It's Official!!

Tonight I have officially registered for the Long Branch Half Marathon. I guess I'm committed now! Drew, Jason & I are all registered, Marion and Nikki will register soon--if not registered already...the team continues to form!

Breaking the Barrier

A little late with this post, but writing none-the-less. Jason and I went for a run in the wonderful sunshiny weather on Saturday. Although still cold, it was the warmest day that I've ran outside to date. I struggled with the question of what to wear...do I bundle up or do I leave a few layers at home this time? Decisions, decisions...I decided to bundle up with the same layers that I normally do because Jason pointed out that if the wind begins to blow or we begin our cool down, we will get cold. Yes, hubby, good point, I think, as I put my bergalene long underwear on underneath the pants that I've decided to wear for this run. And on with the pink Patriots beanie as well. We start off (in the car) for the in-laws house in Millersville, as this is where we've decided to run again. About 3 miles from home we realize that we've forgotten the Garmin Forerunner on the dining room table and make a quick U-turn to retrieve it. (Did I mention that was the second thing that we've gone back into the house for?) My mom was laughing at us because we just couldn't make it out of the house that afternoon. Once to Millersville, we park and make our running plan to be roughly the same route that we took last week with a few minor additions. We speed walk up the hill on Herr Avenue and begin running a little further up, making a left onto Landis. I have been informed that I'm supposed to tell my trainer (hubby) when I'm feeling like I can't run anymore. So, about 10 minutes further into our run, I tell him with a sniffled "uggg" between breaths, that I've about had it. I was thinking to myself that he would say, "Okay, let's fast walk again," but instead, he proclaims, "Alright, keep running." WHAT?! That's definately not what I want to do! But I did it. I pushed harder, and although I felt like I could have fast walked faster than I was running at that point, I continued on, "breaking that barrier" as Jason so eloquently put it as we ran down High School Avenue. As we approached the hill at Beimsderfer Stadium, Jason notifies me that I've done my first non-stop 1.5 miles. WhoooHooo!! What a rush that was! It was truly amazing how pushing through that barrier and continuing to run and getting to that mile and a half felt. There is a point where you feel like you want to stop, and if I didn't have someone there with me, I probably would have. It's that whole mind game that you have to play within yourself to keep you going. I'm not good at that part yet, but I'm sure with the help of Jason, I'll get through it. (Thank goodness I didn't have to do the hills at Crossgates, I think I really would have died doing them!) We ended up running 3.68 miles in 48:10. My hustle at the end was less than impressive but I made it!

Laughing point during this run: I got warmed up and decided to take my beanie off to let some heat out...and instead of holding onto it and stuffed it into the left side of my pullover fleece. About a mile or so later in the run, Jason looks over at me and starts laughing. I ask him what's so funny and he replies, "I had to look at you twice. You have this lump on the left side of your chest and I thought to myself, geez, we need to get her some new sports bras, those aren't providing her any support!" Ha ha ha! Leave it to my husband to be concerned about my "support."

Plyometrics?

Back to the grind. The run that we did today (1/19/2010) was unbearable. It's the first time in the 2.5 weeks that I've been running that I had NO drive whatsoever to run. But we had a babysitter (THANK YOU NONNA!!) and beautiful weather, so how could I really sit at home and not get another outside run in? Jason and I both were struggling with some motivational issues. I took the advice of my brother and charged up the good old iPod with my "workout playlist" and we were on our way. Both my brother and my husband claim that my choice of workout songs suck...but how can you not get motivated by Bruce's "Born to Run" or "Play Something Country" by Brooks and Dunn? I've got a crazy assortment of songs on my iPod. Some are better to run to than others, I will readily admit that. Isn't that why there's a little button to push to go on to the next song? Along the run Jason and I enjoyed giving my mom and her friend Sue a little jolt by peeping in their office window at Snyder Funeral Home. They were both concentrating hard on a fax that had just come in and Jason and I waited patiently with our heads in the window until they looked up. Without expecting someone to be at the window, they both gasped and gave a little start until they realized that it was just Jason and me. I believe we could have gotten into some trouble if we hadn't said a quick hello and continued on our run! We wove in and out through Millersville University, with students now abundant on campus due to school being back in session. I had thought that stopping at the George Street cafe would be a nice treat after the run and that the cool down walk back to Nonna's house would be perfect, but by the time we got to the cafe, I was in no mood for any kind of coffee drink. (Probably a good thing...) Jason also decided that we were going to do different plyometric exercises up the hill to the fire station including sidestepping, bunny hops and skipping. I changed exercises each time he instructed me. Ugg. What torture! But I'm feeling better each time I do it. We jogged the downhill back to Julia and I sprinted the last tenth of a mile to the house. 3.05 miles in 43:03. I suppose that's not too shabby for having an off day and no motivation.

