BCM Pre-Race Thoughts

We just finished a yummy pre-race dinner at Mellow Mushroom. I'm now at the Radisson in Jacksonville, seating on my sleep number bed, and enjoying complimentary internet. Tomorrow morning I'll run 5 miles of the Breast Cancer Marathon as part of the relay team "Smells Like Run Spirit" with my family. 

I've done a triathlon relay before, but this will be a little different because I won't see my relay team until the exchange and the finish. I'll have my phone and camera to help pass the time. I set it up so family members hand off to each other in this order: Bob (Jason's Dad), Jason, Me, Mom, and Dad. After we finish our leg, we'll take a bus to the finish line and wait for dad 100 yards from the finish to cross the finish line together. 

Since I have a marathon next weekend, and this is meant to be a fun run, I'll be taking it easy. My only goal is to finish in under an hour, though I'd love to run it in 55 minutes or PR (> 57:24), but I'm not going to push it. If you want to follow along with me, I'll be updating along the way and sending live results from the race to twitter and facebook or you can setup your own race alerts. 

Thoughts on Daily Blogging

I'm 21 days into this experiment of blogging every day for 30 days, and it's starting to become a chore. I'm not giving up, nor do I regret undertaking it, but I'll be glad when I can have my evenings back. Other than finding something interesting and new to blog about everyday, the biggest downside is that I can't relax when I get home and watch tv because I have to blog first. Writing a post takes longer than I anticipated, even if I already know what topic I want to discuss, because I make endless edits before publishing it.

I do like how it has forced me to reflect on topics I've been putting off or that I may have never considered writing about without this challenge. It's certainly kept me distracted from taper madness and made the last 21 days fly. Even though I have very little time to unwind and watch tv after work, I think that's also a plus. It's been nice to unwind reflecting on the day, writing about it, and looking at the photos I took that day. It only seems like I've had less time at home before bed, but I've just been more productive with my time.

I'm looking forward to documenting the next 9 days leading up to my first marathon. There will be plenty to talk about, including volunteering at a 5K and attending the BCM Expo tomorrow, pre-race dinner Saturday night,  Breast Cancer Marathon Relay with the family on Sunday followed by a post-race lunch, 2 corporate 5k training runs, Gasparilla Expo, pre-race dinner, and finally the marathon!

I'll certainly undertake the challenge again, but perhaps during a less busy time -- like when I'm not also taking daily photos. :)

Corporate 5K Training Day 2

Today was day 2 of corporate 5k training, and we're still having fun :) We had 9 people again, but Corey, Jen, and Baiyun joined us instead of Bob, Daniel and his dad. The boys did their own thing, and I led the girls. We covered 1.86 miles in 31 minutes. I think we ran an extra minute and walked a bit further. Next week we are going to tackle the entire 2.3 mile loop.

I'm going to switch to galloway run/walk/run intervals instead of c25k because it will be more flexible to accommodate our diverse group. My plan is to start each session with a 5 minute warm up walk, then run 1 minute and walk 2 minutes until we get close to the end (talking extra walk breaks along the way as needed by the group), and finish the loop with a cool down walk. We'll build onto the distance over the next few weeks, and maybe switch intervals to 1:1 as everyone's endurance increases and they become more comfortable with running.

I'm excited to see our team grow each week, both in numbers of participants and in their abilities. We now have 13 registered, plus my parents makes 15. Below is the group that showed up to train today.

Making Me a Priority

It dawned on me today that one of the reasons for my success with weight loss and fitness is that I made myself a priority. More specifically, I made achieving my life changing goals a priority. This meant becoming a morning person, not going out to dinner with friends when it didn't fit my eating schedule, or forgoing Friday night festivities because I had to get up early the next day for a morning training run.

I've spent most of my life taking care of the needs of others, and it was finally time to take care of myself. I may have gone to an extreme with this at first, and now I'm learning to find a better balance, but I think it was necessary to bring about the change I needed. Now it is a part of my life and I can better juggle the needs of others with my own.

