Awesome day

Disclaimer: This blog post is totally vain, and darn it I'm allowed a vain moment where I enjoy a good compliment. Haters can step off :P

So there are some days that just suck...

Today was NOT one of those days! (finally)  Work was great, we had a market meeting and I was in my element.   This is not a brag, just the truth.  I am good at speaking in public and can be very inspiring.  Today was no exception.  I needed a day like today :)

I gave a friend a ride back to her now fixed car in Mechanicsburg and she gave me one of the most awesome and random compliments ever, something along the lines of this: "I mean this in a totally non-sexual way but I couldn't help checking out your butt today.  It looks awesome!! I'm jealous and hate you!" I bust out laughing and couldn't help beaming from ear to ear.   We then had a blast catching up, she rocks my socks!

I grabbed some subway for dinner on the way home and busted out two fast miles outside then headed into the Y to finish out with an incline workout.  George was there again and was so incredibly encouraging I literally could not stop smiling the whole rest of my workout.  There used to be a time when I found him a bit intense but really, he's just a nice guy who is really encouraging to everyone he sees.  It's so infectious and just makes you feel so good.

An occasional dose of ego boost feels sooooo good.

10k or no?

So I have been looking (very casually) for a good 10k race to run as one of my next goals.  And then one fell in my lap via Emily and I got super excited, checked out the race and it was perfect- flat, close by, a good first 10k.  I could totally demolish this race!

And then reality came crashing down around me.....because the race is June 2nd. And I learned about the race on May 19th....

So I would need to double my average running distance to do this race and in 2 weeks time.  The next day Emily reminded me that you only want to increase your running distance 10% a week. So, no ArtShip 10k for Colleen.  Actually kinda bummed about this because I already had down which runs I would do in the 2 weeks leading up to it. But, the last thing I need is to end up with an injury because I was too quick to increase my running distance.  I've been running mainly 2-3 miles about 2-3 days a week with a few 4 mile runs thrown in, so it would definitely pushing it to get to 6.2 miles in just 2 weeks.  I know my body could do it....but at what cost?  If there is one thing this elbow issue is bringing to my attention it's the importance of rest and preventing injury.

I want to listen, Tony!

But I did go out and have a decent (albeit hot and hilly) run on Sunday.  I've had this mental issue for a long time against walking at all when I run.  I get it in my head that if I walk I won't be able to run again.  Well Sunday it was hot, sunny and I was sick.  Yeah, darn sore throat/head colds they really suck, especially when you are trying to move oxygen through your lungs. But I worked through it, and took a couple mini walking breaks. And you know what? It was freaking awesome. I was still able to run the majority of that last mile and I finished my 4 mile run like planned, then walked another mile as a cool off and did a nice long stretch at the Y.

So, sorry Tony- I might not bring it for the 10k race but I am bringing it every day!

Take control of your own happiness!

"The only person that can make you feel bad about yourself is yourself" my boss reminded me this morning.

I really need to hold onto this quote and take it seriously.  This person was a complete and utter jerk to me earlier in the week harassing me when I'm trying to work out because they wanted to know how much I weighed (WTF?).  First off- that's just screwed up.  Second off-  This is my happy place, where I come to de-stress and feed my soul.  Yeah, yeah, sounds cheezy, but it's true.  When I am having a really bad day I go to a couple different things to find some peace- horseback riding and exercise.  Those are the things I think about to get me through the tough times.  So don't mess with my whoooosa!


But in listening to this quote - I need to take better control of my own happiness.  But, it doesn't hurt though to have great people to help keep me calm and happy, just saying.... 

But those difficult feelings of insecurity can help me as well....I started out with a gentle warmup walk on the treadmill but within 30 seconds I thought again of this jerk and suddenly got spurred on by my anger....and I turned a 5 minute warmup walk into 15 minutes of "nearly falling off the treadmill, sweat dripping off my face and every surface" type workout.  Ever since reading about the benefits of a 15% incline workout, I've enjoyed interjecting them into my workouts when I am feeling like being on the treadmill.  Emily had me working on high incline before, so this is nothing new, but reading about it recently reminded me of how much they kicked my butt!


