Yes!

Last night was a great workout. First, I ran 4 miles in 32:00 minutes. I was going for the distance factor instead of speed. Then I did a little bit of weight lifting for my arms. Then I went to my yoga class. I have been so bad at going for the past 3 months. I felt it last night and I feel it today and it feels great. Tonight will be my night off so I can do laundry!

Signed up!

Skyler and I signed up for the St. George triathlon. Skyler's brother, Dennis and his wife, Tammy will be doing the race also. Last night I swam 64 laps in 30:40 minutes. Kinda slow, but it has been a few weeks. I want to do some heavy training this month.

Quick Run

Saturday I went for a quick outdoor run. I knew I needed to workout that day because I had only worked out two other days that week. My minimum is 3 times a week. So I went for a 30 minute run to CSUF and back. Hopefully today I can swim. I need to keep up on my training. Saturday we signed up for the St. George Triathlon on May 10, 2008. The spots fill up fast so I made sure we signed up as soon as possible. Skyler's brother, Dennis and his wife, Tammy said they are going to do the race with us too. I hope they follow through.

Turkey Trot

I ran in the Turkey Trot in Long Beach this morning. It was a little bit chilly when we first got there but the weather turned out to be pretty nice.This picture looks like I am praying but I was just a little cold. My race started at 8:30 and about two minutes after the race started the sun came out.
This was towards the beginning of the race. A lot of people were running really fast at the beginning, but I pace myself from the start. I ended up passing a lot of people throughout the race.
Skyler was waiting to get some pictures of me right before the last bend of the race. After he took this picture he sprinted to the finish line to take the picture below.
I set a goal to finish in 49:36 minutes, a 8:00 minute pace. I finished in 49:31...I was so excited! Plus, that includes a 40 second break where I had to stop to use the restroom. I think I am going to train for the half-marathon in Huntington Beach in February. Skyler said he wants to do it too!
Getting some muscles in my arms. I feel great!

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Tomorrow is my first 10K race. I am pretty excited but nervous. My right thigh has been pretty tight the past two days and I am worried that might affect my race. Also, I have never run in a race with a distance this far so I am worried about my pace. I think I will do ok. My goal is to do an 8:00 mile pace so I want my time to be 49:36 minutes. The race starts at 8:30am and is in Long Beach. I am going to eat light today and get to bed reasonably early. Good luck to me!

Skyler found out that some people from his work are going to do the half-marathon in Huntington in February. That is the same race I was thinking about doing. So now Skyler wants to join in. I am happy about that. I was worried that he had lost all interest in training for races.

Wow!

Yesterday I wanted to try to improve my running pace so I decided I would do some sprints while I did my normal run at the gym. I would run 2 minutes at my normal pace (7.8mph which is still pretty fast), then I increased the speed to 8.8mph for one minute. I did this for 3 miles. I was so tired! I ran 3 miles in 22:05 minutes. That is a 7:20 minute pace. I did a tiny bit of lifting, because it was pretty busy. Then, I did the moving stairs for 20 minutes. I worked out 3 days this week, which is my goal for the winter season. Three days in the minimum, but four would be great.

Yeah!

I made it to the gym yesterday. I swam 64 laps in 29:07 minutes. So I think the time I got last time was 2 laps off because I pushed really hard yesterday.

New goal

I signed up to run in a 10K race next week in Long Beach. This is my first race that I will be doing by myself. Skyler doesn't feel prepared enough to run it. He has been pretty busy lately. I am doing this race in preparation of doing a half-marathon next February. Monday I had a day off so I was able to do a run outside. I ran 5 miles in 38:30 minutes. That is a great time, but I had to stop at the beginning because of a bad side cramp. I will be ready for next week. My goal is to run in under an 8:00 minute mile pace, so that would put my time at 49:36. Tonight I am going to try to get a quick swim in. I am already getting too busy to get to the gym. I hate the feeling I get when that happens.

Swimming is fun!

Yesterday I swam. My goal is to swim at least once a week during the off season. I lost count of my laps at the very end (figures!), but I show that I swam 64 laps (one mile) in 28:45 minutes. Good time, that's why I am not sure if it is accurate. I will be devoting an hour or two to the gym tonight while Skyler spends time with his friends.

Pushed it too hard?

Yesterday was a tough workout! On Monday I started to get a little cold. Nothing major, just sore throat, sneezing, sore body, stuffed-up ears. Anyways, I decided to skip out on the workout that night, but Tuesday I felt up to the challenge. I started off running. I ran fast. I ran 1.9 miles in 14:26 minutes. I decided to stop because I wasn't feeling the greatest and when I stopped I got dizzy. So I lifted weights for 10 minutes or so, then I went to yoga. I can't remember the last time I went to yoga class. Probably like 5 weeks or so. It was brutal. It was like I had to start all over again. Everything was hard. Today I am feeling better than yesterday so I am going to try to swim. I want to keep up on my swimming and everything else so when major training starts up in January I won't be starting from scratch.

Long Friday Night

It was a normal Friday night where Skyler was jamming with his friends, so I had the whole night to myself. First, I started off with a run. I felt great running and I ran 2 miles before my shins started hurting. I knew I had to stop if I wanted to be able to run in the Muddy Buddy. Next, I did some weight lifting. I have been neglecting that during the last couple of weeks. After that I did the eliptical machine for 20 minutes and then the moving stairs for 20 minutes.

Sunday was the Muddy Buddy. Last year Skyler was waiting for me at a few of the transition areas. This year we were right on target. We finished with a time of 52:26 minutes! That is 11 minutes better than last year. Skyler didn't feel like he did his best, but I think we did great. It was a lot of fun. I hope we have some great pictures.

Blah

I went to a spin class last night. I have never been to a Thursday night class and I don't think I will be going back. The instructor was ok, the music was boring, and I kept watching the clock. But at least I got a reasonably good workout completed. I will be ready for the race this weekend! Skyler, on the other hand,....

Finally

I ran outside for the first time in two weeks. The air quality has been so bad that it would have been unwise to run outside. Yesterday I practiced some hill climbs. I have been working on running uphill and then continuing to run after I get to the top. That is hard for me to do because I am usually so tired from the climb. I timed my run at 32 minutes for 3.65 miles. Not horrible, but it does include a 0.9 mile climb. I also warmed up for 2 minutes and did a 2 minute cool-down. My right shin is a little sore today. I need to get new running shoes. Hopefully I can do that on Friday.