As the title of my blog implies, this was a lifestyle change which required adjustments to all parts of my life. Even though I've lost the extra weight and I'm in the best shape of my life, my journey is not over. I am always in search of the next challenge, and I will have to make constant adjustments to find balance in my life and be the best person I can be.

Corporate 5K Training Kickoff

Today was our first group training session for the Corporate 5K, and I'm really pleased with the turn out. We had a total of 9 people show up (including me and Jason), and I know a few others could not make it but will join us in the future. Recruitment is also going very well, and we already have 11 officially registered, plus my parents makes 13. That's 4 more than last year, so I'm confident we'll reach our goal of 20-25.

Everyone met at Partnership II in Research Park after work. Jason and Bob ran a 2.3 mile loop around Research Park while I led a group of beginners using the Couch to 5K program. After a 5 minute warm up walk, we alternated running for 1 minute and walking for 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes. My group covered 1.5 miles in 26 minutes, including the warm up and cool down walk. I think everyone had a good time, and I hope to see them back on Thursday.

The photo below is the whole group after we finished. Notice that they are still smiling! Yay! :)

See more photos on flickr

Why I Didn't Stop

Sean asks: "Blog about why you didn't stop. Most people, when making a decision to get in shape and start exersising, fail after a few weeks. Why didn't you stop? What drove you to be successful when so many people give up?"


This is an excellent question, and I am not sure I really know the answer, but I'll use this post to reflect on the past 2 years and hopefully we'll have an answer at the end :) Actually, I do know the answer, but I don't think it's what anyone wants to hear because it's not an easy fix. It all boils down to intrinsic motivation. Find what makes you tick and harness it. So here's a recap of how I found mine.

It all started in late January/early February of 2008 when I had finally had enough of being fat and chose to do something about it. How fitting that I should post this pretty much 2 years later. For those keeping track, that basically means that I went from 0 to marathon in 2 years! Wow!

I believe the key for me was that I started with small steps. I didn't jump into this full force trying to run a mile or anything. In fact, running didn't come into the picture until much later. I started simply with workout DVDs, doing 10 minutes of kickboxing 3 times a week. Eventually, I moved up to 30 minutes 3 times a week. Then I registered for a 2 mile race to keep me motivated, which I planned to walk, so I started walking before or after work, and sometimes to work, on a regular basis.

Completing that race and sprinting across the finish line was the turning point for me. It was at that moment that I understood why my dad raced for all those years. It was thrilling to have strangers cheering you on as you gave it your all to make it across the mat. I resolved right then and there that I would become a runner like my dad. The following week I began the Couch to 5K Program.

It has not been an easy journey, but I used what I knew drives me to get through it and keep me going.

1. Set small attainable goals -- instead of setting a big goal that would take months or years to achieve, I set something challenging yet doable in a short period of time. I love making lists and crossing items off, so seeing constant success gave me the confidence to set my sights higher. This worked both for losing weight and eventually training for the marathon.
2. Registered for races -- I registered for, and completed, races before I even finished C25K. I hate wasting money, so you better believe that if I registered and paid money for it, I'd be there. I didn't need to run the entire thing, but it was great seeing my times improve from one race to the other and being able to run more at each one. It also helped having a goal to shoot for so I would keep up with my training.
3. Blog -- I believe this blog has been a huge helped in keeping me going. Knowing that there are people out there rooting for me is a huge motivator.
4. Inspiring others -- After I finished C25K and lost a ton of weight, people started asking me how I did it. I told them my story and many took up running too using C25K. Having others look up to me for inspiration is also a source of motivation because I feel like if I quit I let them down too. 
5. Group training -- I joined various running groups, training programs, and meetups. I met a lot of amazing people that inspired me. It also helped diversify my training so I never got bored. Organizing group training sessions also helped keep me accountable because if others were depending on me to show up I had to be there :) 

Running opened the door to a whole near world for me where I could achieve anything if I set my mind to it. Without that first minute of running during week 1 of C25K, I would have never found the confidence I needed to train for a half marathon, triathlon, and now the marathon. I'm already looking ahead to the next challenge, because I know the marathon is not the end of the road for me. There will be many more marathons and even bigger challenges ahead. I'm excited for the possibilities!

