Race day is changing!!

Okay guys, I have some bad news and some good news. I'll give you the bad news first, because it explains the good news.

The bad news is, that I have to do a lot of travel in the next couple months. I have to go to Edmonton soon because of personal reasons, and I have to go to Calgary in June (which would be after the race, yes, but I have to work extra hours to be able to afford these damn trips) aaaaaand I have to go to B.C in the summer.

So anyway, training is not really going to be realistic for me unfortunately. At least for the next short while.

I really REALLY REALLY want to run this race though, so I decided I could just find a new race. I went online and poked my nose around and I managed to fine one. Unfortunately it was in August, August 14th, but anyway at least it is doable...

So that is the good news, August 14th. New run.

Three things.

Distance run: 3 miles
Time taken: 32:34

1. This running inside thing is really starting to kill my buzz.
2. I need to train more.
3. HOLY FUCK SOMEBODY NEEDS TO FIX THE A/C AT MY GYM. I think I'm still overheated. That is all.

Lets make this a regular thing, shall we?

Distance run: 2 miles
Time taken: 20:11

I'm not in the mood to write out a summary of my run and why I did/didn't do well. I ran, and I ran further than yesterday, so that's pretty good.

Looks like I have everything under control.

Well, at least I'm running again I guess...

Distance run: 1.5 miles
Time taken: 15:26

I'm such a loser. I haven't run for six days, and the best distance I can muster up is 1.5 miles.... Which is roughly 2.4k. I mean, I coulda gone for longer, but I just couldn't make myself stay on the treadmill.

I went to the gym fully intending on running 3 miles, and getting back on track, but I didn't. This half marathon is getting closer and closer. I'm just a little discouraged.

Try again tomorrow I guess.

Its getting closer and closer!

Distance run: One mile.
Time taken: 8:53
Also did an abs workout.

So today, I decided to challenge myself again. I have been doing that a lot on the shorter runs lately, and I am going to need all the challenges I can take because Saturday I am going to run FIVE MILES!

Anyway, I did a really really good mile, but still had juice afterward, so I did a quick abs workout, but nothing too intense. I added in some pushups too because I have been ignoring my upper body a lot lately. That is all for now.

Just squealing in.

Distance run: 4 miles
Time taken: 44:24     

So, my goal today was to try to keep on pace with ten minutes a mile, but at the very worst, to get in under 45 minutes. I had to slow down to a walk more than once on this run. I blame dehydration. I've been finding it a huge challenge to drink the amount of water that I'm supposed to, and honestly, I didn't drink water at work today at all, only coffee.

I take this run as a success though. My goal is just to finish the half marathon after all, so time is less of an issue than completion.

The photo is of some of the goodies I'd mentioned in earlier posts.

Today is St Patricks Day!!

I'm not going to be home tonight, so I'm also not going to the gym.

I had all these good intentions of doing an abs workout before I left for work today, but now with 20 minutes to go until I have to leave, and none of my holiday makeup on, I really doubt the chances of that.

I will do my best to be on very good behavior tonight, because I know that after work tomorrow I am first going to see the house I am house sitting soon, but then after that, I want to do a run, or at least a workout of some type. If I don't get a run in tomorrow, I'm going to have to suck it up and do it after work on Saturday before going out. Blehhh. I didn't think having a training schedule would be so much work.

If I could run.... One mile?

Distance run: 1 mile
Time taken: 9:40

Ugh... So I had a bad day today.

My plan was to wake up at 7am to give myself ample time to go to the gym and get a nice good run in. Of course, I didn't get out of bed until 7:45. I had to be on the bus by 9:50. Suffice to say, I didn't have a lot of time to run.

But, I did have some time. So, I ended up planning on going 2 miles and halfway through realizing I didn't have time, and picking up the pace lots. I wish that this would have been more distance, but that is okay. Friday will likely be my distance run, because I know for sure that I won't do it Saturday, and I know for sure that I won't do it tomorrow. So I'm saying if I don't do it Friday, it won't get done at all, which is a little scary!

Late night... Early morning.

Distance run: 2 miles
Time taken: 21:36

This is a photo of me from about a week ago. I took it so that at the end of my training, I can take another one, and see any changes that might have happened in my body. I think I look weird in this picture, but its the best one that I have right now.

Anyway, last night, I went and ran just two miles, because I KNEW that I had to do something, otherwise there was no way I'd be able to run my distance. I have decided the only day for that is Friday after work, or maybe Saturday, but I am busy that evening, so it would be a little difficult to fit it in.

