Day 92 cross training

It has been raining non-stop since morning. I was reading 'The cat in the hat' for my daughter and the first 4 lines describe the general mood here.
Did not feel like doing a 50 min walk on the tmill which was on schedule today. Then heard my husband and dtr trying to outskip each other. She can do 200-250 in one go. i tried it and did 10, then another 10, then 20 , short spurts yes but no breathlessness or feelings of imminent heart failure. That warmed me up nicely so went and did 20 min of free weights and some stretches.
Is skipping a good crosstraining activity? I wonder, but since then have some stiffness in the right knee so I dont think i will be making it a regular feature.
The Diet is going Ok, well, not so OK, had talked myself into eating a bowl of warm cereal as soon as I come in from work to prevent the munchies, but no, still am a regular visitor to the pantry, peanuts, PBJ sandwiches, you name it.
Off day tomorrow.Might do some yoga- gentle.

Day 91 - Rest day

Went to NB's place straight after work. Drove along the same path I usually run, a scenic view, and, and the road just didnt seem to end. I was like, if this is 1 mile, how the hell will I run 26 miles?
NB had just finished her workout on the treadmill and was not feeling very good about it. She told me 'Today's workout didn't go well :(, read my post'. Our conversation nowadays is something like 'Did you go to the gym? No. Why? Uhh, read my post'.... 'I read something very interesting on the web, have written about it, read my post'
We don't waste energy talking about whatever has been put down in our blog, we conserve it to use later in our runs :)

Day 91, what happened??

30 min/R4.6mph,2min /W3.0mph 2 min for total 20 min /1.67miles.

What happened?? Today I was going to do my version of the speed session, 2min at 4.6mph and 2 min of 3.0mph for 40 min just like last week , the only difference was 4.6 instead of 4.5mph.
Started off with warmup very slow at 2.8mph and then started running. 2 sessions of the run at 4.6mph and the shinsplints started, verry verry bad and oh so painful, the legs esp the right one grew heavy and I started dragging it. Now I remember I had these previously and had decreased my speed to a shuffle. On top of that was huffing and puffing like Thomas the engine.Ended with a slow cooldown holding onto the tmill rail all the time. I was so happy last thursday, was it really last thursday?- I will check , that I was running at a respectable rate again but this is so demoralising.

Later on I thought I could have continued for some more time but I think it was OK to stop. I dont want to end up with a chronically painful condition tho it is very tempting to keep running to build up the mileage. On the other hand there are only 13-14 weeks to the half marathon and I wonder if I will be able to finish it. At this time , the aim is only to finish, and I hope I can do it with a smile instead of crawling to it.The worrywart in me worries that I will not be able to do it, the sane , practical me says there is no reason not to finish if I do as the program says.

Tomorrow is another day.Tomorrow I will do the walk, hopefully outside if it is sunny. Then the rest day and the LSD of 2.5miles including hills this time.

The Diet is not going too well either, I eat the same amount even tho it is spread out over the day instead of at lunch and dinner. Will look into it.Wish I could lose 10-15 pounds by the half marathon, but as some great soul once said'If wishes were horses...', yup you guessed it'everyone would ride.'

Day 90 - Completed 3 months of marathon preparation

ha ha ha.....I am still here?? I am still thinking about running a marathon???? wow! I am surprised at myself, my lazy self....

In these 3 months, even though have been inconsistent in training/workouts, have seen -
- a remarkable increase in stamina, running/walking for 3 miles is not a huge deal anymore
- no change in weight, am still obese by 15 pounds (BMI)
- preference switch from treadmill running to outdoor running
- slight change in attitude for the better.....want to run this marathon now....

Day 90, 3 month review

OMG!!, 3 months over, three whole months of marathon preparation.Time sure travels fast.
OK, now lets review.

Month 1 and 2- sporadic workouts, max of 35-40 min length, getting tired and pooped at the end , aching knees and ankles.Did finish the C25K program and did run for 30 min continuously exactly 3 times. Unable to repeat that feat since then.

Month 3-more regular workouts, max. of 50 min length, getting tired only at the end of the long runs, pain in knees but no generalised heaviness as before.Enjoying the runs.But do not run continuously, take walking breaks in b/w.That is big question- if I am planning to do the marathon with walking breaks, it should be OK if I cant run 30 min continuously, so I should just concentrate on increasing the distance?

Our speed is still average 4.0 mph. Just cant seem to break the barrier. If go over to running at 4.3-4.5mph then walk at 3.5-3.7mph so average is 4.0 mph. To complete the marathon in 6 hours and before that the half- marathon in 3 hours, have to run consistently at 4.3 mph. Recently dont seem to be able to run continuously more than 3-4 min at a time.
But I am hoping that will change once get more into the marathon preparation.

Today was a slow day , walk/XT according to the schedule and I did walk for 50 min at a very slow speed. It was rainy and windy as usual and while at work I thought I would walk outside, once in the warm house , I became a wimp and did the workout on the tmill watching T.V and zoning out . My husband calls it my "walker" workout 'cos I hold onto the tmill handrail and just walk slowly.I dont know how much it helped with building endurance/ working the walking muscles instead of the running muscles/ calorie burn etc but I sure crossed it off my list with a bright red marker.

Goals for month 4:
Finish all the runs/XT as scheduled.
Add on free weights- that seems my biggest block at the time.
Do 4 sessions of speed running -one each week so that by the end of the month can increase speed to 4.3 mph on the long run.

Day 89 - Wonderful day, back to marathon preparation

Went for a run in the evening one hour after having a salad (and unfortunately cookies). 3 months back would have made an excuse - Oh, I can't run/walk for atleast 2 hrs after eating as I get side splits, which was quite true, but I used to give up without making an effort - but today, decided to go ahead.
Ran about a mile and suddenly had a pain in the lower left of my stomach - more of a muscle pull or a tight muscle, never had it earlier. Started walking and was ok in about 5 minutes. Remembered a joke from 'In the Spirit of the marathon' - 'They wouldn't let a woman run a marathon in olden times as they thought her uterus would fall out' :)

Day 89 Goals

2.85 miles, 50 min, R 1min 4mph/W1min 3mph

Very slow today and tired , had to push myself to even run the 1 min at a time, tried to slow down but that felt like dragging my feet and didnt speed up thinking would not be able to do the whole 45 min.Finished in 50 min including a warmup and cooldown of 5 min each. But finished strong, could have gone on at the same rate for another 10 min atleast if didnt have to cook dinner.
Ended with atleast 10 min of stretches , learnt my lesson -try to be more regular with those to prevent the aches and pains.
The eating was average, took the kids to TacoBell after school as both had half days. So ate a bean burrito and some cheesy potatoes, but then had some chips and a scone because GB dropped by after work for a cup of tea, so its GBs fault that I went off my Diet.
I am having a good effect on my family- my husband is pretty active-runs 3-4 times a week, today he came from work and I , me, myself motivated him to workout- its another story that dinner is not ready and I want to post this too.

Goals for this week:
1. Run/Walk on M,W,Sat-LSD of 2.5- include hills
2. Tues,thurs,Sun-walk for 40-45 min and stretch
3. Any 2 days free weights for 20 min each session.
4. Diet: No 2nd helpings- eat anything(except packaged goods) but only ONE portion.
5. Buy waterbottles, one snack to try while running, SHOES.

Best of luck:)