At the same time, my friend Jenny introduced me, or actually reminded me, of some good leg exercises to do. I haven't done these exercises in years, but performed them several times on a weekly basis from the age of 7 until the age of 14. They are exercises performed at the barre in ballet class. Demi plies and gran plies. Forgot how much they burn after you've done them for awhile, but GREAT for leg tone. I'll be adding these to my workouts. (I've been doing the demi plies when brushing my teeth). I don't remember my knees cracking as much as they are now when I used to do them! THANKS for the tip JENNY!

Snowshoeing at Smuggs in Vermont

My family and I ventured to Vermont for a long weekend away. I took off Friday and Monday for our trek into the chilly crispness of the Green Mountains. Having gotten 2 feet of snow just about a week before we got there, we weren't sure what conditions that we would find. (That and the fact that I've never been up there in the dead of winter had us packing an abundance of warm clothes.) We stayed with the Dumelin family in the small town of Hinesburg, VT. Susie, Joe and baby Bruce were "in town" (on the East Coast) for the week and we were invited to spend the long weekend with them playing in Vermont. We arrived from a long day of driving on Friday evening, enjoying Grand-dad Bruce's 3-alarm chili and polished off several bottles of wine as the babies (baby Bruce and Julia) slept upstairs. Susie and I planned a snowshoeing trip to Smuggler's Notch that next day. Joe and the guys were headed for backpacking at another location. Nanni Dumelin and Mom-mom Peterson were watching the kids as we all headed out.
I had picked up a magazine about a week ago that highlighted many winter outdoor activities as well as the calorie burn that you get from performing these activities for an hour. Snowshoeing provides approx 550 calories burnt per hour. NICE!!! Susie and I proceeded to snowshoe for about 45 minutes up through the mountain road that runs through Stowe and Smuggler's Notch. In the winter it is hard to clear the snow through these areas and the road is closed, making a fantastic path to snowshoe, cross-country ski, or just plain hike. There was at least 2 feet of snow separating Susie and me from the pavement. Snowshoes were optional as there had been many feet that had come before us on the path. The weather was chilly, but not offensive. It was easy to take in the beauty of nature around us. The pictures below do not do the scene around us justice.

After our outdoor adventure, we trekked into town (Burlington) to meet my brother and his friend Cristina at Muddy Waters for a hot drink and a snack prior to the lasagna fest that we were about to partake in back at the Dumelin's house. We filled Muddy Waters with 11 winter warriors that warmed up with the likes of mochas, lattes, herbal teas and some hot funky beverage that my brother got that I can't remember the name of. (It's the one in the pic just to the right of Julia's pink Sigg bottle.) So although I probably ate more calories than I expended this weekend, it was still a wonderful little get-away with wonderful friends. Back to serious training next week!

