Author: mrsartis

Hardcore.

It’s snowing like crazy here. And it’s supposed to continue through tonight. We’re supposed to get 9-12 inches. It’s a scheduled run day. I woke up trying to decide how hard-core I am.

The answer: I think I’m pretty hardcore.

My plan is to head to the gym and get my run in, then go to work to pick up my to-do list and a few things I can work on at home, then come home.

Emme Eats?

So, in keeping with my goal of improving my eating, I’m thinking I need more accountability than just WW. I’m a believer in the program, especially with the recent changes I think it is so much more sane and balanced–no more ridiculous minimums! I’m actually already at the lowest points level, and the more intensely I train, the more APs I’ll get so the more I can eat. BUT–even with the changes you can still eat your daily points in crap. Which is not my goal. So I’m thinking of doing the food photo blog thing. If I’m posting pictures of my food for the masses, I can’t pretend I’m eating healthier than I am because the world is going to know I’m full of shit. Plus, I think it will be interesting to have a visual record of food (even with my amateur phone photography). 

So the question is…do I do it all here on this blog? Or do I start another blog specifically for my food journaling?

Training Log–Week 1 (1/3-1/9)

I’ve decided to post the highlights from my paper training log weekly (unless there is something spectacular, in which case I’ll probably update from my phone at the gym).

Monday (1/3)-2.20 miles on treadmill; w .25//r 1.75//w .20; needed to eat something & drink more water before but felt good otherwise.

Wednesday (1/5)-2 miles on treadmill; w .25//r 1.5// w .25; still not eating/drinking enough, sidestitch around 1 mile mark, stopped for water. Not stellar but in the books.

Saturday (1/8)– 2.24 miles on treadmill; w .25//r 1/75//w .24; ate a banana 30 min. before & drank more water = FELT BETTER! good run.

Total Mileage for week: 6.44

Total Mileage for year: 6.44

Born to Run

My boyfriend gave me Born to Run by Christopher McDougall for Christmas. Amazing book. Couldn’t put it down. Seriously, I typically read before bed and normally make it somewhere around 5 pages before I call it quits and turn out the light. I was reading 2 or 3 chapters each night and making myself stop at that to get some sleep. Amazing book. It’s a great story that you’d never believe happened if you didn’t know that the players are real people–athletes, trainers, writers, etc.–mixed with a lot of information that is so interesting (and some of it incredibly useful) it will hook you.

And it sealed the deal–my next pair of shoes will be Vibram FiveFingers. I’ve been thinking about them for a long time and doing some research, but I’m going to take the plunge. Can’t wait to try them out. :o)

Incentive

After drooling over cool running gear I’ve decided that I’m going to put aside $5 per pound I lose between now and the half marathon to spend at the Expo. That will be a nice chunk of change to spend at the Expo. Sweet.

Nike+ Stats for 2009 v 2010.

Some minor improvement.

Should be noted that I don’t use it that much anymore. The variation between it and the treadmill makes me vaguely crazy. But 2010 was not a stellar year for my running. 2011, however, is going to be AWESOME!

2011 is going to be AWESOME! (Running edition)

Goals for 2011:

  1. Pittsburgh Half Marathon!–It’s on! They have my money! I just want to finish, that’s my goal, I’m not going to stress about time (other than beating the cut off). But I’m psyched. I do better with training when I have a goal. And if this goes well, I plan to do the CHAD Hero Half up here in late-summer/fall.
  2. Food.–I don’t eat like a runner-and I don’t run enough (yet) that I can use running as an excuse to eat. But a half marathon is serious business. I need to step up my game in the food department and actually fuel my body instead of eating whatever is easiest. I know how I should be eating, and what I most certainly should NOT be eating-time for me to stop talking and just do it.
  3. Learn to like running outside.–I actually don’t think this will be that hard. When I was running the ill-fated Turkey Trot I was enjoying the outside running (on a cross country course). The parts of outside running I don’t like are (1) the cold and (2) the pavement. If I run trails (easy to do in my area) and stay on the TM until the weather gets better it shouldn’t be so bad. I’m sure I will eventually even not mind the cold.
  4. PR at the Run for Empowerment 5k.–Again, this shouldn’t be hard, as last year’s race was AWFUL and I’ve only done it twice. I will also have done the half by then, so PRing at this will be a piece of cake.
  5. Run at least 3x per week.–(barring illness or injury) Now, this doesn’t sound like much as there are many of you who run everyday or almost everyday. And I will be running more than 3x per week for much of my training. BUT, when life starts getting crazy, when I’m traveling, etc. running is the first thing to get shifted out of my life. And 3x a week is a manageable amount to shoot for, so I’m going to promise myself that (barring illness or injury) I will run a minimum of 3x a week for the next year.
  6. Keep my training log.–I know that a real training log is a valuable tool. I will keep mine up-to-date for the whole year. I may not post everything online, but I will keep my paper version up-to-date and accurate at the very least.

I know I’ve been absent, and I have a lot of catching up to do, but with the new year upon us that will change. This post is to say IT’S ON. IT’S OFFICIAL. THEY HAVE MY MONEY!

Pittsburgh Half-Marathon 2011–Here.I.Come. :o)