my best I was around 31 minutes. So on this go I implemented a fix for this problem. The idea is to augment all the workouts so I'm traversing at least a 5k in total... in the early weeks there was a LOT of walking to get this done, but, I did append extra short intervals, or repeat the requisite intervals multiple times. (I must admit, the basic premise is actually pretty easy for me to do, because I'm running at Greenlake. The walk down & back added to the 2.8 mile inner loop is more than a 5k. However, even without that, I think it would be reasonable to ensure that every workout was at least 35 minutes, or whatever your estimated goal time was.)

The other issue comes in around week 5, when you jump from doing a few short intervals, to this massive 20-minutes-without-stopping run. I haven't been able to do that 20 minute run yet, despite being at week 5 for over a week. As a result, i've given up on C25k for the rest of my training run, and plan the following:

I have a schedule set up that does a bunch of short interval runs (1 min x 1 min rest, 2 min x 1 min rest, repeat) and then a long interval (10 mins last week). My plan is to gradually remove an interval at a time, and lengthen the long interval so that the total amount of time is still my 35 minute goal time. I think its a reasonable plan, and we'll see how it goes. I expect that, eventually, i'll modify the short intervals, too, but not this week.

Anyway, there are only about two more training weeks until my scheduled 5k. Obviously, unless I miraculously feel quite strong, my program won't get me to a 5k by then. So, my goal is to just stick with it, and keep aiming at getting my base back. -- and maybe looking for a 5k towards the end of the summer to keep me honest.

1. Big Backyard 5k registration is complete. I await my hoody.
2. I have been running a few times since Christmas. Mostly, walking with some jogging in the middle, but, on Saturday I did a C25k week 1 workout officially.
3. I have determined that I should have one day a week that i can walk/run with Marie in the stroller. (Maybe not this week, actually, since today was a holiday.) I have also determined that I should be able to bike Madeleine home from school at least once per week.
4. As to the latter, I need to figure out how to keep the little kids happy in the trailer. Its really my biggest issue. Madeleine needs some work on her endurance, and I need to bring some food for her, but that seems pretty doable. Getting William to comply seems hard.
5. I'm a bit annoyed with my Fitbit; its really just a pedometer, and thats okay in some ways. However, i'm trying to use it to really track my overall activity, and I think its just not really cutting it. For example, today, I took the kids to the museum and was on my feet for two hours wandering around the museum. It doesn't add up to a lot of distance walked, but it should count for more activity than if I were sitting at a desk. Also, it doesn't register biking, so if I bike to pick up Madeleine it doesn't register much activity at all, despite the fact that a four mile bike ride towing a trailer with 60 pound of kid in it is actually work. (Seems like it should count for a circumnavigation of Greenlake, but, the Fitbit does count that type of smooth walking quite well. I think that I might, at some point, try to find a different tracker. Or, who knows, maybe i'll just give up on the idea all together.

I have been doing the couch-to-5k training schedule for running. I decided to do it because I was having no luck in getting back into running condition. (Running really hasn't been fun in a long time. But I want to be able to be a runner again; there is something useful and cathartic about being able to run.)

I had been thinking i'd swap out some of the actual running workouts for similarly lengthed in-door training workouts. However, spurred by the advice of a friend, and the nice weather, i have so far done every running workout. I have repeated a couple of weeks, so i'm not quite on the week that i would be. I have been doing my best to do augmentary work-outs; i've come up with targeted strength or stretching exercises for basically every day. They are minimal, but non-zero. I'm also doing some sit-up goals with Josh.

Generally speaking i think this has been a positive experience. I have, by and large, enjoyed my 'runs'. They have been doable, and i like the short format of the work-outs. I finally, after years of thinking i should, found a real way to implement an interval workout. I like being able to run full-out for the shortest of the intervals. I also like the time-based format, because i've been able to run around the neighborhood without route planning. I'm glad that i've done all the runs as runs, because I think it is beneficial for me to get out and move a bit. And i've proven that i *can* get out and do a half hour workout, even when the day is long.

On the other hand, after today, i'm sort of convinced that i'm just never going to be able to run again, and i'm terribly frustrated with it. I've gained weight since i started the program, and my knees hurt. My lungs don't work and i'm tired all the time. It took an ibuprofen and two different inhalers to get me out on the road today. And that first three minute interval still seemed like it was never going to end. It took about 1.5 times through the prescribed workout to get around the inner-loop (2.8 miles), so i'm not really feeling that 5k is going to come easy any time soon. I have been able to run a 13 miler before, and i feel like i've been pretty dedicated about doing the work, so its all particularly frustrating.