Clearly, this was not my best run, but that isn't the point. The point was just to go out and do it, and I did. I am actually about to go and run again. I hate to space them so close together, but I don't see how its going to get done otherwise. I don't work until 1pm today, but I have to go meet with my LARP group to discuss the next game. This is what happens when I have too much going on.

Oh also, yesterday I went and got myself some more MTG cards, so soon I will be able to build more decks, and slay all of my enemies! I also got some groceries from the organic grocery store and also from this ethnic place... Overall, I would say it was a good trip.

As a teaser for later, here is my first photo! Its is of my shoes, obviously.

Distance Achieved

Distance run: 3 miles
Time taken: 31:58

So, obviously my pace was a little slower today. Three miles is the furthest I've managed to go so far in my training, and I did complete the entire distance. After two miles though, I really started to ease off the speed, and eventually at 2.75 miles, I had to take a quick walking break for about thirty seconds.

At the end though, I felt okay. So I think that my lesson was that even if I had to slow down, I probably didn't need the walking break. Learning experience I suppose. Anyway, I am proud of myself for having run so far, especially on a work day!

Rest Day.

Today my big plan was to do an abs workout after I got home from work. Then, I got invited to watch a two hour movie, and my shift was over at six.

Two hour movie turned into a several hour hangout, which was just as well, because I hadn't eaten supper yet anyway. We had a cheese soup, and also several snacks from my recent trip to the nearby organic grocery store. Let me tell you, these were some of the best snacks I've had in a long time, and will definitely be repeat buys. Definitely. In fact, lemme recommend to you Sahale Snacks "Soledad" nut blend. It blew my mind.

Anyway tomorrow is my distance run, which I plan to do before work. So, I figure that I can do a quick abs workout before I do my run. That should work out fine... I hope. I will strive to be at the gym at 10:30 or so, which should give me plenty of time to do any extra workout I want on top of my run. I'll let you know how it goes.

OH NO! I just realized I forgot my water bottle at my friend's apartment. Damn.

Success!

Distance run: 2 miles
Time taken: 19:42!

I have run two miles or more a few times now, and I know that I can run it comfortably at a pace of just over ten minutes a mile. Today, I challenged myself to try to run the same two miles in under twenty minutes. As you can see by my distance and time, I achieved my goal. I was super zapped afterward though and had to go lay spread out on a mat instead of doing a recovery walk. I'm glad the gym wasn't busier!

Going over my older posts, I can see that I beat my old best time by a whole minute! This is big news for me because now I have no excuse to let my pace fall below 10:20 (my usual pace) for longer runs, and I will keep this in mind on Thursday when I run my 3 miles!

Tomorrow is a rest day for me, but I have decided to do some ab workouts 3 times a week, and I'm going to try to fit those in on my rest days. It is nothing serious, just some quickies, and it won't interfere with my running at all. In fact, it will likely make it better.

P.S: I didn't get a stitch today when I was running! This is a very good sign!

Lazy running.

Distance run: 2 miles
Time taken: 22:06

Today it said to do 2 miles at an easy pace, so I was pretty lazy and set the speed to 2 notches slower than I usually go.

I've realized that I will have to just do workouts on days that are convenient for me, and that they will be different every week. The reason for this is that I have a very varied schedule and unfortunately it isn't realistic to do my long run on the same day every week. Still my plan will help me because it will give me an idea of what to do, even if it won't tell me what days.

Running and running and running.

Distance run: 2.5 miles
Time taken: 25:57

My abs are still sore from that workout I did the other day.

Anyway I managed to wake up, recover from a hangover, go to see Rango, clean my apartment, and get a run in today. Overall, I feel pretty accomplished.

Nothing crazy today, but the run was very difficult due to dehydration. I think it was half because of partying last night, and half because I didn't drink much water today. I was hoping to do 3 miles, but ended up stopping at 2.5 because of fatigue. I don't think it would have been much of an issue had I drank enough water today.

Also, I could probably avoid the stitch I got in my side about 2 minutes into the run. They go away after a while, but they aren't fun.

Today was supposed to be a rest day...

I don't know how far I ran, or how long it took, because I did things a little differently today.

My plan was to do five sets of running fast for a quarter mile, then recovering for one minute. Then, I was gonna follow the sets with one mile of running at an easy pace.

That didn't happen because I totally burnt myself out, thinking I was speedier than I actually was. I made it through three sets, then I gave up. Instead, I did an abs workout, because I didn't want the day to be a total failure.

Don't expect me to run tomorrow because I am going to a concert. That's why I gave up my rest day today! Now I know for next time that I am not Flash Woman (if she exists), even if I only have to keep it up for a few minutes.

Back on track!

