Race Report - Texas Independence 5K

Yesterday was the Texas Independence 5K at the San Jacinto Battlefield in LaPorte. I was really excited about it when I signed up for it because I've never been out there even though it is only 15 minutes from my house. For all those non-Texans, the Battle at San Jacinto was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Two of the biggest features at the site are the monument (571 feet tall) and the Battleship Texas that last fought in WWII.

The weather was cloudy and grey, chilly (around 64), and windy. Not optimal! My goal was to get a sub-40 minute time but unfortunately I didn't make it. Last 5K I ran with Rachel I did it in 39:45 with an average pace of 12:49. BUT that average pace is a little deceptive. When we started that race we were running really fast for the first 3/4 mile...like 11:30 pace. That was way too fast so I had to slow down after that. I was exhausted at the end of the race and all day. I didn't want to do that again for this race and I have really been working hard on keeping a constant pace outside.

To help me, I set my run keeper to only tell me my average pace every 2 minutes. Normally it tells me time, distance, and pace every 5 minutes but I knew 5 minutes was too long to correct the pace. It is strapped to my arm so I can't really look at it while running plus every time I try to play with my phone while I am running it makes me kinda dizzy.

I ran the first mile straight with a little over a 13 minute mile pace. I'm pretty happy with that. I was getting a little fatigued as I went and my pace kept getting a little slower and slower as I went. For the last part of the race we had to lap around this circle once and then part of it again before hitting the finish line. So when I was doing my lap around and passed the finish line it was at 36 minutes so I had a feeling that when I actually crossed it I wouldn't make my 40 minute goal.

Honestly I was kind of disappointed with myself that I didn't get a sub-40 time but this engine just didn't have any more steam. I could always say that I could have done this better or done that better but it doesn't really matter now. All I can do is just keep working harder and eventually I know I will get it.

So I learned a few things here:
1) I am getting better at keeping a constant pace! Yay!
2) I can run a whole mile outside so I need to make myself start doing that.
3) You can't PR every race it is an accomplishment just getting out there.

Here are a few pics I took...you can see how gloomy it was out there.

As you probably know I am not from Texas but I love their spirit and humor. :)

I have a 10K coming up in 3 weeks back home in New Orleans and my next 5K is April 20th. I will be working hard to get my sub-40 then!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Birthday Weekend and Color in Motion 5K

This week was a busy week! My birthday was Friday so my friends took me out to dinner. Yum, Mexican! Jen B. and I got a cute picture together!

Saturday night I threw myself a birthday party at my house. It was super fun! :)

On Thursday my coworker Megan mentioned that her friend had to drop out of the Color in Motion 5K race on Saturday and asked if I wanted to take her spot. Uh, yes! So Saturday we went to the Reliant Center and did the 5K in around 45 minutes. We ran some but walked a lot of it. This is what we looked like after:

I'm not sure how I didn't have as much color as Megan did on the front and face but I did have a bunch on the back! I've not jumped at the chance to do one of these color runs but it didn't cost me anything so I didn't mind. It was super fun and a good experience. With that said, I don't think I would do one again though if I had to pay for it. I had 2 big complaints with this race - 1) the scenery was lacking because it just ran through the parking lots of the edge of the stadium, and 2) there was only ONE water station (at 1.66 miles) and no food! Since they were throwing powder at us you and there were so many non-runners, you would think they would have one at mile 1 and 2. I was really thirsty! And for some reason I don't mind getting muddy but I didn't love having powder all over me. I'm glad Megan asked me though!

My next race is a 7K this Saturday!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 8/8

This was the last week that I was training for my first 5K of the year. I love my new HRM and knowing how many calories I burned doing an activity! It kind of makes me want to work out more!


1/21 Monday - 1 hour of Roller Derby bootcamp - 503 calories burned!

1/22 Tuesday - OFF

1/23 Wednesday - treadmill 5K - 43:50 (14:06 pace) - ran 1.75 miles straight! (and forgot my HRM but burned around 400 calories)

1/24 Thursday - 1 hour of Zumba - 556 calories burned!

1/25 Friday - OFF

1/26 Saturday - 1 hour of Yoga - 258 calories burned!

1/27 Sunday - Ran my 5K - 39:22 (12:40 pace!) - 467 calories burned!

Calories burned this week with exercise - around 2184

Now that my January 5K is over, I decided that I am going to keep doing weekly training reports because I enjoy keeping track of them!

Until later, happy
Jamie

USA Fit 5K

Today was my 6th race in 6 months and I couldn't be happier with my result!

