Soooooo, long time no write, right? I have had this post percolating in my head for a few months, but I’m finally finding time to sit and write it down. My last post was last August, about the Beach to Beacon 10k in Maine. Honestly, I haven’t done any races since then (other than the Color Run last weekend which doesn’t really count, since we walked the whole thing). And guess what? The Beach to Beacon is coming up again in 3 weeks. My running has suffered for various reasons this spring. The first is that we got an epic blizzard in mid-April. The snow wasn’t gone until May, and that was super depressing. I tried my hardest to run on the treadmill, but it was, as usual, like torture. My second excuse is that this is the first year in our new house, and finding a new running route is scary and daunting. I am not familiar with all the paths and streets around here yet, so that held me back for a while. However, I am happy to say that our hew neighborhood has direct access to a regional trail, which goes for miles and miles in each direction, and is used by cyclists, runners, and walkers alike.
So I have been running on the trail for the past 2 months, about 3 mornings a week, getting familiar with the territory.
Usually when I rev up my running in the spring and early summer, there is a natural progression. I can run farther each time. Not so this year. I am stuck in a rut. I have been running for a few months and still can’t run for more than 2-3 minutes at a time before having to take a walk break. The farthest I have gone is 0.35 miles (pathetic!). It is so frustrating! I am going to run a 10k, 6.2 miles in 3 weeks. My main issue is that I can’t seem to run slowly….My legs have a natural cadence and it apparently can’t be altered. My legs must remember back a few years when I was at my fittest. Currently, I am running consistently at 10:00 to 10:30 min/mile according to my Garmin, and it feels unnatural to try to go slower. But fitness-wise, I am not up to running at that pace for long. So my body is fighting itself. The fit girl inside is fighting the obese outer body. Which brings me to my third excuse (and the biggest, no pun intended): my weight.
Over the last year I gained some weight on top of the weight I already had. I found myself with 60 pounds to lose. You know those 40-pound bags of salt you get for your water softener? Imagine trying to run while carrying one and half of those bags on your back. Impossible, right? I can attest that it is near impossible. And if you’re one of those people like my mom who didn’t know what a water softener was (not sure if that’s due to her location (Northeast) or due to the fact that her house is older?), imagine carrying six 10-pound bags of potatoes. So 3 weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and join Weight Watchers for the third time. I was hesitant because I am old-school Weight Watchers, and the “smart points” intimidated me at first (they don’t make logical sense to me!). But I have embraced the change and I actually like it! I can eat as much fruit, vegetables, chicken, and eggs as I want to! I have followed the program and lost 7 pounds so far (tomorrow is my weigh-in day and I’m hoping for 2 more). I am feeling better and I can tell the difference already. I feel relieved that I am back in control of my eating. If it continues the way it’s been going, I could be at my goal weight in 7 months or so. That’ll be a great segue into spring running next year. For now, I will continue my run/walk/run/walk pattern right into the Beach to Beacon.
On a different note, last weekend the girls (ages 12 and 4) and I did the Color Run. If I haven’t posted about it already, it’s a fun 5k for every ability level (I even saw a woman doing it with a broken leg on one of those scooters you rest your knee on!). You go through 5 or 6 stations along the way in which you get squirted with color. It’s like a colored cornstarch powder, so it sticks to your clothes, but it actually washes right out in the wash. It’s a fun thing to do with the kids. Here we are before we started:
At the first station, green:
In the middle of the course, taking a break:
After the run, taking a picture with SpongeBob, aka Squongebob as Esme calls him (she was too scared to take a picture with him by herself):
And after the run, just the girls:
It’s definitely a fun event for the whole family. This is the third year we’ve done it, and will do it again!
Goodbye until next time, when I run the Beach to Beacon 10k! Hopefully I will be a little better prepared for it than I was last year!
Life in the Outside Lane 