Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Part 2. How I learned to run
When I finally identified 'the problem' I decided I could try an experiment. Turns out it worked for me and I am now an avid runner. Not really a speedy runner by any definition. But I am consistent, and to me that is way more important.
Here is how I learned to run.
1. You need 1 of 2 things, either an ipod with some awesome tunes, or landmarks when you run. It's better to do this NOT on a treadmill. (in my opinion anyway)
Start your playlist, and start SLOW. Like, slow enough that your best friend could power walk next to you and pretty much keep up. Walk until the chorus comes on, then slow your pace down even more to a brisk walk. Do this the entire song. Then when the next song comes on, try to keep your slow jog going through at least the first chorus. Then do the fast walk thing through the rest of the song while slowly jogging the verses of the song. When the 3rd song comes on, try to jog the ENTIRE song. Don't worry, you will get rewarded- when you get to song 4, you can walk the whole thing!
Then repeat until you have been moving for 20-25 minutes. (You should be going slow enough that you could carry on a conversation.
This method works with landmarks too. Pick something in the near distant future you will be passing, and jog to it. You can slow to a walk when you get there. Then pick out your next obstacle to jog to again. ect. ect. I just find it is harder to ration my walking time this way and I wuss out and walk WAY too much.
Repeat this routine for at least a week. Try to work out at least 3-4 times per week.
The next week, cut out your walk song and replace it with just walking through the chorus. Keep your slow speed and your total running time to about 25-30 minutes. Try to work out at least 3-4 times this week as well.
Also, PLEASE STRETCH your muscles. It is SO important to prevent injury. I am OCD about my routine. I 'warm up'- which is usually the first 2-3 minutes I'm jogging (it would be more or less depending on the distance I am going to run)... Then I stop and stretch my legs for about 5 minutes. And then at the end of my jog I stretch again for about 10. I know it is weird to stretch at the beginning of a run, but I swear it has saved my knees.
Around week 3 you should be about to jog through 2 songs in a row without taking it to a walk. Try to be consistent with how often you run. If you can do it 3x a week your body will adapt to going further distances easier than if you are only running 1-2x a week. Pretty soon you will be running 5k's! Just stick with it.
Don't focus on 'trying to run 3 miles' or some other far distance when you first start. Just be patient with yourself and focus on 'trying to jog an entire song'.
Also, you WILL have bad runs. It happens. You will have really good runs too. Here is the thing...
You CAN do it. Don't give up!
If any of you have methods to increasing your distance and weird running rituals, I would LOVE to hear them!
Here is how I learned to run.
1. You need 1 of 2 things, either an ipod with some awesome tunes, or landmarks when you run. It's better to do this NOT on a treadmill. (in my opinion anyway)
Start your playlist, and start SLOW. Like, slow enough that your best friend could power walk next to you and pretty much keep up. Walk until the chorus comes on, then slow your pace down even more to a brisk walk. Do this the entire song. Then when the next song comes on, try to keep your slow jog going through at least the first chorus. Then do the fast walk thing through the rest of the song while slowly jogging the verses of the song. When the 3rd song comes on, try to jog the ENTIRE song. Don't worry, you will get rewarded- when you get to song 4, you can walk the whole thing!
Then repeat until you have been moving for 20-25 minutes. (You should be going slow enough that you could carry on a conversation.
This method works with landmarks too. Pick something in the near distant future you will be passing, and jog to it. You can slow to a walk when you get there. Then pick out your next obstacle to jog to again. ect. ect. I just find it is harder to ration my walking time this way and I wuss out and walk WAY too much.
Repeat this routine for at least a week. Try to work out at least 3-4 times per week.
The next week, cut out your walk song and replace it with just walking through the chorus. Keep your slow speed and your total running time to about 25-30 minutes. Try to work out at least 3-4 times this week as well.
Also, PLEASE STRETCH your muscles. It is SO important to prevent injury. I am OCD about my routine. I 'warm up'- which is usually the first 2-3 minutes I'm jogging (it would be more or less depending on the distance I am going to run)... Then I stop and stretch my legs for about 5 minutes. And then at the end of my jog I stretch again for about 10. I know it is weird to stretch at the beginning of a run, but I swear it has saved my knees.
