10 minute miles!!

So today I ran 45 minutes at 5.7mph (vs. 5.3mph last time). I went up to 6.3mph for 5 min or so before I dropped my ipod on the treadmill and had to stop briefly to get it. Lost my momentum, so went back to 5.7 mph for the rest.

BUT, running at a slightly faster pace was great - it made me less tired. I was talking to my boss about that - about how running faster made me less tired, and he said that sometimes running slower than you're able can tire you out - ostensibly because you're using more muscles to slow down your natural pace. Anyway, it felt great. Even while I was putting on my clothes for the gym, I was mentally trying to talk myself out of going. I'm glad I went!

I weighed myself after...I was at 224.2 lbs. Took a shower, weighed myself again and was 224.8lbs. So I'm somewhere between the two which is better than the 226 I was finding myself at over the last couple of weeks.

Had enough energy for some serious grocery shopping - $160!! I think at least $60 of it was for dessert yummies like my famous chocolate chip strawberry cheesecake (with graham cracker crust). All home made and all yummy! I tried a slight change to my recipe - adding heavy cream and sour cream to make it creamier. I have to say, it smells AWESOME!! Can't wait to try some tomorrow,

America's 15 Least Healthy Places...

...reposted from the daily green http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/least-healthy-us-cities-47111705


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a massive report that assesses the health of the U.S. population according to a number of measures — from leisure time physical activity to smoking rates and incidence of heart disease.

The part of the report getting the most press attention is how various communities see themselves. The survey, from 2006, asked people to assess their own health. This is the list of communities (listed by metropolitan statistical area, a Census designation that lumps some suburban areas in with their cities, lumps nearby cities together, or otherwise categorizes regions) that had the most people rate their health "poor" or "fair" (as opposed to "good" or "great"). The percentage of the population that rated their health "poor" or "fair" is noted along with each community.

Not surprisingly, many of the least healthy communities are also among those that get the least exercise. Those communities on both lists are highlighted in bold.

Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio (24.3)
Charleston, W.Va. (23.6)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (23.5)
Hickory-Morgantown-Lenoir, N.C. (22.3)
El Paso, Texas (21.7)
Yakima, Wash. (21.1)
Las Cruces, N.M. (20.3)
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (20.1)
Yuma, Ariz. (20.0)
San Antonio, Texas (19.9)
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. (19.8)
Las Vegas-Paradis, Nev. (19.3)
Atlantic City, N.J. (19.3)
Tulsa, Okla. (19.2)
Scottsbluff, Neb. (19.0)

It is probably no coincidence that some of the communities known for their outdoors recreation — Burlington, Colorado Springs, St. Paul and others — are among the healthiest places to live. Getting outside and enjoying open spaces is one key ingredient to health. Neither is it surprising that many of these communities are actual cities, rather than suburbs, where driving is more common than walking.

America's 15 Healthiest Places...

Reposted from the daily green http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/healthiest-us-cities-47111704


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a massive report that assesses the health of the U.S. population according to a number of measures — from leisure time physical activity to smoking rates and incidence of heart disease.

The part of the report getting the most press attention is how various communities see themselves. The survey, from 2006, asked people to assess their own health. This is the list of communities (listed by metropolitan statistical area, a Census designation that lumps some suburban areas in with their cities, lumps nearby cities together, or otherwise categorizes regions) that had the most people rate their health "good" or "great" (as opposed to "fair" or "poor"). The percentage of the population that rated their health "good" or "great" is noted along with each community.

Not surprisingly, many of the healthiest places are also among the 20 U.S. Communities That Exercise the Most. Those communities on both lists are highlighted in bold.

Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. (91.8)
Sioux Falls, S.D. (91.2)
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (90.6)
Barre, Vt (90.5)
Lincoln, Neb. (90.5)
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. (90.3)
Colorado Springs, Colo. (90.2)
Akron, Ohio (90.1)
Austin-Round Rock, Texas (89.9)
Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md. (89.8)
Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass. (89.7)
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. (89.6)
Manchester-Nashua, N.H. (89.4)
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa (89.4)
Denver-Aurora, Colo. (89.3)
Concord, N.H. (89.2)
Rockingham County-Strafford County, N.H. (89.2)
Lebanon, N.H.-Vt. (89.2)
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (89.1)
Kalispell, Montana (89.0)

It is probably no coincidence that some of the communities known for their outdoors recreation — Burlington, Colorado Springs, St. Paul and others — are among the healthiest places to live. Getting outside and enjoying open spaces is one key ingredient to health. Neither is it surprising that many of these communities are actual cities, rather than suburbs, where driving is more common than walking.

12 minute miles, baby!

So today I decided to try something a little different at the gym. First off, I'm glad I went - it was a huge mental hurdle to get over, cuz I was NOT crazy about running. But it felt great when I was doing it!

SO, today I decided to run at 5.3 mph as opposed to 5.0 like I usually do. I did that for 33 minutes, then decided to sprint for 5 minutes -so I upped the speed to 6.0 and ended up running not just 5 minutes, but the entire remaining 12 minutes. And I wasn't exhausted! It actually felt better to run faster - like I wasn't holding myself back! So that felt great, and I burned 720ish calories, and ran 4.2ish miles vs. 3.2. So yay for me! I sweat like a mo-fo tho, lemme tell ya! I bought these short biker shorts that were totally worth the $3 each - they keep me cool b/c the gym gets really REALLY hot and stinky with beefy muscle man sweat. :)

trudging along...

PROS: I'm now running a TWELVE minute mile!! This time last year, around when I first started running, I was at an eighteen to nineteen minute mile. The fact that I'm down to 12, and can also now run THE ENTIRE 45 MINUTE TIME PERIOD is awesome! When I started running in the beginning of August, I would do 10 minutes running, 5 minutes walking...x3 (with the running set at 4.5 mph for the first 10, 5.0 for the second, and 5.5 for the third). Now I'm running 5.0mph the entire time. And I'm not exhausted! I go thru spurts of being pooped, but most of the time, I'm just staring out the window of the gym completely lost in thought.

CONS: I've been slacking these past couple of weeks (Month?). Chalk it up to season changes...daylight savings...uber stress at work...any way you slice it, I've been much less active in November. actually since mid- to late October. And when I get less active, I CRAVE the junk - chips, chocolate, soda...and lots of it. When I run, I don't crave the junk. When I don't run, I NEED the junk. I'm trying to keep myself going so I don't fall back into bad habits. I'm already back up to 226.8 from 219ish in early October/late September.

BUT, I did go to the gym tonite. I was supposed to do weights, but I think I did too much weight for too many reps on Friday, and tweaked my neck/lower back. Thought it'd be better to just stay on the treadmill and walk/do light jogging (so I don't get shin splints from running too many days in a row since I went yesterday and will go again tomorrow). It was more important for me to just keep in the habit of going consistently M-R. So I went, walked for 20 minutes, jogged for 13 min, cooled down for 5 and called it a nite.

Onward and upwards!

woo hoo!

went to the gym w/ T today ,and it was great. Had a fro which made it more fun ;)

Seriously tho, I'm glad we went today. Tomorrow is my day to run - oh, and VOTE!!! I shall find time for both.

I DID IT!!!!!

I ran my FIRST EVER 5K RACE!!!! And it was great! Yes, I was the slowest person in my department, and almost the slowest in the whole 5k race, coming in pretty near to last place I'm sure, BUT I finished. I finished in roughly 37-38 minutes (I'll find out the official time tomorrow), which is 5 minutes better than my time on the treadmill. NICE!!!

I was really insecure about being the fatty in the back, but I was able to put that aside for most of the time...for sure it came back in spurts when I would have to cross a street in front of people, or when I was running by stopped traffic, but for the most part, I just focused on running and keeping my pace steady...slowing down when I felt myself rushing to 'look normal' (or when I jogged up that insanely steep hill).

btw, I will never take cheerers for granted- they lifted my spirit every time I passed one! And the water - I will never pass a water station without getting water again - I did that at the second water station so I wouldn't lose my rhythm I was settling into, but man, I really needed that water!

so YAY FOR ME!!!! #481....