I’m thinking about running with a running group this Saturday.  It would be a great idea, and probably really motivating, just what I need.  But even more it is Oh My God terrifying.

No one will run as slow as me, no one will run for as short of a time as me, and no one will look as much like they are getting ready to pass out as me.  Plus they start running at 6:30 in the morning. Which is, you know, at 6:30 in the morning.

I sent them a note tonight to see if anyone is going to be running this weekend at my speed. If they say yes then I have no excuses left- I’ll have to give it a try.

I’ve wanted to be a runner since I was a kid. When I was young (like 11 or 12?) I went with my dad a few times. Of course, his legs were a billion times longer than mine but I was just so awesome I kept up anyhow (thanks dad). We only did it a very few times but like during everything else we did he threw out bits of wisdom. It’s his fault I refuse to run on the sidewalk, cars be damned. He always said the sidewalk would kill my joints but that running in the street was better. Therefore, running in a street full of hot rodders and semis will always be my choice, over the sidewalk lined by nice, green grass. After all, you only get one set of knees, right?

The problem is that although I tried to start running plenty of times, I never lasted more than a week before my knees and shins would start screaming and I decided I will just never be able to run at all. Every time I gave it up I was really, really bummed but I didn’t have much of a choice, I just wasn’t built to run.

This last time I decided it was now or never. I started running almost two years ago, and this time I decided to try it a little different. Obviously I am still nothing like consistent but I did do two things right.

First, I started using the Couch to 5K program. It kept me from overdoing things and also kept me doing things. Good combo.

Second I decided that since I am one of those people who hates wasting money I’d go out and buy a good pair of running shoes. I went to an actual running shoe shop near where I work and they did a gait analysis and everything. The guy handed me three pairs of shoes, only one felt right. So I went home with a shiny new pair of Saucony running shoes and never looked back.

I really don’t know if it was the running plan, the shoes, or a combination of both but I haven’t had much more than a twinge of pain in my knees or shins since. I still don’t feel like a REAL runner, but I do feel like it’s possible if I actually put in the time.

My biggest enemy is the pull-up. I have never been able to do a single one. Not even one. Aren’t grade school kids doing them in gym? I remember they were one of the things we were graded on right up there with sit ups and girl pushups.

I even went so far as to buy a pull up bar and put it up like 2 years ago. Every once in a while I’ll give it a try for a few days in a row. Apparently stupid consistency is the key to EVERYTHING. I hate consistency. I can follow a plan for a few days, sometimes even for a whole week, but then I get bored and distracted by something else shiny and it’s all over. Anyone reading this could clearly see that if, you know, I had been consistently blogging since I started this.

Anyway, I decided to give them another go and this time I’m going with jumping pull-ups to get there. I read somewhere they are a great place to start, even if you have to start jumping from a pretty high box to get up there. Which I do. I knew that milk crate would come in handy someday.

So here’s this afternoon’s workout, which I intend to alternate with yesterdays for a while. I’m not giving myself the option of falling off the actually-getting-ready-for-the-obstacle-course wagon but I am always ready to trade these workouts for something else that looks shinier at the time. Like yesterday I ran through the whole thing twice.

• Squats: Reps 10 (8# each hand)
• Concentration Curl: Reps 8 (8#)
• Shoulder Shrugs: Reps 8 (8#)
• Hammer Curls: Reps 8 (8#)
• Standing Calf Raise: Reps 10 (8#)
• Curl: Reps 10 (8# each hand)
• Leg Curl: Reps 8 (30# each side)
• 17″ Step Up: Reps 10
• DB Dead lift Reps 10 (8# each side)
• Regular Grip Pull downs: Reps 10 (40#)
• Hyperextension: Reps 12
• Reverse Grip Pull downs: Reps 12 (40#)
• Cable Seated Row: Reps 12 (50# each side)
• 10 jumping pull-ups

And since the whole point of all this is supposed to be getting better at running I went for a run tonight. It was supposed to be long run night, but I only did 2.31 miles, 11’58”/mile. I had worked my way up to 3.5 last month, but just wasn’t getting there tonight. Once again, consistency would sooo pay off. I think it is about time to set some goals.

