Weekday Training Runs

For the past year, maybe more, I've been awful at getting in my weekday training runs. I scheduled them for Monday and Wednesday for 30 minutes. Then on the weekend would be my long run. But, I would only get one run in during the week...if I was lucky.

This year I switched up when I do my weekday training runs; I scheduled them for Monday and Tuesday. These are my days off during the week from work. My reasoning being I'm off all day, I can run in daylight, and not worry about running behind schedule for getting ready for work.

I went out Monday around 4:00 p.m. for a 2 mile run. I decided that right now I'm running about 2 miles in 30:00. I like the idea of just going out for a certain number of miles and seeing if I can get it faster.

I have a 2 mile run perfectly mapped out with 1 mile out and 1 mile back. It wasn't as cold as it's been around here, but I was all geared up.

I picked up this jacket over the weekend at T.J.Maxx for $24.99. This run was my first time taking it for a spin. Let me tell you, it's awesome! I'm debating going back for a second one. LOL! It's Avalanche, if you're interested and I'm getting nothing from either T.J. Maxx or Avalanche for saying that.

The last time I ran 2 miles only, it took me 29:30. On my long run Saturday, it took me about 32:--. I really hoped I could break 29:30 honestly. It's been so long since I've been consistent in my training that I know I'm in for a long way back.

Woot! Hello! I'll take it! That made me exceedingly happy. LOL! I know my 2 mile time isn't as fast as most people's, but right now that time is thrilling! I admit, I knew I could beat 29:30 at 1.5 miles and I booked it as much as I could. Who knew I would beat it by that much?

I apparently overdressed because by the end of my run I was hot! So, I had to strip a bit... {get your mind out of the gutter! I run near a middle and high school!}.

Then I actually went out for my run on Tuesday! Went back out at the same time {4:00 p.m.}, but this day the sun was shining bright! Needed the sunglasses for this run.

Yes, I'm wearing the same jacket. It's so comfy and warm! I believe it is my new go-to running jacket. I'm totally in love with it!

The run on Tuesday was 10 degrees colder than Monday's run. Though I remembered gloves Tuesday, I should have had something around my neck and should have doubled up on pants. Those were the two parts of me that were sooo...cold....

I decided I wasn't going to push this run like I did on Monday. Just 2 simple miles. Nothing fancy. Same course, same me. Nothing too crazy. Plus, the sidewalks were much better than they had been Saturday and Monday.

In the end, I was really consistent with Monday's run. Kinda surprised because I know I didn't push as hard in the last half mile Tuesday as I did Monday.

Fourteen seconds slower than Monday. I'd say that's pretty consistent, especially since I busted my butt Monday for that time and felt Tuesday I was just running normal. This is a mental boost. Good to see I can hit these times consistently. Maybe by next month I can hit the 27:00s?

Since it was 10 degrees colder Tuesday, the hood did not come down!

Plus, look at that sky! So pretty! The color is great. So nice compared to the fogginess from Monday!

How has your training been going so far? Is it cold where you are? Have you found gear that lets you run in sub-freezing temperatures?

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January 2014 Recap

Stream in my front yard after one of the many snow storms we've had in January

How in heaven's name did it get to be the end of January? Seriously. I can't believe we are heading into February tomorrow. I thought it might be fun to wrap up the month and see how things went.

• I read 19 books. Not bad for one month. :) You can see which ones here.

• I ran 12 miles this month - 4 of them on the treadmill! 

• Lost 2.4 pounds. Way less than my goal this month, putting me 5.6 pounds behind schedule. Doh! It's ok. I'll readjust my goals to accommodate. A slight set back, nothing more.

• Started half marathon training for The Love Run on March 30th in Philly. Am pretty excited about this and for training!

• Started RunSmart online yoga sessions. I'm on week 2 workout 3. Hoping it helps with flexibility and core strength.

• Finally got back to spin class! Looking forward to having that as part of my workouts.

• Sadly, Higgy was diagnosed with cancer this month. He's doing really well considering. At this point, we're just loving on him and spoiling him rotten!

I love his cute pink nose!

•  We've started looking at our budget and finding ways of cutting back a bit. Hubby already found us $40! Come Monday, after a discussion with the cable company, we may be saving about $100 more. Fingers crossed!