In case you have never tried getting the incline up higher, I recommend it, especially if you want a good workout for your glutes and legs! A few suggestions from my perspective....
- Build up to having the speed at the fastest walk you can manage before needing to jog.  Then when you feel like you can push higher, step up the speed so you can jog.  I did 30 second intervals of fast walking and jogging today.  I managed to get through it and A- not fall off the treadmill, B- not hold on, C- still have a smile on my face.
- Work up to(or start off) not holding onto the treadmill.  Sometimes it will feel like holding on is your life line, but you CAN do this- I don't hold on ever, including at 15% incline.  Just think, when you are walking up a hill outside do you hold on? Duhhh of course not, there is nothing to hold onto!  Every time I think about wanting to hold on, Dolvette in all of his BL hotness busts into my thoughts with this: GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY TREADMILL!!!!

Mmmmmm Bob and Dolvette. Obviously the real reason I watch BL.  You can bust into my thoughts any day.

That picture is the only one I could find that Dolvette was not smiling- hence about to yell at you as you hold onto the treadmill!  I would love to train with either one of these trainers some day.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to walk the next day because they would beat me into the ground (excellent!) but it would be 200% worth it. 

Dolvette has such a beautiful smile so here ya go....enjoy ladies!

If you thought for a second I would give you a picture of him with a shirt on, you were obviously delusional.

Just remember: The only person that can make you feel bad about yourself is yourself.  Remember to love yourself!

DOCF Teal blue ribbon 5k race recap

Yesterday was awesome. Plain and simple, it was amazing actually.

Yesterday was the Delaware Ovarian Cancer Foundation's annual teal blue ribbon 5k on the Wilmington waterfront.  My family walked or ran in support of my mom, who was diagnosed 3 years ago and is the strongest, bravest person I know. <3 There was quite a crowd there supporting DOCF, it was awesome to see!

I thought overall the race was well organized except for one minor issue- our registration was missing.  We later discovered the problem was they had put us in the walkers qualification even though we had both registered as runners.  All was fixed and we got signed up and got our chips and t-shirts.  And then....we waited.....and waited.  My mom had told us that start was at 9am- it was actually 9:30am.  In my infinite wisdom I didn't check the registration so us getting there at 8:15 am for a 9:30am start was kinda boring, but we had fun hanging out, warming up forever, and of course it's ALWAYS better to arrive early than late. DUH!

So we had plenty of time to take pictures....

My family complete with the Hughes family and the dogs!

Aren't we awesome?  The Hughes family really is- I'll give you some concrete examples later.

Mom and I hanging out before the race. Much love! <3

The runners waiting at the starting line!

Can I just pause to let it just sink in to my brain that I was one of the runners....

I'm still trying to get over the shock of enjoying running and not just suffering through it because it's good for weight loss. It's pretty incredible. 

I really enjoyed this run! It was pretty flat and had some nice scenery because it was on the Wilmington waterfront most of the time and I ran with my wonderful hubby!  It was actually the first time Adrian and I have run together and hopefully not the last.  We both listening to music so only talked when I was encouraging him or updating him on our pace- I don't even know if he heard me half the time.  At first I thought this would be awkward because any other time I have run with somebody we talked....but it worked for us.

My goals for the race were to A- PR, B-get sub-36 minutes, C- have negative splits (so faster in the last mile than the first).  My previous PR was 42-something so that was going to be cake to beat, but goal B would be pushing my typical pace of 12:00- 12:30 over 3 miles, but I thought it was reachable.

So....I finished at 35:37.4 which was a 11:30 pace!  That obviously KILLED my previous PR and.....I had negative splits, sort of, lol.  My middle mile was a little bit slower, but mile 3 was faster than mile 1....barely. lol.  Also, it took me a bit to remember to hit my watch after we finished, hence ignore the final time (these are the stats from my garmin forerunner). But, look- I did punch the end with a half decent push! :)

Split	Time	Moving Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg Pace	Avg Moving Pace	Best Pace
1	11:27.1	10:55	1	0	0	11:27	10:55	9:11
2	11:37.4	11:35	1	0	5	11:37	11:35	10:39
3	11:21.4	11:00	1	3	0	11:21	11:00	10:08
4	01:24.7	1:21	0.14	0	0	10:13	9:46	7:28
Summary	35:50.6	34:51.0	3.14	3	5	11:25	11:06	7:28

 My cousins KILLED it!! They both got PRs and Johnny got 1st place in his age group, Genny 2nd place in her age group! Medal winners!! So proud of them!! :)
  So in conclusion- awesome race with awesome people!

Run run run!

I hope that this recent obsession with running is not just spurred on by my race last weekend and the upcoming race this Sunday in Wilmington...but if it is I'm going to ride it out for as long as possible and try to keep it going.

