After running the Goofy...

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I survived running the Goofy Challenge at Disney the first weekend in January. I had tons of fun with my Spark Buddies, Suezette (SUEZETTE-414) & Beth (COOPSM). I enjoyed just hanging out with them. There were no specific plans except to run the half and the full marathons. I finished both races just a little over my combined time goal of 7:30:00 – my combined chip time was 7:30:41. I did cry when I crossed the marathon finish line – I was so happy to see that finish line! 

No dancing for any of us after finishing the races. I think we all conked out at 7:30 pm & didn’t wake up until about 8:00am the next morning – LOL On Monday we celebrated with a very relaxing day at Downtown Disney that included margaritas and ice cream sundaes!

I got Suezette & Beth to join me in my running streak while at Disney. Yes, we all ran a mile the day after the races. We had our Disney coffee mugs with us & ran to the coffee machine. I do miss those girls! It was one of the best trips ever! I hope to see them both again in Pittsburgh.

There has been no marathon “let down” so far. I am still running strong. I did my first speed workout this morning. It looks like I will be running more than 120 miles this month. Most of y’all know I got my first tattoo to always remember the Goofy Run – there is a picture in my gallery.

While at Disney, a relay team was formed to run the Capital to Coast relay in Texas in October. I made the commitment to join the team. So this will be my very first relay ever! I am very excited and nervous about this! I am already worried that I might get lost… hehehe

Danny & I decided not to run the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans in March. We will put that money aside for the Capital to Coast relay. So my next race will be the JASR in Pittsburgh at the end of March. I do not plan to race it. I am mainly going to have tons of fun meeting up with my Spark Buddies and making new friends. But who knows what will happen on race day… I may just feel like racing that morning.

My focus is now shifting to getting my weight down & getting faster. I have started the Les Miles Body Pump program at home. I absolutely love it! I will be doing more HIT training to help burn calories and improve my speed. I have dug out my FIRST running book and got some running paces to shoot for when doing my intervals & tempo runs.

I am faithfully tracking my food intake daily even when it is ugly. It has been an eye opener to honestly see how I eat. I don’t like doing this because I do this for a living & it gets “old”. But on the other hand, I do have the knowledge to easily make the changes I know that would be better for me. So the first step is to be very honest about what I am eating & how much I am eating. Then identify the problem & take steps to correct it. At this time, I am decreasing my carbs just slightly (I still need the fuel to run), increasing my protein, and keeping my fat at about 25% of my total calories. My goal is to eat at least 1600 calories but not more than 1800 calories daily (depending on my activity level). I want my exercise to create the calorie deficit in order for me to lose weight. Some people have asked me why I want to lose weight because I am at a healthy weight with a normal BMI. I want to lose mainly to see if it will help me improve my running and to get rid of the little muffin top I have. I am not aiming for a huge weight loss – just aiming for 10 lbs.

I will continue to increase my running base this summer. I would love to run between 35 – 40 miles a week on the average. Right now I am at 30 miles per week and will slowly build back up to 35 miles a week. I have ran every day since 12/29/11. I hope to keep the running streak going but I have no problem with ending it if it gets to be too much.

There is much to look forward to in 2012! Let’s keep moving forward!

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Bring it on - 2012

Monday, January 02, 2012

It's been a while since the last time I have written a blog!

2011 was a good running year for me. I ended the year with 1456.31 miles - still short of my 1500 mile goal but 241.50 miles more than 2010.

I set new personal best records in the 5k (29:48), Half marathon (2:09:29), and Full marathon this year(4:52:02). This weekend I will be running the Goofy (39.3 miles) and I am looking forward to it! Crazy, yuh?!

I have noticed that I have learned to be happy & content with what my body can do & to stop comparing it to what others are doing. It has lead me to greater satisfaction & has given me more motivation to push on to see what else I can do.

