Franny Runs Week Two 4 Mile Training Run

I thought I was running in slow motion today. I am a bit dehydrated from too much sun at the Club Mom picnic yesterday. I felt very sluggish, and it was hard to complete. But when I got home, and checked my stats from my run... I had done a 14 minute mile.

I have already found a benefit to the running. Last night I took my blood pressure, it was 110/68! That is the lowest my "natural" blood pressure has ever been. You see before my gastric bypass surgery and when I weighed 275 lbs, my pressure was 147/95. Wow what a difference and in only two weeks of running.

I guess there is some benefit to all this madness.

Franny Runs Week Two Long Run

It is Saturday and my long run day. Today we added a mile and I went for 6 miles. I ran 70% of it with a 7 minute Run / 3 minute Walk interval. It is getting much easier to do the 7 minute runs. In fact, today I ran through the 3 minute walk several times.

I need to get serious about the training though. I need to get more sleep on the nights before a run, especially the long runs. I only got 5 hours last night and that was not enough. My six mile run was doing my 3 mile route twice...when I ran past the house the first time, my feet where veering off to the front door and back to bed! But I pushed through it and finished the 6 miles. I had a 15:00 pace. A little slower than my 5 mile pace. I need more sleep!

Tomorrow is only 4 miles...who would have ever thought that I would ever say "only 4 miles"!

Franny Runs - Week Two, Day Two

Knocked some more time off my run today. The 7 minute run intervals are getting easier. I do not labor to breath anymore. I think that I will soon be able to run the whole 5 miles.

Today was my paranoid day. I was running along and this white van pulled up next to me, stopped, and waited until I was right next to it and the doors opened. I kinda freaked and was ready to go into "Moo Gong Do" mode (the martial arts I have trained in)! Well it turned out two women got out and closed the back door of the van. Ugh! It seems my fathers attitude has rubbed off on me. When I told him I was starting to run in the mornings, instead of saying, "well good luck honey I hope you do well", he says " look out for the crazy people!".

I did get 2 honks today! Not sure though if they where honks of appreciation, or "Lady yikes get off the road with those saggy thighs and giggly arms!".

I am really happy that I am feeling a lot better and see some progress in my training. I can do this, I know I can!

Franny Runs - Week Two

Felt good this morning. I did 5 miles, with a 7 min. Run / 3 min. Walk interval. The 7 min runs where much easier today! I used my iPod today for the first time. What a difference it made to run to the music. I did not even think about my breathlessness or fatigue, I just Rock & Rolled to the music. It made the run seem faster and a lot more fun!

I did a 14.58 pace. I want to get to a 10 minute pace before my first half marathon. I have 2 months of training before that. I think I can do it.

This is probably one of the first "physical" things I have done that I still am excited about after the first week! I want this to be a part of the rest of my life. Lets hope my "Old Lady" body holds up!

Franny Runs - Week One Down!

Wow! I have finished week one of my running career! I made it. Lets see how many miles did I log on the shoes so far...25 miles! Yikes at that rate I will have to get another pair in a couple of months. They say you need new shoes every 500 miles. They are the "tires" of running. So why do they not have a 50,000 mile life?

I ran for 5 miles today ( run-7 min. / walk-3 min.) I cut 4 minutes off my time and averaged 14:00 minutes per mile. That is cool I guess. I want to get to a 10:00 mile pace before my first half marathon.

As I was running today, I was dreaming of the time when I can just walk out the door and start running for 5 miles without walking and not even think about it! I wonder how long that will take? I need to remember this is only week one, I have already cut 1 mile/hour off my pace and 4 minutes off my 5 mile time. Baby Steps! Relax and take Baby Steps!

Race Schedule

Here is a list of the races that I am registered for:

07/04/08 Lake Forest 5k finish time: 42:40:78
07/20/08 Magic Shoe 5000 5k
08/31/08 Disney Half Marathon
09/07/08 Team Cam Race to Walk 5k
09/28/08 Race for the Cure 5k
10/12/08 Long Beach Half Marathon
10/18/08 Huntington Beach Distance Durby (10 miles)
11/02/08 US Half Marathon (San Francisco)
01/10/09 Southern California Half Marathon
02/01/09 Surf City Half Marathon (Huntington Beach)

I would love to have supporters at the finish lines! If you are interested in cheering me on let me know!

Franny Runs - Day Five

Ugh! It was tough today. Third day in a row of running at 5:30 AM. My legs did not want to get in the groove. This was the first day I questioned myself "what are you doing?" I did an interval of run 7 minutes, walk 3 minutes. It was tough to get through the 7 minute runs. The motivator was, I looked down at my thighs while I was running and they didn't look half bad! Now if they could look like that when I am standing still I would be happy!

