Lisa

either that, or a glutton for punishment.

I knew that today was THE day for the Sisterhood to began the new More Workouts 6 week challenge by EA Sports Active.  I also knew that i wanted to squeeze in some running mileage because you know, we have that Globetrotting challenge going on as well, plus I’m running that 5 Miler on Thanksgiving Day.

Rather than choosing one over the other, I decided to do BOTH.  I am about to die.

I ran first, and I ran fast.  Changing it up a bit, I decided to alternate sprinting with walking.  OMFG, I have never sweated so much in my life.  It was literally pouring off of my face and my heart was beating so fast.  It was a great workout!  I only did 2.5 miles in 29 minutes but I figure with all the walking I did in between sprints, that was pretty good.

I then drove home, powered up the Wii, popped in the More Workouts game, and went to town on that.

I have to say, I very much enjoyed it.  I liked the scenary, I liked the music, I liked the addition of a warm-up and cool-down, I liked the new exercises, and I liked the ab work.  My favorites were the obstacle course and the cardio boxing.  Jumping rope- not so much, probably because my legs were already so tired from the running.

I have to be honest that I have not done much resistance training in the last month or more and I knew I needed to add it back in in order to get the most of my workouts.   I haven’t quite figured out my new exercise schedule (cardio+More Workouts) and how to fit it in to my already jammed-packed schedule, but I will figure it out.

Eventually.

For now, I am patting myself on the back for doing both and for burning upwards of 600 calories- woot, woot!

I ran a 5K this past weekend (twice, in fact!).

Afterwards, I decided immediately that I did not want my running experiences to end there.

I made the decision to run a Turkey Trot FIVE MILER on Thanksgiving morning, with my husband.

Thanksgiving isn’t very far away, is it?!!!!!

Anyhoo, this morning was my first time to run something longer than 3 miles.

I went for it and ran 4.2 miles in 51 minutes.  That includes my 2 minute warm-up walk and 3 minutes of walking in the middle.  My iPod battery died around mile 3.25 and from there on out, I just said “Screw it” and ran like no other.  Once I got my breathing under control and my feet pounding the pavement in a steady beat, I hauled ass!

4.2 miles in 51 minutes. Yeah, I know it’s not the fastest time out there, but I don’t care.  I feel awesome and like I have accomplished something.   I HAVE accomplished something.

I am going to keep running.

I ran my 5K by myself, on a beautiful glorious day.

Prior to going the distance, I had to get myself ready and prepared for the run.   For me, that means putting in my contacts, getting the iPod out and charged, and putting on my POLAR heart rate monitor.

Since we sisters were doing this Virtual 5K in conjuction with the EA 5K, I got this cool T-shirt where I got to fill in the “blank”.

I laced up my awesome, beautiful, broken in, running shoes.

Lastly, I donned the most important apparel any serious runner wears.  Check out these relics from the 80’s which are making a huge comeback in the running world.  If you guys haven’t figured it out yet, those of us writing for The Sisterhood have quite the sense of humor, and more importantly, we have TONS of fashion sense.

Sporting a sweatband and striped socks, I could not be any COOLER, don’t you agree?  The last time I wore striped socks I was in gym class in junior high school and it was a requirement.  Junior high for me was only a few years ago, cough cough.

In order to get my muscles warmed up mainly my laugh muscles, I jumped though the air time after time and then stretched.

Finally, I was ready.  I head to the trail and did my thing.  Actually, I’m not sure if I went the entire 5K distance because the trail I run doesn’t have mile markers.  However, I did run 39 of 42 minutes and for that, I am so very proud of myself.

I am officially addicted to running.

I am registering to run my first OFFICIAL 5K on Thanksgiving Day.  Except, it’s really a FIVE MILER and that excites me even more.

Who wants to join me?

I know today is weigh-in day.

I weigh the same as last week and in reality, I am happy about that, given the Halloween party this weekend, the drinking and the eating.  Tracking points has been non-existent in this household.

So yeah, I weigh the same as I did last week- 171 lbs.

However, my last 3 training runs have been most wonderful.  They consist of:  5 minute jog warm-up, 3-5 minute stretch, 35 minute run, 3 minute cool-down and stretching again.

Back that up….a 35 minute RUN.  I cannot believe I am even typing that.  My last 3 runs have me RUNNING for 35 minutes straight and that is pure awesome-ness.  At least, it is to me.  I am finding that the first half of my run is eh, OK, but the second half of my run is awesome.  It is during that second half that my body is finally WARMED UP, my breathing is under control, the music on my iPod is the best, my second wind kicks in, my pace picks up and I truly feel like a runner.  I feel like I could run forever.

