Ragnar training

The Ragnar race is less than 2 months away!

It is upon us!

Now that it's almost here, I'm finally getting excited about it.

Up until now, it has just seemed like this elusive race that was never really going to happen.

I didn't sign up for the easiest of legs, so it's time to get training.

My first leg is an easy, flat 3.5 miles. Wahoo!

My second leg is relatively flat, but it will probably occur in the wee hours of the morning, and it's 9.6 miles. That one could go either way for me. Either I'll be pumped and in my groove and loving the craziness of the whole thing, or I'll be tired and slow and wondering what the heck I'm doing. Time will tell.

The third leg is (dun dun dun!) 3.6 miles STRAIGHT UP.

Look at that incline.

Yikes!

And with zero sleep!

I'm sure I won't sleep. I wish I were one of those who could fall asleep anywhere, anytime (Justin), but I'm not. It's going to be a sheer miracle if I get any at all.

Anyway, I've slowly been integrating some hill workouts into my runs, I wish I had been better about recording them here. I've also been doing some half run/half stairmill days at the gym. Anything to strengthen my butt and hamstrings because heavens knows I'm going to need it!

Today I ran 3.5 at a 8:34 pace. It was tough. I was going for 4, but the child center girl came to get me to change Kyle's diaper. I thought about asking if I could just have 4 more minutes, but didn't. :)

After changing him, I came back and did a mile at a level 5 incline at a 10:00 pace. It wasn't too bad. I wish I knew what number to put on the treadmill incline to mimic that hill I'm going to run. Probably a 10, seriously. I think for now I'll keep it at a 5, and work my way up to 3.6, then boost it to a 6, then 7, etc. Ughhh, can't wait. BUT at least I have another motivation which is: my butt. Needs some serious help for swimsuit time, so at least I'll be killing two birds with one stone.

Alright! Time to hit the ground running and get ready for Ragnar!

Into the elements

Spring is here and things are slightly warming up in Utah.

So I have ventured away from the treadmill and out into the elements.

I forgot about elements.

Elements are kind of rough.

But I kind of like rough.

My 5.5 Saturday run was like running through a wind tunnel.

I had a mile-long stretch where the wind was so strong I felt like I was running underwater.

It wasn't my preferred way to run, but I do get that sense of satisfaction knowing that I am getting prepared for wind should that happen in a race.

Running outside also brings unexpected hills.

And since I have a 4 mile steep uphill leg in the upcoming Ragnar relay, bring 'em on!

I also came across 3 dead animals in one run on Saturday- that part of outdoor running is not my favorite.

But I'm happy to be outdoors again.

I can feel summer coming and it sure feels good!

Pushing myself

This morning I knew I needed to run.

But I really didn't want to run.

We were in the middle of a snowstorm, Justin was going to play basketball at the church, Kyle is getting his first tooth so he's snotty and not feeling too great, and I was just not feeling energetic.

I told Justin I just wasn't going to go.

But Makenzie wanted to go play at the gym, and Justin gave me the wise advice to just go.

So I went.

And as usual, I was glad I did.

I was kind of thinking I would do a 10k distance, but I started out not really knowing what I was going to end up doing.

I warmed up for the first mile and by the end of that mile I was doing a 6.8 on the treadmill (I think that's an 8:49 pace). I was feeling pretty good.

I started thinking about the upcoming Ragnar race, and the 4-mile straight uphill leg I have to run, and I decided to start some uphill training.
So every other song I put it on a 2.5 incline for the duration of that song. I didn't decrease my speed (still 6.8) so it was a good challenge. By 3 or maybe 4 songs of that uphill, I was getting tired.
So all of mile 4 I just ran, same pace.
On mile five, I was recovered and decided to push myself just a little more.
I decreased my speed down to a 6.0 (10 minute mile) and put the incline on a 4.0. That's a pretty good incline. I did two songs like that- it was a challenge.
As a reward for my efforts, on the last mile I gave myself a nice -2.0 downhill. It felt great.
I ended up doing my full 6.4 miles in 58:13.
I think that's a 9:22 pace.
I really ran my guts out and it felt so good!

Catching up

I have been doing a lot of running lately, I've just been terrible about recording it here!

I wrote a few posts ago about wondering when I would ever start to feel "normal" again.

Well, it came.

Somewhere around 4 and a half months after baby, my body stopped having those "ouch, I definitely just had a baby" pains during my runs.