Distance run: 2.5 miles.
Time taken: 25:24

After a hiatus of about four days, I am still a little sick, but I am definitely feeling well enough to run. So, today after work, I hit the gym. I decided I had better run at least 2.5 miles because I lost so much time to being either sick, or lazy, or both.

I didn't get to the gym at the time I wanted to because I forgot my gym bag at work and had to run back for it, causing me to miss the bus. It was a whole half hour til the next bus, but it could have been an hour, so I guess I'm lucky.

The extra half mile felt so long! I was sweating a lot by the time it was over, and breathing hard. But, I did it once and I know that I could do it again. I am more than confident I will be able to make my 3 mile run in a few days, and then a 4 mile one the week after. 5 miles still seems a long way off for me, but I know that I won't have to do that for a couple weeks yet.

As a treat, I have gotten myself some chocolate peanut butter cookies,  and also a savoury croissant from a bakery across the street from where I work. This croissant is unreal. It has spinach and feta and sundried tomatoes, and the pastry is soooooo light and yummy. It is the ultimate motivator for me. I also picked one up for my roommate, who is currently at the gym finishing her run for the day.

She is just starting to train now, so I don't think she will be running quite as far as I did today, but will probably catch up to me in a week or so.

Tomorrow I work the same shift, so I'll probably go to the gym again tomorrow to run the same distance, but hopefully in less time!

Posting again

So, obviously I haven't been doing the best that I can lately.

On Sunday, I went to the gym early in the morning and got a quick mile in. It took me 9:45, which I thought was pretty good.

Today, I had some housework to do, so I figured that I would go to the gym at 10pm, since its open 24hrs. Sounds like a perfect plan, right? Well, in addition to coughing up a fucking lung, I had a ridiculous nosebleed about 30 minutes before the end of my shift. There was no way I was running tonight, marathon or not.

I know that it sounds like I'm making excuses, but I've seriously come down with a horrible cold. Its making me next to useless. Tomorrow I don't work, so I am going to do my best to go to the gym to at least run one mile.

So I'm going to make this as short as possible.

I didn't do my workout today. I went to the mall instead. /shame

I'm going at 9am tomorrow! I swear!

Woke up with no voice.

Today,  I woke up, and I could barely get the words coming out of my mouth to sound like anything other than scratchy garbles.

Immediately I grabbed the NeoCitran (again) and a Halls. By lunchtime I was feeling better so I went out to scheme some schemes for my upcoming LARP. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I got distracted by Magic the Gathering and also ginger beef.... So, I didn't end up getting any scheming done.... It was pretty awesome though.

Either way, I still have a sore throat, and I am still not going to go to Body Pump today. It just isn't going to happen. I did get my camera out and take some pictures though! Coming soon to a blog near you!!

Day 3!

Distance ran: 2 miles
Time taken: 20:46

I totally forgot my camera today. Sorry guys.

Anyway, TODAY I IMPROVED MY PACE AND MY DISTANCE! Improving both gave me a huge boost in confidence, especially considering I didn't even do my run until 7pm, so I was tired from work.

Then, I got home, and showed my roomate the hemp protein powder I purchased today. We immediately tested it out in a blueberry smoothie. I enjoyed it immensely, but she didn't. I guess it doesn't matter though, because it is mine. Then dinner... Oh my goodness. We had lamb side ribs smothered in a tandoori sauce, and also pasta. It was literally amazing.

I'm so high on all my achievements in the past few days, and also all of the great food that I just ate. I am going to rule the world.

Rest Day.

I'm pretty sure I promised Jasper I would update even on my rest days.

Today is day two of my training, but I won't be running. However, there are still changes to my regular day. I have to make sure I am drinking enough water, and also that I am eating enough. Also that I'm eating at proper intervals in the day. This is still a challenge for me. There is a whole grain muffin waiting for me in the kitchen, begging me to eat it for breakfast, but I still haven't managed to stuff it in my mouth.

Vitamin C remains in my daily plan until further notice.

Also, I have plans to start taking pictures and put them up here, to make it more interesting to look at. I am gonna take pictures of me, and of my shoes, etc... Also anything you guys wanna see...

Thats it for today,
<3 Jessica.

Distance run: 1.5 miles
Time taken: 17:09


So guys,

I'm finished my first run. It was 1.5 miles, just like I said I was going to do. I wanted to do it in 15 minutes or less, but I'm going to cut myself some slack here, because I've been feeling like absolute crap in the last 24 hours.... 13 of which I slept through.

It would seem like all the NeoCitran and vitamin C paid off though, because after a whole mile, I still felt great! I probably could have easily done two miles today, and I think I will do two on Thursday, instead of just 1.5

My roommate works at the gym that I go to, so she spotted me and convinced me to go out for lunch with her afterward. We went to an Indian place, and I proceeded to eat a ton of heavy food and basically obliterate that light workout feeling. Both of us had heard stellar reviews about this place, but I was very underwhelmed. The food came out lukewarm, and we had milk that wasn't quite chilled enough. Temperature was not a priority, evidently.