Today, during that second wind, my thoughts turned to WHY I am running.  Health? To get fit? To tone up my body?  To shed some pounds?  Yes, yes, yes and yes.  BUT, I realized the biggest reason I am enjoying this so much is that I AM DOING IT FOR ME.

FOR ME.  FOR ME.  FOR ME.

All day long, month after month, year after year, I have been doing things for others.  My children, my husband, what others expected of me or what I thought someone else wanted me to do.  This running, I am doing it FOR ME, and for me alone.

I have been giving of myself to others for so long.  I am now giving back to myself.

IT FEELS AWESOME.

……how much easier it will be for me to run once I lose some more weight.

I can imagine how much better my heart will work as the pounds fly off of me.

I can imagine how much happier my joints and my muscles will be as I become lighter.

I can imagine how much faster I might run as I have less of me to run.

That’s all I could think of as I did my run this morning.

Well that, and the fact that is was 80 effing degrees and 100% humidty.  GROSS.

It was like running in an oven.  Fun, eh?

Last week’s weigh-in:  170.5 lbs

This week’s weigh-in: 171 lbs

Gain of 0.5 lbs

I am OK with this because let’s face it, weight can fluctuate from week to week.  Half a pound is nothing to get upset over.  I am just glad it’s not more given the bag of Doritos I inhaled in a moment of weakness this weekend nevermind the 3 glasses of wine but we’re not going to talk about that right now.

I am running still, getting ready for the 5K on Sunday, November 8th.  Yesterday I ran a total of 33 minutes (not all at one time) and walked a total of 12 minutes, I walked during warm-up and cool-down as well as 1 minute walk “rests” in between stints of running, plus however long it took me to stretch afterwards.

I burned 525 calories in 50 minutes- how awesome is that?!

I am so so so glad that we took up running as a challenge because truthfully, I probably would never have done it on my own.  Running has provided me with an outlet for stress and a lot of emotions that have been weighing me down lately.

I am going to keep running even after our “running challenge” is over.

Since I am talking about running, can I just say how important it is to have AWESOME music to run to?  Really, it is.  Some of my favorite songs to run to, that get me feet moving and my heart pumping or just keep me going are:

• Pump It, Black-Eyed Peas
• Better Day, Ben Harper
• Coal War, Joshua James
• Don’t Stop the Music, Rihanna
• Hollaback Girl, Gwen Stefani
• Hotel Room Service, Pitbull
• Jai Ho, from Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
• Music, Madonna
• So What, Pink
• Under Pressure, Queen
• The Way I Are, Timbaland
• 4 Minutes, Madonna

Your welcome : ).

1. I have not counted my WW points in over two weeks.
2. I have had ice cream for the last 3 nights in a row.
3. It was delicious!
4. I am steering clear of alcohol of all kind and have been since the start of this challenge.
5. I am keeping up with my 5K training – are you?
6. I ran for 20 minutes straight today.
7. My arms are sore.
8. My legs are sore.
9. I think I might never walk again.
10. BUT I RAN FOR 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT!

Then, you ain’t training.

That’s what my husband said to me when I called from the car, sitting at the YMCA with it’s closed doors and watching the rain pour down.

Me:  What do I do?  Wait it out?  Run in the rain? Skip it?

Him:  If it ain’t raining, then you ain’t training.  Do it.

And I did.  I drove home, grabbed a hat to keep the rain out of my eyes. 

I ran in a steady, light rain.  Once my body warmed up, it felt awesome.  Nice, clean, fresh, cool, wet.  I couldn’t tell if I was sweating because I was drenched with rain.  There is definitely “something” about running in the rain.  It feels as if it is “taboo”, like I shouldn’t be doing it, that makes it kind of exciting.

Don’t get me wrong, the run was NOT any easier by any means, but it was different.

As I trucked along with my iPod, a song came on that brings back so many memories for me.  This was 2/3 of my way through my run.  I started BAWLING.  I was so into the moment.  Even though I did not need to run the whole song, I did….because I did not want that moment to end.  I just kept going and going and going.  One foot in front of the other.

It was at the moment that I understood how people can become ADDICTED to running. 

I have never felt so free in my life, running in the rain, with tears streaming down my face, listening to THAT song, living in the moment.  

Do you have a song that does that to you?