On the road again...

Why do I get sidetracked so easily, letting things crowd out what I really want to do? I guess I feel guilty about taking time for myself because somehow I confuse self-care with selfishness? Argh!!!
Enough berating myself, time to start a new day and just pick myself up where I'm at and "Get back on the road again!"---come on and sing along with me now!
So instead of giving in to this sleepiness...insomnia woke me around 4-ish and it's 6:40 am now...it's probably best if I get dressed and get to moving. I haven't walk/ran since the EP marathon/5k...which was about a month ago!
So, I'll update this post with my time walk time, will do 5k, hopefully I can stay under 60 minutes...to be continued...

53:30 for 3.1 miles

Despite the gusting wind (2o+ mph), I still feel good about my speed.  Today was the first time I used this free app on my phone called Log Your Run and I have to say I was a little bit impressed! 

My top 10 12 for liking this app, in no particular order:
1. Free
2. plays in sync with ipod and stops music to tell you your distance, i.e. 1 mile
3. Counts the number of footsteps you take...6,971 steps
4. Calories burned...331 kCal
5. GPS to track your distance for you
6. ICE (in case of emergency) contact info on the screen...just in case
7. tracks date and time of each log in
8. counts the pace in which you walk/run, etc
9. speed vs. time graph
10. also has an optional companion app for HR (heart rate) tracking your bpm (beats per minute)
***Bonus...if you're into this, you can tweet or FB your stats
11. AND you can track your pace via multiple activities: walk, run, bike, spin, cross train, treadmill, or swim
12. at the end when you're finishing up your status, it asks you how you feel and what effort you put forth, by choosing a smiley face to gauge where you're at.

5K race day and a new PR

Just thought it was an awesome shot of the alley with the focal point being the archway in the distance.

Ready to race!

Robin reluctantly poses!

Old Glory hoisted high!

One of my favorite pics, you can see the start banner behind us and the chica in the bee costume--too cute!

Happy after I ran walked my race!

my first 5K T-shirt!

I know it looks like he's pissed off, but that's how he always looks, so don't be alarmed!

I came in 266 of all the women racing in the 5K of total 335 women participants
In my age group 40-44, I came in 26 with my time 49:44.3 and pace of 16:03/M.


Robin came in 22 in men's age group 40-44 and came in 196 of all the men racing the 5K and a time of 49:26.5 and pace of 15:57/M.

Half 5K----ha ha ha

Yes I know that the race is less than a week away!  But we were pressed for time this morning because we overslept...so we only walked half the distance of the 5K track.

Let's do the math.
 
5 kilometers = 3.125 miles

half of that distance = 1.625 miles

we traversed that distance in 21:37.0 minutes

Pitiful!

SLACKER turned

Hello, my name is Christie and I'm a slacker!

It has been 9 days since my last 5k training walk...
until this past Sunday, February 27th.   

Here in El Paso, on Sunday mornings, the city police block off a road that borders the southernmost tip of the Franklin Mountains.  The views along this route, aptly named Scenic Drive are spectacular as you travel up and along the mountain face with 360 degree views of the city of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.  
 
This particular walk, on this particular morning, inspired me to take back my Mo-Jo and so I walked...

up a mountain...

in 30-40 mph winds! 
[side note: in the Southwest, we herald in Spring with "the windy season" so wind gusts from 20 mph up to 60 mph at times, is "normal" for us.  However, I'm not a native to this region, only a transient transplant, so my concept of "normal" weather keeps evolving!]


Ok, so yes regaining my Mo-Jo...I had to do something to break out of my slump.  Which in my pitiful defense, the slump was caused by a debilitatingly painful abscessed tooth.  However, once the tooth was extracted, I should have had no further complaints, as my mouth is not connected to my feet!!!

But once you get lazy and lose sight of your goal, your body relaxes out of the routine you've been conditioning it to.  Well then, it becomes a little harder to overcome that little voice that says, "Not right now, maybe later, or tomorrow...I don't FEEL like ________." [fill in the blank with anything that pertains to being a grownup!]

So, in my gusto to shock myself out of this rut, I decided to take a nice brisk walk, in some extreme conditions albeit, but I figured if I could conquer the mountain, then all the other 5k training walks would be breeze!  "HA"  I chuckle at my pun and because my awesome partner who is endeavoring to support me by walking with me up this hill and through life, was NOT enthused, to say the least!  Somebody was having a hissy fit and shockingly it wasn't me this time!

This episode sparked the beginning of a 2-day seige on our marriage, opening up a whole dialogue of communication that ended in the mutual agreement to read The Love Dare.  Day 2 and so far we're working on patience and kindness...only 38 more days to something better than we had before!

Time:  57:22.4 but not sure of the distance...I'll have to take a Scenic Drive and check my speedometer.

Friday 18 February

I walked alone today around midday...after walking with my husband on Wednesday, I decided to go solo and just listen to my iPod and walk at my own pace...in peace! 

However, without my "pace car" I ended up with a much slower time:  58:44.6

Ok, so there are pros & cons to walking with and without Joven Stoven...we'll see how the days ahead fair out...almost 2 weeks to race day!

My time has improved!

I have been trying to stay consistent in walking, however I have only managed every other day, but still maintaining my goal of early morning.

My times have improved from when I started tracking my time:

Saturday, Feb 12.....60+ minutes via wrist watch and alone on the track!

Monday, Feb 14....51:41.4 min (***My first PR!!!)  via stopwatch (thanks iPhone for having this cool feature and from here on out, will keep up with my times via stopwatch for accuracy)  Joven Stoven joined me and it was a nice way to start off Valentine's day with my sweetie!

Wednesday, Feb 16.....52:45.4 min  (ok, so I slowed down by 1.4 min which is odd to me, because I incorporated some short sprints into this walk....trying to build up my running before I really commit to buying the app) 
Joven Stoven joined me again for this walk...however, I got quite frustrated with him.  Especially when he tried to push me beyond where I wasn't enjoying the walk and I almost wanted to cry.  But I held my tongue and stated to him, "you can either walk WITH me or not" and after repeating myself a couple of times, he finally got it. 
All really I want is his companionship to be the role of supportive husband and not dictatorial "Biggest Loser" coach!  Just be with me, let me do this at my own pace and quit trying to push me beyond my limits.  After all, I've never attempted to do anything like this before, mainly because before 4 years ago I also weighed 310 pounds and obviously I didn't reach that size by exercise!

I just registered for my first race and it's in 3 weeks!

 So here I am...I got a little ballsy and decided that if I'm really going to pursue this goal of running a race...I might as well bite the bullet and commit to something!  

El Paso Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K Run/Walk

Sunday morning on March 6th, I'll be taking my first steps toward running...I'm actually just gonna do the 5K Walk.  The race is in 20 days, I've never ran beyond 30 seconds, and I just conquered a limitation in my own mind when I walked 5K (3.125 miles) this past Thursday afternoon!  And then I walked it again on Saturday afternoon!  Both times it took me about 60+ minutes.

Goals to prepare for this race:
1.  Improve my time from 60+minutes and down to 45 minutes.  I think that's reasonable.
2.  Walk everyday from February 14th thru March 5th...20 days to train!
3.  Begin walking in the mornings, as opposed to the afternoon, so that I can acclimate to the time of the day the race will be taking place.