Tomorrow is rest day and then I will cross train on Saturday in the mountains where we are camping. I will take a long walk in the altitude, it should be good for my breathing and heart!

Not as tired today. It is still easy to get out of bed at 5 AM and get ready to run!

Franny Runs - Day Four

Today I ran/walked for 5 miles. My interval was 6 minutes run to 4 minutes walk. It was ok, my knees are starting to feel it though. I made the mistake of going the wrong way on the route and hit some hills in the end of the run. They where quite a challenge. Tomorrow we go the other way!

I did mess up a bit, with my limited hearing, I did not hear my alarm for my interval change and ran for a 12 minute interval. I thought wow this is a long six minutes! Yes it was! Well that tells me that when I get to the 10 minute run point next week, I should be able to make it!

I figure I ran for a total of 47 minutes today. I am proud of that.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 1:19:50
Interval: Run-6 min, Walk-4 min.

Franny Runs - Day Three

So today we added a mile and added a minute per interval of running. I went for 4 miles with 5 minutes walking to 5 minutes of running. The running seems to be getting easier. When the timer goes off after my running interval, I feel like I can continue. I like that. I hope it lasts.

Buddy and I left the house at 5:20am. Yes, Buddy was up and ready to go! It was amazing though, we had to stop three times for him to poop! Yikes, where does that little dog keep all that poop?

I think he is getting the hang of it.

I was surprised to see so many people out this morning doing their running and walking. It is really cool that I am not alone. A little distracting to see these young girls running along singing to their iPods shouting good morning, as this 45 year old body goes laboring by grunting out a "mornin". UGH, to be young again.

Rest Day!

Today is rest day. I feel guilty, like I should be doing something. But my legs are sore from my first two days. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I get to add a mile to my route and add another minute of running to my intervals.

I just think it will be a big accomplishment to be able to run 10 minutes at a time! I should be there next week.

I have decided to run the 2008 Orange County Race for the Cure. I hope you will support me in this. Here is the link to sponsor me: http://www.ockomen.org/race/frannyp. I appreciate any help you can give!

Franny Runs Day Two

Wow I did it again! I went for three miles Walk/Run. Today we increased the running to 4 minutes and 5 minutes walking. I was excited that I found my PACE today. I found the pace that I can run and not gasp for air. It is not much faster than my walk speed, but that will improve.

I think that my main goal right now is to work up to running for 3 miles or the 5k distance. I will get there by increasing my running time and decreasing my walking time with every workout.

Today Buddy, my dog and 5k partner managed to get his lazy but out of bed and train with me. It took a lot of trickery to get him up. He though he was getting a "cookie", but he was actually going for a "big walk"!

Tomorrow is rest day, then we are going to try to run at 5:30 each morning to get it done before work. We will see what happens. I increase my running to 5 minutes next workout.

Type: Walk/Run
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 57:19:06
Interval: 5 min Walk / 4 min Run

Franny Runs Day One - After the Workout!

Ok I made it! My first 3 mile run walk.

I doned my Asics Gel Nimbus shoes ($120.00), my new Timex Triathlon Watch ($59.00), my short running shorts (yes short!) and technical shirt ($40.00) and don't forget the all important sports bra ($45.00). Yikes who thought getting into shape could be so expensive. Well I guess it beats plastic surgery to firm up the thighs, legs and tummy!

So you are asking how did the run go.

I made it didn't I? It actually was a little better than expected. It took me 57:01:16 to complete the 3 miles. I used a 5 minute walk to a 2 minute run interval. I think that I was running in the Twilight Zone though. It just amazes me that 2 minutes is so much longer than 5 minutes! I still have the issue of breathing. During my running, it just seems really difficult to get enough air into these I think it is time to look for some breathing exercises.

As I was on my 3 mile route I thought can I really work up to running the entire 3 miles? Oh did I forget to mention that I am running the July 4th 5k? That gives me 3 weeks to get to running a full 3 miles. Well it is a 5k Run/Walk!

Type: Run/Walk
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 57:01:16
Interval: 5 min Walk / 2 min Run

Franny Runs Day One

Let me give you some background about me. All of my life I have battle weight. I was the pudgy kid in class. I could never run like the others. I could never seem to get enough air in my lungs to do it. I would always get into trouble in gym class for giving up. So I finally just started ditching gym and going to the girls bathroom to smoke with my friends!

Last year, January 31, 2007, I took control of the weight issue and had Gastric Bypass surgery. Since then I have lost 117 pounds...and feel great! I have a ton more energy and feel like I can do about anything I put my mind to!

Well after living a sedentary life for the past 45 years...I have decided to make a dream come true...to become a runner!

Well today is the first day of my serious running training. I am training first for a 5k on the 4th of July, and then a 1/2 Marathon on August 31st. I am going to Walk/Run 3 miles this morning. I will be back in about 1 hour and let you know how it went!