February 2011 Wrap Up

Weight Watch: +2.2 pounds
While the scale isn't going the direction I want, I have no one to blame but myself. I am still struggling here and probably will be until I get my head on straight. I am still fighting the stress eating - this is something that I just haven't figured out how to redirect myself. I am working on it though and I do recognize what I am doing, now I just have to stop it :)!

Mileage Watch:
Run/Walk: 114.27 miles
Bike: 76.50 miles
Elliptical: 1.41 miles
Total Miles: 192.18 miles
Okay, say what you want about my really bad week last week, but I'll keep these numbers! I am actually pretty happy with these miles all around. I kept pretty consistent with January (actually upped the bike miles a lot) and if you look at Feb 2010 where I only did 18 miles run/walk I think I've improved :)!

Goal Review
I completed one event in February - the Lost Dutchman 8K Trail Run...which keeps me on track for at least one organized event per month!

I kept my run/walk miles over 100 which means I met the 80-100 run/walk miles per month goal too!

March 2011
I have the Ryan House Half Marathon on March 5, 2011. I'm going to try to keep this a run/walk event and I'd really like to be at 3hrs or less. I have to try to keep my head from making me think this is impossible as this is a course that kicked my rear last year because of the hills. We will see how it goes - and in only a few more days!

I hope to maintain the mileage, continue the Pilates and incline training, and continue to increase the amount of running vs walking I'm doing.

How was your February? What are your goals for March?

Weekly Review: Feb 21 - 27

Goals for workouts this year:
1. 80-100 miles run/walk per month
2. One day of Pilates per week
3. One day of Strength Training per week
4. One day of Bike or Elliptical per week
5. One Treadmill Workout on the Treadmill per week

Here's this week's recap

Monday
REST
Notes: A nice long 16hr day at work prevented me from working out today. Not a great way to start the week.

Tuesday
REST
Notes: No excuses - just pure laziness on my part.

Wednesday
Rest
Notes: More of that pure laziness in my head again today.

Thursday
REST
Notes: Are you sensing a theme to the week yet? Yep, I was lazy again today. Motivation seems to be missing from my arsenal this week.

Friday
REST
Notes: Not only am I lazy, I've been eating nothing but junk this week too. Wow, I am really out of sorts this week.

Saturday
PM Workout: Treadmill Incline Workout - 1.3mi, up to 8% incline
Elliptical - 1.41mi, 40mins, resistance level 1, ramp 10%
Treadmill - 3mi walk @ 15:47 per mi
Notes: Well, I managed to get a bit of a workout done today. Not exactly what I was planning on doing, but it was better than nothing.

Sunday
AM Workout: Bike - 20mi, 1hr 34mins, 12.7mph avg, resistance level 1
PM Workout: Treadmill - 3.3mi walk at 18:00 per mi, 1.88mi run/walk @ 14:25 per mi, 1.51mi run @ 12:09 per mi, 1.37mi @ 18:37 per mi
Notes: Really wanted to get more miles in today, but I am happy with what I've done today and I know I can pick it up more again this next week.

Weekly Numbers:
Weight Watch: +5 pounds (yeah, I know, that's the wrong direction for sure)

Run/Walk Miles: 12.36
Bike Miles: 20
Elliptical Miles: 1.41
TOTAL MILES: 33.77
Pilates: MISSED
Strength: MISSED
Incline: 1 20 minute incline workout

Monthly Numbers:
Run/Walk Miles: 108.04
Bike Miles: 76.50
Elliptical Miles: 1.41
TOTAL MILES: 185.95

Goofy's Weekly Training Challenge Results:

How bad have I been? Well, bad enough that I didn't even manage to get a medal this week. I just couldn't push myself far enough today to manage to get even the bronze. See what happens when you're lazy all week and try to get all your miles done in two days? Yep, it is not good, that's for sure!

Not only did I not get a medal, but I've been eating out of control this week again. I've been having trouble controlling cravings and I've been craving nothing good for me that's for sure.

I'll have to work hard to be good this week as I'm under a week to my next half marathon. This is the half marathon that really kicked my rear last year so we'll see how it goes this year!

2011 Lost Dutchman 8K Trail Run Recap

It rained all day Saturday here in Arizona - it was quite a dreary day and I knew that the 8K Trail Race on Sunday was going to be a muddy mess.