Oh yeah, and I saw FOUR snakes today, 3 in a row on a little foot bridge at the park (one swam off, so must have been a water moccasin?) and the fourth I came about 2 inches from stepping on when running. As you can imagine I kept my eyes down and jumped over every oil stain after that.

Maybe I can blame my lack of milage on all that jumping?

I am still on a fairly low energy kick – I stayed in bed this morning till 9:30, maybe because the first thing on my to do list was cleaning? I managed to get in a full workout anyway, though the day did seem to just fly by.

Today’s workout:

• Bench press on bowflex: 50# each side, 8 reps
• Bicycles: 15 reps
• Chair dips: 15 reps
• Lateral raises: 5#, 8 reps
• Db Chest Fly on bench: 8#, 8 reps
• Reverse crunch: 15 reps
• Triceps Overhead Extension: 13#, 10 reps
• DB Front Raises: 5#, 8 reps
• Abdominal Curls: 25 reps
• DB Seated Shoulder Press: 8#, 10 reps
• Side crunch: 15 reps

I cannot believe how much heavier 5 or 8 pounds feels compared to what it sounds like. I’m actually embarrassed to post those weights, but it is what it is! Usually when I do these I alternate sets on 2 exercises and then go on to the next two, but today I tan through all of them in a row and then did them all again. It felt like it went a lot faster, but that’s probably just because it was new. Either way, I’m doing it that way again next time!

I followed that up with a new yoga routine. It’s the first one I’ve tried from this site; I like the practice but the video and voice don’t always do the same thing at the same time which I find fairly distracting. Not like the American version of a Japanese horror movie distracting, where the voice keeps going after the person’s mouth stopped moving though. If you want to try it the routine starts a little after 4 minutes in.

Yoga is one of those things that I love but have to sometimes question. Settle into your breath…Interlace your fingers…soften your eyes…spread your wings…wait. What? Did she say spread your wings? Then I start laughing at myself and completely lose my zen. I’m not blaming anyone here, I also lose it when I try a bit too hard to radiate towards the ceiling in triangle or try to stay in warrior three on my left leg for more than 30 seconds and end up falling over. All I’m saying is I do not and will not ever have wings. That’s for those mythical people with grace and stuff, and my name and the word grace have never been uttered in the same sentence, except for in jest.

What I didn’t do today is get in a run, so it looks like I’ll have to set my alarm for a Sunday morning, so wrong. Every time I skip a run or procrastinate in some other way I tell myself at least I learned a lesson… but I never actually do.

So much for a straight week of wins.  I dragged out of bed barely in time to get dressed, feed the mutts, and sleep walk out the door.  Why is it such a struggle some days just to get up when the alarm goes off?

Don’t know but the funk lasted all day.  Not feeling well so I took some Tylenol a bit ago and wrote off the run I intended to do tonight.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better, so glad it’s finally Friday!

Today was day 3 in my War Against the Snooze Button. I haven’t actually bounded (or even dragged myself) out of bed at 5 am when it first goes off yet. But I have managed to only hit the button two or three times a day. After all, it is important to leave room for improvement!

This morning I went for a very short, less than 20 minute run.  It doesn’t sound like much because it isn’t much. I am using the excuse that I donated blood yesterday afternoon and needed all of my strength to create shiny new blood.  However, the point was to prove to myself that running in the morning would not result in getting attacked by boars, snakes, wild dogs, or vampires.  Sparkly or otherwise.

 I had let my ipod die so it was a run not only in the dark of  morning, when most humans are not yet out,  but also without music!  I’m pretty sure that makes it count double.

 Actually, it wasn’t bad at all.  No creatures (supernatural or otherwise) lunged at me and it really isn’t even that dark thanks to the street lights.  The only part that was a bit creepy was a bird making a weird noise that I think meant ‘all hope abandon, ye who enter here’.  I made a deal with myself that if I even THOUGHT I heard nevermore I was giving it up and going straight back home.

To top the morning off I tried a new post-running video that was the best one I’ve found so far.  By new I mean a year old, but although I favorited it ages ago I hadn’t actually watched the video until today.

If there is anybody out there and you have a link to a great yoga video please share.  Especially if it’s intended for pre or post running!

I was telling my mom about the zombie 5K we signed up for and she said she thought I was becoming ‘obsessed’ with these runs.  Of course I just laughed at her.