2011 was the year for running the distance. 2012 will be about increasing my running pace. I still plan on running at least a 16 miler every month to keep up my endurance but my focus will be on intervals & tempo runs. I want to get as close as I can to running a sub-2 hour half marathon this year. I also want to get as close as I can to running a 4:30 full marathon.

I love running distance. I hate running 5K & 10Ks. Those are brutal! But I am going to do it. I have set my goal for a 28 minute 5K or better and a sub- 1 hour 10K.

I brought the Home Body Pump (by Beach Body & Les Miles) for a Christmas gift to me. I plan on doing that 2 - 3 times a week. I need more muscle mass!

I will be meeting up with Beth & Suezette at Disney to run the Goofy this weekend. I will also be seeing many other sparkers! I cannot wait. It's gonna be another great memory for me.

After I recover from the Goofy, the speed training starts! Bring it on, 2012 - I am READY!

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Discipline

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments – Jim Rohn
There is always an excuse… - John Parker

June 27, 2011
Nothing is changing because I have changed nothing. Yes, I run & run & run but that is nothing new. I still suck at strength training, cross training, and good nutrition. I suck at it because I choose to suck at it. I have LOTS of excuses!

Excuses for strength training: “There is not enough time before work to run and strength train”. “I’m too tired after work to do anything”.

Cross training: “I just want to sleep that extra hour instead of getting up to cross train”. “I’m too tired after work to do anything”.

Good Nutrition: Good Grief – I deal with people’s diets 40 -45 hours a week, I really don’t want to deal with mine thank you very much. Cooking is messy – it creates more work than it is worth. It’s so easy to order take out & have Danny pick it up. I do love my Mike’s lemonade after work & no, I will not give that up. It takes too long to sit & plan menus & grocery lists, etc. Yawn – boring too. I don’t make enough money to hire a cook, damn it!

I still have a messy house (I don’t think I have cleaned it since Gail & Mark came to visit), I still eat takeout way too much, I still don’t have any cute clothes cause I hate shopping, I still haven’t gone to the grocery store cause I hate shopping and making out a grocery list. I haven’t done anything to change my negative behaviors. Yes, I am a very naughty girl.

So every evening I come home from work about 5:30 pm. Sit in my nice comfy chair (or by the pool) with an icy cold LITE Mike’s lemonade and discuss where we are buying supper for the evening with Danny. “Pizza? BBQ? How ‘bout Chinese tonight? We could go to Fox’s & get some po-boys. I’m really craving those fries & gravy”.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday Morning I get up at the crack of dawn to run. It takes a lot to keep me from running. I will run on the treadmill if I need to get my run in. But cross training be damn. I will float on a raft in the pool for an hour instead of swimming laps. I will sit and watch endless evening TV instead of riding my bike on a trainer while watching endless TV. I skip over my core & hip flexors exercises and then moan & groan about how my lower back hurts at times. My arms wave in the air like dumbo’s ears cause I will not do a few strength training exercises to improve my muscle mass.

I recognize I have a problem. I recognize that I need to choose what I will do about it. I know that by doing nothing different I will change nothing & I will not accomplish my goals.

This leads me to discipline… setting goals means being discipline in the actions it takes to accomplish the goals.

I asked my Sparky Marathoners, Spark in the Dark, and Road Runners spark buddies to let me know their definition of discipline. Pretty much across the board it is taking action to achieve the goals you want.

July 20, 2011
I am happy to say that I finally made the choice to clean up my act. After writing out my frustrations on June 27th, I wrote down some goals.

1. I HAVE A CLEAN HOUSE – on the Fourth of July weekend I started cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning some more. Once I got started, my husband & daughter pitched in. Before you know it, the house was neat & clean. All those naughty little spider webs were GONE!
2. I have gone swimming 3 times for cross-training. It is a start for me. There is something very relaxing about doing the freestyle & back stroke over & over again.
3. I have added one strength training session to my training schedule.
4. As of July 17th, I gave up my Mike’s Lemonade & other alcohol. Doing this turn my focus over to better nutrition. I haven’t had a Lay’s potato chip (which I normally eat while drinking the Mike’s) since July 17th either. People, that is progress! Let the Streak continue.

