Run On

Running Stats 
(Taken from my Garmin GPS Forerunner 110 Watch and the Treadmill Dashboard when appropriate) :
27.65 Miles Ran over the Last 7 Days with
2,371 approximate calories burnt running 
(The calorie burn isn't entirely accurate because it only calculates the calories burnt outside and not the treadmill calories. You can probably add around 500 calories for the days/miles I was on a treadmill)

As you know by now, I have been in a health and fitness journey since January 2010. I will rerun my "Fat to Fit" blog sometime to give you the details of this journey, but the basic summary is that I've struggled with weight my whole life and reached an all time high about 12 months after my second son was born and at the door way to turning 30. Aging isn't an option, in fact it's a great alternative to the other choice which is death, but being fat and old is a choice. I chose to enter my 30's with a completely new mindset. I turned 30 April 23, 2010, 4 months into my journey, ran my first half marathon 9 months into my journey, and sit here now, 2 years into my journey with 55 pounds forever gone, 4 half marathons run, and on day 64 of my first ever #runstreak. I'm more toned than ever, more fit than ever, look better than ever, and hardly ever get sick. I'm sure it's all related. On one of these blogs I'm going to talk about the fountain of youth. You really can live longer (barring some catastrophic accident or illness), feel better, and accomplish all of your dreams. God made you for a forward moving journey. Don't allow defeat and stagnation in any area of your life, especially your fitness. Bring that flesh under subjection, and in the process of getting lean and mean, you'll grow in God. One of the FAQ's I'm going to address this week is on fitness and fasting. You really don't want to miss it. When you add and grow in one discipline in your life, every other discipline will line up accordingly. God knew what he was talking about in His word. He made you. He formed you. He fashioned you. He didn't mess up.

Yesterday my #runstreak occurred at 6 AM and I stumbled out the door in "Rocky" mode. It was single digit temperatures out and my neighborhood had not been plowed yet. The sidewalk areas that neighbors had snow blown or snow shoveled were more akin to ice skating rinks that clean areas. I couldn't let the streak end though and knew that with my church, leadership, and prayer schedule yesterday I wouldn't make it to the YMCA during the hours prior to their closing. I do have an elliptical machine at home that I used to do as a cross training element on days like this, but now that I'm an official member of the #runstreak club, cross training can't count towards maintaining the streak. So, since I treat Sunday's as my workout day "off", I rarely go further than 2.1 miles anyway, I knew I could handle the arctic blast and snow for at least the bare minimum #runstreak requirement of a mile and perhaps go my full two miles. I bundled up like Rocky, in fact, I later discovered I had too many clothes on. We'll address what to wear in my second FAQ blog this week, but as a preview I'll tell you that you don't want to overdress or you'll overheat, even in the frigid air. The only part of my body not overdressed were my precious little fingers which had on some cheap little Wal-Mart gloves and almost fell off. My husband had the advantage of a heads up on this because he left to do his #runstreak when I got home and I advised him to wear Ski Gloves and he was fine. Anyway, I ran in the middle of the road, dodging in and out of tire tracks trying to find a path where I could get some speed going without hitting ice. I only had one minor run in with a snow plow who didn't see me running. It could have end badly, but thankfully my cat like reflexes put me out of harms way. I only did 1.75 miles because I was getting tired of trying to find a strip of road acceptable for foot traffic. The bottom line though is, NO EXCUSES. I got the run in and was able to enjoy the Lord's Day worshipping with my church family and my run really was very fun. It is nice to have days that are not status quo.

Today was warmer, around 24 degrees, when I left for my run. I ran out of time yesterday to buy my ice cleats though and regretted it immensely. On Monday's I do weight training at the gym in addition to my run, so I usually only run 3 miles as a muscle warm up and cardio event. Today I did 3.2 miles outside and it felt like I was running in a sand pit. Because it is MLK Jr. day, I didn't have to run as early as normal. I went out the door at about 9 AM, and while that was great, it posed a problem in that I couldn't just freely run in the middle of the road without risking a run in with a Mack Truck. The sidewalks in my neighborhood, and on the main road outside my neighborhood, still varied from snow up to my ankles to ice skating rinks. I really could have used those snow cleats. I had trouble getting any speed up and only averaged a 9:32 mile. It felt more like an 8:58 per mile average though because I had to pick my legs up higher and push against resistance. The result was that I was able to work muscles in my run that aren't normally worked. I may run on the beach some this summer to mimic that feeling and get other areas of my legs prepared. I then went to the YMCA and did a fast 1 mile run on the treadmill because I didn't like my 9:32 average. I wanted to get in an "all out" mile at least before my weights.

Today started week #3 of my new weight training routine and I can see wonderful results already. My biceps, triceps, shoulders, and back are finally starting to look healthy and toned. When you are a runner your legs and glutes get quite a bit of work, but you have to go out of your way to strengthen your core and upper body. This helps guard against injury and makes you run stronger and faster.


In other related news, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a pair of ice cleats for $19.99. They attach to your regular tennis shoe and provide a grip in the snow and ice. They are metal coils on the bottom and will make your shoes non slip. I bought one pair and my husband and I will share them since we don't run outside together. While there I peeked at the clearance racks and found a super cute running skirt for only $8.98. You can't even imagine the steal that this is. Running skirts are all the rage right now because you don't have to sacrifice fashion for fitness. Since they are the rage, the cost is usually a fortune to find one that covers more than your hiney. Anyway, we'll cover clothes on my clothing FAQ blog, but I wanted you to know that Dick's has lots of cute shirts, bottoms, and fitness gear on clearance with an additional 50% the lowest price.