Also, it has come to my attention that I may be doing a lot of shifting around of my "master plan" just due to work schedules or whatever. Thankfully, it shouldn't be too much of an issue this week, but I'm also going to replace some of my shorter runs with speed intervals and... Well anyway, I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Until next time,
Jessica.

The Plan

Dun dun dun....

Here is my plan. It will begin on the 21st of Feb.

Week One
Feb 21 - Rest (Not my fault the program started with a rest day!)
Feb 22 - 1.5 miles
Feb 23 - Rest
Feb 24 - 1.5 miles
Feb 25 - Rest
Feb 26 - 2 miles
Feb 27 - 1.5 miles easy pace.

Week Two
Feb 28 - Rest
Mar 01 - 1.5 miles
Mar 02 - Rest
Mar 03 - 2 miles
Mar 04 - Rest
Mar 05 - 2.5 miles
Mar 06 - 2 miles easy pace.

Week Three
Mar 07 - Rest
Mar 08 - 2 miles
Mar 09 - Rest
Mar 10 - 2.5 miles
Mar 11 - Rest
Mar 12 - 3 miles (I'm gonna add that as of Feb 19th is basically the farthest I've ever gone without a walking break, to give you guys an idea of where I'm at now)
Mar 13 - 2 miles easy pace.

Week Four
Mar 14 - Rest
Mar 15 - 2 miles
Mar 16 - Rest
Mar 17 - 3 miles
Mar 18 - 30 - 45 mins cross training. (I am probably really going to miss the rest day.)
Mar 19 - 4 miles
Mar 20 - 2.5 miles easy pace.

Week Five
Mar 21 - Rest
Mar 22 - 2.5 miles
Mar 23 - 30 - 45 mins cross training.
Mar 24 - 3 miles.
Mar 25 - Rest
Mar 26 - 5 miles
Mar 27 - 2 miles easy pace.

Week Six
Mar 28 - Rest
Mar 29 - 3 miles
Mar 30 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
Mar 31- 4 miles
Apr 01 - Rest
Apr 02 - 6 miles
Apr 03 - 3 miles easy pace.

Week Seven
Apr 04 - Rest
Apr 05 - 3 miles
Apr 06 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
Apr 07 - 3 miles
Apr 08 - Rest
Apr 09 - 7 miles
Apr 10 - 3 miles easy pace. WE ARE HALFWAY THERE NOW!

Week Eight
Apr 11 - Rest
Apr 12 - 4 miles
Apr 13 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
Apr 14 - 4 miles
Apr 15 - Rest
Apr 16 - 8 miles
Apr 17 - 3 miles easy pace

Week Nine
Apr 18 - Rest
Apr 19 - 4 miles
Apr 20 - Rest
Apr 21 - 4 miles
Apr 22 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
Apr 23 - 9 miles
Apr 24 - 3 miles easy pace. (May switch this with my rest day)

Week Ten
Apr 25 - Rest
Apr 26 - 4 miles
Apr 27 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
Apr 28 - 3 miles
Apr 29 - Rest
Apr 30 - 10 miles. Double digit miles. OMG. 16k you guys.
May 01 - 3 miles easy pace.

Week Eleven
May 02 - Rest
May 03 - 5 miles
May 04 - 30 -45 mins cross training
May 05 -  4 miles
May 06 - Rest
May 07 - 11 miles
May 08 - 3 miles easy pace

Week Twelve
May 09 - Rest
May 10 - 4 miles
May 11 - Rest
May 12 - 3 miles
May 13 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
May 14 - 12 miles
May 15 - 3 miles easy pace

Week Thirteen
May 16 - Rest
May 17 - 30 - 45 mins cross training (Mom's birthday, may switch with rest)
May 18 - Rest
May 19 - 3 miles
May 20 - 30 - 45 mins cross training
May 21 - 5 miles
May 22 - 2.5 miles easy pace

Week Fourteen, Week of the Race.
May 23 - Rest
May 24 - 2 miles
May 25  - 20 mins cross training
May 26 - Rest
May 27 - 20 mins cross training
May 28  - 1.5 miles
May 29 - Race

Before it begins...

So I've decided to do something stupid like train for a half marathon.

I will be doing it over the next 14 weeks, and because I'm a glutton for punishment, I've agreed to blog about it here.  I don't know how detailed my posts will be, but at least you guys will know that I'm actually keeping to it.

So here is to less party, more money, and more health!