• Both hubby and I were sick this month. Ugh. He had the flu and I had a cold. We were a lot of fun for two weeks. LOL!

• I had jury duty for 4 days...and didn't even sit on a jury! In my county, you are responsible to be there a full week. They let us go Thursday. Phew. Glad I don't have to do that again for at least 3 years!

How did your 2014 start? Read any good books? Start training for a big race? Are your New Year's resolutions still going strong?
 
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Training begins!

Alright people! Love Run half marathon training has officially begun! My plan started with a 2 mile run yesterday. I knew it wouldn't be a great run since I haven't run in ages and last week I had a cold/flu light. I also knew 2 miles wasn't that far and I could do it pretty easily even if I haven't run.

I put on my new jacket that hubby gave me for Christmas. It's awesome!

Then it was off to my normal running route! I knew all I really needed was a one mile out, then turn around. It's easy to get behind that. LOL! I parked the car, headed up to the school I start at, and headed off. I run on sidewalks because I honestly don't trust people who drive. I suppose they could hit me on the sidewalk too, but I figure it's a bit harder to do.

I ran really slow. Way slower than I used to run. I say used to because since June I have been an extreme runner slacker. I admit it. I own it. I've been battling internal struggles and it didn't cause me to run. I knew this run wouldn't be fast, but I went anyway.

And I was right. I was slow. As slow as when I first started running 5 years ago. Eh. Whatever. I have faith that based on past running I'll speed up. Anyway... I got my two miles in. Two 15 minute and 10 second miles. LOL! Oh yes. Speed demon!

But, you know what? Who cares? I ran my two miles then came home and did my stretches. My plan also called for hitting the gym for a spin class, but due to last week's illness I decided this week is a run only week. No classes so as to ease into the program. Classes will happen next week.

Anyone else running the Love Run this March? Have you started official training? If not the Love Run, are you training for a big spring race? Which one?
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Nervous

Last week hubby went to the doctor with the flu. He was given five meds and sent on his merry way. He was really sick too. It was just awful.

Saturday night, my throat felt a little scratchy. Then Sunday, it felt a little worse and I started coughing. By Monday morning when I woke up, my throat was killing me, I was coughing consistently, and my nose was a bit drippy. My Twitter friends gave me lots of suggestions for home remedies and I tried them all day Sunday. I took two aspirin for the throat pain, then headed into jury duty with a bunch of zinc throat lozanges.

Here we are on Wednesday and my throat is still a bit sore (fine yesterday, woke up today in pain so took another aspirin), coughing WAY more than ever, and still a bit of a drippy nose. It has not been a fun week and I've had jury duty everyday. In my county, jury duty lasts a week.

What am I nervous about? I start training for The Love Run half marathon on Monday! I have it all scheduled out and it's pretty aggressive. Typical week:

Monday: x mile run (starts at 2 and moves up to 5 by the end); core; spin class
Tuesday: 30 min TRX class; 30 minute easy bike
Wednesday: 30 min treadmill run; PiYo Strength
Thursday: Res
Friday: Core/Stretches
Saturday: Long run (length depends on week, first week 4 miles)
Sunday: Core/Stretches

I feel like crap and can't go more than 5-10 minutes without coughing. How am I going to start this aggressive training plan on MONDAY????? Seriously, if you have any ideas, I am totally open to them. I'm scared if I don't start this coming week I'll be completely screwed. I know, I know. A few days won't kill me overall, especially in the first week, but I need to start training off on the right foot. Help!


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Day 1 of Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon training

Today is the first day of Zooma Annapolis training for me. Yup, I'm starting training on a Friday. Call me crazy. I can take it!

This has been a recovery week from Shamrock weekend. My legs and back hurt Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, I thought I was doing good, but then I went to work. I have a fairly physical job - I work in an archives and my job is to pull the documents researchers request. Our most popular documents are death certificates, which means I pull a 40-50 pound box off a shelf, take the document out of the box, photocopy it, put it back in the box, then put the box back on the shelf. For every document I pull, I lift that box twice. I can pull anywhere from 50-100 documents a day, meaning lifting 100-200 boxes a day. When I'm on the schedule, I will be on my feet 3-6 hours (one shift a day is 3 hours, both shifts is 6 hours). I had hopes of hitting the gym tonight, but my legs were just tired. I gave in and gave myself one more rest day.