The alarm went off at 5am this morning and I really didn't want to get up and get moving, but I did. I got moving and got ready to head out and pick up my friend for the journey out to Apache Junction. It wasn't raining, but it was dark, still wet, a bit chilly and very cloudy out.

The drive out the race parking, which is at the Rodeo Grounds, was quick and uneventful. Nothing too exciting to note about the drive. We parked and it was quite crowded already. They have buses to transport you to the race site, but we always walk...Did I mention this is the fourth year we've done this race? It's about .93 miles to the race start area and it's on a nice muddy desert dirt road.

It was quickly apparent that the trail was going to be a big mess and I was glad that I mud proofed the car and brought a change of shoes for after the race. It was still quite dark as we made our way to the start area. Once we got there we had about an hour before our race would start. We shopped around at the few booths that were set up and sort of hung around.

We heard the half marathoners take off on their race. There was a pretty large crowd for the half - almost wish I would have been doing that, but I have one in a couple of weeks so that's okay. Then we hear over the loudspeaker that the 8K Trail Race has been washed out - this is not surprising and we're actually a bit relieved because that trail would have been quite horrible with all the rain. This meant that the 8K Trail Race and the 10K Race would start at the same time - 8am instead of 7:45am...Well, I guess I'll get to see what the 10K race course is like :).

There was only one thing that was a bit disturbing about doing the 10K course - it was on the road. I was not wearing good shoes for the road, I was wearing old shoes that I didn't care about ruining with the mud. This could be a very bad thing and cause me some pain in the long run. We'll see how it goes.

We lined up with the 10K racers and before we knew it, we were off and running...er.....walking :)! I felt good, no lingering pain from the 13.1 miles yesterday and I was just out here to enjoy the course and people watching. The 8K trail is very flat, the 10K course is not...While it's not monster hills and some of you might say these weren't even blips, there were some decent inclines on this course. The great part, I didn't really mind them today. Of course, I was walking and that may have had something to do with it, but I think it has more to do with the incline workouts I've added in on the treadmill and the mindset that it's just more pavement to cover.

The race organizers did a really good job reorganizing the 8K to the road and making sure volunteers were out to direct racers where to turn around, etc...I was pretty happy that overall I was feeling good and that it hadn't starting pouring down rain on us.

Of course, on the way back we did get one good section of rain, but it didn't last too long. I will say that it was a bit chilly though. A lot of half marathoners started passing us around mile 3.5 or so...Those folks were about 1hr 45mins in to the race - awesome. The 10K, Half Marathon and Full Marathon courses all share the last miles on the same roads - since I'm usually on the trail I never really paid attention, but we past the 25 mile marker for the full and the 12 mile marker for the half - cool.

It was slow walk for me, but we finished in 1:24 at a 17:05 per mile pace. Certainly not too taxing for me. When the race was over we started to get chilled pretty quickly and decided to head to the car to head towards home and get warmed up. It was another muddy walk back to the car, but it was a nice cool down for sure.

Would I recommend these races - absolutely...This was the 10 year anniversary and it was another well organized, nicely run, chipped time race!

I tried to check my time after the race and I don't have a time anywhere to be seen...Well, that sucks. At least my friend's chip time was listed so I was able to use that for my official time since we crossed the finish at the same time. They used the B Tag for this race - this is the chip that is attached to the back of the bib and you leave it attached to the back of the bib. I've only used this tracking at one other race and didn't have problems, but I guess my chip was defective this time...Glad I wasn't planning on using it as a corral placement time.

Here are a couple of photos I took on and around the course, the clouds were just too cool not to snap a few pictures of:

Weekly Review: Feb 14 - 20

Goals for workouts this year:
1. 80-100 miles run/walk per month
2. One day of Pilates per week
3. One day of Strength Training per week
4. One day of Bike or Elliptical per week
5. One Treadmill Workout on the Treadmill per week

Here's this week's recap

Monday
PM Workout: Treadmill Run: .25mi warm up walk, 3mi @ 14:30 per mi, .25mi cool down walk
Treadmill Incline Workout #5: .75mi up to 8% incline
Notes: Good run/walk on the treadmill and a great incline workout up to 8% incline. Not feeling great in terms of health, but we'll see how the week plays out. I did not do well with food today.

Tuesday
PM Workout: Treadmill walk - 4.21mi @ 15:47 per mi
Notes: I am still not feeling great, but I'm constantly hungry today. I'm also really tired today for some reason. Another bad day in terms of food - I know it's bad, but I just want food again today.