My last race was on Dec. 1st and I decided that I would dedicate the next 8 weeks to train for this race. Originally I wanted to be able to run the whole thing straight, but as time went on I realized that I wasn't able to increase my mileage fast enough and it honestly became less and less important. I decided to focus on just doing it as fast as I could. I hadn't done much running outside and my best treadmill 5K was 40:33. I didn't have a time goal but I was hoping to maybe get around 41 minutes.

My time was 39:22...a sub 40 minute race and a 12:40 average pace! Wow!!! My friend Rachel decided to do the race with me and she finished in 38:13 (12:18 pace). We go to the gym together so I knew she would probably beat me because she is a beast in the gym and has been running like crazy where I have done more cross training. If it wasn't for her though I could not have run as fast as I did! We started out together and I stayed with her for about the first 3/4 mile...we were running at like a 11:20 pace which was ridiculously fast! Not that I couldn't have done this pace myself, but it was unlikely that I WOULD have pushed myself at this pace for 3/4 of a mile. That is what makes Rachel a great person to workout with! :)

At that point I told her I would meet her at the finish line because I couldn't keep that pace, so I kept doing running and walking intervals. Since I have been trying to do all my walking at the gym at 4.0, I tried my best to stick to that. Run Keeper tells me my pace every 5 minutes so I was getting really excited when I got to mile 2 and was at 25 minutes...I knew I could get under 40 minutes!

Rachel and I were super proud of ourselves!

Here are a few pictures from my first two races:

The only thing bad about this race was that we had to walk a mile (literally) from a park that they advised us to park at (this race was part of a marathon and half marathon as well) so we 5K-ers could get out. After the race it seemed like a really long mile to get back to the car! At least the weather was awesome...sunny and in the upper 60s.

In 176 days since my first race, my 5K time has decreased from 45:46 to 39:22...I'm over 6 whole minutes faster and shaved 2 minutes off my average mile pace! I'm also down around 20 pounds since then. I'd call that success!

My February race is a 7K but I'm not going to kill myself on that one, it is more for fun...I want to focus on my March 5K in 6 weeks.

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - Week 7/8

Happy 3rd week of 2013!

My new gadget this week is a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor! My mom bought it for me for my upcoming birthday. I didn't really need anything, but I really wanted this! And it is perfect timing too since I am going back to counting calories, so now I can see how many calories I am burning for my workouts too.

1/14 Monday - 1 hour of Roller Derby bootcamp

1/15 Tuesday - OFF

1/16 Wednesday - Treadmill 2 miles - 26:24 (13:12 pace)

1/17 Thursday - 1 hour of Zumba

1/18 Friday - Treadmill 2.25 miles - 30 mins (13:20 pace) - ran 1 mile straight at 5.0 mph.

1/19 Saturday - Weight training session with Anna (384 cal). 8 mile bike ride - 45 mins (339 cal), 723 calories burned!

1/20 Sunday - OFF

This week I definitely rocked the cross training! I did skating, running, and biking! I can't wait to see how many calories roller derby and zumba burned! I can definitely feel myself getting stronger. 1 more week until my 5K race! 

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 6/8

Happy 2nd week of 2013!

After being off work for two weeks, going back this week was exhausting! I can say it wasn't my most solid week at the gym but at least I went!

1/7 Monday - Elliptical 30 minutes (2.15 miles).

1/8 Tuesday - OFF

1/9 Wednesday - Elliptical 15 minutes - 1.05 miles (exhausted today!)

1/10 Thursday - 70 minute walk/run - 4.26 miles outside - 1 loop walking with dogs, one loop walk/run with Jen B.

1/11 Friday - Treadmill 1 mile (15 mins), elliptical 25 minutes (1.08 miles).

1/12 Saturday - 15 minutes on the elliptical , then weight training session with Anna.

1/13 Sunday - OFF

I'm excited to have a little more energy this next week!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 5/8

Happy 1st week of 2013!

After being away from the gym all last week, I was definitely glad to be back!

12/31 Monday - 5K run/walk on the treadmill - 40:33 (13:03). Did a few 5.0 and bunch of 5.5 sprints, even one 6.0 sprint! My fastest treadmill 5K yet!

1/1 Tuesday - OFF

1/2 Wednesday - Treadmill 26 mins - 2 miles (13:24). Also did 30 minutes on the elliptical (2.04 miles).