A Run with my Brother

Drew flew in from Oregon on Saturday morning. I may have mentioned his arrival before, but if not, he's here with us in PA for a week, then traveling to VT with me for a long weekend. (Which I'm very much looking forward to!!) We had originally set up Jason's mom to watch Julia for an hour while we ventured out to run again this evening, but unfortunately she wasn't feeling well, so Jason stayed home with Julia and Drew and I went for a run together. Good times, let me tell ya. We parked at Charles Snyder Funeral Home on George Street and proceeded south on George until we hit the construction at the far end of Millersville University, near the Student Center. We ran back through the buildings and up the steps to the gym, and from there took a breather until we reached MU's football field where Drew made running up and down the Beimsderfer steps look easy. Blechh...I ran 2 laps around the track while he did the steps. I had told Jason during our earlier Millersville excursion that I would not even attempt to do the steps at Beimsderfer until March. I'm still going to stick to that!! Jason's Garmin Forerunner tells me that we ran 2.56 miles in 35 minutes. So I've upped my distance my a quarter of a mile. Not bad! The wind this evening was actually quite hellish and I couldn't feel my fingers until about half way through the run, but I'm still feeling good despite these cold temperatures. No terrible aches or pains that I had anticipated that I would have. No left ankle issues or right SI problems. All (currently) seems to be holding out. A coworker also informed me that static stretching prior to exercise has been found to create more injuries. I'm excited to see what else she finds in the current research that she's going right now. More on that later...

As a side note: It really was great running with my brother. Even if he's used to training at about 4,000 feet in his little town of Bend, OR, I think we were able to get in a good workout together. If it wasn't for his encouragement, I would not have been able to run the last spanse from the Sugar Bowl to the crossroads of George and Cottage. I would have stopped at the sign for St. Paul's Lutheran Church and been done with it. I was sucking wind when we got to the fireplug that I was instructed to beat upon getting to the traffic light...but it felt good. May is going to be sooo easy compared to these conditions!

Wildcard Football and More Elliptical Training

Well...the Jets beat the Eagles, the Ravens beat the Pats (boohoo!!), and the Cardinals beat the Packers. Football was my motivation today while pulling out 35 boring minutes on the elliptical tonight. We have a room in our basement that we have turned into our exercise room. Our 1880 farmhouse used to be heated with coal, and we were informed that the room that is now our exercise room used to be the coal bin. There are two steps that go down into the room, and our small water tank in the back, but otherwise it's a nice, open room. Repainted prior to our family moving in, we decided that the cement floor was a little rough while exercising and originally had some scrap pieces of carpeting down. Jason's dad found some padded flooring type pieces that fit together and are waterproof, so we've laid them down all along the floor in there. That, coupled with a weight bench, elliptical, and TV make up our exercise room with a full length mirror against the inside wall and my stepper and foam rollers lined up behind the door. Maybe some day it will get another coat of paint, but for now, it does the job. The elliptical faces the TV and was "donated" to our room from my parents. I truly wonder if it is accurate with it's mileage and speed, because it records that I get much less distance per minute of work out than if I'm outside doing the same thing. hmmm....

Tonight (from the elliptical recording) I did 1.52 miles in 35 minutes. Whether accurate or not, I got a good cardio work out in while jamming to Jason's iPod to tunes by KISS, Aerosmith, and Dirks Bentley to name a few. Can't forget "I Like Big Butts" mixed in there somewhere too. Most I couldn't sing to because I didn't have enough breath to breathe for my workout and sing at the same time. Once in awhile I got a few phrases out and Jason and Julia could hear me from where they were eating dinner upstairs. Jason told me it was good that I had my Doctorate in Physical Therapy, because singing wouldn't be bringing in any money. Ah well...between the singing and shouting at the football players, I made my cardio workout count. Then I did those multi-directional calf raises, standing kicks in all directions and stretches. Pretty good for one night, I suppose. I'm thinking about doing abs before bed as well...but not before I finish my banana chocolate smoothie. (My reward for my training).

I have to say it's going well so far. Here's to the start of week #2. We are hoping to get out running twice this week prior to Julia and me leaving for Vermont to visit with friends. My recovery from the last outdoor run was much shorter than the first run in NJ. Muscles were not as sore and the lungs didn't burn as badly. Still have ways to go to get to a half marathon in May, but it doesn't seem as far out of reach as I initially thought it could be.