My marathon training is going well. As of today I have ran 707 miles this year. I will be ghost running for DeeJ with the HTC gang in late August. I will run the St. Jude Marathon in early December. Then I will meet up with some of my favorite sparkers to run the Goofy in early January. I am not training for any PRs this year. I’m just training for the distance. I hope to return back to New Orleans in early March to attempt a new half marathon PR.

My new mantra: Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments – Jim Rohn
(There is always an excuse… - John Parker) No more excuses – Tammy Pennington

Run Strong, sparkers!

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Mental Breakdown to Mental Breakthrough

Monday, February 14, 2011

Mental breakdown leads to a Mental Breakthrough

Running 2 half marathons in 2 weeks was a learning experience. I experienced a complete mental meltdown in Miami and overcame a huge mental obstacle in New Orleans.

I ran the ING Miami half marathon on Jan 30th. I had trained hard for this race. I felt ready to set a new PR of 2:15 or better. I meet up with many spark friends in Miami. We walked hundreds of miles and drank hundreds of glasses of wine (Ok, I may be exaggerating a little bit here) before the race. Still when I lined up with Gail, Suezette, Beth, Mary, Dee, Dani, Rhonda, and other sparkers I still felt good about running a good race. I soon found out that running in a close crowd of people sort of freaks me out. My first mile took me 12:46 to run due to the crowded conditions. I made it to an average pace of 10:25 at about mile 7 but I totally lost my focus there. I was tired, I developed a nagging ache above my knee, my processor was rubbing a raw spot behind my ear, and I totally hated the crowd. I was tired of being poked by people, stepped on from behind, and a little old man even started yelling at me in Spanish for passing him. Bah… I could not get any focus back. I totally had a mental breakdown with Gail right by my side. I think I said something to Gail like “forget this. I’m done. Let’s just enjoy the course, take pictures, and get to the finish line”. And that’s what we did. I had a great time the rest of the way with Gail. We caught up with Beth in the last couple of miles and we all crossed that finish line together in 2:26 and some change. That was a great moment crossing that line with these girls – I love those girls!

I went home a little sad cause I knew it was going to be a while before I saw Gail again and because I totally blew off the race & didn’t accomplish the goal I wanted. But now I knew what it was like to totally lose focus. To totally freak out on the race course & not know what to do. I was not looking forward to going to New Orleans. I was scared of failing yet again.

Saturday Morning I found myself in the car with my husband heading towards New Orleans. Ashley couldn’t come with us as she had a big presentation to prepare for that was due on Monday, the 14th. She was going to be tied up in group meetings all day on Sunday, the 13th. Going back to New Orleans brought back many good memories from last year. This time last year was the first time I met Gail face to face. Now I have been blessed to see her 3 times in a year! Last year at this time, I was about to run my first full marathon. Arriving in New Orleans is hectic as the streets are crowded with cars & people. Thank goodness for valet parking! New Orleans is the only place I hand over my car keys to a total stranger & pay big money for the person to take it somewhere & park it.  We checked into our room and then walked down the familiar path to the Expo, got our race bibs, listen to John Bingham talk, and then headed back to the hotel. We ate a simple supper – Arby’s roast beef sandwich and apple pie and went to bed at the unheard hour of 8:50 pm. So different from last year!