1/3 Thursday - OFF

1/4 Friday - Treadmill 5K - 42:30 (13:41), did a bunch of 5.0 (2 min) and a bunch of 5.5 sprints.

1/5 Saturday - 1 hour on the elliptical - 4.26 miles after my weight training session with my awesome trainer Anna.

1/6 Sunday - 3.19 miles (17:39)...I actually ended up having a nice walk instead of a run.

I enjoyed my couple days of being lazy and I'm pretty happy overall with my activity this week! I earned 36 activity points this week!

Back to work tomorrow!


Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 4/8

This week I DEFINITELY wish I had a treadmill! It was awesome weather up until Christmas day and then it got cold....really cold...like 45 cold. I have very little motivation to run in the cold.

12/24 Monday - Walk 4 miles at the park (16:59 pace) - I was super tired and could only muster a walk

12/25 Tuesday - Christmas day!

12/26 Wednesday - Uh, it got COLD outside! I was too wimpy to walk/run in it so I went to a movie with Dad.

12/27 Thursday - I ROCKED IT TODAY!!! I did 6.2 miles in 1:30:49 (14:39 pace), which beat my Turkey Day 10K time! And it was 44 outside. :)

12/28 Friday - Didn't make it to the park before it started to rain! :(

12/29 Saturday - It was coooold and windy outside so I went to the movies with Mom and Dad.

12/30 Sunday - Drove home from New Orleans


While I wasn't running much outside this week, my friend Rachel was kicking butt at the gym and running her little heart out. We are competing against each other at the end of January at our 5K and right now I have a feeling she is going to kick my butt!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 3/8

Well, this week HAD to be better than last week! And it was...a bit. I finally got to work out for a couple of days after the flu but it is still rough. I'm still REALLY congested and coughing plus I've had sinus issues too.

12/17 Monday - Still had the flu! :(

12/18 Tuesday - Still had the flu! :(

12/19 Wednesday - Finally back! Went to gym for a bit ran/walked 1.5 miles (14:16 pace).

12/20 Thursday - Had to bring the car in for repair so no workout!

12/21 Friday - OFF

12/2 Saturday - Drove to New Orleans

12/23 Sunday - Run/walk at the park - 2 miles (15:30) - it was 57 degrees outside and I had trouble running

I'm at my Mom's until next weekend so I'm going to try to workout as much of I can, but unfortunately I don't have a gym so I'm subject to the weather!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K training - week 2/8

Well, training this week didn't go super well as it was plagued by illness:

12/10 Monday - still felt crappy from the weekend :(

12/11 Tuesday - Mad that I didn't lose weight at weight watchers so went to the gym after and ran a little before I had to go home - 1 mile total. (14:35 pace)

12/12 Wednesday - Ran 1.5 miles straight, totaling 3.1 miles! (13:50 pace) 

12/13 Thursday - 60 minutes on the elliptical (4.3 miles).

12/14 Friday - Start of the flu!!! :(

12/15 Saturday - Still had the flu! :(

12/16 Sunday - Ugh, the flu continues! :(

An accomplishment I did make was running on Wednesday for 1.5 miles straight! I have been struggling with getting more than 0.5 miles lately straight and I finally realized it was because I was trying to breathe way too deeply. Once I got a faster, more shallow breath things got easier. As I'm still sick writing this, I hope that next week goes better. I'm going to try for 1.75, or maybe even 2 miles...we'll see!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

WW week #7 weigh-in and a new milestone

Last week I talked about being back at Weight Watchers and how it was slow going. When I walked into the center to weigh in on Tuesday, I have to admit that I was still a little pissed about GAINING the week before. Well, my mood certainly didn't get better when I stepped on the scale and it was the same as last week...REALLY? Ugh...

I have been in the habit of going to weigh in early and then going next door to eat at Subway (the guy who put that there was a genius!) and eating dinner before the meeting. While I sat there I couldn't decided if I wanted to scream out loud or cry. I was really upset. I even picked up a bag of Cheetos in protest but did the math and decided against the 8 points and went back and got the 3 point baked lays. This week I used my new 3 month tracker and did pretty well until Friday came where I made the (poor) decision to drink lots of points. Overall, I didn't go over my 49 and I did earn some APs because I worked out some. I though something should have showed up from last week...but it didn't.

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)

Total WW loss: 5.2 pounds

Total loss in 2012: ~15 pounds

Even though the scale isn't showing it, I know that I am actually making progress. I was able to go down a GAP jeans size this weekend and today I ran 1.5 miles straight!

Patience...I know.