But today, today means it's a new training cycle. I have 10 weeks to get my butt in half marathon shape. Yes, technically I am in half marathon shape now, but I want to be in better half marathon shape. I want to run strong. I want to run upright. I want to weigh less. I want to PR. I have goals people. GOALS!

1. Lose 15-20 pounds. I am tired of this extra weight I've gained. I.WANT.IT.GONE.

2. Tone arms. I need to wear a tank for this race because I'm anticipating warm weather (June in the northeast = heat). Currently, not comfortable with my arms. 10 weeks of arms should make me ok with no sleeves.

3. PR. This race does not give a medal for finishing. Instead you get a necklace. That's all well and good, but that won't go well with the medals hanging on my wall currently. So, in order to get a medal I either need to make this race a Get Out & Run race through U.S. Road Running or I need to PR because they will give you a medal if you PR at their race. So, people I need a 2:51:14 half marathon. I would prefer a 2:50:00 half marathon, but if I need that extra 1:14 for a medal so be it.

Those are the biggies. I need to do a lot of work over the next 10 weeks. Here's how I'm hoping to do it:

1. Go back to the trainer once a week (30 minute session).
2. Spin class on Tuesday nights.
3. 2 30 minute weekday training runs; one with hills.
4. Long training runs on Saturday.
5. Spin or outside bike ride on Sundays.
6. Yoga video twice a week.
7. Weight train 1-2 nights a week.
8. Eat on plan 6 of 7 days a week (1,543 calories a day).
9. Implement cheat day on Saturdays.
10. Weigh in every day (I know, I know. But, to stay on track I need to do this.)
11. Use my new Gaiam FitPlan Running book to keep track of food and training.

So, 10 weeks until Zooma Annapolis. The quest for the PR is on!

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Training for Shamrock Half Marathon Take 2

Last year at this time I was training for the Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon (and 8k). This year, I'm doing the same. I wrote up a training plan both years and wrote it in my planner. I write up how many long miles I will run each week, knowing that I will need two 30 minute runs during the week and some cross-training (bike/elliptical) and of course working with my trainer.

In 2012, I had a fabulous training for Shamrock. I rocked the run on the treadmill, took some classes at the YMCA, worked the bike/elliptical, and busted my butt with the trainer. I PRed both races in 2012.

This year I'm having a hard time getting my butt in gear to train hard. I will say I'm cutting myself some slack at the beginning of the month for when I fell and cut my knee open and could barely walk without pain. Some things you just can't control.

I looked at my calendar from 2012 to see what my mileage was last year. How long were my long miles? If you read yesterday's post, you'll see my training plan called for 9 miles. Last year, my longest run (and it was the same weekend last year) was 6 miles. Ummmm...WTH? How did I do that to myself?

I'm starting to see why this year's training schedule seems harder than last year. I didn't reach 9 miles until February 18, a full month later than I did this year. This year's training plan has me running 3 runs over 10 miles though I have decided all three runs will be 10 miles. My goal is to get 10 miles at 2:00:00 so I stand a chance of running Shamrock under 2:50:00.

Yesterday's run made me realize I need to get my weekday runs in. I have to get those 30 minute runs done. I need to find some class to take at the Y that will make me move in ways the body isn't used to. I'm getting pretty good at using the treadmill/elliptical/bike right now and I'm back with the trainer.

So, even though I'm way ahead of where I was last year that run taught me a lot. And better yet, I have seven weeks to make some changes. I have seven weeks to still reach my goal.

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January Get Out & Run 9 miles

I was supposed to get up yesterday morning and run 9 miles. I woke up at 10:45 a.m. Yea....

So, I got up this morning to run 9 miles. I signed up for the January Get Up & Run program and designated today's 9 mile run as my "race." I wanted to hold myself accountable for it. And good thing I did!

This run was not easy. While on said run I realized I haven't run more than 5 miles since October (Atlantic City Half Marathon to be exact). Wow. What the heck was I thinking???