Wednesday
Rest
Notes: Feeling a little bit better, but not great today. Did another horrible food day today...seems to be a theme for the week....Not a good theme at all.

Thursday
PM Workout: Treadmill run/walk - 5.7mi, .39mi warm up walk, 5mi @ 12:50 per mi, .28mi cool down walk
Notes: Another late night at work tonight trying to fix a server again...No excuses though, I got a great run/walk in tonight. I really pushed myself tonight and actually did a couple minutes at 5mph and 6mph - it's feeling so good to push here and there and test my limits. I had a good food day today as well.

Friday
PM Workout: Treadmill walk - 4.53mi @ 15:47 per mi
Bike - 11.5mi, 48mins, 14.2mph avg, resistance level 2
Notes: Had a great walk on the treadmill and a little shorter bike ride than I wanted, but still good. Back to being starving again today and that meant that I didn't control myself in terms of food.

Saturday
PM Workout: Treadmill run/walk - 13.4mi @ 14:33 per mi
Notes: Mapped out my next half marathon on google maps and sent it to the treadmill. The course was good and went up to about 4.5% incline. I did 1min run/1min walk intervals for the full distance today. I did stop for a bio break twice and I had an interuption at 11.5mi when I had to deal with more server issues for work, but I didn't just stop, I finished the full distance. It wasn't super fast, but the fact that I did run/walk the whole time makes me really happy, even with the inclines. Another really bad food day though.

Sunday
AM Workout: Lost Dutchman 8K Trail Run - .93mi warm up walk, 4.97mi @ 17:05 per mi, .93mi cool down walk
Notes: Walked the 8K race with a friend. I'll post about this race in a separate post. It worked great as a nice recovery workout after the half yesterday. Food is bad again today - I need to work on this the next couple of weeks and get back on track.

Weekly Numbers:
Weight Watch: -1 pound (hmm...)

Run/Walk Miles: 39.32
Bike Miles: 11.5
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 50.82

Pilates: MISSED
Strength: MISSED
Incline: 1 20 minute incline workout

Monthly Numbers:
Run/Walk Miles: 95.68
Bike Miles: 56.50
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 152.18

Goofy's Weekly Training Challenge Results:

That's gold - super duper gold :)! I worked for it. I'm not happy with the missing Pilates and Strength training, but I'm super happy with my run/walk miles. My focus is miles on my feet and I love that I can do a workout at the half marathon distance and feel awesome the next day.

Food was horrible for me this week. I only ate good one day this week and it's going to show on the scale tomorrow. I've done it to myself, no excuses, I just screwed up this week and let my hunger get the best of me. I know this is something I really have to keep working on. I think I've been letting the lack of weight loss bring me down and that probably didn't help me to make good choices.

Weekly Review: Feb 7 - 13

Goals for workouts this year:
1. 80-100 miles run/walk per month
2. One day of Pilates per week
3. One day of Strength Training per week
4. One day of Bike or Elliptical per week
5. One Treadmill Workout on the Treadmill per week

Here's this week's recap

Monday
PM Workout: 20 Minutes Basic Pilates
Notes: Feeling a bit tired and the legs are a little sore so I took the day off from walking and running and just did some nice Pilates.

Tuesday
Rest
Notes: I was just not feeling it today and took a complete rest day.

Wednesday
Rest
Notes: All heck broke out at work today and one of my servers took a hard crash. I spent about 16 hours getting things back up and running. It required me to haul servers around and do a lot of up and down and somewhere during all this I pulled a muscle in my leg - ouch!

Thursday
Rest
Notes: Boo. Another long day at work and a sore leg meant there was going to be no working out for me again today.

Friday
Rest
Notes: Wanted to get some miles in today, but it just wasn't in the cards. I am exhausted and still trying to take it easy on this sore leg of mine. It is starting to feel better, but it isn't there quite there yet.

Saturday
AM Workout: Treadmill run/walk - 10.06mi @ 15:02 per mi
Notes: Hopped on the treadmill today and managed to get 10 miles in...I did 1 min run/1 min walk intervals again and managed to do that for about 9 miles before walking the rest of it. I had intended to get more miles in today, but my legs are still not 100%. Overall, I didn't feel to bad though.