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

5K Training - week 1/8

This was my first week out of 8 training for my 5K on January 27th. Monday I was supposed to run 1 mile straight...FAIL. I went to bed late on Sunday and was really tired. I tried, but I could only get up to a third of a mile and then just couldn't catch my breath! I had the same problem last Monday also. Hopefully next Monday will be better since The Walking Dead is not on again until February so I don't have a reason to stay up late.

Monday - Ran/Walked - 1.52 miles in 22:20 (14:42 average mile) and Elliptical for 40 minutes.

Tuesday - OFF

Wednesday - Ran 1 mile and then walked - 2.12 miles in 30 minutes (14:09 average mile)

Thursday - The plan was to do the Elliptical for 60 minutes but I was tired so I took the day off!

Friday - OFF

Saturday - Supposed to run 1.5 miles but I went the trainer and was sore (plus I went out Friday night and drank a few beers and felt a little crappy).

Sunday - Felt under the weather so didn't go to the gym :(

So overall, not a great start! Hopefully this next week will be better!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Pre-birthday challenge

My 34th birthday is exactly 61 days away and I want to make them count - not only losing weight wise, but also workout wise. When I hit my first mile straight a couple weeks ago, I decided that I need to refocus and work on increasing my running mileage. So I have a new challenge...run an entire 5K straight!

Source: google.com via Kathy on Pinterest

I found this 8 week long 5K Training schedule for Beginners that I want to follow. It finished up with me doing a 5K on Sunday, January 27...the weekend before my birthday. I did have to make 2 changes though...I had swap Monday and Tuesday because Tuesday is my Weight Watcher meeting day (I'll talk about WW on Tuesday). I also had to swap Wednesday and Sunday to give me a break after the Saturday long run.

My training schedule

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 Dec 3-9	12/3 1 mi run	12/4 Rest	12/5 20-30 min run or CT	12/6 1 mi run	12/7 Rest	12/8 1.5 mi run	12/9 CT or Rest
2 Dec 10-16	12/10 1.5 mi run	12/11 Rest	12/12 20-30 min run or CT	12/13 1.5 mi run	12/14 Rest	12/15 1.75 mi run	12/16 CT or Rest
3 Dec 17-23	12/17 2 mi run	12/18 Rest	12/19 20-30 min run or CT	12/20 1.5 mi run	12/21 Rest	12/22 2 mi run	12/23 CT or Rest
4 Dec 24-30	12/24 2.25 mi run	12/25 Rest	12/26 25-35 min run or CT	12/27 1.5 mi run	12/28 Rest	12/28 2.25 mi run	12/30 CT or Rest
5 Dec 31- Jan 6	12/31 2.5 mi run	1/1 Rest	1/2 25-35 min run or CT	1/3 2 mi run	1/4 Rest	1/5 2.5 mi run	1/6 CT or Rest
6 Jan 7-13	1/7 2.75 mi run	1/8 Rest	1/9 35-40 min run or CT	1/10 2 mi run	1/11 Rest	1/12 2.75 mi run	1/13 CT
7 Jan 14-20	1/14 3 mi run	1/15 Rest	1/16 35-40 min run or CT	1/17 2 mi run	1/18 Rest	1/19 3 mi run	1/20 CT
8 Jan 21-27	1/21 3 mi run	1/22 Rest	1/23 CT or Rest	1/24 2 mi run	1/25 Rest	1/26 Rest	1/27 5K Race!

The race I decided on doing is the 5K at the USA Fit Marathon. I was kind of limited with options...there aren't many races in January and I wanted to do one specifically on the the 27th.

I'm super excited now...I can't wait to start tomorrow. Hopefully I can knock out a mile tomorrow. Last Monday, I got winded after only half a mile. But maybe since I am taking today off I will be ready to go tomorrow.

As far as weight goes, my goal is to lose at least 15 pounds in this time period. I know it is asking a lot (almost 2 pounds per week) especially during the holidays, but I'm hoping with all this exercise I can make that happen!

Until later, happy running!

Jamie

Reindeer Run Success!

I couldn't think of a more beautiful December day to run a 5K! It wasn't cold and we had plenty of blue skies and sunshine. Normally when I do a race I'm by myself, but  today a bunch of friends/co-workers did it also...even the whole swim team did it too. It was so fun that I think we are going to make this an annual event and even try to get the whole school out next year too! In March there is a 5K at the university right across the street from our school that benefits Habitat for Humanity so we are going to try to get a bunch of people together for that also!