We got up at 5am & left the hotel at 6am to walk to the start line. It was a cool 39 degrees but was going to be a nice sunny day. Once at the start village, we got in the port potty line. The lines were LONG!! I wanted to meet up with another Sparker, Sandy, who was running her first marathon that morning. She was in corral 15 & I was in corral 13. My plan was to head to corral 15 after the potty break. Holy cow… we are still in line for the potty when the race starts! Finally, potty business is taken care of and Danny & I rush to find out where our corral is. Good Grief – we find our corral has already moved way up there so there was no time to find Sandy. We finally found the back of Corral 13. A few minutes later we were at the start line. I love the WAVE start. There was about 3 minutes between each corral. And then we were crossing the start line. I had my Garmin set to tell me my average pace for the whole run – not per mile. I wanted to be sure I kept my average pace to 10:15 for my PR. First mile took me 10:18 and I kept chipping away at that pace. The 5K was done before I knew it & I was feeling good. I was warmed up & took off my gloves and my jacket. Somewhere after the 5K point and before the 10K point, I set a goal to run without walking as much as I could. I remember Suezette sharing that she ran until she no longer could run in her last half. I wanted to know how far I could run without stopping. At each water table I would slow down, toss down the water, and pick up the pace. Pass the 10K mark – wow weeee, I was still feeling good. I noticed my average pace on my Garmin was the unheard time of 10:03. Thoughts started going through my mind – should I slow down, should I keep going, what if I run out of gas too soon, etc. I decided to keep on going as I wanted to see how far I could go without stopping… Pass the 7 mile marker; let the countdown to the end start. Got to the 9 mile marker & noticed I was getting tired… I noticed my calves were getting tired, my neck was tensed, and the roads (yea, those rough New Orleans roads) were making my feet hurt. I focus on relaxing my neck muscles and my calf muscles. Got to mile 11 and this is when the mind games started. This is where I had my conversation with Gail. I don’t think I was talking out loud but who knows… It went something like this “my feet hurt” to which Gail would reply “your feet will still hurt if you walk”, “Oh God I am tired” – Gail - “well yea, you are tired. You will still be tired if you were walking”, “these roads are killing me” – Gail - “you still look very much alive right now. Quit complaining”, and then right at the right moment I felt her tell me & I saw her waving that finger at me - “you can do this, Tammy. This is your dream, your goal. You are about to break the 2:15 barrier. You have ran this far & you can run these last two miles. Believe in yourself – you can do this”. So I pass the Mile 12 marker and kept on running to the finish line. Garmin: 13.27 miles in 2:13:26 Chip Time: 13.1 miles in 2:13:23 So Gail, even though you were not running with me, you were totally with me in spirit!
Now it’s time to work on the 2:10 half marathon PR…

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2011 Goals

Sunday, January 02, 2011

It wouldn't be New Year's without posting some 2011 Goals. This year is to keep everything nice & simple.

I am now a brand new member of the CAMO Crew on BLC 15. One of the requirements is to post goals and make the nutrition & fitness tracker PUBLIC - gasp! So the good, bad, & the ugly of me will be out for public view. Oh well... Y'all soon get over the shock - LOL

2011 Goals:
1. Achieve a new PR in the Half Marathon. I want to get as close to the 2 hour mark as I can. Currently my PR is 2:17 and some change (can't remember the seconds) ran in Nova Scotia with Gail as my pacer.
2. Run 1500 miles in 2011 - this has been my goal for the last 2 years. Third time is the charm...
3. Strength Train (especially my core & hip flexors) twice a week.
4. Lose the last 10 lbs for GOOD instead of just talking about it!

To help keep me focus on the weight loss, I joined Weight Watchers online & will be following their PointsPlus Program. The new program really focuses on good nutrition as most of the fruits and vegetables are ZERO points. This allows plenty of great carbs for my runs.

I also joined the SparkPeople's Healthy Cooking Challenge. It's a 4 week challenge. This week I need to clean & organize my kitchen, develop a Master grocery shopping list, plan my menu for the week, and of course COOK!

I will be running the Half Marathon in Miami on Jan 30th, Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans on Feb 13th, and possibly the Dallas Half Marathon on March 27th. I'm trying to find a half marathon to run every month but so far that is not working out. But I do have a list of half marathons to check on so it is a start.

Will I run a full marathon in 2011? I really do not know. I'm leaving it wide open right now. I will know when the time is right to train for my 2nd full marathon.

Happy New Year & See y'all in Miami!

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