Running in the Dark

I guess I'm getting many of the different aspects of running checked off my list in one week. I realize that I won't get through this whole runner's checklist for awhile, but it seems interesting to me that I can run in cold, flurries, flooding, in 2 different states and tonight, in the dark. It wasn't completely dark, I mean, there was a streetlight here and there and some car headlights that would go by every now and again. I guess much of my running will be in the dark due to the time of year and the time that I get off of work. It's an interesting experience if you haven't done it before. Much of my attention during the run was taken up by making sure that I wasn't going to trip over something. It kinda took my mind off of the running portion of things.

Jason had me wear his Garmin Forerunner tonight when we ran. There is a strap that goes around your chest to measure heart rate, and then a watch type piece that you put on your wrist that syncs up with satellites to measure distance, elevation and time during your run. You come home, download it all onto your computer, and then it spits all of this data out to you, including a really cool highlighted map of the area that you just ran. (As seen below)

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but conditions tonight were pretty good compared to our run this past Saturday. No wind, 29 degrees with wind chill also at 29 degrees. We ran 2.25 miles in 35 minutes, mixing in some fast walking and some sprints in there as well. My lungs felt like they wanted to explode after doing the fast sprints around the track at Millersville University, but otherwise the 2.25 miles did my body good. Millerville's track was even more bizarre to run in a night, without all the stadium lights on. (I'm used to be there with a noisy crowd of people watching Penn Manor High School football and Marching Unit)

While fast walking at one point during the run, Jason says, "At least we are spending time together." I'm sure that I'll be thinking that in 2 months or so, but right then, no so much.

Weight Training with the Biggest Loser

Tonight was weight training with my hubby. Last night I took a "pass" card because of sheer exhaustion from working my first 10 hour Monday shift and on the verge of getting sick. I think I've done what it takes to keep the cold at bay, but I'm not taking any chances and making sure that I go to bed earlier than I usually do and getting lots of liquids in. Sore throats don't do well for workouts, that's for sure.

So tonight was my first weight training session. I enjoyed slow squats, lunges, an exercise something like straddling a horse (but holding it for 1 minute), calf raises in each direction (straight ahead, then heels out, then heels in), squats with 15lbs of weight, lunges with 15lbs of weight, dips, flutter kicks, crunches, step ups, steps up from further away from the steps and then some proprioceptive exercises standing on one foot, then standing on one foot with my eyes closes. I had some slight issues with standing on one foot with my eyes closed, so Jason told me that he was going to teach me some "Zen" to think about while doing the activity. He said, "Imagine that you are holding onto a pole when you are standing with your eyes closed, it should help to steady you." I closed my eyes and imagined one of those big, thick cement pillar type poles that they use to deter people from driving up to places or parking places that they shouldn't. I figured this was as steady a pole as any to envision and to keep me from falling over. Apparently I was imagining the wrong kind of pole, because my balance got worse!

Jason made fabulous smoothies tonight after our workout. I stretched on our living room floor while watching the end of the Biggest Loser while he combined ingredients of Stonyfield Farms lowfat strawberry yogurt, Whole Foods frozen strawberries, ice and a little bit of skim milk. Yummmm!!!

To note: I was NOT able to easily get up off the floor after stretching and drinking my smoothie because my leg muscle spindles were no longer firing on all cylinders to get me up again. Uggg. Can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow. Pilates will be all the more exciting (and tiring) tomorrow night.

Colder Yet...