If I went faster or longer, though, they would come back. But the pain was barely there.

At about 5 months (which I hit 9 days ago), it pretty much stopped happening altogether.

The past few weeks, I've been running 4-5 miles pretty regularly (2-4 times a week).

I got a little ambitious and started running 4-5 miles around a 8:30-8:45 pace, just because I COULD. It has been so long since I've been able to push myself like that, it felt awesome.

And I thought surely I would start dropping the excess baby weight.

But no such luck.

I didn't watch my eating, but I figured running like a maniac and doing some intense workout classes combined with breastfeeding would do the trick.

But it didn't!

What the heck??

I wasn't losing a pound.

I talked to a friend who is an instructor at the gym.

She said I needed to do base training.

Run slower.

Keep my heart rate low.

Not again!! 

Just when I thought I could go all out again, and you're telling me to slow down??

But what she said made sense.

When I run super hard and do the intense workout classes, my heart rate is in the anaerobic range. That makes you burn sugar and carbs, but it doesn't teach your body to burn fat.

Aerobic exercise (keeping your heart rate lower) will teach your body to start burning fat.

She said, "get on the elliptical or treadmill and go at a pace you would go at if you were starting a marathon. And go for an hour."
I read a good article about it here.

So that is what I've done the last 2 weeks.
Going off the heart rate guide on the treadmill, I have to run a TWELVE minute mile to keep myself in the aerobic/fat burn range.
It's not so bad, it just takes all sense of competition out of you. :)

I've also started cutting SOME of the carbs out of my diet (man I love carbs! I didn't realize I pretty much eat a carb-only diet until I started monitoring them).

I've lost a few pounds already.

So I'm sticking with this plan, because I still have 20 more pounds to lose.

So anyway, I'm back in the game. It feels good. I can run again. And it should feel a whole lot better when I'm 15-20 pounds lighter!

Up to four

Ran four miles for the first time since baby last night. For some reason it wasn't even hard. Maybe it helped that Justin was on the treadmill next to me and we were watching Miami play Cleveland for the first time since Lebron switched teams.

I also took it slow. I was doing a 10:40 for the first mile, then a 10:30 for the second. By the third mile, I was doing a 10:00 pace, and on the last mile, I kept gradually getting faster til I hit 8:57 right at the end.

On the third mile, I started getting those post-baby pains. They were totally manageable, but there. Can't wait til that stops happening.

If I weren't getting ready for Makenzie's birthday party tomorrow, I would have tried to do it again tonight. Maybe tomorrow!

Some things aren't fun

I'm a little bit of a Negative Nelly tonight. Or maybe just Honest Abe.

I went back to the gym for the first time tonight since I had the baby.

All the kids were asleep and it was only 8:30 so I took advantage and headed off to the gym.

Before I even left, I noticed the nice ring of fat hanging over my waistband. Cool.

Then I got to the gym.

I forgot how fit those people are.

It's fun being overweight in a sea of supermodels, let me tell you.

Then I started running.

Ahhh, running. My solace.

Yeah right.

The first mile was great.

But after only one measly mile, my abs were killing me.

It's not really any other part of my body.

My abs are just... not in place. They just plain hurt.

I feel like Humpty Dumpty. Except I better get put back together again eventually.

It is so hard not to push myself.

That's what I have trained myself to do. That's what all runners do.

Pep talk yourself: you can do this, just a little faster, just a little longer.

 So to tell myself: you better not go as far as you were planning on, you better slow down... it just feels so wrong! And it's extremely frustrating.

I can't wait to be normal again. I don't know how long it's going to take. I wonder if I will be able to pinpoint it- "okay, I'm normal again." Maybe by six months after baby? I hope so. 

But as humbling as it is, I'm glad I can do it. I ran 3.2 again. It took me 35 minutes. I'll take what I can get, but I am definitely looking forward to better days!

3.2

I got up to a 5k distance on Friday. 

It wasn't easy.

During marathon training, I learned how important your core muscles are for running.

And right now... I have no core.

At least it feels that way.

I feel like I have a hollow, empty space in the middle of my body. 

All of the energy is coming from my legs, and maybe a little from my pumping arms, and it is really hard.

It took me somewhere around 36 minutes. Yep. Slow. I had a big uphill at the end that nearly cut the run short, I was really struggling. But every accomplishment is something right now, I'm just glad to be running again, even though it feels like I'm in running rehab!