February 26, 2019February 28, 2019 atthequillsmercy

This week’s best run!

I managed to finish day 1 of week 12 on the first try! Here’s the mile by mile breakdown:

Mile 1 – 14:40
Mile 2 – 29:26
Mile 3 – 44:28
Mile 4 – 58:49

I wanted to make sure to get this week started because I have some very minor surgery next week that will keep me from running for at least a week. I have my stationary bike to keep in shape but since this is to remove a lipoma from my shoulder and you need shoulders to run, my dermatologist said no running until it’s healed.

Not to mention the stupid, annoying, uncomfortable lipoma is right on my shoulder where my bra strap sits. There’s no way I’ll be able to bear the thick, heavy sports bra strap until it’s healed.

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February 21, 2019 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: Week 11 Completed!

I haven’t posted a run in a while mostly because I’ve been annoyed with myself for not finishing C210K. So, I got out of my own way and finished day three! Here’s the breakdown:

Mile 1 – 14:56
Mile 2 – 29:49
Mile 3 – 44:47
Mile 4 – 59:20

I am still shocked by my ability to make it to 4 miles at all despite all the training I’ve been doing. I still usually crap out in the third interval but man, I powered through and finished it!

I have started using my old P90X DVDs as a cross training tool. I read blogs from other runners stating they’ve done the program and it did improve their overall running performance but I am not willing to stop running in order to do the full P90X program. I’m just replacing their cardio and yoga days with C210K.

Time will tell if that’s worth it.

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January 31, 2019 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: Almost there…

Today turned out to be a kick ass day! The first interval I went at 3.2 mph, the second and 3.5 and the third at 3.2 again and my only extra break is when I slowed down to check and see if my app crashed because it repeated a scene twice and I was about to lose my shit because I lost an hour’s workout. I’m not counting that as a real break, though since it was only 10-15 seconds before I got back up to speed.

I am noticing a much faster recovery time after my workouts but I’m also noticing that now my body does not like to be still. As a librarian, my job is pretty sedentary and; as I’ve said before, now I get extra stiff if I don’t move around enough during the day. I have been incorporating more strength exercises during the week and I may have to stop using my desk bike as a clothes rack and actually get on it. I have this suspicion that spending my off days on the bike will help me as the runs get longer.

Week 11 is almost complete!

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December 3, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Running Update: Wait, it does that?!

Since I am a huge fucking geek, I am on a bunch of Zombies Run! fan pages and groups. It is through these that I learned that there is a 365 days in a row achievement!

I didn’t know this was a thing! I want that thing…

So, does this mean I’ve taken up a 365-day challenge?

Much like the 5k and 10k training, you don’t do this by being insane. I think I’ll start with a 7-day challenge and go from there. Meaning I’ll start today.

You’ll notice my pace is much slower than normal but today was my first run with the chases turned on. If you aren’t familiar with this app, chases are when the app tells you to run faster to avoid zombies and if you don’t go fast enough, you lose some of the supplies you’ve gathered. I’ve been curious about those for a while and decided to give them a try.

And nothing happened. So, I ended up powerwalking while expecting to put on a burst of speed.

I tweaked some settings for tomorrow’s run so we’ll see how chases work then.

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November 19, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run? Not quite there yet…

Today’s intervals consisted of a 5-minute warm-up, 15-minute run, 1-minute run, repeat 3 times. The first interval was a fucking breeze! Like I was born to run from zombies. The second was a bit of a struggle but I made it. Third? I legit thought I was gonna pass out 13 minutes in. I had to take an extra break.

It’s hard not to think of that as a failure even if I did only take a one minute break and ran as much as I could. The point is to push yourself but I’ not quite there yet.

I’m not going to repeat the day. I’m going to proceed with the next run and try and get through that last interval. I am concerned about pushing myself too hard but tomorrow I won’t be running; I have crosstraining to do. I have to do that core blaster that makes my abs hurt so much, I can’t cough or laugh.

My goal is to make it to the 180 minutes a week the Atlas Shape has been nagging me to do but I haven’t made that goal yet. One hour down…

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November 8, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: I cannot believe it…

And thus we conclude week 8 of C210K as a rousing success! Day 3 is 5 minutes of a warm up, 30 minute run, then 5 minute cool down. And I actually did it! I ran for the full 30 minutes.