I look at long runs in terms of out x miles and back x miles and concentrate on the x miles rather than the total mileage. Runs over 6 miles kinda frighten me. I need this breaking up the run into smaller components to make it manageable mentally for me.

I had a goal for my Get Up & Run race of 9 miles in 2:00:00. Sadly, it did not happen. I did run 5 miles in less time than I did last week, a whole minute faster. That's something. When I realized I wasn't going to run 9 miles in 2:00:00, I decided I had to negative split the run. And with 15 seconds to spare, I did. Phew! Total run 2:09:45.

This run tells me several things.

1. I gotta run more during the week.
2. I gotta get stronger cardiovascularly.
3. I gotta strengthen my back.
4. I gotta find somewhere to run with less hills!


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Here we go again...

This weekend started my training for the Anthem Shamrock Half Marathon. I have my plan all written out and I think I can even squeeze in some short races in there and still get in my mileages.

Today was 4 miles. Nothing too exciting, but you gotta start somewhere. Temps weren't too bad, started out at about 41 and overcast. By the time I hit the car, it was sunny and the car temp read 56, but by the time I got home it was down to 47. I was super slow on this run - 55:47, but I wanted to be under 60 and when I got to 3.5 miles I thought I wouldn't hit 4 miles until 56:30 or 57:00, so overall not too bad.  Especially for stopping to pet a cute gray kitty and helping get someone's large, adorable dog back to them. I'm sure that would have shaved off 20 minutes. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It might have shaved a minute off total though.

This week gotta get in some week day runs (30 minutes) and then Saturday I'm going out for 5. Slowly building that mileage up.  Here's what I'm hoping this week's workouts look like:

Sunday: 4 miles
Monday: 30 minute run/30 minute trainer session
Tuesday: Wii workout (thinking yoga)
Wednesday: Gym
Thursday: Gym
Friday: Off
Saturday: 5 miles

Here's to another round of half marathon training!

And so it begins...

Training for the Atlantic City Half Marathon started tonight.  As you saw, I have a whole plan written out for the next five weeks so I know what I'm doing.  It makes life easier for me to know what I have to do rather than thinking about it each day.  I'm also lazy...

So, off to the YMCA we went to get our work out on.  The first thing I hit up was the treadmill.  I decided to walk on the treadmill with inclines.  I like doing inclines on the treadmill.  I realize now I should have pushed it a bit more than I did.  I did an incline routine that automatically changed the incline every 2 minutes, but I should have made the inclines more challenging than 2.5/5.  Live and learn.

Then I went over to the bike for 30 minutes.  Nothing too exciting here.  Did a routine that changes up the intensity every so often.  I usually do a 2/2 ratio, but changed it up to 4/4.  I don't think it made a difference, but it was something different.

After the bike, it was onto the weight machines.  It was a bit confusing because I usually go to the YMCA in the city so I wasn't sure where the ones I needed were at the other Y.  I think I missed two machines.  Eh.  Not that big a deal.  I'm not concerned as one was for obliques and one was for the calves.  I can make that up.

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I'm also trying something new with the diet.  I've done WW for years and it's always worked.  But, for some reason I'm having a hard time getting on the band wagon again.  I picked up the Run Your Butt Off from Runner's World and decided to try counting calories again, but based on scientific reasons for the numbers I'm aiming for.

According to my BMR I burn 1486 just by living.  To maintain my current weight, I need 2043 calories.  As we all know, it takes 3500 calories to gain or lose a pound, so I need to cut 500 calories a day from my diet to lose 1 pound a week.  So, I need to be somewhere around 1543 to lose 1 pound each week.  

Tonight's workout burned 516 calories, so I got that covered today.  Though, I haven't managed to make it to 1543 eaten.  I'm at 1299 and ya know what?  I'm probably going to end there as it's just past 9:30 p.m. EST.  While I subscribe to the a calorie is a calorie no matter when you eat it, I just don't like eating after 9:00 p.m. without good cause.  And I can't justify eating more right now just to get my calorie count up to 1543.

Day 2 is my first training run.  Stay tuned!

