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Twelve Month 10K Running Challenge for Crohn's
Running

I’m Up and Running

Running is the first exercise I ever remember doing. That first place ribbon I won in the 1st grade 50 yard dash was a treasure, its shiny blue satin a reminder of something I’d won and I was proud. I took it everywhere with me at the time. It’s likely now buried in a box deep in mom’s attic along with various other awards and certificates that mark my elementary school years.

Almost 40 years later I’m still running, though I don’t really consider myself a runner. But of all the exercise regimes I’ve tried, running is the one exercise that I always come back to. Aerobics. Step Aerobics. Swimming. Weight circuits. Cycling. Body Pump. Military SEAL style training. All tried. All abandoned. I now know myself well enough to know that I have no interest in throwing away any more money on a gym membership. It will not get used. Or it will for about 3 months and then the inertia required to get me there will be insurmountable.

But I’m up and running again because in a few short weeks, the years are about to roll over another click and I know that it’s about high time that I put a healthy relationship with my body closer to the top of my priority list. Use it or lose it, right? My sedentary career spent sitting for hours in front of a computer screen and developing bad posture has done nothing to help me prevent the osteoporosis that runs in the family. And as it’s been six months since my surgery and I can get a workout in without worrying that I’ll need to pull a Paula Radcliffe along the way, I now feel like I’m in a place where I can focus on exercise.

So I’m determined to make this running thing stick. At the beginning of the year, I signed myself up for a 10K race, the Oxford Town & Gown, which is in the middle of May. I know how I work. I need a goal, something to work toward, something to make me accountable. I now had a goal but my training plan was well, not happening. I’ll blame the winter weather and snow. (It is freaking miserable here people). But I definitely needed something or someone to get my act in gear. Otherwise I was going to have to walk 10K.

Enter Up and Running, a fantastic community of women runners that I discovered through Sas. Now, for the first time in my adult running life, I have what amounts to a personal trainer and a supportive group of women to share it with. While it always made perfect sense to me to enlist a personal trainer for things like weight training, I’d never thought to get advice on running, just thrown my shoes on and gone outside or on the treadmill with no real plan.

But now I’ve got a plan, I’m running sprint intervals, circuits, and fartleks. (Yeah, I didn’t know what they were either.)  The last time I remember running intervals was during my stint on the high school track team, running sprints around its L-shaped halls and slowing down just enough to make sure I didn’t wipe out as I made the 90 degree turn. And in just a couple of short weeks I’ve already noticed my running improving. Heck, I was even motivated enough to go running this weekend in a snowstorm. Sure the snow was pelting me in the face, but I was out running, and it was unexpectedly good.

I’ve recognized too that running really suits my personality. I need the alone time when I exercise, running in my own little world listening to tunes and clearing my head. And I find that so many good creative thoughts come to me when I’m running. Which is why I’m finding Up and Running so brilliant, I can run with people who will hold me accountable without actually having to run with people. In my workouts, I can focus on running against the only competition that matters, me.

Well, and this year at the Town and Gown 10K, I’m not letting a guy in a chicken suit finish ahead of me.

Have you started a new fitness plan this year?  How’s it going?  What’s keeping you accountable so you stick with it?

Spring training? I think not.

Running

Oxford Town and Gown 10K Update

A few weeks ago I posted about how I was using the miCoach app on my iPhone to help me train for the Oxford Town and Gown 10K this past weekend. And it was working great. But, the reality is that sometimes life gets in the way and the miCoach can’t shout at me to go out and run when my headphones aren’t in my ears. So, I’ll admit that I lost a little motivation over the past month and my training regimen was well, a little less regimented.

But, I did it.  I have finally run a 10K race. Throughout my life, I’ve actually registered for a number of 10K races only to pull out at the last-minute due to injury or frankly something better coming up like a nice trip somewhere. But, this time, I’ve followed through and actually done it.  And, it felt really good.  Well, that last couple of km didn’t really feel good as I was breathing heavily and struggling to run over uneven terrain.  But, crossing the finish line was a great feeling.  Despite my lack of training over the past few weeks, I managed to finish just shy of my goal of 60 minutes finishing in 61:23.  Certainly, if I’d kept up with my training better I could have done sub 60 min.

Next up is the challenge of running a half marathon and I’m registered for one in October.  Plenty of time to get back on the training wagon and buddy up with miCoach again.  This time though, I think I’ll just be happy to finish as I’ve never run that far in my life.  Although I think I’d also like to not finish behind a man dressed as a monkey.  Yes, really.  Despite running flat-out at the end of the 10K, I could not catch the monkey man in front of me.  Oh, the shame.

miCoach
Running

Technology, what have you done for me lately?

Those of you who know me well, know that I am a geek.  I’ve been into technology and computers for a long time and have even made a career out of it.  I’m not going to name names but I’ve also, on more than one occasion, provided tech support for various family members (you know who you are).  Every family needs a doctor, a lawyer, and an accountant.  These days they all need a computer guru as well.

Now that I’m living 3000 miles away from family, tech support isn’t as easy.  So, I thought I’d post occasionally about technology and how I’m using it in my daily life.  Many people think technology is a great time waster and I’m certainly guilty of spending a little too much time online.  But, technology can also bring value.  Plus, a blog about my life wouldn’t really be complete without the occasional bit of geek thrown in for good measure.

While I’m generally fit (at least according to my recent physical), I’ve always been my most fit and most motivated when I have a goal.  I’d like to say I’m one of those people who enjoys exercise purely for the sake of it as a healthy lifestyle choice, but I’m not.  Logically, I know that I need to exercise to stay healthy, but I need measurable goals to get myself motivated and off the couch.  Yes, I know that’s pathetic.

So how is technology helping me with this?  My latest goal is to run a 10K next month, the Oxford Town and Gown.  A distance that’s achievable but not one that I’m regularly running and frankly, since I haven’t been regularly running for over a year, I need a little help with a training plan and staying on track so that I can actually finish the race.

Enter miCoach.  What is miCoach?  It’s an app (and a web site) for the iPhone that created a training plan for me based on the deadline of the race date and my assessment of my current level of fitness.  It’s created a running schedule that syncs with my iCal and it tracks my progress and gives me groovy little charts.  It has voice prompts during a workout that tell me to speed up or slow down as it uses GPS to keep track of my pace.  Now, it’s not perfect.  Like when the woman tells me I need to speed up but doesn’t recognize I’m running uphill in a headwind, I want to punch her in the eye.

There are loads of iPhone apps out there for tracking your fitness and running so why miCoach?  Honestly, I just happened to pick miCoach because it’s on my shoes and it’s free (good marketing adidas).  But I say if you’ve got an iPhone, put away the pedometer and take a stroll around the App Store to find something even better.

So today, because I had miCoach to tell me exactly how far I’d run and how fast and because the theme tune from Rocky came on exactly when I needed it the most, I pushed myself just the couple extra minutes that allowed me to break the 6 mile barrier.  Now if I can just find an app that tells me to stop eating junk food I’ll be set.