28 February 2007 – Fingers Crossed

I’ve got my fingers crossed for my WW weigh in this evening.  I believe that I’ll be down 4 – 5 pounds.  This puts me back around where I was at the start of the year…

It won’t be much farther down to my goal weight!  I’m tracking everything and not feeling particularly hungry… just wanting to eat more – even though I’m full (but I’m not).

My fervent hope is that the wanting to eat more will go away.

27 February 2007 – Going Well

I’ve been doing well at following the WW program since last Wednesday.  I’m really expecting to see a big drop at weigh in tomorrow.  Maybe not all the way back down to where I was, but close. 

10 Miler Training has been going well.  Saturday was a 10 mile run which seemed really hard – I think I was a bit tired.  Sunday’s easy 6 miles went fine as did today’s six miles with 4 at Lactate Threshold.  I’m looking forward to my practice race on St. Patrick’s Day almost as much as I look forward to running the 10 miler on the 31st.

Lifting has been going okay.  I’m not particularly enjoying my program so I’m going to redesign after the 10 miler.

Most of all I’m just glad to be back on track eating sensibly and losing weight.

22 February 2007 – Speedwork today

This morning I ran hills as directed by my schedule.  I think I finally had an advantage over people that live in flat places… Running hills doesn’t severely effect my performance.  Living in Central Virginia it is hard to find a flat place to run so in effect I’m running hills all the time.

I ran at just a tad slower than a 20 min 5K pace running uphill so I was very happy.

My weight was up last night but just by a pound and I’m confident that I’m getting myself back under control… I expect to see a big weight change next week.

21 February 2007 – Ugh. Fighting Off Depression

I’ve been doing pretty well sticking to my 10 miler training schedule.  However, I’ve not been doing well at eating reasonably.  So this weeks WW meeting will be (another) fresh start.  I’m trying not to feel like my weight goal is unattainable – I’ve caught in a cycle of eating well for a few days and then eating entirely too much (usually on the weekend) for a few days.  I’m really struggling to find and maintain the balance in my diet I had from October – December… its like my will power has decreased dramatically or something.

Running wise I’m doing well – my speed work last week put me at a 6:30 miles which puts me right at the threshold of a 20 minute 5k.  I’m really going to put a lot more effort into speedwork after the 10 miler – maybe this can by the year of my sub-20 5K!

My long runs are also progressing well.  I have a 10 miler this weekend and a 12 miler the next – neither of which have me very worried.

I took an inadvertent week off from lifting, but started back this morning. 

Check back for the result of my weigh in this evening, and I am really going to make an effort to permanently change my eating habits.

12 February 2007 – Weekend Wrap-up

Saturday morning (early – 4:00!) I went out early after my two year old woke us… It was about 8 degrees, so I bundled up (with my new facemask and mittens) and went out for my 10 mile run.  It went pretty well – although my water froze before I drank any of it.  I ran at 75 – 80% MHR and finished my 10 miles in about 95 minutes. 

When I got in the house I realized that the bottom of my facemask was covered in ice! 

Sunday I did my weekly easy run at 65% MHR – I managed to run most of the time only walking a couple times when I exceeded the target heart rate.  I ran so slowly that it took me an hour to run 5 miles, but that is what the program calls for…

I lifted using my new program this morning and it went well… although I was unsure about my form in a couple exercises – I’ll be checking to make sure I perform them correctly next time (particularly the bent-over barbell row and straight-leg deadlift).

I’ve already run over 100 miles this year.  I know that isn’t a lot for some folks, but I think its pretty impressive!

Our forecast is calling for a pretty bad ice storm so I’ll probably be on the treadmill for the next couple of runs.

9 February 2007 – New Lifting Schedule

I just posted a new lifting schedule and I’m looking forward to beginning the new program on Monday.

9 February 2007 – Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday!  Jacki got me some mittens for running (very cool – they have a valve you blow in to warm your hands) and a face mask.  I’ve been wearing a beard – just because its cold and after I got the face mask this morning I shaved it off.

Yesterday I did my speed work.  4 1/2 mile repeats on the treadmill (icy outside).  I was guesstimating the speed I should be running so I ran a little more slowly than I should have, but only by a few seconds.  My splits were:
3:16.67, 3:14.64, 3:12.47, & 3:09.9

I lifted this morning – my final session using the current schedule… I’ll post an updated schedule as soon as I have it completed – I think I’ve picked the exercises I just firm up some details.

After rampant eating and weight gain last week I’m trying to be really good about keeping track of my points etc.

Tomorrow is a long run of 10 miles.  I’m looking forward to running it with my MP3 player, mittens and face mask.

6 February 2007 – Cold

I ran my 4 miles at LT (with mile warmup and mile cooldown) on the treadmill this morning.  Due mainly to the fact that it was 3 degrees when I got up.  I know that some people run outside in weather this cold, and my hats off to you, but I don’t want to have  a frostbitten face.

I was pretty happy with my time – 4 miles in 31 minutes.  Still not fast enough to break a 20 minute 5K, but it wasn’t maximum effort either.  The forecast calls for snow tonight… I’d sure like to get some.

5 February 2007 – 10 Miler Training is going well

My training for the March 31st 10 miler is going well.  I did an 8 mile run at 75 – 80% MHR on Saturday morning and I didn’t even find it that difficult.  Probably the hardest thing is keeping my heart rate down when going up hills… I really have to slow down to stay in the target zone.

Sunday I did a 4 mile run/walk at 65% MHR.  I find this quite tedious because for me this heart rate is too fast for a walk and too slow for a run.  I’m constantly switching from running to walking and back again.

I lifted weights this morning and it went well although I seem to be at a plateau for several exercises… I’ll be creating a new/modified schedule starting on the week of 11 February. 

Tomorrow is a 6 mile run with 4 miles at LT (~85% MHR).  I am a bit worried about the bitter cold, its supposed to be about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (with any wind at all windchill will be below zero).  brrr.

2 February 2007 – An Early Birthday!

My birthday is actually next Friday, but my mother-in-law mailed my presents and I got them last night.  She spent entirely too much on me.  The gifts I received include:

1. Magnetix – because I’m a big kid that still likes toys. 
2. Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – a four pound bag! – I need them like a hole in the head, they are 1 point apiece but I do love them.  I stuck them in the basement freezer so at least they are inconvenient to get to.
3. Target Gift Card – I’m probably going to use it today for some better headphones for…
4. A Zen Nano 1GB mp3 player!  I can’t wait to run with it!

I did speedwork yesterday morning- 4  half mile repeats at 5K pace.  The terrain was really hilly so my times are kind of non-sensical.  I’m in search of a flat place (near my house) to do my speedwork.  My splits were:
3:10.25, 3:33.09, 3:26.36, and 3:53.67

To be honest that last split is long because I was pretty much done in after my 3rd repeat.  I lifted this morning, increased the weight for my calf raises and next week I’m increasing the weight for my squats.  I’m at a plateau for the bench press – I think I’m going to put together an entirely new lifting routine after next week.