Training begins this week

It's that time again.  The beginning of half marathon training.  This year our long race for the fall will be the Atlantic City Half Marathon. Yea!  I get to run in my home state at the shore.  How cool is that?  I'm actually pretty excited about this race.  I love AC, we're going to stay at a casino we haven't stayed at before, we get to run along the beach (again), and the medal is pretty darn cool!

So, in preparation of the half, I've written down my July/August training schedule.  I had been putting it in my day calendar, but I only have so much space in my little planner, so I grabbed our old white board calendars that we haven't used since 2010.  I wrote out my plan and hubby's.  I've designated myself his training coach.  Heehee!  So, for the next 5 weeks I know what I'm supposed to do each day - weights, core, cross-training, and running.  We do have a trip scheduled in there that I have to work around, which means those days will be exercise on the fly.  I want to get some workouts in, but we're with two others and I don't want to hold us up.

Anyone else do this?  Write out your workouts when in training?  Or do you just have a mental idea of what you need to do and go with it?

A little planning goes a long way

It is hard to believe, but summer is almost here. Woohoo!  And it is time to get the calendar out and get all the fun stuff we want to do this summer down on paper (yes, paper. I keep a paper calendar.)  And we have some goooood stuff on it!

York Revolution baseball

Stoudt's Brewery

Brother's of the Sun Tour ~ Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney

Baltimore Women's Classic 5k

Boating

Sunset Stretch 5k

Senator's Family 5k

LAS VEGAS!

Vertical Trek

Sunset Scramble Bike Rides

And training will start for this

The summer of 2012 is going to be FUN!

Happy first day of half marathon training to me!  Today starts the official training for the Yuengling Shamrock 8k and Half Marathon for me.  It seems like yesterday I was crossing the finish line at the Philadelphia Half Marathon (thank God!).  

I'm sticking with Jeff Galloway and his run/walk program.  This time though I am aiming for a program that focuses on time rather than just finishing.  Since I finished Philly in 3:16:20, I'm following the plan that trains you to finish between 2:30 and 3:00 hours.  This plan involves lots of speed training and crazily starts my first long run at 8 miles!  Crazy!

The positive is the program starts before Christmas which hopefully keeps me on track throughout the holiday.  I've got all sorts of workouts planned this month, all piggy backing on half marathon training.  So, here we go!  Yuengling Shamrock 8k and Half Marathon training ho!

Starting Fresh!

Well, the last two weeks haven't gone exactly as I would have liked.  It was a time of over-eating and under-moving.  LOL!  In that time, I gained 4.4 pounds.  Bah!  Not thrilled about that, but it happens.  I know why it happened and I am on my way to stopping it from getting worse.

I have another exercise calendar set and ready to go!

   

Why is there a week that seems really light on the workouts?  It's not because it's the week after Christmas and I'm giving up.  Hubby and I are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary (wow!) and will be enjoying a little alone time.  I have some workouts listed, but I'm not pushing myself that week.

You will also notice that come December 6 weekday running starts up again.  Yup, half marathon training kicks in again.  Crazy how quickly that came up!  I'm going to follow a different plan by Jeff Galloway this time around, one aimed on improving time rather than just finishing the race.  So, there's more speed work involved this time around.  Even though I PRed at Philly, I still want to finish Shamrock faster than that.  I'll never be a sub-2 hour half marathoner, but a sub-3 hour would be nice.  :-)

Along with all this exercise, my goal is to get back to my healthy eating.  It's fun to get off track now and again, but I find it hard to get back at it.  Hence the issues I had last week.  LOL!  Plus I'm hoping with all this exercise I'll want to eat healthy to reap the full benefits. Even with the holidays, it is possible to keep up those workouts and eat reasonably.  Parties aren't every day.  Pick and chose what is important to you.  And that's my goal this holiday season.  Continue with the workouts and be picky about my splurges.  What is truly something I can't do without this year?  Then and only then can I indulge.  Because then it will be worth the splurge and there will be no regrets.

Finally!

I finally got 2 weekday runs in this week.  It has been ages since I've done that.  It's kinda embarrassing.  But, I've made a commitment to run all my runs til the Philly Half Marathon on November 20th.

