Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 107.


Weight: 124.60

Today's Workout:  

• Treadmill: 43:11 minute - 3.1 mile run.  331 calories
• Zumba: 630-8p - 1 hour.   516 calories

Total Calories Burn - 847 calories

It's the final countdown. It is the week of the race and its closing in fast. So today I did it. I actually ran a "5k" at the gym this morning. I was determined to 'hold' on my strength training routine and focus on running and preparing for saturday's race. I knew that I needed to push myself past the 2 mile marker so that I could know how to mentally prepare myself and also to see how my body is going to react with that extra mile. 

And doing that would require that I hold on everything else and focus on 'running only' this morning. So that is exactly what I did! I was a bit nervous about my noob-self attempting to run the full 3 miles, especially right before going into work, but it was a risk I was willing to take. It needed to be done and I did it!  Granted it was at a much slower pace than I have normally been running my mile each morning. I planned on running really slow so I could test my stamina and mental focus. 

I also put into practice some advice from a post Julie had commented on the FFG FB Wall regarding my daily runs in preparation for this race - she had said to walk for 3 mins in between each mile. So I tried this piece of advice and it did help, especially in between mile 2 and 3.  I think for race day, I will possibly skip the 'walk' between mile 1 and 2. I usually do not have any problems running the full 2 miles. Its the point after mile 2 that I start to play mind games with myself. I think walking for 3 minutes between mile 2 and 3 on race day will break it up and the active recovery will keep me focused on the final jaunt ahead and yet help me keep good time. Not that I plan on trying to 'place' during race day, its just that I have made a personal goal to complete the race within the 30-35 minute mark.

I have realized that with all this timing, I will need to get a cheap little fit band watch so I can keep time and track my pace between miles. 

I've already planned my race day breakfast - oatmeal + banana. However, I know I will need to get up extra extra early to eat as I do not perform well at all with food on my stomach. I figure if I eat at least 2-3 hours before the race, I should be okay.

After I finished running this morning, I am feeling less nervous, more confident and super excited about Saturday. I have been thinking about how far I have come. If someone had told me this time last year that I would be running in a 5k I would have hysterically wheezy laughed in their face and said, "yeah right! no way would I ever run a 5k! that is just insane". And not just a few months ago, I was daydreaming about trying to run and how to get started. And here I am now, actually running a mile daily and doing pre-race practice runs. It's insane at the progress I have made in such a short span of time. It seems so surreal.

But I like it. A lot. And I don't want to turn back, ever!
Needless to say, I am ready for race day to hurry up and get here! I guess I currently have "runners high"! :)




1 comment:

  1. i saw your race day pic on fb. how was your first race this weekend?

    ReplyDelete