Around week 3 you should be about to jog through 2 songs in a row without taking it to a walk. Try to be consistent with how often you run. If you can do it 3x a week your body will adapt to going further distances easier than if you are only running 1-2x a week. Pretty soon you will be running 5k's! Just stick with it.
Don't focus on 'trying to run 3 miles' or some other far distance when you first start. Just be patient with yourself and focus on 'trying to jog an entire song'.
Also, you WILL have bad runs. It happens. You will have really good runs too. Here is the thing...
You CAN do it. Don't give up!
If any of you have methods to increasing your distance and weird running rituals, I would LOVE to hear them!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Running: everything you might(?) want to know.
A bunch of people have been asking me questions about one of my obsessions lately. A few of the questions have been:
When/why did you start running?
How did you learn to run?
How do you stay motivated?
I would like to try to answer a couple of those questions. This post has potential to get a little lengthy so I will divide it into 3 separate posts.
Part 1...
1. When/Why did I start running?
To start off, I wasn't always 'a runner' or whatever you want to call it. I NEVER ran growing up. I remember Jr High PE being a living hell the week we had to run a mile outside on the track. And then I swore I was cast to outer darkness the next week when my sweet PE teacher had us run it again, and we had to get under a certain time to pass the class.
Fast forward to high school: I learned there was a cross country team. That sounded ludicrous to me. Why in the world would someone want to run ACROSS the COUNTRY?!!! That was just something really 'skinny nerdy boys' did.
My mom on the other hand, has been running since before the dawn of time. I can remember her getting up before all of us kids every morning, rain or shine, and tieing up her bandana around her mouth to keep the cold air out in the winter. I remember her hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants always being in the laundry room because she wore them every day! She would take the dog and her am/fm radio and be gone and back before I had my morning bowl of Cheerios.
Naturally I added 'old people' to my list of people who run.
Go down the road a couple more years to college: I ate too many microwave dinners and didn't have my 14 year old metabolism anymore, so I gained 15lbs my 1st semester of college. That got me motivated to maybe try running again. I ran laps around the rec field at ASU. It was Jr. High PE all over again, but 1,000 times worse because now I was less than skinny and there were gorgeous sorority girls (walking of course- did you ever notice how they never run? or ever break a sweat?) and very fit guys running so fast they lapped me about 8 times before I did half a lap!
Lets just leave it at that. I think I may haveran slowly jogged for about 15 minutes each time I 'worked out'. But I did mentally add 'really fit guys' to my list of 'people who run'.
A few more years pass, I get married. (By the way- I did manage to lose my Freshman 15 by not having a microwave in my room the 2nd semester and living off the land...or something like that. I was more than dirt poor, so I don't think I ate much at all. I don't recommend it. Ah, memories of college life. I lived for Friday's at the institute when they fed us for a dollar.)
Anyway, now I am ranting...
Back to my main point. I decided (yet again) that I wanted to 'get fit', so I maybe I can take up running (again...). I started running a couple times a week and really hated it.
Why would someone put themselves through that?! I kept going for about a month and still hated it.
Then I finally got smart and started asking myself a couple important questions.
Why did I want to run? Well, because it was the cheapest physical activity I could think of to stay in shape. Its pretty much free. All you need are shoes and the great outdoors. Much less expensive than a gym membership or yoga classes!
wow. brilliant answer huh. That is why I wanted to run. Because I am cheap. And that was motivation. Have more money saved and be in shape...
So I had to add another person to my list of runners:
1. Skinny Nerdy boys
2. Old people.
3. Really fit College Guys
4. People on a budget.
(yes, my list is WAY off. I know that now.)
The other question was why did I keep giving up?
Because I was running too fast. I had no idea how to 'pace' myself. I was going at an all out sprint for the first minute or 2 and hated the fact that I couldn't keep it up for an entire workout. All I got were cramps and misery. Which leads me into the next part about 'teaching myself to run', which I will post next.