Needed Rest Day or Lazyness?

People often ask how I make myself get up early to exercise every morning. I'll admit that it did not always come so easy. I only run 3 times a week, but I do some form of exercise nearly every morning -- weights, core, yoga, kickboxing, fitdeck. I try to have at least one rest day a week, but even then I'll usually do some light yoga because it helps me relax and my body is just used to doing something every morning. However, somedays my body needs the extra sleep rather than yoga and I listen to it. So the question is, how do I know when I'm being lazy vs when my body needs a break?

If I don't feel like working out in the morning, I asked myself why. If I am feeling really tired or worn out, then my body is telling me it needs extra rest and I listen. If I am wide awake and not sore, then I know I'm just being lazy. In the past, these would be interchangeable. I would rationalize it away by saying I would do it later in the day or the next day. Often these skipped workouts would not be reschedule. However, now I have more motivation because I have a marathon in the horizon and don't want to skip workouts. When I know I am being lazy, I remind myself about the consequences of postponing the workout:

• if I don't run in the morning, I have to run at lunch or after work
• running at lunch is impractical because it takes too long to change into running clothes, run a decent distance, take a shower, get back into work clothes AND eat lunch
• running after work hardly works because I'm tired from the day and ready to go home. My body is used to waking up with physical activity and eating after work, so no matter what I feel like I'm starving.
• skipping the workout entirely always makes me regret it because I always know when I was being lazy and it throws off my training schedule

This morning was one of those days when I had to decided if I needed a rest day or if I was being lazy. I planned to meet friends for a long(ish) run (8 miles) at 7 am in Winter Park, about 10 minutes away. This meant I had to get up at 6 am, which is normal so it was certainly not lack of sleep. I was nursing a headache yesterday, and I woke up in the middle of a night congested. I managed to go back to sleep, but when I got up to get ready for the run the headache hadn't gone away and I was achy all over. I almost made myself go for the run, but something told me this was more than lack of motivation so I went back to sleep for a few hours even though I really wanted to run. I still feel crappy, so I know it was the right choice, but I hate it when I don't get to exercise. It's amazing how I've changed :)

Running Meme

I saw this running meme ages ago but never posted, so I thought I'd resurrect it now. You are supposed to tag other bloggers to do it too, but I will skip that part. Feel free to post it in your own blog and leave me a comment telling me you did it too and I'll check it out.

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

None existent. I was in my 3rd year of college and the extend of my physical activity was swing dancing. I was an avid dancer at the time, so it was a pretty good workout, but not long after I fell off the dancing scene and barely do it any more. I want to try getting back into it at least occasionally but more than once a year =P

2. What is your best/worst running experience?

Best - It's hard to choose just one, because I really love running and have mostly positive experiences, but I'll choose a few of my favorites:

1. finishing my first half marathon - even though I had already run the distance in training, it was still special and a very emotional time for me because I exceeded my expectations of what I'd be able to do on race day.
2. my last marathon training run - I felt really strong the entire run and was able to pick up the speed at the end. Running the last mile of that training run faster than the other 23 really gave me the boost I needed to tackle my upcoming marathon.
3. most galloway group runs - I love long runs and my group makes the time fly. They are the only ones that truly understand me and share my running philosophy and where I feel like I belong.
4. 1st one hour run - it was just awesome an awesome accomplishment that was easier than I thought it would be.