This morning I got up a little after 5 to do an arm/core workout.  Usually I drag  myself out of bed with barely enough time to get ready and get to work on time, I find myself eating while driving to work or after I get to work half the time as a result.  But I decided to get back on the wagon as far as working out, after all I only have 2 and a half months to get better prepared for the next 5K!

I went for a run tonight after work (and after an episode of Supernatural) and while I was running I was thinking to myself about what I could build in the back yard to practice getting over walls.  You know, just in case. Would the neighbors think it was weird if I had a rope hanging off the roof and tried climbing it once in a while?   And of course a couple of pvc hurdles out back would be cool, I saw how to make them on the Internet last night.

And even as I sit here with my shoulders and arms sore from this morning my mind is turning with what I can do in the morning if I get up early again… Leg and back workout?  Yoga?  an early run?  I actually find the total quiet of early morning runs too creepy, much prefer to run at night.

Long story short, I think my mother could have been right.  She may have even been underestimating the obsession!

Clay just signed us up for a 5K obstacle course with ZOMBIES!  It’s the Saturday before Christmas, I bet it’ll be a lot safer place to be than any shopping center.

I am very determined to be better prepared for this one. I’m going to have to start getting up early and getting a workout in before work to be sure to make it over (through, under, whatever) all of the obstacles this time!

Just to be sure to be properly psyched we’re going to Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights this Friday.  Walking Dead?  Enough said.

Well, after much waiting and excitement Beach Beast finally got here.  A 5K on the beach with obstacles, has to be great!  But unfortunately, I didn’t have to be great. 

It started with some over-under boards and then most of the 3 miles of running through the sand, out and back past the start, then out and back a little in the other direction before getting to the rest of the obstacles all in a row.  Oh my god, that sand killed me. I knew I couldn’t run that far in sand without stopping, but I was so wiped sooo quick I can’t believe it.  I only did about half the obstacles, my worst run yet.

My running is always so sporadic that I’m still not comfortable running 30 minutes, but I recently ran 3 and then 3 and a half miles without stopping, which is a good bit over 30 minutes since I’m slow as dirt. I was feeling like I was doing really good. NOT.

The worst part?  I went with my boyfriend, sister and niece and they all kicked my butt.  And none of them run or prepared!  On the extreme plus side they all had so much fun they are ready to sign up for another one!

I had a lot of fun in spite of not doing well, but I definitely prefer a race with more obstacles and with the obstacles spread out throughout the course instead off all grouped together.

I think it’s time for a LOT more consistency in running not to mention a game plan for getting through EVERY obstacle in the next run!

Ran in Hog Wild 2 this morning with my son. I think an awful lot of that ‘mud’ may have actually been random animal droppings, it was way thicker than any mud I’ve ever seen and didn’t smell too pleasant.

This was the single most UNorganized anything I have ever been to.  We got there an hour and a half early (as requested) but were in line for over two hours to pick up our race packets. By the time we got in I was so hot and just tired of standing I didn’t even feel like running anymore. I had planned on really pushing myself on this run, but ended up walking most of it.

If the wait wasn’t bad enough (it was) there was absolutely no one at the start line but a couple of other people trying to figure out when to start running.  We got tired of waiting and just kind of went. Last really bad thing: there were huge, angry bulls and cattle on the field.  Yes, for real. Which randomly ran through the crowd.  Scary much?  Um, yes.

The other side of the coin?  The race was AWESOME.  In spite of the bad I would definitely do it again if the company putting it on promised a much shorter line and more people working there.  A lot of the obstacles were natural – running hilly trails was fun, but going through water and sliding into water before swimming across it was a blast.

I had to skip some of these obstacles – there was a wall with just a rope to climb up that I wasn’t even going to attempt if I had all the energy in the world.  But it is something I want to be able to do in the future!

I thought the site said there would be ice water you had to go through, but I didn’t see it, maybe because no one refilled the ice?  Can’t say I’m upset about that, ice water and electricity are 2 things I can do without.  But I didn’t, because one of the obstacles was electrified barb wire you had to crawl under through thick mud.  How great is that?!?

I actually lost the bottoms of both of my sneakers running (ok, walking) this race, I think I lost the first one wading through the water and another just in the mud.  Now THAT is a mud run.