That's What Jenni Said

Went out to run at 5am this morning to attempt W6D2 again. It took a little bit to find my groove during the first mile even though I had my standard stretching and warm-up, probably b/c it was early in the morning and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. This time when I started the second mile I was sure I was going to be able to finish. My confidence and the ‘fun’ of the run persisted until a half mile into the second run and then it was getting hard and I wasn’t sure I could make it, although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why. My heart rate stayed below 175 except for the last couple of minutes [which is fabulous, I’ve made more consistent gains in cardiovascular conditioning then any other part of my progress], so it’s not that I was running out of breath. And my legs were not aching or anything. I just felt tired-like my energy battery was drained. Still, I pushed through and I made it. I felt so good about the accomplishment that after I walked for a few minutes at the end

Went out to tackle day 2 of week 6 today. I made it 1.5 miles total. The first mile was cake and I ran it on average faster than I ever averaged a mile before- 5mph. (I’ve run faster than that plenty of times  but not sustained for a full mile).  I felt great during that mile, spring in my step and very happy. I could do anything! The second mile was harder, and I only made it halfway before I needed to stop. My abs were screaming at me a lot during the second run b/c they are sore from swimming yesterday (I did 10 single laps x 25meter pool=250meters). Here’s the conversations I had with the two me’s: critical me: Wow you are pathetic. People are out there running marathons everyday and you can’t even do two miles with a 3 min break in between.  You are never going to be able to run a 5k! Loser! caring me: Hey you know what Jenni, you are now following distance instead of time, which explains why it seems so much harder. Instead of just running 20 minutes total (which would be abo

The first weekend in May I fulfilled a longstanding desire to watch the Kentucky Derby in person, taking a few members of the NoVA Travelers group with me. It had been a while since I’d put together a road trip and it seemed silly to do a simple out and back just for the Derby, so I created a three day tour itinerary featuring highlights of the state. Four of us made our way around the state via car, sharing meals, a hotel room and a lot of laughs along the trip. Thursday evening we tackled the long (long!) drive to Kentucky and checked into our hotel. Friday we visited the horse park in Lexington (which brought back a lot of memories for Literary Elly May since she used to frequent the park for to compete in horse shows when she was younger) in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the slugger factory in Louisville. I’m not a big sports fan but participating in the tour and listening to stories about baseball woven into American history made me feel a little more patriotic a

This morning I woke up and felt the push to move even though it’s my running rest day. Not to meet any deadlines or tackle another running goal or anything, but just because my body wanted to be active. I didn’t really feel like biking and I don’t have a pool membership so I did what I’ve come to know lately- run. I figured perhaps I am at the point in my fitness regimen where I don’t have to take a rest day from running every other day anymore. After all, Jon runs 3 days in a row before he takes a rest day. So I ran. My first mile was moderately easy- I really enjoyed the run and my heart rate was in a good place. Since I ran a mile I thought why not take the 3 min walk break and then try to run another. Then I could actually cross W6d2 off my list a day early. My mind was all “yes!” but my body (especially my right knee) was like “um, no thank you, not today”. When I realized it wasn’t going to happen (another mile I mean) I finished up with a 45 second all out sprint (6 min pace w

Today was the first day I began following the distance goals for the program instead of the time goals. The goals only overlap perfectly if you run at a 6mph pace, which is not feasible for me at this time (I’m running anywhere from 4.7mph to 5.7mph depending on whether I’m running without walking breaks or with them). I’d been following the time goals (run 20 minutes for example) this whole program but hubby pointed out I would not actually be running a full 5k upon graduation unless I started following the distance goals instead. So I’ve switched over. Today’s session consisted of 1/2 mile run, 3 min walk, 3/4 mile run, 3 min walk, 1/2 mile run. So 1.75 miles of running total and I had no problem completing it. As expected, I ran faster than when running without breaks between the intervals. I think also paying attention to the distance instead of time pushes me to run faster b/c I realize on some level that the faster I run the sooner I am finished. Also the distance represented a