Not all runs have been blissful, but I think I'll leave those in the past and focus on the positive :)

3. Why do you run?

I run because it makes me feel good.
I run because it gives me a sense of accomplishments.
I run because it opened the door to a whole new world.
I run because it shrinks the world -- distances seem closer when you know you can cover it on foot and bonds are formed almost instantly with strangers that are also runners.
I run because I can.

4. What is the best or worst piece of running advice that you've been given about running

The best advice is to start slow and build up gradually. I think this is true in training and as a race pace strategy. The worse advice would be the opposite of that =P

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I'm an open book, so I'm really not sure what to write here.

What I Do When I'm Not Training

Chelsi commented in the post "Who's out there? (Comments Requested)" and said that she'd like to read more about my non-training adventures. The truth is that training, work, and sleep takes up most of my time -- especially when training for a marathon or triathlon -- but I really want to make time for other things.

About 6 months ago, I realized that I needed a better balance and a hobby that did not require physical activity, so I took improv classes again. It was just what I needed and I had a blast at the SAK Graduation Show. I hope to take classes next time they offer masters classes and will be sure to post about them here.

Other things that I enjoy doing when I am not training, which I need to remember to do more often, include: reading, bike hashing, run hashing, geocaching, camping, and photography. I also used to be an avid swing dancer, going 3-5 times a week, when I was in my 20s. That is how Jason and I first got to know each other because we were dance partners. We go occasionally, but I really want to start doing it more regularly. It's a great workout and so much fun. We're planning to go the UCF Valentine's Dance tonight! I'm excited! :)

In my 101 Things in 1001 Days list I outlined several adventures that I'd like to try that have nothing to do with training or running. Here's the list:

• dine in the dark (it's an actual restaurant where you dine in complete darkness)
• do a corn maze
• get SCUBA diving license
• go cross-country skiing
• go fishing
• go hang gliding
• go on a real primitive camping trip (where we have to hike or canoe to the site with our gear)
• go on a yoga retreat (with Chaz from YOGAmazing)
• go sailing
• go shark cage diving
• ride in a hot air balloon
• try a float tank
• go on a road trip with no pre-planned destination
• visit 5 new states
• visit a new continent

I'll keep you posted if I do any of those and will be sure to write all about it here. 

How I Run When It is Cold

6:24 am - Bundled up and ready to run!


6:32 am - Running at Lake Eola in the twilight


6:45 am - Halfway through the run at dawn


6:59 am - Home stretch at sunrise

It was COLD (less than 40º) and windy this morning, but I sucked it up and ran anyway. I considered going back to bed or doing yoga instead, then running at lunch or after work, but I knew that was even less likely to happen. The truth is, once you have the right gear, running in the cold is easy.

I'm so glad I got out and ran, because it was a gorgeous morning. I loved running at twilight and seeing the sky change colors. I had my point and shoot camera with me, and I kept stopping after each loop to take a photo because the sky looked amazing (see photos and timeline on the right).

I wore a TON of layers (you can see some in the first photo):

• C9 cold run tights 
• C9 fitted bootcut pants
• Nike Pro Fitted short sleeve shirt
• Pearl Izumi seamless arm warmers
• C9 full zipper jacket with hood
• Pearl Izumi wind breaker
• Nike Lightweight Running Gloves
• Brooks Vapor Dry 2 Headband
• Brooks Vapor Dry 2 skull cap
• C9 baseball cap

I wore the hood from the jacket over the baseball cap singed tightly under my chin so it would stay in place and keep my neck warm. I know that's a ridiculous amount of layers, but it was so cold/windy that I didn't shed any of it -- except unzipping the windbreaker a few inches and removed the hood.

I really enjoyed this run, and it was over before I knew it. I ran 3 miles in just 33 minutes, for an 11:07 min/mi pace. That's faster than I planned, but I didn't feel like I was pushing myself. I probably ran faster to get it done quickly and get back to my warm apartment. :)

I'm constantly amazed at how much running has changed my life for the better, and the amazing world it has opened up for me that I never even knew existed.