Sunday
AM Workout: Walk - 5.29mi @ 16:02 per mi
Treadmill Incline Workout - 1.2mi up to 6% incline
Treadmill walk - 5.09mi @ 16:18 per mi
Bike - 20mi, 1hr 27mins, 13.8 mph avg, resistance level 2
Notes: Took the dogs out for a nice long walk this morning - what a beautiful day. Came back jumped on the treadmill to do my 20 minute incline workout. Time for breakfast and then jumped back on the treadmill to do another nice walk. Time for lunch and then I jumped on the bike for a 20 mile ride. I am exhausted and while the leg muscle I pulled at work is better I have a sore left ankle - nothing bad, just need a little ice and rest I'm sure :)!

Weekly Numbers:
Weight Watch: +.2 pounds (not loving that)

Run/Walk Miles: 21.64
Bike Miles: 20
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 41.64

Pilates: 1 20 minute basic total body workout
Strength: MISSED
Incline: 1 20 minute incline workout

Monthly Numbers:
Run/Walk Miles: 56.36
Bike Miles: 45
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 101.36

Goofy's Weekly Training Challenge Results:

I had a lot of trouble even getting the bronze medal this week. It was not a stellar week and I hope to do a lot better next week. I know that I'm staying in my calorie range and that my clothes are fitting better, but I'd love to see something better on the scale soon. I will continue to push forward and do the best I can despite the outside influencees.

Weekly Review: Jan 31 - Feb 6

Goals for workouts this year:
1. 80-100 miles run/walk per month
2. One day of Pilates per week
3. One day of Strength Training per week
4. One day of Bike or Elliptical per week
5. One Treadmill Workout on the Treadmill per week

Here's this week's recap

Monday
PM Workout: Treadmill run - 4.74mi, .3mi warm up walk, 4mi @ 12:11 per mi, .43mi cool down walk
Notes: What a way to end the month! I ran today on the treadmill - 1.5mi run, .5mi walk, 1.5mi run, .5mi walk. It felt really good to push and get a bit tired.

Tuesday
PM Workout: Treadmill Walk - 3.25mi, 3mi @ 15:38 per mi, .25mi cool down walk
Treadmill Incline Workout #3 - 1.07mi up to 9% incline
Notes: Got a nice walk in and then a great incline workout. Felt a little tired in the legs tonight, but not as bad as I thought I might be after running last night.

Wednesday
PM Workout: Treadmill run - 5.62mi, .32mi warm up walk, 5mi @ 14:17 per mi, .3mi cool down walk
Notes: Yes, I ran 5 full miles and I am tired. No stopping, just running! I can't believe I actually did that. My knees are a little sore, but nothing too bad. No breathing problems. Just WOW!

Thursday
PM Workout: 20 Minute Sculpting Band Pilates
Bike - 25mi, 1hr 40mins, 14.9mph avg, resistance level 3
Notes: Work tried to get in the way of my workout tonight, but no excuses right! I did a nice easy resistance band Pilates workout, had dinner and then jumped on the bike for a very long ride. My legs were completely jelly by the time I was done.

Friday
PM Workout: Walk 3.18mi @ 16:36 per mi
Treadmill walk - 1.3mi @ 15:00 per mi
Notes: Took the dogs for a walk and they were worn out so I finished up the miles on the treadmill. Felt pretty good to be outside even though it was actually a bit chilly. Made my reservation for Bay Lake Tower for next year's Dopey trip :).

Saturday
PM Workout: Treadmill run/walk - 15.78mi, .39mi warm up walk, 15mi @ 13:46 per mi, .4mi cool down walk
Notes: Got up later than I should have and decided going outside was not the best bet today. So, the treadmill was my place to be today. I wanted to test the run/walk method for a long run and boy am I glad I did. I did one minute run/one minute walk intervals for the fist 9 miles and then I ran whenever I was tired which was quite a bit so I did good amount of running during the last 6 miles. Walking was at a nice fast pace too. I didn't get tired until well after 14mi which is great. I am liking the running again!!!!

Sunday
AM Workout: Walk - 2.95mi @ 16:45 per mi
Treadmill run/walk - 1.57mi @ 13:23 per mi
Notes: Took the girls for a nice recovery walk today..although I don't feel like I needed to recovery. I have no residual soreness from the 15mi yesterday. I'm so excited about this - I will be running even more now. I don't know why I put myself through the fast walk torture last year! Of course, after I took the dogs out, I checked my mileage and realized I was a little short for the Gold Goofy and had to put the last little mileage in on the treadmill :)!