I bet you at the edge of your seat now. Just you wait to hear the breathtaking (no pun intended) story of how I actually stuck with running!
When/why did you start running?
How did you learn to run?
How do you stay motivated?
I would like to try to answer a couple of those questions. This post has potential to get a little lengthy so I will divide it into 3 separate posts.
Part 1...
1. When/Why did I start running?
To start off, I wasn't always 'a runner' or whatever you want to call it. I NEVER ran growing up. I remember Jr High PE being a living hell the week we had to run a mile outside on the track. And then I swore I was cast to outer darkness the next week when my sweet PE teacher had us run it again, and we had to get under a certain time to pass the class.
Fast forward to high school: I learned there was a cross country team. That sounded ludicrous to me. Why in the world would someone want to run ACROSS the COUNTRY?!!! That was just something really 'skinny nerdy boys' did.
My mom on the other hand, has been running since before the dawn of time. I can remember her getting up before all of us kids every morning, rain or shine, and tieing up her bandana around her mouth to keep the cold air out in the winter. I remember her hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants always being in the laundry room because she wore them every day! She would take the dog and her am/fm radio and be gone and back before I had my morning bowl of Cheerios.
Naturally I added 'old people' to my list of people who run.
Go down the road a couple more years to college: I ate too many microwave dinners and didn't have my 14 year old metabolism anymore, so I gained 15lbs my 1st semester of college. That got me motivated to maybe try running again. I ran laps around the rec field at ASU. It was Jr. High PE all over again, but 1,000 times worse because now I was less than skinny and there were gorgeous sorority girls (walking of course- did you ever notice how they never run? or ever break a sweat?) and very fit guys running so fast they lapped me about 8 times before I did half a lap!
Lets just leave it at that. I think I may have
A few more years pass, I get married. (By the way- I did manage to lose my Freshman 15 by not having a microwave in my room the 2nd semester and living off the land...or something like that. I was more than dirt poor, so I don't think I ate much at all. I don't recommend it. Ah, memories of college life. I lived for Friday's at the institute when they fed us for a dollar.)
Anyway, now I am ranting...
Back to my main point. I decided (yet again) that I wanted to 'get fit', so I maybe I can take up running (again...). I started running a couple times a week and really hated it.
Why would someone put themselves through that?! I kept going for about a month and still hated it.
Then I finally got smart and started asking myself a couple important questions.
Why did I want to run? Well, because it was the cheapest physical activity I could think of to stay in shape. Its pretty much free. All you need are shoes and the great outdoors. Much less expensive than a gym membership or yoga classes!
wow. brilliant answer huh. That is why I wanted to run. Because I am cheap. And that was motivation. Have more money saved and be in shape...
So I had to add another person to my list of runners:
1. Skinny Nerdy boys
2. Old people.
3. Really fit College Guys
4. People on a budget.
(yes, my list is WAY off. I know that now.)
The other question was why did I keep giving up?
Because I was running too fast. I had no idea how to 'pace' myself. I was going at an all out sprint for the first minute or 2 and hated the fact that I couldn't keep it up for an entire workout. All I got were cramps and misery. Which leads me into the next part about 'teaching myself to run', which I will post next.
I bet you at the edge of your seat now. Just you wait to hear the breathtaking (no pun intended) story of how I actually stuck with running!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Beefy Heathy
My little chunk is 6 months old! Can you believe it? I took him in for his check-up and found out that he is 18lbs (60%) and 28 inches long (95%). He is one TALL baby. He is so long that he is out grown 12 month onsies, but the next size up drown him!
Fun things at this age:
He rolls over!
He sits up too!
He does "free willy" (where he is on his stomach with his legs and head elevated and uses his arms to push him in a circle) It is extremely entertaining.
He is just as smiley and content as ever.
He hangs out in the stroller while I run, or while the kids play at the park and never fusses.
He has not one, but TWO teeth. (O and P for you dental people out there)
He also bathes himself in about a gallon of drool on a daily basis. His poor neck is so red and raw from being wet and/or having the bib around his neck.
