6 months over, 6 months left.

Done with half the journey to our goal of marathon.
In these 6 months, we have done:

1. Started running, even tho its interspersed with walking, atleast we are moving regularly.
2. Finished a 5K
3. Signed up for a half , coming up in 3 days.
4. Woken up early every Saturday for the long runs.

Not done:
1. Lost any weight.
2. Still do not have a good cross-training program.
3. Speed is still an issue, or maybe not, since all I have been reading lately on the completerunning/coolrunning sites is advice for newbies to run slow.

Small goals for the next 6 months:
1. Decide on the program to follow from Jeff Galloway's book 'Marathon'.
2. Read up on nutrition and follow a good healthy eating plan.
3. Incorporate a regular stretching, strenghtening, cross-training program.
4. Run 4 days a week instead of 3 , the way we were doing so far, I think I have the capacity to run/walk more.

Speed workout??!!

OK, dont laugh, I did my speed!! workout , R5.0mph for 45sec to 60 sec with 2 min of walking at 2.8mph. I know this is walking speed for some of the people out there. But I did this after maybe 3-4 weeks and it felt so good to just go as fast as I could. And I didnt feel any unusual breathlessness, just similar to after a hard effort. I might have picked up the speed to 5.5mph too, but didnt want to risk it so close to the half.

But y'know what I have noticed? I have noticed that my walking speed is going down, i am wallking at 2.8-3mph inbetween the higher speeds and that shows up during the long runs too , bringing down my average pace.

I was reading somewhere that one's running speed increases gradually over 5-10 years,and then plateaus, i.e. the PR best is after running consistently for that time period. So theres hope for me yet.

Getting ever so slightly nervous about the looming half-marathon.

Tapering??

So the half marathon is next Saturday.

We are supposed to be tapering off,.. for me that means actually getting in a couple of runs so the body knows it will be moving continuously over 13 miles and 0.1 next weekend.

Today started out later than usual at 7.37 AM, one , because we wanted to see how it feels to run later in the day, and second because GB went back to sleep after the 5.45 wakeup call, so that when I reached her apt at 7.15 AM she tumbled out of bed, irate that I had woken her up! But she got ready in record time and then proceeded to tell me thru out the 4.7 miles that she didnt feel right 'cos she hadnt woken up an hour earlier than the run.

GB had got a fanny pack for me to wear for the marathon, and I used it for the first time today. I just had a 12 oz bottle of water and a banana, why I was carrying it for a 5mile walk, I dont know, maybe to get used to the idea of carrying the fluids and food during the half 'cos each stop is 2 miles apart.Anyway, that didnot work out too well, it made me off-balance and it was too heavy and esp when it got warmer and me tireder, I just wanted to throw it off. So for the half, and eventually the full, I am going to try and carry snacks which are small and effective like M&Ms/raisins/jelly beans and fill an 8 oz bottle at each stop. And I will try and get a smaller fanny pack than that humoungus thing. Made by Jansport- the most irritating thing was that the waterbottle needed much adjustment to go back into its slot, I had to break my smooth stride to push it back into its compartment , I almost left it by the wayside, except GB told me it was for $ 30, and that is a lot to leave by the wayside.

SO one week left. Will try to get in 2 more runs and then carbo load- that makes me happy!!!

21 days for new habit

And here its been how many 21 days since we started this new habit of runing???Habit??Just went off the plan for less than a week and now its so difficult to get back on track.
The feeling is as if there is a big exam looming on the horizon and I am just closing my mind, not thinking about it, but its in the back of my mind, I know I have to study to pass, but I am procrastinating, filling my time with nonsense stuff.
I know the half is in a week, but its as if my body refuses to move, just dont want to do the required r/w.
Did 20 min of weights and stretches, so feeling loose and limber, am feeling better healthwise too, have read all the new blogs on completerunning today for motivation, but its still not there.
Tomorrow , maybe.

In sickness and health

So had a bad bout of the flu/cold/allergies/chest symptoms and body aches.

Friday night had dinner at GB's and kept sneezing thru'out, realised, Sat morning run is out of question. So decided to go on sunday.
The whole saturday kept drinking hot tea with spices to make myself warm, just couldnot get the cold out of my bones and chest. Was covered head to toe but each time my hands touched cold water of even the cold air , I would start sneezing uncontrollably, atleast 10-15 at a time. i was scared I would have a slipped disc in my neck or back by the end of it.
Woke up on Sunday morning , late at 7 Am, because had been awake half of the night with difficult breathing and the coughing. Sunday AM run was out of question.

So now the situation is this, we have missed the final LSD before the tapering for the half marathon. How will this affect us? Should we try and do a shorter LSD , say , of 10 miles next weekend, or just carry on with the program and hope for the best at the d-day?
I dont know the answer- I have tried looking it up on coolrunning and runnersworld but havent got the answer yet- hopefully before Friday I should have the answer, so if anybody in the cyberworld reads this and knows the ans, please do post.

GB has not been well either, shes been having backache, flareup of an old injury.
So lets see how the two of us do-one with chronic low back pain, the other with breathing problems . I think we will be OK.