It was rough towards the end. I found myself wanting to stop with only 5 minutes left on the clock but I pushed through, ignored the numbers, and caught up with American Horror Story: Apocalypse.

Nothing more motivating than the end of the world to keep your feet moving.

Week 9 is back to intervals but longer workouts. I am liking how my endurance is now; my hard work paying off in spades. I’m trying not to count chickens before they hatch but I am thinking of what I will work on next after I complete C210K. I’m thinking speed training and more weight training on my off days.

But yeah, one thing at a time. See you in week 9!

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November 7, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: Ramping it up?

This run is week 8 day 2 of C210k. It starts with a 5-minute warmup, a 29-minute run, then a 5-minute cooldown. And I did it! I ran the full 29 minutes.

It’s tomorrow I’m worried about. Week 8 day 3 is a full 5k run without stopping. Why would I be worried if I do 5k races all the time? Because I usually do my walk/run or run to 10 combos. This time no breaks for me.

If I can make this, it would be a major victory for me. I’ve been running for two years or so and never made it much past 3.5 miles with breaks. LOTS of breaks. If my endurance is up to the task, a 10k may actually really be in my future! And finishing a 10k was one of my goals for the year!

Also, I am FINALLY done with season 3! There are currently 7 seasons of Zombies Run! and I’ve been trying to catch up to the end so I can fiddle around with supply missions and try out an airdrop mission. There’s also all the Radio Abel content. My completionist’s itch is driving me crazy.

Wish me luck tomorrow! I’m sure I’ll be hurting by the end of it no matter what happens.

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November 5, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: Do the Mambo!

This was Week 8 Day 1 of Couch to 10k. My body is still smarting from the Halloween 5k but I was still able to hold a slow jog for 28 minutes and other than being thirsty, I didn’t feel like I was going to faint. I stopped being lazy and made eggs and vegetarian breakfast sausage.

Why vegetarian? I just happen to like them. No real reason.

At any rate, I think I’m going to keep my workouts around 40 minutes cause that seems to be the butter zone where I feel like I can still walk around after I’m done. The 10k trainer will eventually do over that but I’ll jump off that bridge when I come to it.

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November 1, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Zombies, Run! Halloween Virtual Race 2018: Tomorrow Island.

Despite how flaky I’ve been about my blog I’ve been lately, I have been keeping up fairly well with my running. I even started the Couch to 10k program so I can go longer distances.

I did this run on the treadmill and good thing too because there were points around the 2-mile mark where I felt like I was gonna pass out. I chalk it up to just having a whole wheat waffle with some peanut butter on it for breakfast. I usually have eggs or something.

I’ll get back to posting regularly about the 10k training since I didn’t wanna post about it then end up giving up. I start week 8 next week so I’ve obviously committed to it.

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June 12, 2018 atthequillsmercy

Today’s Run: Cheating? Maybe? Not really…

On my last run, I whined about my warm-up time cutting into my pace but I did some lazy running research and a warm-up is something that really shouldn’t be skipped. So, instead of letting it fuck up my time, I warmed up off the clock with a brisk 6-minute power walk, THEN turned on the app and ran. I ended up hitting my first mile in 14:33 and the second in 30:41. That is much closer to my time before my fun little surgery adventure, which gives me hope for any future races I want to run and the possibility of increasing my distance to a 10k.

In food type news, I am trying my hand at intermittent fasting. I stop eating after 7 and don’t eat again until 8-10 am, which honestly fits into my life since most mornings are a haze of yelling at both the two-legged kid and the four-legged kids before dragging ass into work. It’s easier for me to eat once I’m far away from the house. And I’m not undereating. I’m brutally honest with my food diary (and I plan to get a food scale to really get things as accurate as possible) so, you can see I am clearly not starving myself. Running takes fuel and I’ve done enough stupid shit to my body to try and lose weight over the years. I’m not about to start that nonsense again…

Anyways, I’m going to do my runs like this on the treadmill from now on: the warm-up, turning on the apps for the real run, then a cool down at the end of it. I just need to tack on that extra bit to get over 3 miles and I’m golden!

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