Weekly Numbers:
Weight Watch: -6 pounds (that's a bit better)

Run/Walk Miles: 39.46
Bike Miles: 25
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 64.46

Pilates: 1 20 minute sculpting band workout
Strength: MISSED
Incline: 1 20 minute incline workout

Monthly Numbers:
Run/Walk Miles: 34.72
Bike Miles: 25
Elliptical Miles: 0
TOTAL MILES: 59.72

Goofy's Weekly Training Challenge Results:

Would have been just shy of the gold this week, but I put in the last little bit on the treadmill today to just push my miles over 39.3 for the week! Can't believe I actually had that many miles this week and I'm still able to walk ;)!

Gimme 5 - 5K! Team Voice Virtual Event REVIEW

I said I'd be doing a 15 mile run and that's what I did! Since in essence I ended up doing three 5K's I decided it would be appropriate to donate $5 for each 5K for a total of $15 :)!

UPDATE: Thanks anonymous for correcting my math, obviously I shouldn't type these up late at night...You are correct that it was five 5K's not three...Call me human, what can I say...I've also donated the extra $10 so that it truly was $5 per 5K!

I started out the day a bit later than I had intended and decided that heading outside in the daylight just wasn't in the cards for me today. That meant the treadmill was waiting for me. 15 miles on the treadmill can be challenging.

At about 1pm, I headed to the workout room turned on the treadmill, plugged in the iPod, started Kindle on the iPhone, and loaded up the San Diego Half Marathon course. This is a relatively flat course and meant that I could push myself a bit more than I have been. What does pushing mean? Well, for me it means that I needed to do some run/walk intervals and see where it took me. I am still working on one minute run, one minute walk intervals and for now that combination seems to be pretty good for me overall.

I managed to keep the intervals going steady for almost nine miles. Then I just ran when I was feeling too tired to keep going. This meant I did quite a bit of running during that last six miles, but that's a good thing too!

So here are the results of my run today:

.39mi warm up walk
15mi @ 13:46 per mi
.5mi cool down walk

I am pretty happy with these results as it's faster than I've gone in about a year and it's starting to set in that I'm running again and that it feels good. The greatest part of this test today - I hurt a lot less when I run/walk than when I fast walk. I didn't start to get tired legs until well in to the 14th mile and that's unusual for me. I actually feel pretty good right now, I managed to go to a play tonight and sitting for 2.5hrs didn't even really stiffen my legs at all - happy about this for sure.

So what did you do today? Any miles? Let me know what you think and how you're doing.

Gimme 5 - 5K! Team Voice Virtual Event

I have not spent enough time on this blog talking about the fabulous running club that I am a part of. We are Team Voice! Our team members are located all around the world. The group is focused on helping each other, providing support when needed, celebrating victories, getting people started and now we are officially supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation by raising money to send a seriously ill child to Walt Disney World!

Saturday, February 5, 2011 Team Voice is hosting our first virtual event of 2011! The "Gimme 5" 5K Challenge!

What is the "Gimme 5" 5K Challenge you ask?
“Gimme 5! 5k” That’s right, you heard me, I want a 5k and a 5 spot this coming Saturday (2/5) from all Team Voice! I’d like to see everyone do their 5k and then donate $5 to our cause. It’s just the bump we need to show we are serious about getting going as well as giving us our first virtual event of the year. Get out there on Saturday, yes…Saturday..not Sunday…not Friday… I don’t care what time of day or what time you put in, lets ALL clock in.

We are asking for you to join us, support us, or cheer us on.

How can you join us?
Come on over to our Team Voice Blog (a new website is in development, more on that soon). Leave us a comment letting us know that you're going to join us! If you're able we'd love for you to donate $5 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by clicking here, clicking the link on the right side of my blog, or by clicking the link on the Team Voice Blog - leave us a comment with your donation, let us know who you are! We are walkers and runners, but if you're not ready for a 5K walking or running how about doing a bike ride or put the miles in on the elliptical? We are here to help you get where you want to be so let us know what you're going to do.

How can you support us?
Not ready for the 5K? That's okay, maybe you can help support us by making a donation. Your donation will help us send a sick child to Walt Disney World. If you would like to donate, please click here,, click on the link on the right side of my blog, or visit the Team Voice Blog page and click the donate link there.

How can you cheer us on?
Come back and leave me a comment. I'll be posting about my miles after I'm done Saturday (I'm actually hoping for a nice 15 mile long run, but at the very least I will be doing a 5K). Let me know that you're reading, what you think about my long run, ask me questions about Team Voice.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post!