My thoughst have been consumed with running over the past couple weeks or so.  Before the race I was obsessively reading about race prep on all the runner blogs I read and runner's world.  Since the race it has been "worse" if you want to call it that.  I see it as being better! :)  I've been reading running blogs, runner's world, plus watching running videos about form, hill training, speed work, and on and on.  O yeah and looking up training plans for half marathons.

Because, duhhh I have to do one.  As I'm writing this it is becoming a more concrete decision in my head.  I haven't felt this excited about a goal since I first set out to complete a triathlon.  A half-marathon is a much bigger step and I finally feel like I can start realisticly training for one.

This morning when I woke up the first thought into my head was "is it raining because I want to go for a run."  I made the decision to go into the gym and do 30 minutes of bike hill work instead since it was foggy, muggy and gross this morning, promising myself that if the weather was nice after work I would run at my parent's place.  Alas, it was dark by the time I got home and these roads are borderline too dangerous to run on already, let alone at night.  Let me just point out that 6 months ago I had to drag myself onto the treadmill to run and it was something I dreaded leading up to it and suffered through.  What a turn around!

The funny thing about this week?  Monday I went for a 4 mile run and had to stop halfway because my stomach did the "you better make it to a bathroom immediately" crunch at me.  While this totally sucked, as I was stretching post-sickness all I could think about was how this must make me a "real runner" because it's another one of those "things that all runners deal with" according to my runner friends.



What is wrong with me? Why do thoughts like this even enter my brain? I'm so glad I found this quote from John Bingham today. "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run"

I need to remember John Bingham's wise words.  I have nothing to prove to anyone, only myself.  I am a runner, darn it. 

I am going to crush my PR on Sunday!

Race Against Racism Recap

Yesterday was my first serious race thus far:  the 5 mile Race Against Racism put together by the Gettysburg YWCA. To me that's a HUGE step from a 5k, even though it's not even double the distance, since a 5k is 3.1 miles.  But, since my last 5k race was the Gettysburg YWCA's Encore Breast Cancer 5k in October and I did at least 1/3 of that 5k at a walk.....this was a big deal.  In fact, up to this point I had not completed a race before that I had been able to maintain a run throughout.

Until YESTERDAY!  I ran the whole thing! Not only that, I surpassed my pace goal of a consistent 12:30-13:00 min/mile pace with a steady 12 min/mile pace!

Me after the race, back at home, feeling great! :)

I realize some people that see that I'm happy with a 12 min/mile pace are shocked and embarrassed that I call myself a runner much less understand why that makes me happy to be so slow.  Well, those people can suck it!  Don't rein on my parade with your "I'm so slow at an 8 min mile" attitude because I'm freaking thrilled to have accomplished 1- no walking breaks, 2- I felt strong throughout the whole race and ran well, 3- I had FUN!

::end rant::

Sorry, but there is nothing more deflating than hearing somebody complain about how slow they are at an 8-9 min/mile when I would be doing backsprings to be running at a 10 min/mile pace let alone an 8-9!  That is not to say that people can't or shouldn't have their own goals and I will always try to be supportive no matter what they are- whether it is a 15 min/mile pace or an 8 min/mile pace.  I know some are certainly capable of KILLING it and running faster than an 8 min mile which is fantastic and shouldn't be downplayed for their sheer awesomeness!  It also wasn't too long ago for me that simply running an entire mile without stopping was a HUGE deal so I completely understand that feeling as well.


So moving backwards to leading up to the race and what made it so awesome...

Friday night I could not drag myself away from reading my favorite running bloggers old entries about races, race preparation, post race, etc etc.  This might seem slightly obsessed but it did accomplish one really important thing- I went into the race with a can-do, positive attitude and felt prepared to do my best and have fun.  I got decent enough sleep, had oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, and made sure to hydrate with water right up until we started.  About 20 minutes before start I went with my plan of taking a PowerBar Energy Gel (chocolate mmmmmmmm), and could only get down about half before my nerves took over and told me I needed to get my butt more warmed up and outside, but it was enough.  I never hit a hard wall during the race and I think this helped that.

So delicious and a perfect energy boost!

Before you ask- yes I have used this specific gel before, during the YWCA's 7hr spin a thon. It gave me such a HUGE kick exactly when I was almost toast, so I knew my stomach could take it.  I've been warned by many runners to never try a new gel/gu on a race day because each one can do different things to your digestive tract ;)

Thank goodness Adrian, the most wonderful and supportive husband ever, got up to go with me to be my gear holder and personal cheering squad!  It was 32 deg when we left the house for the race so it was brisk and I bundled up so I wouldn't start out too cold.  It warmed up a little before start, so I ended up running in running tights, a sleeveless tech shirt with a longsleeve tech tee over it and a baseball hat for warmth and sun protection.  Of course, I had my garmin forerunner 405cx with me too (my best gadget purchase to date!)  I also chose to run with my oldy but goody NB running shoes since they feel the best still on longer runs.