Pre-preparation for LSD 14 miles

14 miles tommorow!.
Feeling slightly apprehensive, dont know why, I mean if one has done 11.3miles, then what is another 3 miles??
Planning to go to the actual half marathon course in the AM and do the run there. Have got some things lined up:
-cap, sun glasses, water, PBJ , banana, socks, shoes, googled the directions.
Lets see how it goes.

Finished watching the PBS NOVA marathon clips. Some very nice pointers- esp for weight loss, given by Miriam Nelson, RN, nutritionist. Diet mangement is the trump card in weight loss , exercise is only for toning the body and making it function well.
Today I was calculating; I run/W an average of 15 miles a week. Which means a maximum of 1500 calories lost after all that activity- even if it raises my basic metabolic rate. 3500 calories make a pound, which means if I do only the running and make no other changes in my diet I should lose 1-2 pounds a month. But u know, it is so easy to eat more than before, because all that running makes one hungry- physically and psychologically. So I eat more and it takes only 200 cal a day extra to balance out whatever I have lost with the running. 2 extra pieces of chocolate, a third serving of rice and beans....

But I am not doing this marathon for weight loss, not to prove anything to anybody, not because I turned 40(so what!!, everyone does), not to see if I am physically fit or if I can be physically fit, not for charity.
It was on my list of things to do in this lifetime, once upon a time, but I had forgotten about that list. It wasnt even because GB suggested it one fine morning when both of us were bored and decided to do this blog and the marathon- if that were the only reason we would have given up the 2nd month, tho there is still danger of giving up depending on how we fare in tomorrows run.

SO, I dont know. I do not know why I am doing this marathon. It could be because of none of the above reasons or all of them. We will see.

Walk for XT

Walked for 40 min, tried to walk fast, but even tho I thought I was doing a good effort, I tried the talking test and could talk almost complete sentances. I usually try to walk at an even pace, but not too fast , becos I like to enjoy my surroundings. It was nice and breezy today, i actually passed a PYT(pretty,young thing) but she was not actually pushing herself, and that gave me a nice ego boost , which I really need nowadays.

Spent 12 min watching the first part of the Nova Marathon clip(at the top of the home page). GB had told me the day she posted it as to how motivating that clip is, and I never had time before to go over it. Today I watched the first introductary part and am going to finish the rest tonite. So far the thoughts are that if all of these people can do it, so can I.

Had wanted to do weights today, missed that, definately tomorrow. Along with the R/w.

Run cut short

First time,I think , in the whole training period that I cut a run short. Had really bad breathlessness each time did a min of running at 4.8mph, would recover in the 1min at 3mph session, kept doing it for 20 min before completeing the 45 min walking at 3mph.

Today it wasnt the mind playing games, my lungs just would not keep up. I have been to the doctor with the complaints of allergies and shortness of breath. She has diagnosed me with asthma and prescribed an inhaler- I was prescribed one 10 years ago too and just ignored it as the symptoms come each year during allergy season and resolve in 1-2 weeks, but this time its lasted longer, I havent slept properly in 3 weeks, I have a goal of the marathon which I really want to complete. Just this morning I was thinking that I hadnt had the usual ankle and knee soreness I used to wake up with before I started the running program, but now my lungs have ditched me.

So now i am going to have to get the inhaler and will start reading up on running and asthma.I had thought that the more conditioned I became, the easier it would get, but not for me.

I have started getting jealous of the other runners now. Its getting warmer and all the runners have come out, each weekend run , while I am huffing and puffing, I see these lean, mean , running machines, solo or in groups of 2-3, eating the miles like candy. They seem to do everything right, water, caps, the right snacks, the right form and posture, the right weight, running effortlessly, gliding. I feel like my feet are made of heavy clay and I have to push thru with each mile. Dont even talk about speed, esp in the blog world, the slow runners run at 6-7mph, and write about speedier runners at 8-9mph. I guess speed is relative - to me 5mph is unattainable at the present moment.

OK, enuf venting for today, tomorrow is a new day. Walk and weights tomorrow, reach a decision about the inhaler-get it if will useit, concentrate on the hydration and the nutrition and go finish the 14 miler LSD this weekend.

Half marathon preparations

Almost 2 weeks since I blogged. I have been more regular with the logging but just couldnt find the time to put down all my thoughts here.

Things I have noted:

-- Our half-M will start at 8.15 AM and sunrise here is at 6.30 AM so by the time we are in the middle of our run, it will be almost afternoon. So we need to have a hat/cap to keep the sun out . And now I know why some runners, esp those doing the runs at noon have their sunglasses on. The sunshine on the raoad really pierces ones eyes and it makes us more tired than we are.

-- The water stands at the half-M are going to be at 2 mile intervals, and yesterdays short run taught us that we need water even on those short distances so we will have to carry the water/gatorade bottles

--I need to have GB run with me, because she is the one who knows how to pace, otherwise I run at 5mph for 1 min and the pant and crawl for the next 3. So I have to work and up my motivational, inspirational talks with her.

-- I didnt do a couple of workouts this past week and I really felt it even on this short run. On the other hand the 2 free weights sessions did help with my posture.