*Sigh* Maybe its not as bad as it always feels, when i have an asthmatic gasp. Maybe its just all some convoluted excuse to quit my job in favor of long walks. Maybe its just fall depression setting in (you all had better hope not. Not only is September some sort of record for that, but it just is not long enough after summer mania set in).

Unless something particularly dire happens, i'm going to see the entire program through. For one thing, it is a commitment I made to myself. For another, its a commitment i roped other's into sharing to shore up my dedication. For a third, i don't currently have another method lined up for staving off death.

Randomly.

1. I have started doing the couch-to-5k training program. I am doing a sort of email support group for it, and so far things are going pretty well.

I had started designing alternative workouts so i didn't have to go out and run three times a week, but, so far i've made myself actually do the requisite runs, and it feels pretty good. For the first time in a really long time i am feeling hopeful about running.

2. I am also trying to do some ab-work. Strengthening my core would go a long way towards making myself feel better.

3. (And just writing this i have one of my occasional flashes of panic - because why does this matter since i've started a long slow decline that only ends in death?)

4. I have proven that bike commuting is possible. I have almost proven that biking Madeleine to school is possible. Trying to get myself to put both of those things into action this week or next.

5. I have been fighting with a long term yeast infection, for which i recently saw the doctor. She confirmed my suspicions that i seem to be allergic to the cream i'd been using to treat the infection and recommended using some hydro-cortizone cream for a while to treat the resulting eczema. I seem to be allergic to that, too. *sigh*

(Does anyone have suggestions for something to treat super itchy eczema that isn't hydro-cortizone cream? I have a couple of other random patches that have appeared in addition.)

6. On the upside, i don't have diabetes. I wasn't really worried, but there were a couple of things that made paranoid me, well, paranoid. Actually, my long term sugar levels are on the lower end of normal, so i'm not even borderline. Which is great.

7. I have been discovering that consuming large amounts of pro-biotics appear to help me in many ways. I'm looking for a good an easy source.

8. While, at the same time, trying to work on getting more fruits and vegetables into the family's diet. I'm a little disappointed that i didn't get more traction with my garden this year. It was better than last year, and i hope that it will be better still next year. In the mean time, i've got to find good healthy winter vegetable options. Maybe i'll plant greens.

Its been more than a month since i wrote here. Weird.

Today I went for a run, and then a walk. Overall it felt alright. I'd also run last Saturday and that felt... hard. One of my goals for the year was to get back in shape for running, and specifically to run the Backyard 5k. I did run that race in the beginning of June. I was pleased that I ran the whole thing*, and a bit frustrated at how hard it was. Actually, that wasn't all that different from my take away this week. I'm pleased that i've gotten out there, but frustrated with how hard it is.

* I like the Big Backyard 5k. Its a good cause, a sort of silly but fun run, and I love the people that i do it with.

It has been harder for me to feel like i'm back in shape after Marie. It is a combination of starting off at a lower level of fitness, that much less time for putting in the effort, and getting older in general. I had been feeling pretty good about what I was doing for much of the year - I'd incorporated a lot of walking into my days, and started to include more toning and stretching. The walking was huge, not only because I was getting in enough to feel that it was making a difference, but also because I felt good about the life style it was modelling.
However, with my return to work, my walking hours were far curtailed. Now one of my jobs is sedentary, as opposed to having the one job that included walking and wasn't sedentary even when I wasn't walking. After a month of realizing how that was going to hit me I figured i needed to take steps to remedy the problem. One of my steps was to get a fitbit, which is really just a nice new indulgent toy, but i'm enjoying getting data from it. I like data. The model i chose also will show you, at any given time, how close you are to a daily goal (like #steps), so I have been able to use that to help modestly boost my daily activity count. Its also added incentive to actually do something active. I am a goal oriented person.
I have found that I seem to burn very few calories in a given day. (I rarely break 2000, according to the fitbit estimates, while its default goal for me is 2400. I'm fairly sure this is wrong - my basal metabolism rate must be a bit higher than it assumes, but it is still a bit of an eye opener. I'm not sure that i care that much, except that it implies that either I am not as active as I feel like i am, or that the fitbit is pretty bad at actually measuring my activity levels. Maybe both.)
I have also found that my sleep is, when its there, very efficient. Well, I didn't need the fitbit to tell me that - when i sleep i sleep like the dead. I fall asleep very quickly - usually in less than five minutes - and am rarely restless. My fatigue level, then, is the result of a shorter nightly sleep period, and the number of times i wake up. (When I wake up I am awake for a little while, because there is usually a reason I woke up.)