I started out the race FAST, way faster than I meant to!  At the end of the YWCA lot I look down at my Garmin and was shocked to see my speed at just under a 9min/mile pace.  Yikes, way too fast for me! I slowed it down to a 10-11 min/mile pace and powered up the hill to burn off the adrenaline I felt coursing through my veins like the sweetest drug ever.  I settled into a realy solid pace and started chatting with another runner, Melissa, until about mile 1.3- when she started walking.  I wished her good luck, put my ipod back on and kept cruising on at my solid 12 min/mile pace.  I skipped the water stops both times because last time I brought water while running it hit my stomach like a brick so I didn't want to risk that happening again.

Remembering something a blogger had said about volunteers, I smiled and thanked every single volunteer I saw and it actually gave me this huge lift in my spirits each time because they always smiled back and cheered me on.  I cheered on every runner that passed me on their way back (this was an out and back race) as well as every runner I passed (I actually passed a couple people! Freaking awesome!).  This also felt totally perfect to do and made the whole experience more fun.  I will definitely be remembering to do both during my future races.

I had a few tough hill moments where my brain was trying to tell me it was ok to walk- because it saw the group ahead of me walking, but I ignored that little tick and powered through each brutal hill and made sure to mental praise myself for each one.  These mental games are just part of my run that I can't avoid.  It has always been a mental battle for me and I don't think this will every change.  But my body won this time!  Ironically, the hardest section mentally for me was the last half mile which is relatively flat, with a slight downhill at points, but it just feels like you are never going to get to the finish line at times as you go down Fairfield Rd.  But I not only kept going I picked up my pace a bit and as I turned onto the YWCA long driveway, I really picked up my speed and came in at just under 55 minutes!!  In the end, there was an error made by a volunteer at the turnaround point so the race was actually 4.5 miles instead of 5 miles.  But, it was an awesome race and a great experience and I couldn't be happier with my performance!!

When we got home- Adrian had tulips waiting for me! They bloomed this AM and are gorgeous!!

Those stats are mine?!

I went to see my doctor Monday for my first "well visit" in at least 4-5 years. It went well that's for sure!!

I've been to him for injury issues around my tennis elbow, but never just for a well check up. It was the most amazing doctor's appointment I have ever had! One of the biggest reasons why it was so great= I have a consistent resting heart rate around 50 bpm which made him bust out into a grin.   A normal resting heart rate is 60+, with heart rates coming in below 60 showing great conditioning, aka an ATHLETE.  My blood pressure was 110/70 or something close to that, which is what I've been running at routinely for the past year, again a sign that I am healthy.   He proclaimed that the BMI scale is crap and I am the healthiest person he has seen in weeks. :D

So according to my heart, I am an ATHLETE.  Let me just pause so I can let that sink in to my brain.  And just to remind me....Tony Horton says I'm a goddess!  It's ok, you can be jealous, my husband is awesome.

We had a long discussion about why my doctor doesn't like using the BMI scale as the only measure for health which stemmed from the main reason I came to see him- what should my goal weight be?

He really had me thinking and asked me what I would do differently if my goal weight was 160 vs. 170 vs. 180 for example.  He wrote out the official BMI numbers for each of the weights and pointed out the small difference between them, especially compared to the big, SCARY, morbidly obese number that I was 3 short years ago.  But when it comes right down to it, I am NOT on a diet, I have changed my lifestyle.  I immediately answered "nothing" when he asked me what would change for me if the goal weight was 160 vs. 180 which I really hope will prove true.  After replying that I consider my body type to be muscular vs. slender he narrowed in on a target that is higher than the BMI scale.  He point blank told me that if I wanted to be a muscular athlete the BMI scale would hold me back and leave me frustrated because it doesn't take into account body types. I need to let my body find it's happy medium through healthy eating and exercise, which is what I'm doing now.

What a great feeling to have your doctor say he is impressed and thrilled with you! So much so that he ended up hanging and talking with me for almost an HOUR. He told me afterwards that his schedule had cleared a little before I came in and he wanted to really pick my brain about how and why I have been so successful and make sure I knew how proud he was of me. He said he so rarely gets to witness a miraculous success story





 Thanks Doc for being an awesome support for me and making me feel truly special.

::big grin::