What a Difference a Year Makes

One year ago today I began my training program for 2015 and oh the difference a year makes. That day I started off with a 2.5 mile run averaging 14:27 min/mi

April 28, 2015 Training Run

This morning I put in an easy 3 miles before work and averaged 10:45 min/mi.Also, I've already run more then 218 miles this year.

April 28, 2016 Training Run

Looking back at the long term progress that I make helps to keep me motivated and moving forward. It is hard to get caught up in the numbers and compare training runs from week to week doesn't always show my true progress. When I zoom out and look at the big picture, it is much easier to see.

A year ago I would have never imagined being able to run this fast, and it really makes me think about what I will be able to do a year from now.

First Race of the Year

This past Sunday I ran in my first race of the year. It was the Great Plains 10K put on by the KC Running company. I was pleasantly surprised to find out at packet pickup that there would be a very small field of between 150 and 180 runners. The race started and ended at Gray's Lake and the race director described it as a lollipop course (an out and back with a loop at the end). The course was extremely flat and ran up one side of the Des Moines River and back the other side before crossing the river again and heading back the same path we went out on.

I got to the start line plenty early and did something that I never before envisioned doing, I ran 3/4 of a mile to warm up. I didn't really set a solid goal, but was hoping to average under 10:30 min/mi. My first mile was 10:24 and I was happy that I didn't go out to strong. Each mile after that was a little faster then the previous. I finished in 1:04:06 which is around a 10:20 min/mi average.

This race did a lot to boost my confidence as a runner. For the first time I was the one passing other runners late in the race instead of losing steam myself. I finished in front of a lot of decent runners, many who looked more like runners then I do. It just goes to show how hard work and dedication can pay off. It was a great start to the season and I look forward to the rest that the year has to offer. Next up is the Dam to Dam half marathon on the first Saturday of June.

Guest Post: Jealousy is Bad for your Health!

I have had the opportunity to watch Patrick make great strides towards his health goals.  Celebrating milestones, personal records and new clothing sizes.  I am very proud of him and admire the dedication it takes to get such amazing results.  But.....there is a side of me that gets terribly jealous of his success.  This dreadful jealousy turns into a cycle of self sabotage for me and I am working hard to get rid of it all together.  It seems to me that the sacrifices he makes somehow come easily to him and that all of the hours of exercise are completely effortless....this is far from the truth.  He works very hard for each pound, minute and drop of sweat.  When I see him attaining his goals and I am stuck at a weight plateau I often avoid a workout or have a tragically poor eating day instead of getting re-motivated to aim higher.  I am going to work on being more self-aware and conscious of when this is happening and attempt to make healthier decisions.  My other poor choice is to over-do exercise when my body has not trained for long distances or extreme exertion.  This morning I ran 7 miles after not having run since last weekend.  This might sound like a great job...and I kicked some major butt....but this is why I don't stick with exercising or running.  I do big, grand workouts instead of steadily training to improve my stamina, health and muscles.  I hit new personal records for my 1K, 5K, 10K and longest run.  I hope to be more consistent with my running with Patrick's help and new knowledge of best running practices.  I am trying to decide if I am going to run a half marathon this fall....just can't commit yet.

Sunday Morning Run

- Erin

Long Bike Ride and Excessive Weight Loss

So when I stepped on the scale yesterday, I was extremely excited to see a 7.2 lb weight loss for the week. That excitement quickly turned into a bit of concern once I realized what it meant. Although weight loss is my goal for the year, I am also training for several races. 6 months ago this weight loss would have been perfectly acceptable, but at that time I was tipping the scale at around 300 lbs. Now that I am down to 250, 7 lbs is a lot higher percentage of weight. Typically, I aim to lose 2 - 3 lbs a week. I have read enough about training to know the importance of fueling my body properly for all of the running, swimming, and biking that I do, and I am aware that losing 7 lbs means that I did not take in enough calories this week. At times it is a challenge to balance the requirements of training with the goal of losing weight, but I do as well as I can and make adjustments when necessary. Of course there is good news in all of this, as I now only have 5 lbs to lose to reach my goal weight in 3 weeks!

The other story of the weekend was a short trip up to Ankeny with one of my coworkers. We rode a little over 20 miles on the high trestle trail and it was a lot of fun to ride with someone else. The ride was a tough one as the wind was at our back on the way out and picked up as we rode. The 10 miles back to the truck was directly into a stiff 20 mph wind. It is safe to say that both of us will sleep well tonight. I am happy to say that so far I haven't been experiencing any issues that seem to affect many new bicycle riders (namely a sore bottom side).

Tomorrow starts my first race week of the year. It comes at the perfect time as my body will have some extra time to rest throughout the week. Also, I'm very excited to see what I can do at the Great Plains 10K next Sunday.

Breaking Records

I'm happy to say that I had another fantastic day of training. Better yet, it was unexpected as I have had a long and grueling week so far. To start off, I put in 1,250 yards at the pool over lunch and was able to break my previous 1,000 yard PR (set on Tuesday) by 2 minutes finishing in 25 minutes. A few months ago I couldn't swim more then 1 length of the pool (25 yards) without having to stop to catch my breath, now I do a minimum of 20 laps (40 pool lengths) each trip to the pool.

If that wasn't exciting enough, I was feeling great as I set out on my 4 mile run tonight and decided to push it the last mile to see what I could do. I ended up running a 1 mile PR of 9:27 (previous was 9:49) and a 5K PR of 31:03 (previous was 31:13). Once again, it is hard to believe that just a year ago I was averaging around 14:00 min/mi on training runs that were half the distance.

Record Breaking Run