It wasn't a good run by any stretch of the imagination.  I realized shortly into it I had to go to the bathroom. Oops.  It was not pleasant to be honest.  Note to self: remember to go to the bathroom before going for a run of any distance.

Then, as I was almost done, a little girl started yelling behind me.  I normally ignore people yelling around me, but all of a sudden a small dog went tearing past me.  Apparently, she wanted me to stop her dog.  Oops again.  So, I took off trying to catch up with this little dog.  I was no where close to catching him!  But, I did my best to help her corral him and eventually she got him.  He got distracted by other dogs behind a fence and she was able to grab him.  All this chasing after the little dog sure didn't help my running, but it did help the little girl, so I suppose it wasn't all bad.

What we're taking away from this is I got 2 runs in this week.  Huge step for me.  It's been too long.  Next up: 12.5 mile run Saturday, my last long training run until the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  Eep!

Mental Mindset (running)

The  last time I ran 10 miles it looked like this.  Yup, snow everywhere.  It was the end of January and I was 6 weeks out from the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  I was nervous, but kinda excited.  Not only was I going to run 10 miles for the first time, I was going to do it in the snow.  Bad-ass baby!

And I did. It was kinda boring. I had to run around lots of snow, un-cleared sidewalks, and watch out for ice.  But, I did it.  And it would be the longest run before the Princess Half Marathon.  For reasons I can't remember, I never managed to get my 12 miler in.  I would like to say it had something to do with snow, but I have a feeling it had more to do with being lazy.  I didn't run that week.  The following week I ran 8 miles.  I had high hopes of running my 12 that day, but uh, it was the windiest day ever. Windy as in siding was coming off someone's house, a mailbox came out of the ground, and someone's lawn ornaments were rolling down the street.  That 12 mile run went down to 10 then 8.  I decided I wanted to live to see the Disney Princess Half Marathon.

And I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon the following Sunday.  Ran the whole thing with only having run 10 as my longest training run.  And last Saturday I had a 10 mile training run.  Now, I have no desire to run.  I feel like it's time to run the Philly Half Marathon.  I am ready to go.  I'm not prepared for another 8 weeks of training, of running, of not racing in the Philly Half Marathon.  What's up with that? 

As I've said in the past, I love this program.  I love how it works with my lazy running attitude.  I'm just not sure I was prepared for being this  prepared for Philly already.  I'm going to need major motivation for the next 8 weeks...

Still Not a Morning Person

For the past two and a half weeks, I've been getting up before work to run.  It's just a 30 minute run (which is what my plan says!), so I get up a tad bit early and run it before heading in.  I've never been a morning person.  I know exactly how long it takes for me to get ready in the morning (1 hour), if I shower (1 hour and 30 minutes), how long it takes to get to the highway (7 minutes), how long a walk it is to the archives once I park my car (10 minutes).  This is all due to a severe lack of love for mornings.  But, I've been proud of myself for getting up early and running before the archives on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Well, today enforced the Chris is not a morning person persona.  LOL!  I have to be at the archives an hour early and I just couldn't get up at 5:15 a.m. to go for a run, shower, eat breakfast, and get ready.  I rolled right on over, re-set the alarm, and went back to bed.  So, I apparently have hit my threshold for early morning runs.  I can do them if I go into the archives at 10:00 a.m., but a 9:00 a.m. morning means no morning run.  Good to know.

So, that means I have a 30 minute run tonight when I get home from work.  Here's hoping I can do it!

UPDATE: Got home and went for my run.  Wasn't thinking it was a good one.  Felt like I was running through mud.  But when it was all said and done, I got 2.15 miles in 30 minutes (.03 miles short of Tuesday's run).  Not bad really.

Another end of week recap!

Here we are again, Friday.  Ahhh...Friday.  Such a nice day.  One of my favorites actually.  Time to recap the week's adventures!

