New milestone

Again, I may not be posting but I'm still running. Today I ran Week 5 Day 3. I was thinking it would be an 10 min run cycle because Day 1 and 2 incrementally increased up to 8 min but to my surprise, it called for a 5 min warm up and then a 20 min run! Then it had a note saying not to be put off and I could do it. And I did! At 6 miles per hour, I ran for 20 min straight. It felt good. I started getting a little bored/tired at the 15 min mark but I know that will pass with more practice.

Setbacks

I'm frustrated. It seems like every time I hit a new milestone in my running, I either get so busy at work that I miss my runs or I get sick. This time, I got hit with both. Last week I missed going to the gym altogether because of work and this week I'm sick (probably from the exhaustion from lack of sleep due to work). By the time I shake off this cold and get back to the gym, I would have missed 2 full weeks of training which means I'll probably have to go back a week or two in my training to try and get myself back up to my last milestone. ARRGHHH! So frustrating.

Week 2-4

No worries. I may not be posting my progress but I am progressing. During this week, I've been doing
5 min warm-up
3 min run
90 sec walk
5 min walk
2 min 30 sec walk
Repeat
5 min cool down
All at 7 miles per hour run and 4 miles per hour walk. Cool down is 3.5 miles per hour walk.

The 5 min run intervals are HARD at that pace but I push through it and get it done.

Week 1 Day 3

Finished my last 60 sec run, 90 sec walk cycles. I pushed myself to run faster than 7 miles per hour. It felt good to do 7.5 and even 8 during some of the cycles.

Week 1

I've decided to start my marathon training from scratch. So far I've done Week 1 Day 1 and 2 runs which consisted of:

• 5 min warm up walk
• Run 60 sec and walk 90 sec (x8)
• 5 min cool down walk

Every other day I'm doing weights.

Week 3 Day 1 to Week 4 Day 3

Maybe posting isn't my strong suit but I have been running. I'm using the RunDouble app, Couch to 5km program on the time setting (not distance) since I'm running on the treadmill.

Week 3 Day 1-3
5 min warm-up walk
90 sec running
90 sec walking
3 min running
3 min walking
x2
5 min cool down walk
Warm-up walk and interval walking is at 4.0 miles/hr. Running is at 7.0 miles/hr. Cool down walk is 3.5 miles/hr. This wasn't bad. 3 min. I can do.


Week 4 Day 1-3
5 min warm-up walk
3 min running
90 sec walking
5 min running
2.5 min walking
x2
5 min cool down walk
The first two days I could not sustain 7.0 miles/hr during the 5 min intervals. I had to slow down to 6.0. It was so very hard. Then I had the weekend to recuperate on today (Monday), I am elated to report that I was able to sustain 7.0 miles/hr throughout all the running intervals. IT WAS SO VERY HARD during the 5 min. run. It was a total mind game, especially during the 2nd cycle. BUT I DID IT!!!!! I kept repeating positive thoughts to myself, telling myself my legs weren't that tired and my breathing is ok and it was all in my head. I even pretended Nancy Henry from my McMillan days was cheering me on and telling me I could do it. Boy, was it hard to not slow down my pace but I did it!!!

Now I need to figure out how I'm going to stay in shape when I am in Morocco for 2 weeks. Yikes!

Two Years, One Mission, and State Finals Later

Yeah, I know. It's about time I picked this up again. Two years ago I sent Connor on a mission. You can read up on his adventures here. Aidan has had an eventful two years as well. Football has ruled his world and in his senior year, the team made it all the way to the State finals. Westlake even beat Allen's 57 winning game streak (the 2nd longest streak in the country)! With his eye on football, Aidan decided to try out for Snow College's football team. While trying out, there were coaches from Southern Virginia University there scoping the talent out. One coach invited Aidan to play at SVU if he didn't make it on Snow's team. SVU is where Aidan is now. 

That gives you a Cole's Notes version what the kids have been up to. This past year, Sheldon and I have been agonizing over our contractor's slow renovations process on the home we bought. But after 7 months, it's finally done!

But that brings me to today. Why did I suddenly start blogging again. I'm sitting here, trying to prepare my youth Sunday School lesson about setting goals and how it helps us become self-reliant and it got me reflecting on my half-marathon training. I remembered blogging about my training as a way to become accountable and since I've set the lofty goal of running a full marathon when I turn 40 (which is 1.5 years away), I've decided to pick up the blog again as a way to become accountable. It was fun re-reading some of my posts during my half-marathon days. I had forgotten a lot of it. I realize it will become helpful as I train for my full marathon.

With technology advances since my half marathon, I'm now using an app to help with my training. I started in September and was good for about 3 weeks but then I got sick and then busy at work so I've had to re-start. I've just finished my 2nd week and will start my Week 3 schedule tomorrow.