Although it was like 60ish to start off, I know better than to wear long sleeves, like the shirt they gave us. I am generally super sweaty when I workout. The last time I ran an October race with my family in Seattle, it was a COLD 60 and about 5 minutes in I was stripping off my undershirt while I was walking. Well once we got going today it actually felt HOT outside. I think the humidity is kind of high today...by mile 2, I was burning up! I was thankful this was only a 5K, and not a 10K like Turkey Day race.

But I really pushed myself and my chip time shows that...I am REALLY happy with my finish. I would say that I ran around 70% of it and when I was getting tired I stopped for a couple minutes and then ran some more.  My chip time today was 43:20, with a 13:57 average mile! AWESOME! I could not have asked for a better time! I did a 5k practice run Thursday and my legs are still a little sore from that, so I think in the future I will take 2 days off before a race if I am going to work out that hard.

Let's compare that time with my past times...

October 2010 5K - 52:57 (walk 17:03 pace)
October 2011 5K - 47:07 (run/walk 15:10 pace)
August 2012 5K  - 45:46 (run/walk 14:44 pace)
Today's 5K - 43:20 (run/walk 13:57 pace)

I'd say that's progress!

I have new plan I will talk about on my next post...my new goal and my next race at the end of January! I can wait to start training!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

The Birth of an Athlete

I have never considered myself an athlete. Even at the few points in my life where I was athletic, I was not a true athlete. In fact, I have never considered myself to be very competitive.

That all changed on Saturday.

Saturday, I ran my first competitive 5K. I have been training for a 10K for a couple weeks now and though my true goal race is in October, I wanted to give myself a little challenge right now. So I decided to sign up for a 5K in my area to see where I was at fitness-wise. (I should note here that I have done 5Ks and 10Ks before but only for exercise and not ever to be competitive or push myself.)

I live in Houston and it is August...so it is HOT outside, even at 7:30 AM. The actual temperature was 84 degrees but they said the "feels like" temperature was 92. 90-freaking-2. Yeah...

I did this race by myself so I awkwardly stood around by myself until it started. Of the couple hundred people there, everyone seemed to be fit and only a few of us were fat. But actually most of the chunkier people were older than me. But I figured no one would make fun of a fat girl who was trying to be more fit, right?

Once the race started, I knew I was going to have to push myself. Hard. And I did. I was walking and doing small spurts of running. When I would get comfortable walking, I made myself start running (slowly). Honestly, it was just too hot for me to try to do any extended running...seriously, we are talking about 30 second intervals. The best part of the course was getting to the half-way point. I hadn't died yet, so chances were I was going to make it! Around there, my previously absent competitiveness started to kick in. I passed a few people who were getting tired and slowing down (I knew I wasn't going to be super fast so I initially started near the back). As I passed people, I was determined not to let them pass me again...a couple did but most didn't! And some of these were skinnier and younger than me! That definitely felt good!

When I turned down the last 0.1 mile, I started running...not sprinting, but definitely running a little faster than I had been the whole time. The best part was running across the finish line. Seriously if I ran any farther at that point I was going to pass out and by that point I wanted to vomit. I was so proud of myself! My time was 45:46..it was the fastest I have ever competitively run! I officially felt like an athlete!

As soon as I could breathe again, I drank a bunch of water and loaded up on watermelon. Yum! There was a ton of pizza and beer and everybody was chowing down. Beer at 8:30 in the morning didn't appeal to me though but I finally let myself have one small slice...but really the watermelon was way better!

I'm really glad that I did this race because it definitely helped my confidence!

Here I am finishing the race:

I don't this like picture...in fact I HATE taking pictures when I am so heavy. I have taken very few pictures in the past few years. Thinner, I am very photogenic and love the camera! I bought this picture anyway to mark the occasion. It is embarrassing posting it online but I'm going to do it anyway! If you are thinking, "Hey, you look thinner in your small picture at the top of the blog!" (shown below), you are right...but, alas, I am the same weight...I just know how to pose to look thinner in a head shot! :) This picture was from my trip to Italy.

Here is actually one from a 5K I did fall 2011 with my family. I ran/walked it in just over 47 minutes. I definitely felt faster and stronger this year, though the weather was WAY nicer...in the 60s that morning. I will take that over the 80s any day!

 I saw this on Pinterest a while back and it cracked me up...I definitely know the feeling! (Did you see the pictures above?? Yeah!)

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Anne on Pinterest

But who cares...I'm still lapping the people on the sofa! :)

Until later, happy running!
Jamie