In mid-march NoVA Travelers descended on New Orleans. It was the first time I had visited the city and I arrived with great prejudice. For me, New Orleans represented a city chock full of stubborn or possibly ignorant residents who put themselves in grave danger by opting to live in a demonstrated flood basin. I’m a big believer in relocating geographically to better one’s life. If you’re not finding the resources you need to build a successful life in a community; if you’re not able to find work; you move to greener pastures. I did this (twice) in my own life and have little tolerance for folks that complain about their circumstances but refuse to move. How much more important to be mobile minded when your life is at risk in a deadly flood plain! Still, New Orleans is the enclave of historic grand buildings and famed French culture, and as such demands at least one visit. After our flight, we transferred to our hotel: Le Pavillon. Beautiful decor, friendly staff and a rooftop pool p

Just last month my husband Jonathan joined me in leading NoVA Travelers on a weekend escape to Seattle and Mount Rainier. One of our group’s assistant organizers (Leilani) provided excellent services as well in helping us manage the group activities and schedule as with a group of 11 it can get a bit hectic . I’d wanted to take the group to Mt. Rainier for a long time and last year I finally decided to put it on the calendar for one of our “National Park Series” trips of 2010. The group flew into Seattle on a Thursday afternoon, with staggered arrival times based on differing flights. By the close of the evening, everyone was present at the hotel except for a few members whose plane had been delayed in Denver for a couple of hours (putting them into Seattle after one a.m.). Friday morning we were up and on our way to  Mt Rainier (a couple of hours south of Seattle, the mountain is a dormant –not extinct mind you but dormant- volcano). Jonathan, Leilani and I each drove one of the c

I just ran 1.64 miles in 21 minutes without a stop, averaging 4.7 miles per hour. Not only did I finally make the goal, but I did it without a rest day (I ran yesterday). I DID IT. Took me 6 tries, or two week, but I DID IT. my running stats for the session: Garmin Stats Now onto week 7!

Today I made it 16 minutes and 1.33 miles in my first run interval. I just did the one today; in retrospect it might have been useful to do a 2 or 3 minute walk interval and then do 4 more minutes of running for a total of 20 but I was pretty excited about adding 3 more minutes and 0.33 miles onto my run that I just lost the focus to do anything more. I know I could have done 1 more minute but it would have been at the expense of total muscle fatigue and I felt i didn’t need to prove anything to anyone so I let myself stop before the point of exhaustion. I enjoyed my run emotionally today which is good too. I’m still running at a pace of 4.7mph pretty steadily and I’d like to improve that but I suppose i should focus on one thing at a time.  I just know that when I am finally able to run a 5k I don’t want to be in the bottom percentile. Today I looked at the results of more than thirty 5k runs across the country and in every one, running at my pace (about 12:50) would mark me slower

As the days count down toward our trip to Sydney on Sept 1st, I am getting more and more excited. What a great way for Jon and I to celebrate 18 years together [since our first date]. We are crossing our fingers that Delta is oversold in coach giving us a chance at upgrade as Diamonds (well I am a Diamond; Jon is a platinum).

Jonathan and I have been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina twice previously and in May we took a third go of it, this time with my in-laws. In 2005 we drove to Corolla, NC with my good friend Tara, who was visiting us from Colorado. (Tara and I were childhood friends living across the street from each other.) Mapquest advised that it was a simple 5 hour drive to this northern section of the Outer Banks so we left on a Saturday morning at eight a.m. Our ignorance of mid-atlantic traffic was revealed with an arrival into Corolla after 5pm. Crazy! We had driven all that way and only had about an hour or two to enjoy the sand and sun before it was time to head back for VA. Despite the traffic and the disaster of locking our keys in the car (with USAA having to come out and rescue us), the beach was so beautiful that I knew I wanted to go back for a longer stay. And go back I did. There was no way I could afford to rent a fabulous beach house in Corolla on my own (at $2k minimum a week