More 10K Preparations and a Milestone Reached!

Yeah, it has been almost a month since my last post. Sorry about that. Life has been busy recently and it was hard to make time for blogging. But through it all, I never failed to get some 'foot time' in and work towards being ready for my Windrunner 10K race on August 21st. Yes, it is only 8 days away! And, I believe I am ready! Not sure what my timing is going to be but I will be happy to run the 6.2 miles in under 1 hour 15 minutes. This is my first 10K so I am basically setting a baseline here. And if I do pretty well, the pacing for this race will set my corral in the Disney Half Marathon in January. So I want to do well. This is a trail run so it will be different than my usual runs, but I think I can handle it. More runs, more experience, more fun!

So what have I been doing? Well, the week of July 17 I put in over 12 miles of running and 6 miles of walking. This week ended with a nice four-day weekend vacation with the family in Idlewild, MI where we got to chill at our summer home. And it was nice that my Mom, aunt, and cousin were there to share time with. While I was there, nestled in the Manistee National Forest, I got in a 5.3 mile run early on Saturday morning. Good run at a decent 12:00 LSR pace. Good thing I put on some insect spray because running in the forest is like moving through 'bug heaven'. The best part about that run was that when I arrived back at the cottage, I just took off my shoes and HRM and just walked straight into the lake! Best cool down bath ever!

The following week was the beginning of our Diocesan Mission Trip to help victims of the Katrina Hurricane. We work with Habitat for Humanity and LakeShore Baptist Church to build houses and do other service projects to help the community in LakeShore and Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. Needless to say, it was very HOT out there -- 97 degrees and 95% humidity was the norm! I managed to get in one 2.5 mile walk one evening, and two early morning runs totaling 6.5 miles. Even running at 5:30am, the temperature was in the 80s with humidity nearing 90%. So I decided that since I was working on building houses outside from 8:30am - 3:pm every day, that my one walk and two runs were sufficient exercise for that week. The good thing about those two runs were that it was good for preparing my body for running my 10K in the middle of August, right?

I returned from Mississippi and immediately got back to training for the 10K. On Sunday, August 7, I decided to get in a LSR but at the club in air conditioned comfort (after spending 8 days in Mississippi, I was done with the heat). It felt great to be running, even on the treadmill. I ran for 7 miles at a 13:20 pace and felt really strong. I took that as a good sign!

On Wednesday, I ran with my CARA Training group. Not much of a group that day -- only two of us showed up -- but it was a perfect running day. The temps were mid 70s, cool breeze was blowing, and the sun was setting (and it was beautiful to watch during the run)! I put in 6 miles that evening (and I had run 2.5 miles earlier that morning during my cardio workout) so I clocked in 8.5 for Wednesday. The legs felt pretty good! I even sprinted the last 1/4 mile of my evening run -- over 7 mph! (Well, that is sprinting for me, at least).

Today I got some awesome news! I weighed in at Weight Watchers and lost 2.8lbs. But wait! There's more! I also reached a total weight loss of 102.2 lbs! I finally made it to my 100 pound milestone!!! I am SO EXCITED about this! I blogged about more on my other blog site at rickpeete.blogspot.com but suffice to say that I will be savoring this milestone all day (while I spend it walking miles throughout the Chicago Comic Con conference floors. Yep! That is where I will be today. I wonder how many miles I will actually walk today...)

So now, I am in my taper period. Don't plan on doing too much running this week. Probably run 3 miles on Wednesday and maybe 2 miles on Saturday just to warm up the legs. But next Sunday, August 21st, is the 10K race. So prayers are always welcomed!

Celebrating and Looking Forward

I won't lie..... I am still so very pumped and excited about the Sunday race! I know that 38:20 may not seem all that fast to many runners, but for me it is still hard to believe I could have pulled that out of the hat. Comparing where I was a year ago in terms of my overall health, weight, and physical conditioning to where I am now is like night and day. I still have about 75lbs left to lose before I can call 'victory' but I am so pleased with the progress that has led me to this stage in the game. And it was so awesome to have two of my three kids there to share the experience with me. That was priceless.

So instead of resting on Monday morning, I was back in the club doing my TEAM Weight Loss cardio program with Meghan. Of course, all we could talk about was the race, my execution plan, and how satisfied it felt to be able to finish (and the surprise at the AG Medal). Meghan worked me pretty good during the workout -- the only slack she gave me was that I didn't have to run at all, just walk on the treadmill. Of course she had me walking up 10-15% inclines! But hey, that's her job. And based upon Sunday, I have to say that she is doing it well.

But recovery is important, so I will not do anything on Tuesday or Thursday of this week to give my body a chance to rest. But I will do my cardio workouts on Wednesday and Friday mornings. And Saturday will be my regular long run (hopefully with my friend Mark who is an elite runner and will certainly challenge me). Wednesday night I will join in a Walk Club at LifeTime after work. It will be my first time meeting the run club folks and I am hoping it will turn out to be a great way to meet fellow runners, learn some things, and meet some new friends who share the enthusiasm about running. If it looks good, maybe I will officially join.

Starting June 1st, I will start a CARA Training Program to prepare for my 10K race in mid-August. This will be a weekly 90-minute commitment for the next 10 weeks and should help me focus, increase my endurance, improve my running, and get me in the right mental frame of mind to move up to the 10K level. I will lose one week at the end of July because of a mission trip in Mississippi (but I hope I will be able to get in a few runs while I am out there).

My next race is on June 19th -- another 5K in Chicago. I am setting my sights on that race. I will try to have fun, run a good race, and maybe set a new PR for the 5K. But mostly, I just want to be able to run the race and enjoy the experience. And if I am lucky, I will get to run it with some friends from church and the Christian Youth Theater. Running with friends makes it so much more fun!