Had a great running week so far.  Last Saturday did my lovely 3 mile long run of half marathon training.  Went well.  Hot, but well.  Had two more runs of 30 minutes this week.  Tuesday's run was amazing!  Kept me in a good mood all day!  Thursday, well Thursday wasn't as good, but it was a moral victory for going out there.  Tomorrow is a 4 mile run.  I think I can handle that.  ;-)

Tuesday night we hit the Rail Trail again for a Sunset Scramble ride.  This time we started at Gladfelter's Station and rode north into York.  It was odd riding the opposite of our normal route.  We usually start somewhere and ride south.  We stopped at the Colonial Courthouse in York for a private tour.  One of the main reasons we decided to go on the Sunset Scramble.  LOL!  The bike ride totaled 15.2 miles, not bad for a day with a 2 mile run in it.

We had a nice tour guide who's father spearheaded the campaign back in the early 1970s to build a replica of the original courthouse.  The original was built in 1756 and was located at the intersection of George and Market Streets in downtown York (it was called Centre Square then).  In 1841, the citizens of York decided to tear down the courthouse.  When the bicentennial of the US came upon the nation, the York Bicentennial Committee decided to rebuild the courthouse as a tribute to York's Revolutionary roots.  Did you know the first formal government was established here?  Yup, those good ole Articles of Confederation was designed and signed here.  It was also the first time the country was referred to as the United States of America.

Inside of the York Colonial Courthouse.  The bench at the long table against the wall is original to the 1700s.  (Sorry for the crappy quality, my cell phone isn't as good as it thinks it is.)

 

Tuesday and Thursday I had the chance to learn how to deacidify and encapsulate historic documents.  Fun!  Tuesday was the deacidication day, where I used the machine to spray 1865 Civil War Muster Rolls to keep them from getting any worse.  The solution applied keeps the paper in the same condition it is in now for the next 100 years.  In reality, we didn't deacidify anything, we just added a solution to keep it from getting worse.  Then on Thursday we encapsulated the documents we deacidified on Tuesday.  This was a really neat process and simple to do (once you learn how).  We got through about 7-8 of the documents.  This coming week, we're going to work on getting the rest encapsulated.  Pretty neat stuff.

I hit up the Lancaster County Photography MeetUp on Thursday night for a presentation on Sports photography.  I just love taking sports images.  Baseball and football are my favorite.  I have photographed a 5k for a local fire company.  I had a good time doing that and may be doing that again this year.  Learned a few things about sports photography and enjoyed the presentation.  

And it was a successful week in healthy eating (and obviously) exercise.  :-)  Down another 1.4 pounds since last week.  Slowly but surely getting there.  And to top it off, I tried on a pair of jeans that didn't fit anymore...that now fit!  Love when that happens!  Course the weather is too warm to wear them anytime soon, but the point is, they fit.  :-)

Total Down Since May: 13.6
Total Loss for Dec. 23 (20 weeks): 37.4
To Go: 23.8

Exercise: 37 Activity Points/5,139 Calories Burned

Philadelphia Half Marathon Training

started today!

One week til Half Marathon training begins!

One week from today, I will begin training for my second half marathon.  I ran my very first half marathon on Sunday, February 27th at the Disney Princess Half Marathon and when I crossed the finish line, I wasn't sure I would ever run another one.  I decided to give it some time before making a final decision on the matter.

Then hubby decided to run the full marathon at Philadelphia on November 20th, so I decided to run the Philly Half Marathon - Best Time of your Life!  Why not?  I've done it once, I'm sure I can do it again...and maybe do it faster?  My time at Princess was 3:21:11.  Maybe I can speed things up a little.  :-)

Last time, I had a full plan with mileage per week and all sorts of stuff.  I made it to a 10 mile run at the most, even though I had a 12 mile scheduled.  Training went fairly well, as far as I could tell and I ran every last mile of that 13.1 miles.  But, I know I should have done things better.  I should have gotten that 12 mile training run in.  I should have eaten my sports beans like I did in training.  I should have brought a better camera...oh wait, that has nothing to do with training!

So, this time around, I'm trying a Jeff Galloway plan.  It's really simple, which is seriously perfect for me.  Tuesday and Thursday do a 30 minute run, then do your long runs on Saturday.  This makes life sooooo much simpler!  My last program had specific mileage per day.  I was constantly worried about not getting those weekday miles in, especially when we had snow (training for a half marathon between December and February can involve the white stuff and it did!).  This plan is a simple to follow 30 minutes twice a week.  I can handle this.