I've been trying to come up with some machine learning app I can write using fitbit information, but I haven't actually come up with something brilliant, yet.

The other thing that Josh and i really need to do is get back to our exercise program. We had been using the Kinect Nike Fit program, but fell off the wagon in May. Neither one of us really enjoy the program, but we both feel like it does actually boost our fitness level. There are a few things in it that i felt helped with my running, and my back pain was really pretty reduced while we were using it regularly. So, we've jumped back on, and have promised ourselves the reward of a different program to intersperse with this one. We have our eyes on a program that boasts a more fun approach to fitness to mix in.

Of course, i'd love to get back to swimming. And/or Yoga. But i'm thinking that those things will probably have to wait, and, in the meantime, I can feel lucky that i have this much.

In lieu of the long runs, longer bike rides, tri training, or gym-rat behavior that i need to be putting off for now, Josh and i are trying an experiment. We are promising ourselves to stick with our new EA sports fitness routine through the thirty day challenge. We are on day three, and so far, so good.

The work outs are relatively easy (although surprisingly challenging to my out-of-shape ass), but the variety is promising. I find that if you work straight through on you can get your heart rate up at least a little for a good 20 minute period, and i was at least a little sore after the first two days. I like having a guided workout with this much variety - i'm awfully prone to falling into ruts with my work outs. The program look and feel is awfully cheesy, but it seems to be suiting the purpose alright. I don't think it will ever fill the role of the tri sports to me (i like drills and focused work, and i like the challenge of working on an endurance goal), but it could turn out to fill a good role for cross training.

In other words, so far good. I'm hoping it pans out as a good way to ease back into things.

Well, its been a while since i bugged folks about this, and its time to do so again:

I made a team for Race for the Cure again - I chose the team name Nepeta Runaria... just to be interesting. Nepeta
Cataria is the latin name for catnip, so i figure this includes both a
kitty reference (my running group is the Soggy City Kitties), and, well, runners nip? There is more info about the race in the email quoted below.

As usual, i encourage everyone to sign up to run, walk, or at least donate to one of your friends. I've already got a couple of wonderful folks on my team. If you're thinking about signing up, why not do so today? Make the commitment, and encourage me to get my butt together to think about planning a waffle breakfast afterwards.

One of the reasons i do this is to encourage my community to get active (phsyically and in their community), and also to do some interesting activity together. Surely you want to participate in that?!

Not sure you can run a 5K? You can! Try following a schedule like the following:
http://www.halhigdon.com/5K%20Training/5-Knovice.htm

-- megan

(Quoted email v)

On Sunday, June 7, 2009, I will participate in the Susan G. Komen Puget
Sound Race for the Cure® in Seattle. I would be honored and
inspired to have you on my team.

As a top rated non-profit, 75 percent of the Puget Sound
Affiliate's net income remains in the local community to fund
educational outreach, screening and treatment programs for underserved
women in Western Washington and the remaining net income supports the
global search for a cure.

By running or walking in the Race, we can model the healthy choices
important in combating cancer. Most importantly your smile and
support provides the personal momentum needed to achieve the Susan G.
Komen vision of a world without breast cancer. Every step in this race
counts.

Click
here to visit my personal page.

Click
here to view the team page for Nepeta Runaria

Saturday:
12 miles, 2:15 (11.25 min. miles)
max hr = 221 (assume this is an error)
ave hr = 167 (woot)
1551 kcal (oops, ate far too much recently for this to help)

2 more weeks.

I feel like i can run faster than 11.25 minute miles, even over 12 miles. I'm a bit worried about pacing. I think i need to pick it up at the end. Some days, recently, i've been wanting a Forerunner.

I keep saying i'm going to start up my spark people activity again, and i keep not doing it. Soon. i think i should do that.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003248128_pacificpfit10.html

Official Results with Megan's additions

8/20/06, start 9:32:33

Overall Rank: 582/3965 age group: 92/468

Class Rank: 47/1003

Swim: 15:56 (16:11.1, 169/201 - Time, AveHR/MaxHR)

Swim Rank: 331

Swim Pace: -- thats about a 17:45 1000 Yds. time, which is pretty good for me! I was doing about 20 mins. in the pool. I guess this is what not having to turn gets you.

