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!