Wii Fit Running

Our family decided to get on board with the Wii Fit trend even if a little late. I of course had to try out the running as my first activity. Oh let me back up I had to do my fitness test and get my Wii Fit age and BMI. Wow I am 47 with a BMI of 20, yikes. Anyway after a few more tests it seems for all of us the Wii added 12 years to your real age. So I get over this and go for a short run. With this activity you do not use the balance board you just run in place for around half a mile. The more you workout you unlock more activities. I am now at the longer runs (a few miles) and I have wised up and gotten on the treadmill while I do these. The running in place was not working for me and it killed my calves. I really like the Yoga and strength exercises and the kids love the balance games and running. Of course I like running outside better but lately with work there is just little opportunity.

Ten Things I Hate About Running

I actually love running but right now it is fighting me so I will list my hates related to this addictive and frustrating sport:

1. How slow it is to make progress

2. How quickly fitness is lost

3. Not being able to run speed without blasting my ipod (I can't find my ipod right now so speed is suffering)

4. How hard it is to get motivated sometimes

5. Seeing how easy it is for some people to run 5-10 miles daily for years on end (what is with that anyway?)

6. Being in a new age group and all of the really fast peeps turned by age right after me (or just before)

7. Hot weather

8. Early morning running ( I love my Clear Lake group but man I can never make it on time)

9. Realizing it will be years if ever before I make some of my running goals and by then I probably won't even care...

10. I forgot ten but you get the point...

A good thing - Having a sweet daughter that reads this over my shoulder and offers to loan me her ipod :)

A Missed Workout (Sort Of)

I have now caught up on all of my blog reading so now I can get around to posting something. I missed my track workout last night due to a late meeting. I was really bothered by this since I had just started to get into training again. I got home about 7:30 pm and quickly changed to do my track on the treadmill. This was a hard workout mainly because the treadmill is very hard mentally and I just wanted to be finished. The workout was 4X 400 meters, 5 minute rest, 4X 400 meters. The good thing about being on the treadmill was all I had to do was set the speed and keep up. I didn't reduce the speed the entire workout so I was happy about that. I even raised the incline for good measure. I felt terrible this morning but I still met the Kroger group for a 5 miler at 5 am. Today at work I am ready to just fall asleep but sadly I have another evening meeting and I just hope I can survive. Happy Wednesday to all!

The Track

I went to the track workout at CL High School yesterday as I knew it was time and I needed a good kick in the pants. The workout was 6 x 800 with three minutes rest between. I looked up the splits I would need in order to be in shape to run a sub 20 5K. I know you are supposed to enter the time you have done for your best race and I couldn't stop myself from entering 19:45 for a 5K and seeing what the calculator spit back. I have not managed that time yet but I was curious. The splits it gave were between 2:59-3:08. This has been possible in the past but I have not been to the track in like 2 years so this could be very bad. The results were:

1st 800 3:00

2nd 800 3:06

3rd 800 3:08

4th 800 turned into 400 in 1:30 or so

5th 800 3:09

I only made it to 5 and I was done. After recovering a bit I wish I had done the last rep. Anyway I went and showed my face and I didn't do too bad considering my complete lack of track work. I am still alive to tell about it and I even ran 7 miles this morning with the Kroger group. I am making my way back to real training and I just hope I can stick to it. Tomorrow I am venturing to the tempo workout for more punishment.

Back to the Land of the Running

I am no longer directing any sort of race so now I can get back to actually running a race. I have to say I did like directing my kids elementary school fun run because the kids really got into it. Adults are very concerned with details like do we have their shirt size? or what will the course be? Kids are just ready to run. I think adults just think too much about it and let the mental things hold us back. I really wish I could run like I did when I was 7 and didn't have a care in the world except beating some boy to the finish that had talked trash about girls (wait that sounds familiar, I guess I still do that).

Anyway we had a relaxing beginning to spring break with a trip to the Hyatt Hill Country resort in San Antonio. This is a great family getaway with things to do for everyone. Mike and I played golf on Saturday and spent Sunday at the spa. The Fitness center is nice and since the weather was cold in the mornings I ran a quick 3 miles on the treadmill and did some weights. The weather warmed up enough on Sunday afternoon for the kids to play in the pool and lazy river. We were all ready to leave Monday and get back to the real world (well maybe not all of us). I hope it was a good racing weekend for all...

Love on the Run 5K February 15th

OK so I had to do a plug for the race I am directing this weekend at the University of Houston Clear Lake. Sign up is still going on this week just email pschneider@5to50.com for details. The 5K will be entirely run on the UHCL campus and there will be plenty of refreshments and awards in 5 year age groups. There is even a special couples category for Valentine's day. The fastest couple will receive an award. This race was formerly known as the 5K 4 Fireworks last year. The theme has changed but it is still the same great course. We are expecting a bigger crowd this year and it should be a good time. I have gotten the opportunity to learn a whole other side of the racing world. This afternoon was spent learning race timing software and how to generate results. Being involved in this project has made me really appreciate the work that goes into organizing races. Next time you are at the races remember to thank the race director and/or volunteers.

Year of the Ox

Evidently this is supposed to be a challenging year for me being a tiger in the year of the ox. I read about this on the internet today while I was supposed to be working. I am supposed to have 3 neutral months and 9 unfavorable months. Yikes, this was a bit unnerving to see. The snake is supposed to have the best year of all with 10 favorable months and 2 neutral months. We shall see how this year goes, it should be interesting. Anyway I am back to running though not much lately as there is little time for it. Mainly I try to jump on the treadmill whenever I get a minute between work and family. Work has been nonstop and I would really welcome a vacation over spring break. Who knows if that is in the cards but it would be really really nice. I am off too sleep because it has been a long day and tomorrow will be even more so. Happy year of the ox!