We traveled home from New Jersey today. My traps and rhomboids a little more sore than expected. Legs still feeling good. Cold should not be the word to describe the weather today. As I write this, WeatherBug tells me that it's 24 degrees and it feels like 11 degrees. I can't imagine that it could have felt any better earlier today. We did not run outdoors today. I, instead, watched the Jets kill the Bengals to win the AFC's wild card spot while running on the elliptical in our basement. You thought that I was going to say, "while sitting on the couch," didn't you? After I put my daughter to sleep, I headed for the basement and did 30 minutes of elliptical training, combining 5 minutes of harder resistance and pace with 5 minutes of lower resistance and pace. That along with triceps, back extensor and abdominal work, I'm still feeling good. Even after eating a piece of chocolate pudding pie that my aunt sent home with me. It hit the spot after working out. I don't feel a bit guilty either. Until tomorrow!

First Run

Did I mention that I don't run?

My husband and I decided that it would be a cool idea to start my running adventure in the same place that my running adventure will end: in Long Branch, New Jersey. We went to visit my aunt this weekend for our annual Christmas visit (usually 2-3 weeks after Christmas, but early this year). Saturday, January 2, 2010 marks the day that my run begins. As you'll see from the pictures posted and running conditions listed below, I could have easily bailed. But, I persevered and was the first one dressed that morning to run. We didn't get very far on account of flooding due to high tide and some pretty wicked wind, but we ran nonetheless.

Outside Temperature: 28.5 degrees

Wind Chill: 15 degrees

Wind: gusts up to 28 mph (gale warning in effect)

Mileage: 1.18 miles

Time: 18 minutes

I would have liked to have said that my first run was in gorgeous weather for this time of year, or that my first run was further, but seriously, this is what I did and I feel good about it. Even if my lungs burned and my shoes got a little wet. I was more surprised at the way my accessory breathing muscles felt rather than my leg muscles. My legs are fine, it's my neck and thoracic spine that are a bit sore today from the run yesterday. I've got my work cut out for me. Concentrating on the breathing will be my first hurdle to overcome.

If I ran in this, the weather in May will HAVE to be better!

It's Gonna Be A Challenge...

I'm not a runner. I'm a team sport player. I run to score goals or points for the pure enjoyment of beating the snot out of another team. I run (occasionally) to better condition myself for these team sport things that I do. I haven't done team sports since my daughter was born in May of 2008. But here today, I tell you that I'm running a half marathon this May 2, 2010. Crazy? Definately. Hard work? Yes! The hardest thing that I've ever done in my life? Most likely. I will finish the half marathon. I'm not promising that I'll run during the entire thing, but with the support of my family and friends, I'm entered into my first competitive running event. I'm going to show you here on this blog exactly how it's getting done. Let's say it's a little therapy for the aches, pains, trials and tribulations that I will be going through while on this new little adventure.

So first, some background. My husband runs, his sister runs, and her husband runs. My aunt, who is now in her 60's, has run three half marathons in the past couple of years. For all intensive purposes, I guess I am in a "running family." I (made the mistake of) asked my aunt for running shoes for Christmas. I joked with her that I would THINK about running the Long Branch half marathon with her this year if she got them for me. Her reply back was not one that I was expecting. It went something like this: "If you sign up for the Long Branch Half Marathon, I will take you to a store in NYC that recommends and fits running shoes using video of the person running on a treadmill in the store. If we can find time to do it, it is my treat!" So I thought, "Hmmm...this is really appealing to the physical therapist in me, maybe it's worth it to do a half marathon to go into this store in NYC." But then I thought, "Really, is 13.1 miles worth a new pair of shoes?" As if pressure wasn't worse, I posted my thoughts on Facebook and many of my friends posted inspiring replies back. My brother went as far to say, "If you run this thing, I'll fly home and run it with you." This blew my mind. He lives in Oregon, and he's going to fly to the East Coast, run a half marathon with me, and fly back home again? That's worth more than a pair of shoes in NYC. So, although I'm not a runner, I'm going to turn into one for the next 5 months. Who knows? My husband says I might actually like it. I might lose the last 20 pounds of baby weight that my darling daughter left behind after she was born. I think that overall, it's only a win-win situation. Maybe I can even inspire you to run a half marathon...or maybe it'll turn you off completely! Enjoy or be bored, I'm looking forward to sharing with you!