So, next Tuesday - July 27th - 5 months from finishing my very first half marathon, I'll start training for my second.  I'll share how it's going, tell you how the training program itself is working, and possibly ask for advice.  Stay on your toes!  It's going to be a crazy ride!

Book Review

Running and Fat Burning for Women

Jeff and Barbara Galloway

As you may know, I ran my first half marathon this past February.  I started my training in December 2010 and worked my way through until the race on February 27, 2011.  During that time I had what I affectionately termed "Operation 20" where between November 2010 and February 2011 I would lose 20 pounds.  It was doable and I really felt that those 20 pounds would come off so easily with me training for a half marathon.  I mean, come on!  I'm running mileages higher than I've ever run before every week!  How could I fail to lose weight?  Well, "Operation 20" was a failure.  Did not lose 20 pounds during that time period.  I basically stayed the same.  Why?  Because your body wants you to compensate for all the calories you burn while exercising and it takes a pretty strong person to stand up and say NO! 

I am now training for my second half marathon (Philadelphia Half Marathon - Best Time of Your Life!) and I'm trying to go into this more educated.  So, I hit my local Borders to grab a book on half marathon training and came across Running and Fat Burning for Women by Jeff and Barbara Galloway.  I was intrigued by the title as I will be running, I am a woman, and I want to burn some fat.  I also noticed it was written by Jeff Galloway and his wife.  The same Jeff Galloway of the Galloway Marathon Training Program, 1972 Olympian, author of numerous books, monthly columnist for Runner's World, and organizer of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, GA.  He kinda has credentials.    So, I grabbed that (along with a half marathon training book) and proceeded to the check out.

The first thing I will say about this book is it is exceedingly readable.  Written very conversationally, lots of white space, large type, and pull-outs, it is easy to get through and a quick read.  The book is broken up into six segments: Women's Issues, Eating With a Purpose, Exercise is Fun! If You Stay in the Fat-Burn Zone, Motivation, Tips & Techniques, and Troubleshooting.  Each segment is broken up into sections and each section has bolded subsections, photos, and personal stories of people the Galloways have worked with.  This set-up keeps the book moving, I was able to read the close to 200 page book in just a couple of hours.

What I'm taking away from their theory on fat burning and running is two-fold:

1. Food is fuel for the body.  It is not a reward for getting through a bad day, reaching a goal, or celebrating with family and friends.  The purpose of eating is to fuel your body to do what it needs to do.  If you're running, you need to ingest the right combination of foods and liquids to keep your body in condition to do what you're asking it to do.  I've known this, but never really had a plan laid out that explains exactly what your body needs and how often you should be fueling it.  They do a good job of laying it out for you, rather than just vaguely saying food is fuel and assuming you can figure out what to do about it.

2. Exercise does not have to be push til you drop.  Many times, adding in smaller activities can help with your overall fitness and weight loss.  

Several short exercise sessions a week can burn fat every day.  The secret is to have a series of gentle exercises which you can do throughout the day.  You want to enjoy these activities, and they must be easy to insert into your lifestyle.

Walking for example, offers an almost unlimited opportunity for burning fat, while allowing you to feel better the rest of the day.  Instead of sitting down while you are watching kids, waiting for a meeting or appointment, WALK!  The steps add up.  (Galloway, 23)

I took this piece of advice to heart, and while I haven't fully implemented all they propose, I started adding a bit more walking into my average day.  I have a half mile walking commute three days a week.  I decided to show up a tad bit early (15 minutes) and add some distance to this.  I then try to get out at lunch for about a 20 minute walk.  After work, I add on additional distance as I walk back to my car.  These simple three things added 1.5-2 miles a day to my commute.  They didn't cost me anything, I never got out of breath, and had it not been 90+ degrees these days, I wouldn't have gotten hot.  At the end of the week, I had 7.5 miles of walking in rather than 3 miles and it didn't take me much to get in that extra 4.5 miles.

I enjoyed this book and I have a feeling it's going to be one I refer back to throughout the next few months as I incorporate more and more of their suggestions.  Some of their suggestions are big changes for me and will take time to work in, but I see the logic behind what they propose and I believe that even working in a few of their suggestions will help me in the long run.