Blogging is hard

I think keeping this blog is harder than actually running. Thinking of something new and interesting to say each week is kind of taxing.

Well, ran everyday of the weekend. 25 minutes on Friday & Saturday. 45 minutes on Sunday. Karate on Monday and took a break today. Grades were due, so a lot of pressure makes for a tired Scotty. Tired. Sleep now.

Return to the Gym

So the gym workout was good the first time. We'll see how it is again tonight. I'm running later because of my weird schedule today. And yesterday was my rest day for the week. Tonight, I have a sleep study. I figure a good run, shower and steam will make me nice and sleepy for when I arrive at the hospital. It will hopefully counteract the weirdness of sleeping with all the monitors on me. And in a t-shirt. I never sleep in a t-shirt, and I know that's going to be a hassle. I'll bring my sleeping Yeti (Yeti-Lee) and he'll help me get through it.

Off to the gym and then to sleep!! Sort of.

Gym v School v Outdoors

My town is covered in slush. Covered. Running outside would not only be stupid, it would be dangerous. So, I chose to run inside today - I brought my stuff to work and was going to use the hallways again. Then, something in me snapped. I didn't like running in the school. It was pretty darned awful. So, I went home, got a towel and some socks, went to my old gym and signed up for three months. They have an indoor track that overlooks the pool and the basketball court. So, while the view is pretty static, there are big windows (that might look good during the daylight) and usually several hot guys to stare at on the court. Plus, it was less than buying a treadmill. I think it was a good expenditure. It will last me until mid-April. By then the snow should be gone and I can return to running outdoors regularly. Hopefully by then I'll also have moved.

Oh, and the gym has a scale, so I can more frequently update my weight loss (hopefully).

So, here it is:

Update: ~2.5 miles, 25 minutes, 286 lbs. Note: This is a new scale, so it might be different from the one at the doctor's office. But it went down one, so that makes me happy.

Oh, Sunday was yesterday?

I utterly forgot to post about my Sunday run. It was amazing. We run as a group (but we don't talk about Run Club) so it's a social event and it gives me the chance to get some one on one time with my coach. It's always good to get tips on form and hills and everything.

So, Sunday was a 3.5 mile run which we did in 40 minutes. That was a looooong run with a variety of big and small hills. So it was a good experience to do it all in one go. Last weekend I did it in several pieces, walking on many of the hills. So, to take a week to get back into the swing of things and hit a 40 minute run like that was a great boost to my self-esteem. Particularly coming off of last week's illness.

One thing I need to learn is not to eat so much. I need to diversify my meals, smaller portions with more green vegetables, etc. Saturday I ate an entire medium pizza. Well, in point of fact, I ate two. It *was* all I ate all day, but I shouldn't have eaten that much food. It kills the work that I've done. Now that the holidays are over I should return to a normal eating schedule. I really like salad, so it shouldn't be a burden to make and eat one every meal. I made one today.

Oh, and today was a rest day. Put my feet up and relaxed. No tae kwon do because of the holiday.

Update: 40 minutes, 3.5 miles.

Running 2 days is a row = Tough

So, I ran the same run again today. I think I'm going to have to change up my runs fairly frequently, because I'm already growing bored with the scenery. With the mapping tool at my disposal though, I don't think that will be a problem. I need to drive through a few neighborhoods to make sure they're safe before I map my way through them.

My goodness I'm sweating like a pig. Another 25 minute run today. The first half took me nearly a full minute less time than it did yesterday, which is why I was sooooo tired after the first half of the run today. I believe my running speed is affected by the beat of the music on my iPod. The faster the beat, the faster my steps. That's bad in so far as it's subconsciously controlling my pace. That's good in so far as I'm varying my pace and getting used to the difference between them. It's definitely noticeable. I didn't know there was an 'e' in noticeable - thank you spell check.

I may have to get the timing counts for a variety of the music that I run to and make sure they're all about the same. I can make faster mixes for faster days and slower mixes for slower days. For example, Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" has a definite noticeable back beat that makes my feet want to hit the pavement at a particular pace. He said because he was listening to it even now. Where as Cascada's "Evacuate the Dance Floor" is a bit faster. Hmm, something to think about.

Update: 25 minutes, ~2.0 miles. Weight - who knows? But I feel good.

New Run

Well, I recently found a website called mapmyrun.com. It's a great site that helps you map out routes for your running, find new routes, track your workouts, etc. Today I ran my first self-planned route. It was 2.5 miles total with 5 minutes of walking at either end, so I ran about 2 miles in 25 minutes. The hills were interesting. There are a couple of big hills in the run - bigger than the mapper would lead you to believe. But, taking the advice of my running coach, I pushed off my heel and snapped my arms at a pace that left me breathing a little heavy, but still able to continue running - apparently that's the key to running a hill. Don't get so winded that you need to walk when you get to the top.

Now, as an out and back course, it looks like there's one hill in the middle. Well there is, but only because most of the way out is up and most of the way back is down. It made for an interesting run. I think I might try to find a more varied course in the future, but that may be hard considering where I live. Being near a river means that most surfaces slope up, I've discovered. Ah, well, I'm destined to be a great hill runner. Plus, the half marathon is in Vermont. That state is known for it's completely flat ground.

Update: 25 minutes. ~ 2 miles.

Brief

So, Thursdays are supposed to be my running day, but I chose to rest instead. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40s, so it'll be a perfect day to run outside and that means I can get to the park and run there. That excites me way more than running inside my high school.

This decision comes in part because I went to my tae kwon do class twice this week for a good 2 hour workout each time. I think it's best to take a day off every now and again. It's hard to be training for a half-marathon and training for a 2nd degree black belt test at the same time. I have to run, kick, run, break, run, punch, run and then kick some more. It's a work out. I think I'm working out more this year than I have in the last 39. Ah well, my belt no longer fits and that's a good thing. I need to punch new holes in it.

No update to time or anything. Will update that this weekend. The plan is to run Friday, Saturday & Sunday.