T1: 5:08 (4:59.7, 173/193)

Bike: 38:18 (38:19, 179/193)

Bike Rank: 296

Bike MPH: 19.4 woot!

T2: 3:13 (2:14.7, 168/179)

Run: 32:18 (32:12.1, 181/190)

Run Rank: 1692 god, i hate running.

Run Pace: 10:25

Total: 1:33:56 (1:33:57)

My times are pretty consistent with the race times, especially given that i wasn't too anal about looking for the timing pads. My heart rates surprise me, though. That swim HR, in particular - my HR never goes up that far when i'm swimming. I think it may be erroneous, which is pretty annoying. That Max HR makes me think that i was getting extra signals somehow. (The doctors explaination that the filtering in my unit may be off, resulting in basically a 2x HR measure actually would fit the max HR of 201. But, then i think the Ave may be low. I dunno... I guess i just have to throw out the HR data.)

Over all, i thought it was a fun day. I was super proud of Katy and Julie, and pretty happy with my own results. I was intimidated by the size of the race, but, found that i did not feel too crowded. I went out in front of my wave on the swim, and had a pretty free path all the way around. I got hung up in two spots on the bike, but it wasn't that big a deal. Of course running you can always dodge. The crowd, at least by the time we got there, was supportive and nice. I enjoyed hanging out with Julie and Katy, and i was happy to see our supporters there - Paul and Jon catching us before the race was a treat, seeing Eli at the finish line was golden, and i had a nice time walking back to the car with Paul.

I really enjoyed the swim, and found my self thinking, again, that i should try some of the open water swims in Seattle. (As long as they allow wet suits. I love not being cold.) I had a good time on the bike, and it was a bit of an ego boost since i was passing people the whole time. I hated the run. It was hard. It also dragged down my over all time a lot. Sigh. I'm really frustrated with running. I'm going to try interval training this fall, but, i don't have too much hope that it will ever get really better. We'll have to see if i do Danksin again. Maybe i will - it was pretty good overall.

(As an aside, and for my future reference - my stomach was bugging most of yesterday (and Friday and Saturday). I don't think it really affected my overall performance - cramped a little on the run, but i don't think it really made me slower. But, worth noting. I ate some goo after the race, which i think was a REALLY bad idea.)

I want to especially give a nod to katybeth, who was really inspirational through the whole Danskin process. First of all, she convinced me to do it. I didn't really want to deal with Danskin, but i did because Katy asked for company, and i'm glad she talked me into it. (Its nice to be talked into things sometimes.) Second of all, i just have no end of respect for how she handled it. Katy decided she was going to do Danskin, and went from basically non-athlete (at least cardio based) to triathlete in a year. She was really good at setting training goals, and sticking to them. I admire the way she'd go work out by herself even if everyone else flaked, and the way she found creative ways to fit the training in - like riding home from work. Even more impressive to me - she stayed calm and positive the whole time, and really buoyed my spirits along the way. I think it paid off for her - her race was really strong, and consistent. She wasn't the fastest in the field, but she certainly looked great out there. AND, i think she had fun. In short, go Katy, go!! You rock. and Thanks.

mileage last week:
bike: 60
run: 2.8
swim: 2100 yrds (1.2)
walk: i dunno, lots?

notes:

bike: i remain pleased with the STP group. Rode through down town, over Queen Anne.. never thought i could do that. still love my bike. I"m please with my new sunglasses. They did help. Also, max speed = 39.9 mph. (max HR = 212, not so good, ave HR = 140, good).

run: 2.8 miles is scant, but at least i went. Still 29 minutes.

swim: first full swim workout in a while. I know i'm deliberately going slow on the swimming for this part of the year, but, would be nice to be back to it for real. Felt good to be in the pool. Actually managed to hit my stride towards the end.

I am currently in a panic because i've realized that i'm busy for the next four weekends straight. I am not sure how i'm going to keep up my biking mileage (i'm not too worried, but i want to keep up my good pace there). Swimming is probably even harder. I have one week back east - i think i may try to get in some good running there. (Please note, i am trying to ignore the raising panic when i think about what all this means to my yard and house work.)

I bought a Pilates home tape thing, so i'm looking forward to trying that out. Also, i think i may have to use some of this sort of down-time to make sure i stretch.

Other note: i'm glad Josh is being tolerant of me. Even this much training takes time, and i'm thankful that i have it. And that so far my body is holding up its end of the bargain. Also grateful there.