And yes, that is a pink bib.
Sadly, his sleep has gone backwards. He used to sleep for 12 hours, now he eats at 8, and sleeps until 4, when he wakes up SCREAMING bloody murder. Then I feed him and he is out until about 8:00 am. Not bad, but when you are spoiled early, it gets kinda old.
I love my little man. He is quite possibly the cutest baby on earth right at this moment... (okay, I am biased, but just a bit) I can't get enough of the baby smiles, laughs, fatty rolls and cuddles.
Fun things at this age:
He rolls over!
He sits up too!
He does "free willy" (where he is on his stomach with his legs and head elevated and uses his arms to push him in a circle) It is extremely entertaining.
He is just as smiley and content as ever.
He hangs out in the stroller while I run, or while the kids play at the park and never fusses.
He has not one, but TWO teeth. (O and P for you dental people out there)
He also bathes himself in about a gallon of drool on a daily basis. His poor neck is so red and raw from being wet and/or having the bib around his neck.
Sadly, his sleep has gone backwards. He used to sleep for 12 hours, now he eats at 8, and sleeps until 4, when he wakes up SCREAMING bloody murder. Then I feed him and he is out until about 8:00 am. Not bad, but when you are spoiled early, it gets kinda old.
I love my little man. He is quite possibly the cutest baby on earth right at this moment... (okay, I am biased, but just a bit) I can't get enough of the baby smiles, laughs, fatty rolls and cuddles.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Busch Gardens
We went with the Nelson's in May before they graduated and left us for Arizona. (Can't say I blame them) We had a ton of fun with them and it will be one of my favorite trips we have been on while living on the East Coast.
*Beware. All pictures taken with my point and shoot.
Bryan just wanted to play the arcade games. (I thought he was nuts. Those things seem like a waste of time to me, but he had a blast playing the basketball 3 point game) I think he played the basketball game about 7 times. He did win a mini-basketball. And Brooke loved on that ball the rest of the trip!
Our awesome friends, Jessica, Adam, Gage, Paxton, and Lanie. We miss them SO much.
One thing that was different was that many of the kids ride were "adult free" and it wasn't even an option to get on with them. It freaked me out a little at first, just because I was afraid Brooke would try to jump ship. She proved me wrong though and sat quite content in the majority of the rides. Peter was the baby and cried almost every time it was a new ride. He tried to jump ship quite a few times, but luckily it was before it was moving.
*Beware. All pictures taken with my point and shoot.
Our awesome friends, Jessica, Adam, Gage, Paxton, and Lanie. We miss them SO much.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
More Summer Fun
I am all about the pictures, and sometimes I take so many, I get behind at posting. These are from April when we went to Disneyland.
The favorite attraction in California Adventure HAD to be the movie room outside of "turtle talk with Crush" where they just play clips from all the Disney animated movies. I swear they sat in the middle of the floor for about an hour and didn't move.
We also waited in line FOREVER to meet Tinkerbell. Brooke BEGGED me to meet her. And then when we finally got our turn, she was terrified of her. She wouldn't even look her in the eye. Peter on the other hand was head-over-heals for her. He was flirting with her from the first second he saw her!
Leave it to the 4 year old to fall asleep in the stroller. Brooke- not so much. Ever.
Which brings me to my absolute FAVORITE picture. This pretty much sums up Brooke during our travels between rides and the hotel. She would cry and arch her back and SCREAM at the top of her lungs while I walked around with her securely in place. Thank you Ergo Baby for making the best backpack ever.
The favorite attraction in California Adventure HAD to be the movie room outside of "turtle talk with Crush" where they just play clips from all the Disney animated movies. I swear they sat in the middle of the floor for about an hour and didn't move. 
We also waited in line FOREVER to meet Tinkerbell. Brooke BEGGED me to meet her. And then when we finally got our turn, she was terrified of her. She wouldn't even look her in the eye. Peter on the other hand was head-over-heals for her. He was flirting with her from the first second he saw her!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
I love America!
Friday, July 6, 2012
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